Fair Warning Tour

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Fair Warning Tour
Tour by Van Halen
LocationNorth America
Associated albumFair Warning
Start dateMay 12, 1981 (1981-05-12)
End dateOctober 25, 1981 (1981-10-25)
No. of shows81
Van Halen concert chronology

The Fair Warning Tour was a concert tour by hard rock band Van Halen in support of their fourth studio album Fair Warning.

Background[edit]

The tour began with two to three night performances with the band being focused on performing only in North America.[1] The June 11, 12 and 13 shows in Oakland were filmed, creating music videos for "Unchained", "So This is Love?" and "Hear About It Later", though Roth stated in an interview that the two nights of filming were a disaster and the footage from the third show had to be scrapped as a result.[2] The band concluded their tour as an opening act for two shows with the Rolling Stones at Tangerine Bowl on October 24 and 25.[3][4]

Reception[edit]

Don Adair from The Spokesman-Review gave the performance he attended in Spokane a positive review. He began his review, stating that Van Halen was music to be enjoyed on the most elemental levels, citing it as flashy, showy, brazen hormone rock and that it was pointless to pass judgement on Van Halen. He acknowledged the stage design, adding that there was follow-spots lighting the band from the rear of the stage with others from out front and around the drum stand - noting it as the drum kit lit up like an encounter from the third kind. He continued on the speakers hanging from the coliseum's ceiling and front wall of the building adjacent to the stage with amplifiers behind the band, comparing it to a mountain range in aluminum. He would criticize the acoustics though as it did muddle Eddie Van Halen's playing. He praised David Lee Roth as still having the moves and hitting home with unerring accuracy, but had criticized his voice as being only average, stating his trademark squeal should have been forgotten long ago. He concluded his review, stating that the sold out audience got what they paid for.[5]

Jim Bruce from The Windsor Star who attended the Cobo Arena show in Detroit, opening his review, noting on how all three of the shows that had sold out had translated to 50,000 fans aged between 15 and 25, with tremendous amounts of emotion given when the band had arrived on stage to which he described their entrance as if they appeared in a blaze of flashing light, adding that he thought Armageddon had arrived. He praised all four of the members in the band, citing them as proven master musicians - also referring to Eddie Van Halen as exceptionally fine lead guitarist. He concluded his review, stating that the audience at the conclusion of the show left with smiles on their faces instead of chips on their shoulders.[6]

Jennifer Towell from The Montreal Gazette opened her review, noting on how the band showed everything in agreement to a banner fans made which declared: "Disco Sucks". She added that the noise level wasn't no accident as the band had brought more than 100 speakers to produce the sound that in comparison, had outblasted any record banned on the regular family stereo. She praised Eddie and Alex's musical accompaniment, saying it was the perfect complement to Roth's "sexually immodest gyrations".[7]

Setlist[edit]

Tour dates[edit]

List of concerts, showing date, city, country and venue
Date [8] City Country Venue
North America
May 12, 1981 Halifax Canada Halifax Metro Centre
May 15, 1981 Providence United States Providence Civic Center
May 16, 1981 Portland Cumberland County Civic Center
May 17, 1981 Glens Falls Glens Falls Civic Center
May 18, 1981 Rochester Rochester Community War Memorial Arena
May 20, 1981 Charleston Charleston Civic Center
May 22, 1981 Louisville Freedom Hall
May 23, 1981 Dayton Hara Arena
May 24, 1981 Kalamazoo Wings Stadium
May 27, 1981 Edmonton Canada Northlands Coliseum
May 28, 1981 Calgary Stampede Corral
May 31, 1981 Spokane United States Spokane Coliseum
June 2, 1981 Vancouver Canada Pacific Coliseum
June 4, 1981 Seattle United States Seattle Coliseum
June 5, 1981
June 8, 1981 Portland Veterans Memorial Coliseum
June 9, 1981
June 11, 1981 Oakland Oakland Arena
June 12, 1981
June 13, 1981
June 16, 1981 Las Vegas Aladdin Theatre
June 18, 1981 Fresno Selland Arena
June 19, 1981 Los Angeles Los Angeles Sports Arena
June 20, 1981 Inglewood The Forum
June 21, 1981
July 2, 1981 Milwaukee MECCA Arena
July 3, 1981 Detroit Cobo Arena
July 4, 1981
July 5, 1981
July 7, 1981 Saint Paul St. Paul Civic Center
July 9, 1981 Indianapolis Market Square Arena
July 10, 1981 Chicago International Amphitheatre
July 11, 1981
July 12, 1981 Madison Dane County Veterans Memorial Coliseum
July 14, 1981 Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Civic Arena
July 16, 1981 New Haven New Haven Coliseum
July 17, 1981 New York City Madison Square Garden
July 18, 1981 Uniondale Nassau Coliseum
July 20, 1981 Philadelphia Spectrum
July 21, 1981
July 22, 1981
July 24, 1981 Boston Boston Garden
July 25, 1981
July 27, 1981 Roanoke Roanoke Civic Center
July 28, 1981 Landover Capital Centre
July 29, 1981
July 31, 1981 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
August 2, 1981 Richfield Richfield Coliseum
August 3, 1981
August 4, 1981 Toronto Canada Maple Leaf Gardens
August 5, 1981 Montreal Montreal Forum
August 18, 1981 Pembroke Pines United States Hollywood Sportatorium
August 19, 1981 Lakeland Lakeland Civic Center
August 22, 1981 Atlanta Omni Coliseum
August 23, 1981 Knoxville Knoxville Civic Coliseum
August 24, 1981 Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum
August 25, 1981 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum
August 27, 1981 Hampton Hampton Coliseum
August 29, 1981 Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum
August 30, 1981 Nashville Nashville Municipal Auditorium
August 31, 1981 Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center
September 1, 1981 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum
September 3, 1981 Huntsville Von Braun Civic Center
September 4, 1981 Jackson Mississippi Coliseum
September 5, 1981 Biloxi Mississippi Coast Coliseum
September 6, 1981 Baton Rouge Riverside Centroplex
September 8, 1981 Shreveport Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
September 10, 1981 Dallas Reunion Arena
September 11, 1981
September 12, 1981 Houston Sam Houston Coliseum
September 13, 1981
September 28, 1981 Phoenix Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
September 29, 1981 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena
October 2, 1981 Austin Frank Erwin Center
October 3, 1981 Norman Lloyd Noble Center
October 6, 1981 Albuquerque Tingley Coliseum
October 7, 1981 El Paso El Paso County Coliseum
October 9, 1981 San Antonio San Antonio Convention Center
October 15, 1981 Tulsa Tulsa Assembly Center
October 16, 1981 Valley Center Kansas Coliseum
October 17, 1981 Kansas City Kemper Arena
October 18, 1981 St. Louis Checkerdome
October 20, 1981 Omaha Omaha Civic Auditorium
October 21, 1981 Cedar Rapids Five Seasons Arena
October 24, 1981 Orlando Tangerine Bowl
October 25, 1981

Box office score data[edit]

List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, references
Date
(1981) 		City Venue Attendance Gross Ref(s)
July 12 Madison, United States Coliseum 8,346 $71,886 [9]
July 14 Pittsburgh, United States Civic Arena 13,374 $129,052 [10]
July 16 New Haven, United States Coliseum 9,832 $92,640
July 20–22 Philadelphia, United States Spectrum 36,339 $355,380 [11]
July 24–25 Boston, United States Garden 24,200 $249,946
July 28 Indianapolis, United States Market Square Arena 15,500 $126,250 [12]
August 19 Lakeland, United States Civic Center 10,000 $95,000 [13]
August 29 Cincinnati, United States Coliseum 9,897 $98,679 [14]
August 30 Nashville, United States Municipal Auditorium 9,055 $80,603
August 31 Birmingham, United States Civic Center 9,542 $82,978 [15]
September 1 Memphis, United States Coliseum 10,369 $98,506
September 4 Jackson, United States Coliseum 8,297 $78,822
October 2 Austin, United States Frank Erwin Center 17,617 $104,734 [16]
October 15 Tulsa, United States Assembly Center 7,157 $67,458 [17]
October 18 St. Louis, United States Checkerdome 14,082 $127,395

Personnel[edit]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ Christopher 2021, p. 70.
  2. ^ Christopher 2021, pp. 70–71.
  3. ^ Gerard, Eric (October 24, 1981). "These fans came to get satisfaction". St. Petersburg, Florida: The Evening Independent. p. 12-A. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  4. ^ "Rolling Stones Set Second Concert After Sellout". Daytona Beach, Florida: Daytona Beach Morning Journal. October 3, 1981. p. 2D. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  5. ^ Adair, Don (June 1, 1981). "Van Halen: They got what they paid for". Spokane, Washington: The Spokesman-Review. p. 15. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  6. ^ Bruce, Jim (July 11, 1981). "Rock concert more ritual than music". Windsor, Ontario: The Windsor Star. p. C5. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  7. ^ Towell, Jennifer (August 6, 1981). "Loyal fans knew their Van Halen". Montreal, Quebec: The Montreal Gazette. p. 43. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  8. ^ "Van Halen Tour: 1981". vharchives.com. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 29. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. July 25, 1981. p. 37. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  10. ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 30. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 1, 1981. p. 40. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  11. ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 31. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 8, 1981. p. 41. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  12. ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 32. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 15, 1981. p. 35. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  13. ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 35. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 5, 1981. p. 45. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  14. ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 36. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 12, 1981. p. 52. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  15. ^ "Top Box Office". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 37. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 19, 1981. p. 43. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  16. ^ "Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 41. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 17, 1981. p. 38. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  17. ^ "Boxscore". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 43. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 31, 1981. p. 86. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 15, 2022.

General sources[edit]

  • Christopher, Michael (2021). Van Halen: The Eruption and the Aftershock. Lanham, Maryland: Backbeat. ISBN 9781493062102.
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