The OU812 Tour was a concert tour by the American hard rock band Van Halen in support of their studio album OU812.

Background Van Halen began their tour with a United States leg known as the "Monsters of Rock" tour through 23 cities alongside Metallica, Scorpions, Dokken and Kingdom Come which would feature a specially constructed stage with lights and state-of-the-art sound equipment. The tour originated when promoter Louis Messina had approached the band and suggested a five-band summer long tour, up to which the band didn't hesitate to sign. In the end, the leg itself was a financial failure, though it would be their most expensive tour. Some of the cities the band performed in during the "Monsters of Rock" tour had however shown some success while there was confusion from the promoters where the tour didn't do well, bringing up speculation that the album wasn't familiar with the audience yet, while others stated that the shows were on a weekday while school was going on. During the show in East Troy, Hagar fell during the opening song on the set, receiving a minor tailbone fracture. Despite his injury, he did finish the performance. Following the Monsters of Rock tour, the band did go on a brief hiatus before continuing the tour. On the second North American leg, Van Halen performed in smaller venues, wrapping up the tour with shows in Japan and Hawaii.

Reception Mark Madden, a staff writer from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gave the performance at the Three Rivers Stadium a positive review. He acknowledged that more than 35,000 fans couldn't help but be struck when Eddie Van Halen's fleet fingers played through two hours of the band's biggest hits. Regarding Eddie's solo Madden added that the biggest technical sparkle was that he was successfully able to play within the context of his songs and did not play a bad solo that night. Including Hagar, Madden stated that he brought all the fun, with good vocals and songs - but didn't forget to add about Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen whom Madden stated were a quality foundation. During the conclusion of his review, Madden noted that the biggest strength for the band's performance was definitely their songs.

Jeff Bunch from the Spokesman Review gave the performance at the Albi Stadium a positive review. In his opening statement, Bunch stated that rock 'n' roll was alive and well in Spokane and that it was better than nothing. He noted on the music being "hot", bringing the crowd to decibel levels that matched the band's sound system which he cited as "powerful". He acknowledged the members' solos, with Eddie Van Halen's being cited as "magical" as he captivated the audience for nearly ten minutes with his lightning-quick fingers. Not forgetting Alex Van Halen or Hagar, he brought up their solos as well - referring to Hagar as a bundle of energy, adding that he is a consummate showman. Bunch concluded his review, stating that it was a great concert, and that people got their money's worth, though he did say that it would be hard to say if the band's show had lived up to its expectations.

Jerry Spangler from the Deseret News gave the Salt Palace performance he attended a mixed review. He stated that while the band had shown to be the best there is on the hard rock circuit, they still lacked the style that could one day make them one of the best bands of all time, referring to them as a good time to a near-capacity crowd they performed for. Spangler noted on one of the show's highlights when Hagar had taken center stage for an acoustic guitar solo, praising it as "warm" and "optimism". He cited that Hagar was the surprise for the show aside from the characteristic of Eddie Van Halen, but did criticize that confidence Hagar presented would translate into inanities.

"The first time I went to a 'big' concert was the Monsters of Rock in 1987 (sic), at a stadium in DC: Kingdom Come, Metallica, Dokken, Scorpions and Van Halen," recalled Dave Grohl. "Standing far enough from the stage that it was taking four seconds for the sound of the snare drum to hit me made no sense at all."

Tour dates + List of 1988 concerts, showing date, city, country and venue Date Accessed on 31 August 2007 City Country VenueMay 27, 1988 East Troy United States Alpine Valley Music TheatreMay 28, 1988May 29, 1988June 4, 1988 Miami Orange BowlJune 5, 1988 Tampa Tampa StadiumJune 10, 1988 Washington, D.C. RFK Stadium June 11, 1988 Philadelphia JFK Stadium June 12, 1988 Foxborough Sullivan StadiumJune 15, 1988 Pittsburgh Three Rivers StadiumJune 17, 1988 Pontiac SilverdomeJune 18, 1988June 19, 1988 Buffalo Rich Stadium June 22, 1988 Akron Rubber BowlJune 23, 1988June 25, 1988 Oxford Oxford Plains SpeedwayJune 26, 1988 East Rutherford Giants Stadium June 27, 1988July 2, 1988 Houston Rice StadiumJuly 3, 1988 Dallas Cotton BowlJuly 6, 1988 Indianapolis Hoosier DomeJuly 9, 1988 Memphis Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumJuly 10, 1988 Kansas City Arrowhead StadiumJuly 13, 1988 Minneapolis Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome July 17, 1988 San Francisco Candlestick Park July 20, 1988 Spokane Joe Albi Stadium July 24, 1988 Los Angeles Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumJuly 27, 1988 Seattle Kingdome July 30, 1988 Denver Mile High Stadium September 30, 1988 Lexington Rupp Arena October 1, 1988 Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum October 3, 1988 Atlanta Omni Coliseum October 4, 1988 Antioch Starwood Amphitheatre October 6, 1988 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum October 7, 1988 Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum October 8, 1988 Knoxville Thompson–Boling Arena October 11, 1988 New York City Madison Square Garden October 12, 1988 Uniondale Nassau Coliseum October 14, 1988 Hartford Hartford Civic Center October 15, 1988 Syracuse Carrier Dome October 17, 1988 Providence Providence Civic Center October 18, 1988 Worcester Centrum in Worcester October 20, 1988 Richmond Richmond Coliseum October 21, 1988 Norfolk Norfolk Scope October 22, 1988 Philadelphia Spectrum October 25, 1988 Rosemont Rosemont Horizon October 26, 1988 Fort Wayne Allen County War Memorial Coliseum October 27, 1988 October 28, 1988 Milwaukee Bradley Center October 30, 1988 Notre Dame Joyce Center October 31, 1988 Cedar Rapids Five Seasons Center November 1, 1988 Ames Hilton Coliseum November 4, 1988 Valley Center Kansas Coliseum November 5, 1988 Lincoln Bob Devaney Sports Center November 7, 1988 Peoria Peoria Civic Center November 8, 1988 St. Louis St. Louis Arena November 9, 1988 November 11, 1988 New Orleans Lakefront Arena November 13, 1988 Austin Frank Erwin Center November 15, 1988 El Paso UTEP Special Events Center November 16, 1988 Tucson Tucson Community Center November 17, 1988 Phoenix Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum November 19, 1988 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena November 21, 1988 Sacramento ARCO Arena November 22, 1988 Reno Lawlor Events Center November 24, 1988 Portland Memorial Coliseum November 26, 1988 Salt Lake City Salt Palace

+ List of 1989 concerts, showing date, city, country and venue Date City Country Venue January 19, 1989 Tokyo Japan Tokyo Dome January 23, 1989 Kyoto Kyoto Pulse Plaza January 24, 1989 Osaka Osaka-jō Hall January 25, 1989 January 27, 1989 Hiroshima Hiroshima Sun Plaza January 29, 1989 Kyoto Kyoto Pulse Plaza January 31, 1989 Nagoya Nagoya Rainbow Hall February 1, 1989 Tokyo Tokyo Dome February 2, 1989 February 4, 1989 Honolulu United States Neal S. Blaisdell Center February 5, 1989

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