The Balance Tour was a concert tour by American hard-rock band Van Halen in support of their tenth studio album Balance.
Background The tour was dubbed the "Ambulance" Tour by Eddie Van Halen due to his hip injury caused by avascular necrosis, and his brother, drummer Alex Van Halen wearing a neck brace for most of the tour, due to rupturing three vertebrae in his neck. Consequently, Eddie was a lot more static on stage. This would be the group's last tour with Sammy Hagar on vocals until 2004. The opening night in Pensacola, and a combination of footage from the two Toronto shows were broadcast on Pay-Per-View.
The band had not performed any shows as an opening act in over a decade, but on this tour they opened for veteran act Bon Jovi for several sold-out dates at stadiums due to Bon Jovi's huge appeal overseas. Collective Soul, Skid Row, Our Lady Peace, and Brother Cane opened for Van Halen on the North American legs of the tour.
Reception Joe Ehrbar, a correspondent from the Spokesman Review, gave the performance he attended at The Gorge a positive review. He opened his review, talking about the state of the band with their injuries, suggesting that it be renamed "Van Handicapped", adding that Alex Van Halen didn't seem so enthusiastic about performing that night. After acknowledging the state of the band, he noted that the band gave an amazing performance with youthful energy and a steady stream of their hit songs, with the show getting better and more climactic. While he stated that the band was notorious over the years for delivering sloppy concerts, they had performed impeccably tight that night.
Tour dates + List of 1995 concerts Date City Country Venue January 27, 1995 Arnhem Netherlands Luxor January 30, 1995 Milan Italy The Factory January 31, 1995 March 11, 1995 Pensacola United States Pensacola Civic Center March 12, 1995 Jacksonville Jacksonville Coliseum March 14, 1995 St. Petersburg ThunderDome March 17, 1995 Miami Miami Arena March 20, 1995 Orlando Orlando Arena March 22, 1995 New Orleans Lakefront Arena March 24, 1995 Dallas Reunion Arena March 25, 1995 San Antonio HemisFair Arena March 26, 1995 Houston The Summit March 28, 1995 El Paso Special Events Center March 29, 1995 Albuquerque Tingley Coliseum March 31, 1995 Las Vegas Thomas and Mack Center April 1, 1995 Phoenix America West Arena April 2, 1995 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena April 4, 1995 Inglewood Great Western Forum April 5, 1995 April 14, 1995 Rosemont Rosemont Horizon April 15, 1995 Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills April 16, 1995 April 18, 1995 Fort Wayne Allen County Memorial Coliseum April 19, 1995 Lexington Rupp Arena April 21, 1995 Fairborn Ervin J. Nutter Center April 22, 1995 Cleveland Gund Arena April 23, 1995 Charleston Charleston Civic Center April 25, 1995 East Rutherford Brendan Byrne Arena April 26, 1995 Uniondale Nassau Coliseum April 28, 1995 Philadelphia CoreStates Spectrum April 29, 1995 Worcester Worcester Centrum April 30, 1995 Providence Providence Civic Center May 2, 1995 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium May 3, 1995 Rochester Rochester Community War Memorial May 5, 1995 Quebec City Canada Colisée de Québec May 6, 1995 Montreal Montreal Forum May 7, 1995 Albany United States Knickerbocker Arena May 13, 1995 Oakland Oakland Coliseum Arena May 14, 1995 San Jose San Jose Arena May 15, 1995 Sacramento ARCO Arena May 24, 1995 Paris France Le Zénith May 26, 1995 Bremen Germany Weserstadion May 27, 1995 May 28, 1995 Nijmegen Netherlands Goffertpark May 30, 1995 Essen Germany Georg-Melches-Stadion June 1, 1995 Chemnitz Sportforum June 3, 1995 Munich Olympiastadion(Rock im Park) June 4, 1995 Nürburg Nürburgring(Rock am Ring) June 6, 1995 Berlin Waldbühne June 7, 1995 June 10, 1995 Basel Switzerland St. Jakob Stadium June 11, 1995 Zeltweg Austria Waldstadion June 13, 1995 Barcelona Spain Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc June 14, 1995 Madrid Palacio de Los Deportes June 15, 1995 Lisbon Portugal Estadio Jose Alvalade June 17, 1995 Rotselaar Belgium Werchter festival ground June 18, 1995 Lahr Germany Flughafen Lahr June 20, 1995 Paris France Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy June 21, 1995 Cardiff Wales Arms Park June 23, 1995 London England Wembley Stadium June 24, 1995 June 25, 1995 June 27, 1995 Newcastle Gateshead International Stadium June 28, 1995 Sheffield Don Valley Stadium June 30, 1995 Roskilde Denmark Darupvej(Roskilde Festival) July 15, 1995 Holmdel United States Garden State Arts Center July 16, 1995 July 18, 1995 Cuyahoga Falls Blossom Music Center July 19, 1995 Noblesville Deer Creek Music Center July 21, 1995 Bonner Springs Sandstone Amphitheater July 22, 1995 Maryland Heights Riverport Amphitheatre July 23, 1995 July 25, 1995 Tupelo Tupelo Coliseum July 26, 1995 Antioch Starwood Amphitheater July 28, 1995 Tinley Park New World Music Theatre July 29, 1995 East Troy Alpine Valley Music Theater July 30, 1995 Minneapolis Target Center August 1, 1995 Clarkston Pine Knob Music Theatre August 2, 1995 August 4, 1995 Bristow Nissan Pavilion August 5, 1995 Camden Blockbuster-Sony Music Entertainment Centre August 6, 1995 Old Orchard Beach The Ballpark August 8, 1995 Mansfield Great Woods August 9, 1995 August 11, 1995 Burgettstown Coca-Cola Star Lake Amphitheater August 12, 1995 Columbus Polaris Amphitheater August 13, 1995 Cincinnati Riverbend Music Center August 14, 1995 Uniondale Nassau Coliseum August 15, 1995 August 18, 1995 Toronto Canada Molson Amphitheatre August 19, 1995 August 20, 1995 Ottawa Frank Clair Stadium August 22, 1995 Wantagh United States Jones Beach Theater August 23, 1995 August 25, 1995 August 26, 1995 Hartford Meadows Music Theatre August 27, 1995 Scranton Montage Mountain Performing Arts Center August 29, 1995 Columbia Merriweather Post Pavilion August 30, 1995 Richmond Classic Amphitheatre September 1, 1995 Raleigh Walnut Creek Amphitheater September 2, 1995 Charlotte Blockbuster Pavilion September 3, 1995 Atlanta Coca-Cola Lakewood Amphitheatre September 11, 1995 Edmonton Canada Northlands Coliseum September 13, 1995 Vancouver Pacific Coliseum September 15, 1995 Portland United States Civic Stadium September 16, 1995 George The Gorge Amphitheatre September 17, 1995 Boise BSU Pavilion September 19, 1995 Salt Lake City Delta Center September 20, 1995 Greenwood Village Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre September 22, 1995 Valley Center Kansas Coliseum September 23, 1995 Ames Hilton Coliseum September 24, 1995 Moline MARK of the Quad Cities September 26, 1995 Memphis Pyramid Arena September 27, 1995 Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center September 29, 1995 The Woodlands Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion September 30, 1995 Austin South Park Meadows October 1, 1995 Dallas Coca-Cola Starplex Amphitheatre October 3, 1995 Oklahoma City Myriad Convention Center October 4, 1995 October 6, 1995 Phoenix Desert Sky Pavilion October 7, 1995 Devore Blockbuster Pavilion October 8, 1995 Fresno Selland Arena October 11, 1995 Reno Lawlor Events Center October 13, 1995 Sacramento Cal Expo Amphitheatre October 14, 1995 Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre October 15, 1995 Irvine Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre October 25, 1995 Tokyo Japan Yoyogi National Gymnasium October 26, 1995 October 27, 1995 October 29, 1995 Fukuoka Kokusai Center October 30, 1995 Osaka Osaka Castle Hall November 1, 1995 Tokyo Nippon Budokan November 2, 1995 November 4, 1995 Honolulu United States Neal S. Blaisdell Center November 5, 1995
The band opened for Bon Jovi at these shows.
Box office score data +List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, referencesDate(1995)CityVenueAttendanceGrossMarch 17Miami, United StatesArena11,748$331,231March 24Dallas, United StatesReunion Arena15,367$414,160April 22Cleveland, United StatesGund Arena16,406$477,710April 25East Rutherford, United StatesBryne Meadowlands Arena17,628$491,780April 26Uniondale, United StatesNassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum15,323$444,930April 28Philadelphia, United StatesCoreStates Spectrum15,846$453,738May 6Montreal, CanadaForum12,689$339,225July 21Bonner Springs, United StatesSandstone Amphitheatre18,000$461,651July 22–23Maryland Heights, United StatesRiverport Amphitheatre39,898$971,866July 28Tinley Park, United StatesWorld Music Theatre20,543$609,880July 29East Troy, United StatesAlpine Valley Music Theatre24,572$722,315August 11Burgettstown, United StatesCoca-Cola Star Lake Amphitheatre23,250$528,920August 18–19Toronto, CanadaMolson Amphitheatre30,215$735,661August 20Ottawa, CanadaCivic Center Arena14,327$356,859September 11Edmonton, CanadaNorthlands Coliseum13,987$376,878September 16George, United StatesThe Gorge18,500$518,350September 24Moline, United StatesMark of the Quad Cities9,967$362,346September 29The Woodlands, United StatesCynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion13,007$373,940
Personnel Eddie Van Halen – guitar, backing vocals Michael Anthony – bass, backing vocals, keyboards Alex Van Halen – drums Sammy Hagar – lead vocals, guitar
Additional musician Alan Fitzgerald – keyboards
References