The World Invasion Tour was a concert tour by the American hard rock band Van Halen in support of their third studio album, Women and Children First.
Background The tour was dubbed the "Party 'til You Die Tour" by the band. The tour is notable for being the first time the band played keyboards live during their shows, which would later play a role on the band's next three studio albums. The band skipped Japan on the tour, focused on playing in other smaller cities in North America, with a month of performances in Europe. Unlike the previous tours, this tour was more successful. During the performance in Cincinnati, Roth was accused of inciting others to violate the fire code when he told the crowd to "light 'em up!", urging them to smoke with the audience lighting both matches and lighters during the song "Light Up the Sky". He was written up and later charged for violating fire codes. He would later break his nose during a television appearance in Italy when he did his famous leap, hitting a light fixture.
During the tour, the band had carried 50 tons of equipment, and 850,000 watts of lighting which Alex Van Halen stated would be in the Guinness Book of World Records. The extensive stage itself featured a plane of multi-colored lights, choreographed with each song performed, with multi-platform stage to the right side where Eddie Van Halen would perform a guitar solo with seven lights pointing at him from behind to create a silhouette effect. Before every show, Van Halen demanded that in their dressing rooms that they'd have two pounds of M&M's with all the brown ones removed.
Tour dates + List of 1980 concerts, showing date, city, country and venue Date City Country VenueMarch 19, 1980VictoriaCanadaVictoria Memorial ArenaMarch 21, 1980Central PointUnited StatesCompton ArenaMarch 22, 1980EugeneMcArthur CourtMarch 24, 1980SpokaneSpokane ColiseumMarch 25, 1980Great FallsFour Seasons ArenaMarch 26, 1980MissoulaAdams Field HouseMarch 29, 1980Fort CollinsMoby GymMarch 30, 1980PuebloMassari ArenaApril 2, 1980VancouverCanadaPacific ColiseumApril 3, 1980PortlandUnited StatesPortland Memorial ColiseumApril 4, 1980SeattleSeattle Center ColiseumApril 5, 1980April 7, 1980CalgaryCanadaStampede CorralApril 8, 1980EdmontonNorthlands ColiseumApril 11, 1980WinnipegWinnipeg ArenaApril 13, 1980Saint PaulUnited StatesSt. Paul Civic CenterApril 14, 1980MilwaukeeMECCA ArenaApril 15, 1980MadisonDane County Veterans Memorial ColiseumApril 24, 1980CincinnatiRiverfront ColiseumApril 26, 1980DetroitCobo ArenaApril 27, 1980April 29, 1980RichfieldRichfield ColiseumApril 30, 1980PittsburghPittsburgh Civic ArenaMay 1, 1980LandoverCapital CentreMay 2, 1980BinghamtonBroome County Veterans Memorial ArenaMay 3, 1980South YarmouthCape Cod ColiseumMay 5, 1980BuffaloBuffalo Memorial AuditoriumMay 6, 1980RochesterRochester Community War Memorial ArenaMay 7, 1980PhiladelphiaSpectrumMay 8, 1980May 9, 1980New HavenNew Haven ColiseumMay 26, 1980GeleenNetherlandsBurgemeester Damen Sportpark(Pinkpop Festival)May 27, 1980LudwigshafenWest GermanyFriedrich-Ebert-HalleMay 29, 1980EssenGrugahalleMay 30, 1980HamburgErnst-Merck-HalleMay 31, 1980CambraiFranceGrottos PalaceJune 1, 1980CaenCaen Expo HallJune 3, 1980ParisPalais des SportsJune 4, 1980LyonPalais des Sports de GerlandJune 6, 1980ReimsReims Sports PalaceJune 7, 1980WürzburgWest GermanyCarl Diem HallJune 8, 1980NeunkirchenHemmerleinhalleJune 10, 1980DüsseldorfPhilips HallJune 11, 1980SindelfingenMessehalleJune 14, 1980MunichRudi-Sedlmayer-HalleJune 17, 1980NewcastleEnglandNewcastle City HallJune 18, 1980GlasgowScotlandThe ApolloJune 19, 1980ManchesterEnglandManchester ApolloJune 20, 1980LeicesterDe Montfort HallJune 22, 1980BirminghamBirmingham OdeonJune 23, 1980LondonRainbow TheatreJune 24, 1980July 10, 1980KalamazooUnited StatesWings StadiumJuly 11, 1980ToledoToledo Sports ArenaJuly 12, 1980Fort WayneAllen County War Memorial ColiseumJuly 13, 1980HuntingtonHuntington Civic CenterJuly 15, 1980MontrealCanadaMontreal ForumJuly 16, 1980OttawaOttawa Civic CentreJuly 17, 1980LondonLondon GardensJuly 18, 1980TorontoMaple Leaf GardensJuly 21, 1980HamptonUnited StatesHampton ColiseumJuly 22, 1980BaltimoreBaltimore Civic CenterJuly 24, 1980HartfordHartford Civic CenterJuly 25, 1980BostonBoston GardenJuly 26, 1980HempsteadNassau ColiseumJuly 28, 1980LouisvilleFreedom HallJuly 29, 1980ChicagoInternational AmphitheatreJuly 30, 1980IndianapolisMarket Square ArenaJuly 31, 1980St. LouisCheckerdomeAugust 1, 1980MemphisMid-South ColiseumAugust 2, 1980Little RockBarton ColiseumAugust 4, 1980BirminghamJefferson Civic CenterAugust 5, 1980NashvilleNashville Municipal AuditoriumAugust 6, 1980AtlantaOmni ColiseumAugust 8, 1980LakelandLakeland Civic CenterAugust 9, 1980Pembroke PinesHollywood SportatoriumAugust 10, 1980JacksonvilleJacksonville ColiseumAugust 11, 1980North Fort MyersLee County Civic CenterAugust 15, 1980San JuanPuerto RicoRoberto Clemente ColiseumAugust 16, 1980August 22, 1980Kansas CityUnited StatesKemper ArenaAugust 23, 1980OmahaOmaha Civic AuditoriumAugust 24, 1980SalinaBicentennial CenterAugust 26, 1980Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi Memorial ColiseumAugust 27, 1980San AntonioSan Antonio Convention CenterAugust 28, 1980HoustonSam Houston ColiseumAugust 29, 1980ShreveportHirsch Memorial ColiseumAugust 30, 1980Baton RougeRiverside CentroplexSeptember 1, 1980MobileMobile Municipal AuditoriumSeptember 2, 1980JacksonMississippi ColiseumSeptember 3, 1980BeaumontFair Park ColiseumSeptember 4, 1980DallasReunion ArenaSeptember 6, 1980NormanOwen Field(Roklahoma)September 7, 1980AmarilloAmarillo Civic CenterSeptember 8, 1980September 9, 1980LubbockLubbock Municipal ColiseumSeptember 10, 1980AlbuquerqueUniversity ArenaSeptember 12, 1980DenverMcNichols Sports ArenaSeptember 13, 1980September 15, 1980PhoenixArizona Veterans Memorial ColiseumSeptember 16, 1980TucsonTucson Community CenterSeptember 18, 1980FresnoSelland ArenaSeptember 19, 1980Los AngelesLos Angeles Memorial Sports ArenaSeptember 20, 1980October 3, 1980Rapid CityRushmore Plaza Civic CenterOctober 4, 1980BismarckBismarck Civic CenterOctober 6, 1980Salt Lake CitySalt PalaceOctober 9, 1980OaklandOakland ArenaOctober 10, 1980October 12, 1980San DiegoSan Diego Sports ArenaOctober 15, 1980Sioux FallsSioux Falls ArenaOctober 16, 1980Des MoinesDes Moines Veterans Memorial AuditoriumOctober 17, 1980LincolnPershing Memorial AuditoriumOctober 19, 1980MacombWestern HallOctober 21, 1980Terre HauteHulman ArenaOctober 22, 1980LexingtonRupp ArenaOctober 24, 1980KnoxvilleKnoxville Civic ColiseumOctober 25, 1980Johnson CityFreedom HallOctober 31, 1980MaconMacon ColiseumNovember 1, 1980AugustaAugusta Civic CenterNovember 2, 1980AshevilleAsheville Civic CenterNovember 5, 1980ChampaignAssembly HallNovember 6, 1980Notre DameNotre Dame Athletics and Convocation CenterNovember 7, 1980EvansvilleRoberts Municipal StadiumNovember 8, 1980HuntsvilleVon Braun Civic CenterNovember 11, 1980Winston-SalemWinston-Salem Memorial ColiseumNovember 12, 1980SavannahSavannah Civic CenterNovember 14, 1980St. PetersburgBayfront CenterNovember 15, 1980LakelandLakeland Civic Center
Box office score data +List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, referencesDate(1980)CityVenueAttendanceGrossJuly 18Toronto, CanadaMaple Leaf Gardens14,955$150,706July 24Hartford, United StatesCivic Center13,300$119,151July 25Boston, United StatesBoston Gardens12,000$118,104July 28Louisville, United StatesFreedom Hall13,436$105,038July 30Indianapolis, United StatesMarket Square Arena14,000$104,209July 31St. Louis, United StatesCheckerdome Theatre13,320$117,451August 1Memphis, United StatesSouth Coliseum10,154$83,608August 4Birmingham, United StatesJefferson Civic Center11,146$93,790September 4Dallas, United StatesReunion Arena14,177$127,593September 6Norman, United StatesOwen Field31,611$410,652September 18Fresno, United StatesSelland Arena7,030$61,161October 9–10Oakland, United StatesColiseum23,178$210,669
Personnel Eddie Van Halen – guitar, backing vocals David Lee Roth – lead vocals, acoustic guitar Michael Anthony – bass, keyboards, backing vocals Alex Van Halen – drums
References Citations
General sources