Van Halen Secretly Planning for 2015 Tour ???

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Was perusing a Links thread today and came upon a poster who stated his sister was listening to an interview on a New Haven, CT radio station this morning with Jimmy Koplik, who's a Live Nation promoter in the Northeast. She indicated that Koplik stated that he's trying to get Van Halen at the Xfinity Theater in Hartford this summer....

BTW, the Xfinity Theater in Hartford is an ampitheater with 30,000 capacity....

Take that for what it's worth, but here's the audio on that, VH is mentioned about 3 minutes into the interview, titled "12/4/14 - Jimmy Koplik on CT Concerts"....

http://media.wplr.com/Podcasts/2762/12-4-14_JimmyKoplik.mp3

In addition to that, our own MH5150 posted there as well (but not here?):

I have a good friend who does the booking for The Royal Farms arena (Baltimore Arena). He said talks are on for 2015 show summer/fall show.
Take it for what its worth...


Soooooooooooooooooo........

[twonabomber]

Summer would be nice. Just once I'd like to go to Toronto when it's warm...

Maybe Tremonti will be done touring by then. Or maybe they'll be opening and the kid can do double duty. Or maybe we'll all be surprised and it won't be an issue.

[mh5150]

Yep I talk to the dude yesterday and he said someone contacted The Arena about a list of open dates. VERY EARLY in discussions...

WHERE IS THE MIGHTY VAN HALEN? 📢📢📢📡📡📡

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Yep I talk to the dude yesterday and he said someone contacted The Arena about a list of open dates. VERY EARLY in discussions...

WHERE IS THE MIGHTY VAN HALEN? 

Yeah, and that's the point I think is important to remember, it's the band's management that has to initiate the talks, regardless of the venue....

Unless I'm way off base, the respective promoter isn't going to be the one calling the band's management....

So, if both of these venues' discussions are indeed true, they are a result of the band initiating negotiations.....

Promising, I must say... Especially with some outdoor venues....

[sickman]

Yup, that was me that posted that at the links. Thanks for the audio of the interview. I can say that it would not be Jimmy that would just out of the blue contact Van Halen, they made contact first.

[mh5150]

Yeah, and that's the point I think is important to remember, it's the band's management that has to initiate the talks, regardless of the venue....

Unless I'm way off base, the respective promoter isn't going to be the one calling the band's management....

So, if both of these venues' discussions are indeed true, they are a result of the band initiating negotiations.....

Promising, I must say... Especially with some outdoor venues....

If I remember correctly in 07' the Baltimore show was one of the canceled dates. They came back in 08' . The 12' show was canceled and never made up. There are 2 outdoor venues close by one about 20 minutes away (Merryweather Post Pavilion) and (Jiffy Lube Pavilion) about 50 minutes away.

WHERE IS THE MIGHTY VAN HALEN? 📢📢📢📡📡📡

[mh5150]

You think MA may be involved with a 30k shed???

WHERE IS THE MIGHTY VAN HALEN? 📢📢📢📡📡📡

[Va Beach VH Fan]

If I remember correctly in 07' the Baltimore show was one of the canceled dates. They came back in 08' . The 12' show was canceled and never made up. There are 2 outdoor venues close by one about 20 minutes away (Merryweather Post Pavilion) and (Jiffy Lube Pavilion) about 50 minutes away.

WHERE IS THE MIGHTY VAN HALEN? 📢📢📢📡📡📡

Yeah I saw Van Hagarita at Merriweather in '93, I didn't realize how much north of DC it was.... Jiffy Lube is out in NOVA....

[FORD]

Van Halen at the Gorge in the middle of the summer would sure beat the Hell out of driving in the worst rainstorm of the decade, like I had to in December 2007.

[sickman]

You think MA may be involved with a 30k shed???

WHERE IS THE MIGHTY VAN HALEN? 📢📢📢📡📡📡

I highly doubt it but Live Nation knows something we don't. They would book them in an appropriate size venue for what they thought Van Halen could sell. The last 3 times they were in CT was at Mohegan Sun which at best holds 8,000 people for an end stage show. Maybe they are planning on having a solid support act as an opener. Another band that would have a decent draw. Not Cool and the Gang!

[CreatureFrmTheC]

Isn't Irving Azoff VH's promoter? And didn't he leave Live Nation?

[Va Beach VH Fan]

I highly doubt it but Live Nation knows something we don't. They would book them in an appropriate size venue for what they thought Van Halen could sell. The last 3 times they were in CT was at Mohegan Sun which at best holds 8,000 people for an end stage show. Maybe they are planning on having a solid support act as an opener. Another band that would have a decent draw. Not Cool and the Gang!

I dunno, how much of always booking those casinos shows, with half the capacity, is the band possibly getting relatively more $$$$ as compared to, say, booking a show in an arena in the area that seats 15k to 18k ??

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Isn't Irving Azoff VH's promoter? And didn't he leave Live Nation?

Not anymore, I don't believe.... He started a new company with Madison Square Garden called "Azoff MSG Entertainment".....

[sickman]

I dunno, how much of always booking those casinos shows, with half the capacity, is the band possibly getting relatively more $$$$ as compared to, say, booking a show in an arena in the area that seats 15k to 18k ??

I actually asked Jimmy that once. He said no. The band makes the same amount of money no matter what venue they put them in. If they put them in an 8000 seat venue they take what the band is being paid, the venue overhead, etc and divide it by 8,000 or 30,000 depending on the venue. It's obviously more complicated than that with all the different levels of seating ie lawn versus shed seats versus location in the shed but you get the picture. Another reason I believe a lot of bands book the casinos is amenities too. You are staying in the same building you play in, the accommodations are much better and lets face it, it's safe. For a band like Van Halen they look out and see a full arena regardless of the fact that it's half the size of the other arena 40 minutes up the road in Hartford. That's another thing. Hartford also has a 16,000 seat arena in the city, 10 minutes from the outdoor Xfinity venue.

[sickman]

Not anymore, I don't believe.... He started a new company with Madison Square Garden called "Azoff MSG Entertainment".....

Yes, but I believe Live Nation gets first refusal of his clients that he took with him.