The 5150 Tour was a concert tour by the American hard rock band Van Halen in support of their seventh studio album, 5150.
Background This was the band's first tour with Sammy Hagar on lead vocals (and second electric guitar), following the acrimonious departure of original singer David Lee Roth.
Like many Van Halen tours, the routing took the band across North America only, as traveling internationally was hard for the band's complicated and heavy stage set. Furthermore, Hagar wanted to establish himself as the new singer in their homeland. The first leg of the tour was entirely United States dates, though Canadian ones slipped into the second and third legs.
The tour took place in the aftermath of the David Lee Roth-Van Halen split, with the fanbase being split too. Those who had joined the new Van Halen's side used the concerts as an opportunity to voice their stance, frequently via unison chants of "Fuck Dave!" The tour set a trend later Hagar-era ones would follow: the number of pre-Hagar Van Halen songs was kept to a minimum, with the singer willing only to play that era's best-known songs. An Eddie Van Halen/Hagar guitar duel was also a usual part of the concerts. "Rock and Roll" by Led Zeppelin was the closing song every night. Canadian rock legends Bachman–Turner Overdrive, Loverboy and Kim Mitchell were support acts on many of the outdoor stadium gigs in North America.
The tour was supposed to start with dates in Hawaii and Alaska, but they were cancelled at the last minute, due to the band finishing the mixing of the album.
The group's biggest hit, "Jump", was usually omitted from the set list, or sung by the audience instead of Hagar. Almost all the songs from 5150 were played, as well as covers and some of Hagar's pre-Van Halen work. The latter included his recent MTV hit "I Can't Drive 55" and Montrose songs. The addition of Hagar's guitar gave Eddie Van Halen more room to move, or to play keyboards on certain songs.
The tour was a major high for the band, albeit with a couple of low points. The first was when their new manager Ed Leffler was hospitalized in Texas after an altercation in a hotel elevator. The second was when Eddie's wife Valerie Bertinelli suffered a miscarriage; she didn't reveal to Eddie that she was pregnant at the time, until it was too late.
"We were selling records faster than they could print them and we were selling out every show," recalled Hagar. "We felt invincible."
The second concert at New Haven Coliseum was filmed and shown live on television and released on VHS as Live Without a Net; it has subsequently been released on DVD.
Before the last show of the tour on November 3, 1986 at the Cow Palace, Eddie cut his hair into a braided rat tail, while Alex shaved his head bald.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: The story was that supposedly at the end of the tour, everyone would have their heads shaved (Sammy chose not to for maintaining his look for a photo shoot soon to come, Michael chose not to in fear of not knowing how long it would take to grow back as his hair was thinning at the time.
Reception Moira McCormick from Billboard who attended the Chicago performance at Rosemont Horizon, gave the performance a positive review. She opened her review stating that the band's concert that night was further testimony to the band's previous success with both David Lee Roth and the popularity of the guitarist Eddie Van Halen who she claimed can triumph in speed contests and praised him for performing with "incredible finesse". Regarding the vocalist Sammy Hagar, she said that the audience had welcomed him as the band's lead singer, being supportive of his vocal work especially on the band's older material. She concluded her review, stating that the band was still one of America's leading rock forces, judging by the record sales and audience reactions.
Tour dates + List of concerts, showing date, city, country and venue Date City Country VenueMarch 27, 1986ShreveportUnited StatesHirsch Memorial ColiseumMarch 28, 1986Little RockBarton ColiseumMarch 29, 1986MemphisMid-South ColiseumMarch 31, 1986BirminghamBirmingham-Jefferson Civic CenterApril 1, 1986HuntsvilleVon Braun Civic CenterApril 3, 1986JacksonMississippi ColiseumApril 4, 1986Baton RougeRiverside CentroplexApril 5, 1986BiloxiMississippi Coast ColiseumApril 7, 1986Pembroke PinesHollywood SportatoriumApril 8, 1986North Fort MyersLee County Civic CenterApril 10, 1986LakelandLakeland Civic CenterApril 11, 1986April 12, 1986JacksonvilleJacksonville ColiseumApril 14, 1986AtlantaOmni ColiseumApril 16, 1986ColumbiaCarolina ColiseumApril 18, 1986LouisvilleFreedom HallApril 19, 1986EvansvilleRoberts Municipal StadiumApril 20, 1986NashvilleNashville Municipal AuditoriumApril 22, 1986RosemontRosemont HorizonApril 23, 1986April 24, 1986RockfordRockford MetroCentreApril 26, 1986CarbondaleSIU ArenaApril 27, 1986PeoriaPeoria Civic CenterApril 29, 1986Saint PaulSt. Paul Civic CenterApril 30, 1986Cedar RapidsFive Seasons CenterMay 2, 1986Fort WayneAllen County War Memorial ColiseumMay 3, 1986IndianapolisMarket Square ArenaMay 6, 1986CincinnatiCincinnati GardensMay 7, 1986May 9, 1986DetroitJoe Louis ArenaMay 10, 1986May 11, 1986May 13, 1986PittsburghCivic ArenaMay 14, 1986CharlestonCharleston Civic CenterMay 16, 1986GreensboroGreensboro ColiseumMay 17, 1986HamptonHampton ColiseumMay 18, 1986RoanokeRoanoke Civic CenterMay 20, 1986AtlantaOmni ColiseumMay 21, 1986KnoxvilleKnoxville Civic ColiseumMay 23, 1986East TroyAlpine Valley Music TheatreMay 24, 1986May 26, 1986Des MoinesVeterans Memorial AuditoriumMay 27, 1986OmahaOmaha Civic AuditoriumMay 28, 1986Valley CenterKansas ColiseumMay 30, 1986Kansas CityKemper ArenaMay 31, 1986June 2, 1986IndianapolisMarket Square ArenaJune 28, 1986San DiegoSan Diego Sports ArenaJune 29, 1986July 2, 1986InglewoodThe ForumJuly 3, 1986July 5, 1986July 8, 1986ChandlerCompton TerraceJuly 10, 1986Las VegasThomas & Mack CenterJuly 12, 1986BoulderFolsom Field (Colorado Sun-Day)July 14, 1986AlbuquerqueTingley ColiseumJuly 16, 1986Oklahoma CityMyriad Convention CenterJuly 19, 1986DallasCotton Bowl (Texxas Jam)July 21, 1986St. LouisSt. Louis ArenaJuly 22, 1986July 23, 1986July 25, 1986RichfieldRichfield ColiseumJuly 26, 1986July 28, 1986East RutherfordBrendan Byrne ArenaJuly 29, 1986July 31, 1986August 1, 1986August 2, 1986UniondaleNassau ColiseumAugust 4, 1986PhiladelphiaSpectrumAugust 5, 1986August 6, 1986August 8, 1986LandoverCapital CentreAugust 9, 1986August 11, 1986WorcesterWorcester CentrumAugust 12, 1986August 14, 1986August 15, 1986August 18, 1986TorontoCanadaCNE GrandstandAugust 20, 1986MontrealMontreal ForumAugust 22, 1986ProvidenceUnited StatesProvidence Civic CenterAugust 23, 1986PortlandCumberland County Civic CenterAugust 24, 1986August 26, 1986New HavenNew Haven Coliseum (Live Without a Net)August 27, 1986August 29, 1986Niagara FallsNiagara Falls Convention and Civic CenterAugust 30, 1986September 1, 1986RochesterSilver StadiumSeptember 27, 1986LafayetteCajundomeSeptember 29, 1986HoustonThe SummitSeptember 30, 1986Fort WorthTarrant County Convention Center ArenaOctober 1, 1986October 3, 1986San AntonioSan Antonio Convention Center ArenaOctober 4, 1986AustinFrank Erwin CenterOctober 6, 1986Las CrucesPan American CenterOctober 8, 1986Salt Lake CitySalt PalaceOctober 10, 1986CasperCasper Events CenterOctober 11, 1986Rapid CityDon Barnett ArenaOctober 14, 1986BillingsYellowstone MetraOctober 16, 1986PullmanBeasley ColiseumOctober 18, 1986PocatelloMinidomeOctober 19, 1986BoiseBSU PavilionOctober 21, 1986SeattleSeattle Center ColiseumOctober 22, 1986October 23, 1986VancouverCanadaBC PlaceOctober 25, 1986PortlandUnited StatesMemorial ColiseumOctober 26, 1986October 29, 1986RenoLawlor Events CenterOctober 31, 1986Daly CityCow PalaceNovember 1, 1986November 2, 1986November 3, 1986
Box office score data +List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, referencesDate(1986)CityVenueAttendanceGrossApril 18Louisville, United StatesFreedom Hall10,616$149,640April 19Evansville, United StatesRoberts Stadium10,953$158,818April 20Nashville, United StatesMunicipal Auditorium9,900$148,500May 13Pittsburgh, United StatesCivic Arena15,899$235,265June 28–29San Diego, United StatesSports Arena23,825$355,260July 28–August 1East Rutherford, United StatesMeadowlands Arena78,172$1,284,659September 27Lafayette, United StatesCajundome9,434$135,360September 29Houston, United StatesThe Summit13,977$220,137September 30–October 1Fort Worth, United StatesTarrant County Convention Center20,170$302,550October 25–26Portland, United StatesMemorial Coliseum Complex20,412$326,592October 29Reno, United StatesLawlor Events Center9,581$158,087October 31–November 3San Francisco, United StatesCow Palace57,270$950,745
Personnel Eddie Van Halen – guitar, backing vocals, lead keyboards Michael Anthony – bass, backing vocals, keyboards Alex Van Halen – drums Sammy Hagar – lead vocals, guitar
References
External links Van-Halen.com – The official Van Halen website Van Halen NewsDesk