The Fair Warning Tour was a concert tour by the American hard rock band Van Halen in support of their fourth studio album Fair Warning.
Background The tour began with two to three night performances with the band being focused on performing only in North America. 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. The band concluded their tour as an opening act for two shows with the Rolling Stones at Tangerine Bowl on October 24 and 25.
Reception 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.
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.
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".
Tour dates + List of 1981 concerts, showing date, city, country and venue Date City Country VenueMay 12, 1981HalifaxCanadaHalifax Metro CentreMay 15, 1981ProvidenceUnited StatesProvidence Civic CenterMay 16, 1981PortlandCumberland County Civic CenterMay 17, 1981Glens FallsGlens Falls Civic CenterMay 18, 1981RochesterRochester Community War Memorial ArenaMay 20, 1981CharlestonCharleston Civic CenterMay 22, 1981LouisvilleFreedom HallMay 23, 1981DaytonHara ArenaMay 24, 1981Kalamazoo Wings Stadium May 27, 1981Edmonton CanadaNorthlands ColiseumMay 28, 1981CalgaryStampede CorralMay 31, 1981SpokaneUnited StatesSpokane ColiseumJune 2, 1981VancouverCanadaPacific ColiseumJune 4, 1981SeattleUnited StatesSeattle Center ColiseumJune 5, 1981June 8, 1981PortlandVeterans Memorial ColiseumJune 9, 1981June 11, 1981OaklandOakland ArenaJune 12, 1981June 13, 1981June 16, 1981Las VegasAladdin TheatreJune 18, 1981FresnoSelland ArenaJune 19, 1981Los AngelesLos Angeles Memorial Sports ArenaJune 20, 1981InglewoodThe ForumJune 21, 1981July 2, 1981MilwaukeeMECCA ArenaJuly 3, 1981DetroitCobo ArenaJuly 4, 1981July 5, 1981July 7, 1981Saint PaulSt. Paul Civic CenterJuly 9, 1981IndianapolisMarket Square ArenaJuly 10, 1981ChicagoInternational AmphitheatreJuly 11, 1981July 12, 1981MadisonDane County Veterans Memorial ColiseumJuly 14, 1981PittsburghPittsburgh Civic ArenaJuly 16, 1981New HavenNew Haven ColiseumJuly 17, 1981New York CityMadison Square GardenJuly 18, 1981UniondaleNassau ColiseumJuly 20, 1981PhiladelphiaSpectrumJuly 21, 1981July 22, 1981July 24, 1981BostonBoston GardenJuly 25, 1981July 27, 1981RoanokeRoanoke Civic CenterJuly 28, 1981LandoverCapital CentreJuly 29, 1981July 31, 1981BuffaloBuffalo Memorial AuditoriumAugust 2, 1981RichfieldRichfield ColiseumAugust 3, 1981August 4, 1981TorontoCanadaMaple Leaf GardensAugust 5, 1981MontrealMontreal ForumAugust 18, 1981Pembroke PinesUnited StatesHollywood SportatoriumAugust 19, 1981LakelandLakeland Civic CenterAugust 22, 1981AtlantaOmni ColiseumAugust 23, 1981KnoxvilleKnoxville Civic ColiseumAugust 24, 1981CharlotteCharlotte ColiseumAugust 25, 1981GreensboroGreensboro ColiseumAugust 27, 1981HamptonHampton ColiseumAugust 29, 1981CincinnatiRiverfront ColiseumAugust 30, 1981NashvilleNashville Municipal AuditoriumAugust 31, 1981BirminghamJefferson Civic CenterSeptember 1, 1981MemphisMid-South ColiseumSeptember 3, 1981HuntsvilleVon Braun Civic CenterSeptember 4, 1981JacksonMississippi ColiseumSeptember 5, 1981BiloxiMississippi Coast ColiseumSeptember 6, 1981Baton RougeRiverside CentroplexSeptember 8, 1981ShreveportHirsch Memorial ColiseumSeptember 10, 1981DallasReunion ArenaSeptember 11, 1981September 12, 1981HoustonSam Houston ColiseumSeptember 13, 1981September 28, 1981PhoenixArizona Veterans Memorial ColiseumSeptember 29, 1981San DiegoSan Diego Sports ArenaOctober 2, 1981AustinFrank Erwin CenterOctober 3, 1981NormanLloyd Noble CenterOctober 6, 1981AlbuquerqueTingley ColiseumOctober 7, 1981El PasoEl Paso County ColiseumOctober 9, 1981San AntonioSan Antonio Convention CenterOctober 15, 1981TulsaTulsa Assembly CenterOctober 16, 1981Valley CenterKansas ColiseumOctober 17, 1981Kansas CityKemper ArenaOctober 18, 1981St. LouisCheckerdomeOctober 20, 1981OmahaOmaha Civic AuditoriumOctober 21, 1981Cedar RapidsFive Seasons ArenaOctober 24, 1981OrlandoTangerine BowlOctober 25, 1981
Box office score data +List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, referencesDate(1981)CityVenueAttendanceGrossJuly 12Madison, United StatesColiseum8,346$71,886July 14Pittsburgh, United StatesCivic Arena13,374$129,052July 16New Haven, United StatesColiseum9,832$92,640July 20–22Philadelphia, United StatesSpectrum36,339$355,380July 24–25Boston, United StatesGarden24,200$249,946July 28Indianapolis, United StatesMarket Square Arena15,500$126,250August 19Lakeland, United StatesCivic Center10,000$95,000August 29Cincinnati, United StatesColiseum9,897$98,679August 30Nashville, United StatesMunicipal Auditorium9,055$80,603August 31Birmingham, United StatesCivic Center9,542$82,978September 1Memphis, United StatesColiseum10,369$98,506September 4Jackson, United StatesColiseum8,297$78,822October 2Austin, United StatesFrank Erwin Center17,617$104,734October 15Tulsa, United StatesAssembly Center7,157$67,458October 18St. Louis, United StatesCheckerdome14,082$127,395
Personnel Eddie Van Halen – guitar, backing vocals, keyboards David Lee Roth – lead vocals, acoustic guitar Michael Anthony – bass, backing vocals, keyboards Alex Van Halen – drums
References Citations
General sources