The World Vacation Tour was the second concert tour by the American hard rock band Van Halen in support of their second studio album Van Halen II.
Background The band began their first full headlining tour in Fresno on March 25, 1979. The band were performing in arenas throughout the United States, where they had performed previously as an opening act. The band was set to perform in Spokane on April 14, but had postponed their show to April 19 due to an illness from one of the band members. The tour was a financial success for the band, aside from the additional costs of having extra lighting and sound equipment. The band had also toured Europe for two weeks and Asia during this tour, playing to larger audiences than they previously had on their first tour. The tour concluded on October 7, 1979, with a performance at the Forum in Inglewood where Eddie and Alex lived.
Reception Nelson George, a reviewer for the magazine Billboard, gave the performance in New York City on May 12, 1979, a positive review. He opened with the acknowledgement of a sold out young and dedicated crowd as well as recognizing the two studio albums released by the band having also achieved gold. He praised the usage of backlights and colored light combinations, stating that the show despite being in its frenzy was well choreographed and slick with the noting of Roth's energy on stage. However, he criticized the sound based on how Eddie and Michael were washing away the vocals of Roth with the buzzing of their cordless guitars.
Music critic Bob Ross from the St. Petersburg Times, had also gave the band's performance a positive review after attending the Lakeland show, opening with a headline that Van Halen was "irresistibly entertaining". He noted on the excitement from the audience that the band had generated from 6,000 fans. He praised the energy, enthusiasm and simplicity techniques. When talking about Eddie Van Halen, he noted him as interesting a lead guitarist, comparing him to many other rising guitarists from other band in the decade. Commenting on Eddie's abilities during the show, he said the feedback never faltered, and his performance was a reminder that great rock music is fun, super-tight and never pompous. Ross concluded his review, agreeing with bassist Michael Anthony that Van Halen shouldn't change the basic sound the band developed.
Posting his review in the Leader-Post, Mike McVean gave the Regina, Saskatchewan performance he attended a positive review, opening that the 5,750 euphoric fans in attendance weren't disappointed - which ranged from 12 to 18 year olds having compared them to being like cattle going to the slaughterhouse. He noted that the band had put on a "cranium-splitting show" which featured a minimum of definition and clarity of lyric and a maximum of energy throughout the performance, sticking to what the show was about as he cited: "heavy metal hard rock". He praised both the quality of Eddie Van Halen's guitar work and David Lee Roth's vocals, comparing them to being a Robert Plant-style presence but criticized that the guitar riffs and leaps were of much relevance stating that one brick does not make a wall of sound. Concert attendee Verna Mogk was very disappointed with McVean's review, stating that they did not feel like a cow being led to the slaughterhouse, and did not appreciate being referred to that way. They noted on the fantastic musical abilities of the band with evidence of the loud applause the audience gave to them, remarking that McVean should check with his family physician for migraine relief after his "cranium-splitting" comment, with hopes the band did not read the review he made, following an "excellent and entertaining show".
However, Ted Drozdowski from the Morning Record and Journal gave the New Haven performance a negative review, opening his review with stating the band was miserably poor in concert with the simple statement: "Van Halen stinks!" He stated that the band was very disorganized and immature with no sense of timing, featured a hate-inspired stage presence as well as noting on an ugly light show. Despite the stage show was he quoted as "sad", he stated that the band was nowhere near the quality and perfection of their studio recordings. He criticized that the band was trying to be a copy of Led Zeppelin, with the band's lack of intelligence preventing even a mediocre copy. Having noted on the various issues that the band members had, as well as Roth's performance, comparing him to a prancing fool who behaved like a headless chicken, he also referred to Eddie Van Halen's guitar playing, also accusing him of cheating to achieve his claim to fame. He concluded his review, stating it was a terrible performing band and a waste of the price on a concert ticket.
Tour dates + List of 1979 concerts, showing date, city, country and venue Date City Country VenueMarch 25, 1979FresnoUnited StatesSelland ArenaMarch 26, 1979ReddingRedding Civic AuditoriumMarch 27, 1979Central PointCompton ArenaMarch 29, 1979MissoulaAdams Field HouseMarch 30, 1979CaldwellO'Connor Field HouseMarch 31, 1979LoganSmith SpectrumApril 3, 1979TacomaUPS Memorial Field HouseApril 5, 1979San RafaelMarin Veterans Memorial AuditoriumApril 6, 1979San JoseSan Jose Performing Arts TheaterApril 7, 1979April 8, 1979Los AngelesLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum(California World Music Festival #2)April 10, 1979RenoCentennial ColiseumApril 12, 1979SeattleSeattle Center ColiseumApril 13, 1979April 14, 1979SpokaneSpokane ColiseumApril 16, 1979PortlandJantzen Beach Ice ArenaApril 17, 1979April 18, 1979VancouverCanadaPacific ColiseumApril 19, 1979SpokaneUnited StatesSpokane ColiseumApril 21, 1979BoulderBalch FieldhouseApril 22, 1979April 24, 1979Kansas CityKansas City Music HallApril 26, 1979ChicagoAragon BallroomApril 27, 1979April 28, 1979St. LouisCheckerdomeApril 29, 1979IndianapolisMarket Square ArenaMay 1, 1979DetroitDetroit Masonic TempleMay 2, 1979May 3, 1979KalamazooWings StadiumMay 5, 1979CincinnatiRiverfront ColiseumMay 6, 1979LouisvilleLouisville GardensMay 7, 1979PittsburghStanley TheatreMay 8, 1979ToledoToledo Sports ArenaMay 9, 1979BuffaloBuffalo Memorial AuditoriumMay 11, 1979Washington, D.C.Warner TheatreMay 12, 1979New York CityPalladiumMay 13, 1979BostonOrpheum TheatreMay 15, 1979TorontoCanadaMaple Leaf GardensMay 16, 1979LondonLondon GardensMay 17, 1979SyracuseUnited StatesManley Field HouseMay 18, 1979RochesterRochester Community War Memorial Arena("Don Kirshner's Rock Concert")May 19, 1979PhiladelphiaSpectrumMay 30, 1979AtlantaFox TheatreMay 31, 1979CharlotteCharlotte ColiseumJune 1, 1979NorfolkScope ArenaJune 2, 1979RaleighCarter–Finley Stadium(June Jam)June 4, 1979KnoxvilleKnoxville Civic ColiseumJune 5, 1979BirminghamBoutwell Memorial AuditoriumJune 7, 1979MemphisMid-South ColiseumJune 8, 1979Little RockBarton ColiseumJune 9, 1979DallasCotton Bowl(Texxas Jam)June 10, 1979New OrleansThe Superdome(A Day of Rock 'N' Roll)June 14, 1979BrusselsBelgiumForest NationalJune 15, 1979AmsterdamNetherlandsJaap EdenhalJune 17, 1979DüsseldorfWest GermanyPhilips HallJune 18, 1979OffenbachStadthalle OffenbachJune 19, 1979MunichCircus Krone BuildingJune 21, 1979LyonFrancePalais des Sports de GerlandJune 22, 1979ParisPavillon de ParisJune 25, 1979BirminghamEnglandBirmingham OdeonJune 26, 1979NewcastleNewcastle City HallJune 27, 1979ManchesterManchester Apollo TheatreJune 28, 1979LondonRainbow TheatreJune 29, 1979July 5, 1979JacksonvilleUnited StatesJacksonville Exhibition HallJuly 6, 1979West Palm BeachWest Palm Beach AuditoriumJuly 7, 1979MiamiMiami Jai-Alai Fronton ArenaJuly 8, 1979LakelandLakeland Civic CenterJuly 10, 1979Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi Memorial ColiseumJuly 11, 1979HoustonHouston Music HallJuly 12, 1979July 14, 1979AmarilloAmarillo Civic CenterJuly 15, 1979MidlandChaparral CenterJuly 16, 1979AustinAustin Municipal AuditoriumJuly 17, 1979San AntonioSan Antonio Convention CenterJuly 19, 1979WichitaCentury II Concert HallJuly 20, 1979TulsaTulsa Assembly CenterJuly 21, 1979Oklahoma CityGaylord Performing Arts TheaterJuly 22, 1979LincolnPershing Memorial AuditoriumJuly 24, 1979Saint PaulSt. Paul Civic AuditoriumJuly 25, 1979July 26, 1979DubuqueFive Flags ArenaJuly 27, 1979SpringfieldIllinois State ArmoryJuly 28, 1979TrotwoodHara ArenaAugust 10, 1979PortlandCumberland County Civic CenterAugust 11, 1979Asbury ParkAsbury Park Convention HallAugust 12, 1979New HavenNew Haven ColiseumAugust 14, 1979ClevelandCleveland Music HallAugust 15, 1979August 17, 1979SpringfieldSpringfield Civic CenterAugust 18, 1979South YarmouthCape Cod ColiseumAugust 20, 1979MadisonDane County Veterans Memorial ColiseumAugust 21, 1979MilwaukeeMilwaukee AuditoriumAugust 25, 1979OaklandOakland Civic AuditoriumAugust 26, 1979September 3, 1979KyotoJapanKyoto KaikanSeptember 5, 1979FukuokaFukuoka Kyuden Kinen GymnasiumSeptember 7, 1979NagoyaNagoya Civic Assembly HallSeptember 8, 1979KurashikiKurashiki Civic Cultural HallSeptember 10, 1979OsakaOsaka Prefectural GymnasiumSeptember 11, 1979September 13, 1979TokyoNippon BudokanSeptember 18, 1979EdmontonCanadaNorthlands ColiseumSeptember 19, 1979CalgaryStampede CorralSeptember 22, 1979ReginaAgridomeSeptember 23, 1979WinnipegWinnipeg Convention CentreSeptember 25, 1979DuluthUnited StatesDuluth ArenaSeptember 27, 1979BismarckBismarck Civic CenterSeptember 28, 1979Rapid CityRushmore Plaza Civic CenterSeptember 29, 1979BillingsMetraPark ArenaOctober 2, 1979TucsonTucson Community CenterOctober 3, 1979PhoenixPhoenix Exhibition HallOctober 6, 1979San DiegoSan Diego Sports ArenaOctober 7, 1979InglewoodThe Forum
Box office score data +List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, referencesDate(1979)CityVenueAttendanceGrossApril 3Tacoma, United StatesUPS Memorial Field House4,200$35,158April 5San Rafael, United StatesMarin Veterans Memorial Auditorium2,028$16,974May 7Pittsburgh, United StatesStanley Theatre3,697$30,058May 13Boston, United StatesOrpheum Theatre2,000$28,729July 10Corpus Christi, United StatesMemorial Coliseum6,113$45,985July 15Midland, United StatesChaparral Center4,076$33,581August 11Asbury Park, United StatesConvention Hall3,946$35,652August 12New Haven, United StatesColiseum7,400$60,750September 27Bismarck, United StatesCivic Center6,119$52,529September 28Rapid City, United StatesRushmore Plaza6,831$57,946September 29Billings, United StatesMetraPark Arena9,151$77,516
Personnel Eddie Van Halen – guitar and background vocals David Lee Roth – lead vocals, acoustic guitar on "Ice Cream Man" Michael Anthony – bass, backing vocals Alex Van Halen – drums
References Citations
General sources