Contest: Name the arenas that CVH played in the most !

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Because, well, I have no life, and since I compiled all of the information contained in the daily "This Day in CVH/DLR History" entries in the Calendar, I found myself wondering while compiling that info where The Mighty Van Halen played the most.

So I tallied up all of the tour dates and came up with the top 3 arenas that CVH played the most....

So let's have a little contest: The winner will receive, well, not a fucking thing.

A few rules:
1. Inclusive tours are '78 through '84, plus the 2007-08 tour.
2. No club tours (Gazzari's, Whisky, etc.)
3. No DLR solo tours
4. If the arena simply changes it's name, such as the Civic Arena changing it's name to Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, that is OK and all dates are counted.
5. If CVH played at a DIFFERENT arena at the same city, that is counted as two separate sites. For example, if CVH played at the Richfield Coliseum in Cleveland five times, but also played the Quicken Loans Arena once (different arena), those are two different sites.
6. If CVH played at an arena multiple dates during a tour, ALL dates are counted individually. For example, if CVH played at the San Diego Sports Arena for three straight nights, as they did in '84, that is counted as three dates.

By the way, if you want to cheat and tally up the dates by going into each of the 365 days on the Calendar (I've got a spreadsheet, ha ha ha), you're more pathetic than, well, I am.

I'll give people a week to make guesses, then I'll give the answers.

By the way, if you're curious about the times CVH played a specific arena, just reply with the question and I'll answer them after the contest is over. I've still got the chicken scratch notes.

Here my one and only hint: Two of the three are fairly easy, in retrospect, but the other one is quite surprising.....

Let's hear them !!!!

[ace diamond]

selland arena in fresno, california.
i do beleive they played there on just about every tour.

[Southpaw]

Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York...Madison Square Garden, New York City...Brendon Byrne Arena, Meadowlands, East Rutherford, New Jersey

[Va Beach VH Fan]

selland arena in fresno, california.
i do beleive they played there on just about every tour.

That's a damn good guess Ace.... I was surprised at that one myself... They played there all CVH tours except for the '84 tour, and they played the Save Mart Center in '07...

Not in the top three, though....

I'm gonna stop saying whether or not the guesses are in the top three, unless someone gets all three...

Which, honestly, I don't see anyone getting.... Two of the three, likely, but highly doubt all three....

[Diamondjimi]

Why not post this as a Poll with 10 arena choices and then reveal the actual top 3 in 10 days. (Or any time frame of your liking)?

[chefcraig]

Nassau Coliseum, Corstates Spectrum (Phil), Great Western Forum?

[sadaist]

San Diego Sports Arena?

I say that not because it's my home turf. But they played 2 nights there in 1984. (also 2 nights on the 5150 tour). It is also very close to their home town, and used to be about the only venue large enough in San Diego.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

dane county colesium, madison wi

[LoungeMachine]

Is it cheating to check the Smoking Loon website for sales figures?

[kwame k]

Is it cheating to check the Smoking Loon website for sales figures?

Since it's CVH, you'd have to check Schlitz Malt Liquor's figures

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Why not post this as a Poll with 10 arena choices and then reveal the actual top 3 in 10 days. (Or any time frame of your liking)?

Thanks for the suggestion DJ, I'll do it like that with the top 10 that I show....

[Va Beach VH Fan]

There we go, pick away, you should be able to pick three....

The poll will close in 7 days....

[Va Beach VH Fan]

By the way, now that I've thrown 10 choices out there, if there are any other venues you're curious about, just reply and I'll let you know....

[binnie]

Excellent thread - better get my thinking cap on.....

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Aw fuck, I had to close the poll....

In double checking my work between the various avenues for tour dates, there are a couple of discrepancies that could screw up the top three sites...

So here's all of the sites that CVH has played in at least seven times;

1. The Spectrum, Philadelphia - 11 times
2. Seattle Center Coliseum - 10 times, could be as much as 12
3. The Forum, Los Angeles - 8 times
4. Hollywood Sportatorium, Hollywood, FL - 8 times
5. Capital Centre, Largo, MD - 8 times
6. Cobo Hall, Detroit - 8 times
7. Oakland Coliseum - 8 times
8. Madison Square Garden, New York - 7 times
9. Brendan Byrne/Continential Airlines/Izod Arena, East Rutherford, NJ - 7 times
10. Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY - 7 times
11. San Diego Sports Arena - 7 times
12. Reunion Arena, Dallas - 7 times
13. Civic/Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh - 7 times

[PETE'S BROTHER]

i got 33% that is as much as lounge's capital gains tax

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Some interesting notes:

- Oakland might have been #1, but CVH played the Cow Palace in Frisco on the DD and 1984 tours instead of Oakland. The also played the stadium in Oakland in '78.

- Madison Square Garden would be higher, but CVH only played Nassau Coliseum (twice) on the WACF tour.

- In addition to playing the Forum in L.A. 8 times, they played the Memorial Coliseum in '79, the L.A. Sports Arena (where the Clippers play) 3 times, and the Staples Center twice.

- There's a descrepancy in the tour dates on the FW tour in Seattle. The VH Encylopedia shows 3 dates, but VH Bootlegs and Wikipedia show only one date in Seattle.

[chefcraig]

I don't believe the number 8 is correct for the Hollywood Sportatorium (Fl). I can only come up with 6 dates during the CVH era. The Sabbath/VH gig (7/7/79) was way down in Miami at the Jai Ali Fronton, and was a pain in the ass to get to. Trust me, I live here.

4/21/1978
8/9/1980
12/9/82
12/10/82
01/20/84
01/21/84

This is why I was surprised to see such a high number listed in the poll, because I saw each show, minus the second date in 1982 and 1984.

[Antman]

I'm gonna work deductive reasoning here for the NY area arenas. I would say top 3 would include the Nassau Mausoleum I mean Coliseum. The reason: On VH 1 they still played clubs as headliners, BUT they opened for Sabbath and played MSG and Nassau as support. They did not play the major metro are arenas on VH2. They did headline Nassau in 1980, 1981, 1982. If memory serves me correctly, they did not play Nassau in 1984, although some tour iteneraries (sp?) have them I believe around 4/14/84. So that would give them at least 4 shows. Nassua is not the type of arena that a band would typically do multiple night stands there. As for the Meadowlands, I don't think that's top three. I don't think they played there until 1982 for I think 3 shows. Came back on 1984 for 2 shows, I was at the 4/3/84 show. The Garden?-1 show on VH1 w/abbath, 1 FW, 2 shows on DD and 2 shows on 1984. So that would be 6. Maaybe MSG. I'm also gonna say LA Forum and the Hollywood Sportatorium cause I think they used to open the tours there, or would hit it early in the tour. Final answer, MSG, LA Forum and Hollywood Sportatorium. I'm probably wrong, but I think I have the NY tri state are covered.

[Antman]

Didn't see the answers a few posts back. I know for a fact that VH played Nassau other than WACF, I have a boot from FW from Nassau. I believe the date was 7/18/81 and they also palyed on DD I think in November 82 and I'm pretty sure they opened for Sabbath at Nassau as well.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

I don't believe the number 8 is correct for the Hollywood Sportatorium (Fl). I can only come up with 6 dates during the CVH era. The Sabbath/VH gig (7/7/79) was way down in Miami at the Jai Ali Fronton, and was a pain in the ass to get to. Trust me, I live here.

4/21/1978
8/9/1980
12/9/82
12/10/82
01/20/84
01/21/84

This is why I was surprised to see such a high number listed in the poll, because I saw each show, minus the second date in 1982 and 1984.

CC, I didn't include the '79 show there....

The VH Encyclopedia also shows there on 11/05/78 and 8/18/81.....

I realize none of these sources is what anyone would call official, unfortunately that's the only thing I can go by....

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Didn't see the answers a few posts back. I know for a fact that VH played Nassau other than WACF, I have a boot from FW from Nassau. I believe the date was 7/18/81 and they also palyed on DD I think in November 82 and I'm pretty sure they opened for Sabbath at Nassau as well.

I don't know where you're getting the impression that they only played Nassau on the WACF tour, of course they played there many times...

Anyway, I have to stand corrected, none of the VH sources were showing them playing in neither MSG nor Nassau with Sabbath, but after checking out Sabbath sources, they played MSG on 8/27/78 and Nassau on 8/28/78... Surprising it was missed in so many places....

The Nassau dates:

8/28/78
7/26/80
7/27/80
7/18/81
10/13/82
11/13/82
4/14/84
11/08/07

[Antman]

I think the DD tour dates are misleading because Eddie broke his wrist and they had to reschedule dates in the NY are for Nassau, Meadowlands and maybe MSG. It's unusual for a band to hit the same arena a month later. Same area, maybe, but not the same arena.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

I think the DD tour dates are misleading because Eddie broke his wrist and they had to reschedule dates in the NY are for Nassau, Meadowlands and maybe MSG. It's unusual for a band to hit the same arena a month later. Same area, maybe, but not the same arena.

Yes, they played the original Nassau first date of 10/13/82, but the second date of 10/18 there was canceled because of Ed's wrist (along with 10/15 and 10/16 in Jersey). The Nassau rescheduling was 11/13.....

[ZahZoo]

Didn't have time to pull it up but the best definative source of show dates is the old Vault from the official site. You can still get to it via the web-archive...

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Craig gave me another good one last night....

[PETE'S BROTHER]

Craig gave me another good one last night....

.....

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Silly rabbit...

[PETE'S BROTHER]

dicks are for chicks