The III Tour was a concert tour by American hard rock band Van Halen, in support of their eleventh studio album, Van Halen III. It is the only concert tour to feature vocalist Gary Cherone.
Background Despite positive critical reviews, the tour underperformed commercially by Van Halen standards, and capped the band's general decline after the early 1990s. It would be their last tour until 2004.
In a change from Sammy Hagar-era tours, Gary Cherone – who had grown up a big fan of the band – was willing to include material from both previous Van Halen vocalists. Due to both differing vocal styles and personal animus between himself and David Lee Roth, Hagar had allowed only a few Roth-era classics into the set lists while he sang for Van Halen. Cherone's voice was deeper than Hagar's, making it more suited to Roth songs, yet he possessed enough vocal range to perform Hagar songs as well. Thus, of the 19 full songs performed on the tour, 10 were from the Roth era, and 4 from the Hagar era, the remaining 5 pertaining to III (since Roth rejoined Van Halen in 2007, no Hagar-era material ever graced the setlists again). "It may have looked odd on paper but it actually worked live," Cherone told KNAC. "I made a concerted effort to do the old Van Halen tunes that Sammy was not doing. I wanted to do the deep cuts… we did songs their fans had not heard in years."Carr, David; KNAC.com; July 16, 2009
However, dissatisfaction with the new album and the band's troubles in 1996 (arguments over Hagar's sudden departure, followed by a brief reunion with Roth that also ended abruptly) led to the tour's low popularity. Grunge had changed the face of rock music, and Van Halen's fame – which had endured due to their heritage – took a big hit with Hagar's departure.
A 15-date European tour planned for the end of May and June had to be cancelled after four shows only due to Alex Van Halen's injury. The band also cancelled all of their 4 September dates in Brazil and Puerto Rico.
The April 20 show in Sydney, Australia was recorded live for an MTV special, Live from the 10 Spot. It aired on May 1, 1998.
Tour dates + List of 1998 concerts, showing date, city, country and venue Date City Country VenueMarch 12, 1998HollywoodUnited StatesBillboard LiveMarch 18, 1998TorontoCanadaSam the Record ManApril 10, 1998WellingtonNew ZealandQueens Wharf Events CentreApril 11, 1998AucklandNorth Harbour StadiumApril 14, 1998LauncestonAustraliaSilverdomeApril 17, 1998MelbourneRod Laver ArenaApril 18, 1998CanberraAIS ArenaApril 20, 1998SydneySydney Entertainment CentreApril 23, 1998NewcastleNewcastle Entertainment CentreApril 24, 1998BrisbaneBrisbane Entertainment CentreApril 27, 1998AdelaideAdelaide Entertainment CentreApril 29, 1998PerthPerth Entertainment CentreMay 13, 1998The WoodlandsUnited StatesCynthia Woods Mitchell PavilionMay 14, 1998DallasStarplex AmphitheaterMay 16, 1998RosemontRosemont HorizonMay 17, 1998ClevelandGund ArenaMay 19, 1998Auburn HillsThe Palace of Auburn HillsMay 21, 1998BostonFleetCenterMay 22, 1998New York CityMadison Square GardenMay 24, 1998PhiladelphiaCoreStates SpectrumMay 27, 1998HelsinkiFinlandHelsinki Ice HallMay 29, 1998NurembergGermanyRock Im ParkMay 30, 1998HalleEissporthalleMay 31, 1998NürburgringRock Am RingJune 2, 1998BerlinHuxley's Neue WeltJuly 1, 1998PhoenixUnited StatesBlockbuster Desert Sky PavilionJuly 3, 1998Del MarDel Mar FairgroundsJuly 4, 1998San BernardinoBlockbuster PavilionJuly 5, 1998Mountain ViewShoreline AmphitheatreJuly 7, 1998ConcordConcord PavilionJuly 8, 1998SacramentoARCO ArenaJuly 10, 1998PortlandRose Garden ArenaJuly 11, 1998GeorgeThe Gorge AmphitheatreJuly 14, 1998Park CityThe CanyonsJuly 16, 1998Greenwood VillageCoors AmphitheatreJuly 18, 1998Bonner SpringsSandstone AmphitheaterJuly 19, 1998Maryland HeightsRiverport AmphitheaterJuly 21, 1998CincinnatiRiverbend Music CenterJuly 22, 1998NoblesvilleDeer Creek Music CenterJuly 24, 1998BurgettstownStarlake AmphitheaterJuly 25, 1998ColumbusPolaris AmphitheaterJuly 26, 1998HersheyStar Pavilion at Hersheypark StadiumJuly 28, 1998ScrantonToyota Pavilion at Montage MountainJuly 30, 1998CharlotteBlockbuster PavilionJuly 31, 1998AtlantaCoca-Cola Lakewood AmphitheatreAugust 2, 1998AntiochStarwood AmphitheatreAugust 4, 1998Paso RoblesCalifornia Mid-State FairAugust 12, 1998BostonHard Rock CafeAugust 13, 1998MansfieldGreat Woods CenterAugust 14, 1998August 15, 1998WantaghJones Beach TheaterAugust 16, 1998HolmdelPNC Bank Arts CenterAugust 18, 1998RaleighHardee's Walnut Creek AmphitheatreAugust 19, 1998Virginia BeachGTE AmphitheatreAugust 21, 1998BristowNissan PavilionAugust 22, 1998Atlantic CityTrump MarinaAugust 23, 1998Saratoga SpringsSaratoga Performing Arts CenterAugust 25, 1998Darien CenterDarien Lake Performing Arts CenterAugust 26, 1998TorontoCanadaMolson AmphitheatreAugust 28, 1998RichmondUnited StatesClassic AmphitheaterAugust 29, 1998HartfordMeadows Music TheaterAugust 31, 1998SyracuseState Fair GrandstandSeptember 2, 1998Grand RapidsVan Andel ArenaSeptember 3, 1998ClarkstonPine Knob Music TheatreSeptember 5, 1998East TroyAlpine Valley Music TheatreSeptember 15, 1998North Myrtle BeachHouse of BluesSeptember 16, 1998Lake Buena VistaHouse of BluesSeptember 17, 1998SunriseSunrise Musical TheaterOctober 2, 1998Las VegasThe JointOctober 3, 1998October 13, 1998AnchorageSullivan Sports ArenaOctober 16, 1998HonoluluNeal S. Blaisdell ArenaOctober 20, 1998HiroshimaJapanHiroshima Sun PlazaOctober 21, 1998FukuokaFukuoka Kokusai CenterOctober 23, 1998OsakaOsaka-jo HallOctober 24, 1998NagoyaRainbow HallOctober 26, 1998KawasakiSangyo Bunka KaikanOctober 28, 1998TokyoNippon BudokanOctober 29, 1998October 30, 1998November 2, 1998YokohamaYokohama Arena
Box office score data +List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, referencesDate(1998)CityVenueAttendanceGrossMay 14Dallas, United StatesStarplex Amphitheatre13,789$400,825May 21Boston, United StatesFleetCenter12,073$363,730
Personnel Eddie Van Halen – guitar, backing vocals Michael Anthony – bass, backing vocals, keyboards Alex Van Halen – drums Gary Cherone – lead vocals
Additional musician Alan Fitzgerald – keyboards
References
External links Van-Halen.com – The official Van Halen website Van Halen NewsDesk