Van Hagar To Tour In 2017

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Put it to you this way:

I could see from Ed's perspective that if Roth isn't up to snuff anymore, Hagar is really the only other choice he has to front the band if he wants to keep performing.

I'll add that even if Roth were singing noticeably better AND Mike rejoined the band for a CVH Farewell Tour, at this point I'd only have a marginal (at best) interest in seeing THAT lineup: these guys just got old, you know?

It's not even a case of my hating Hagar (he's far too average to be anything other than merely forgettable), rather that I just don't have any use for Van Hagar's music: I had no interest in seeing them in 1986 or 1988 when I easily could have, and when THAT lineup was at their best, so naturally it follows that I have no interest in seeing them in 2016.

I love Eddie Van Halen's playing on those CVH records. I always have. I still enjoy listening to it. It's just not worth spending nickel one and a minute of my time to actually go and hear Eddie play live anymore if Roth is going to turn in shitty lead vocals. I have no use for the music Ed wrote after Roth left the band, so naturally I have no interest in going to see Eddie play Van Hagar music.

However, I can understand why someone might want to go see Eddie play, even if he's playing songs from an era of Van Halen they don't like: Ed's getting up there in age. He has gone through a cancer scare, several other ailments and fought to finally get sober. He played very well on the 2012 and 2016 tours. If he remains healthy and sober, he will probably play well on a Van Hagar reunion tour, and these days each tour could be the last chance one has to hear one of the few living rock guitar legends left live in the flesh.

I've seen Ed in 1984, 2008 and 2012. If I never hear him live again, I won't have any regrets about it. Far less regrets than seeing him fucked up and unable to play well like I did in 2008, or playing well yet being offset by terrible lead vocals like I did in 2012.

Yup, completely see what you mean....

If Dave's vocals were "normal" (whether those yelps are intentional or not), this wouldn't even be a topic IMO... Sure I would've loved to eventually see Mike re-replace Wolf and have the original band back together one last time.... But even if it were still Wolf, if Dave were to sing the songs like they're meant to be sung, that's still a no-brainer compared to Van Velveeta....

Yes, even though the deep cuts have been fantastic to hear live once again, I don't know how long they can (could?) run out the same batch of hits every few years without any new material.... Personally, yes I would still go assuming it's fairly close, there are worse things to do than listen to Van Halen....

Having said all that, I simply think that it's clear that Dave's voice is shot (no crime at age 62 - he's human), and while Bette's voice isn't exactly sounding like it's 1982 either, it's still serviceable....

So you combine that with what I'm absolutely sure is a package deal to also include Mike, they kiss and make up, and voila, you've got Van Hagar Part 3....

Will it sell well? Not especially, but they did have a run of commercial hits, albeit sappy ballads... I saw figures from PollstarPro that said that while I thought the 2015 VH tour had a pretty respectable showing at most of the venues that I saw pics/video, officially the average attendance was approximately 10,500 per show.... I don't see Sam's return beating that....

[chuckjitsu]

For me personally, I would have as much interest in a 2017 Sam Halen tour as I did in the 2004 tour- zero. That said, in some small, probably irrational way, it would bug me on a couple of levels if they reunited with Sam and toured. For starters, I consider the Sam version of VH to be lesser and inferior and VH just ain't VH without Dave as the front man. Secondly, if the Samburglar is back, Mike would most likely be back as well. If Ed can suck it up and have Mike back for Sam's sake, why the fuck couldn't he have made it work with any of these recent tours with Dave? Ed is the only reason we didn't see a proper VH reunion, so if he brings Mike back for a Sam tour, I might just have to send him a giant box of dicks for his next birthday (a box packed with pictures of himself would get the job done).

But in the grand scheme of things, whatever. I don't see any new material with Dave forthcoming and I'd fall on the "doubtful" side of another tour with Dave happening. If a Samburglar tour does go down, I hope Dave sees that as an opportunity- hook back up with the EEAS guys and go kick ass. Who cares if it's only 10 shows in 2000 seaters. Or better yet, release the John 5 album and do something with that.

Your move Dave.

[Seshmeister]

Am I the only person that prefers 2000 seaters to arenas?

[cadaverdog]

Your move Dave.

About the only thing Dave could do now is acoustic versions of his greatest hits but nobody seems interested in that.

[cadaverdog]

Am I the only person that prefers 2000 seaters to arenas?

No but even here all the tickets for a 2000 seat performance by a popular act would end up in the hands of people with connections or people with deep pockets who bought them from the people with connections. Unless it was some one off show the act agreed to perform for past favors by a radio station or other business where the tickets were given away.

[Terry]

Am I the only person that prefers 2000 seaters to arenas?

Nope.

The best sounding shows I've ever been to were in 2,000 seaters or less.

[Terry]

Yup, completely see what you mean....

If Dave's vocals were "normal" (whether those yelps are intentional or not), this wouldn't even be a topic IMO... Sure I would've loved to eventually see Mike re-replace Wolf and have the original band back together one last time.... But even if it were still Wolf, if Dave were to sing the songs like they're meant to be sung, that's still a no-brainer compared to Van Velveeta....

Yes, even though the deep cuts have been fantastic to hear live once again, I don't know how long they can (could?) run out the same batch of hits every few years without any new material.... Personally, yes I would still go assuming it's fairly close, there are worse things to do than listen to Van Halen....

Having said all that, I simply think that it's clear that Dave's voice is shot (no crime at age 62 - he's human), and while Bette's voice isn't exactly sounding like it's 1982 either, it's still serviceable....

So you combine that with what I'm absolutely sure is a package deal to also include Mike, they kiss and make up, and voila, you've got Van Hagar Part 3....

Will it sell well? Not especially, but they did have a run of commercial hits, albeit sappy ballads... I saw figures from PollstarPro that said that while I thought the 2015 VH tour had a pretty respectable showing at most of the venues that I saw pics/video, officially the average attendance was approximately 10,500 per show.... I don't see Sam's return beating that....

That was probably what I enjoyed best of the 2008 and 2012 shows I saw: the deep cuts. Particularly in 2012 when Ed was playing really well. I mean, shit, they were tearing into Girl Gone Bad and for a moment all that magic came flooding back. Seriously, I had fucking goosebumps listening to them playing that tune: Ed fucking KILLED. Instrumentally, Drop Dead Legs, Light Up The Sky, Feel Your Love Tonight and Dirty Movies sounded great on the last tour from the youtube stuff I saw.

I keep coming back to this point, but I will say it again in that Dave really stepped up his game in 2007-2008. His vocals sounded energized, he was making an effort not always apparent on the last couple solo gigs I had seen prior to the VH reunion, he was singing all the lyrics...great, great stuff.

From 2012 up to the present, he has that strained yelp working overtime, and it just...plain...sounds...bad. I'm not 100% sure his voice is totally shot, but I can't imagine it is less straining for him to yell the lyrics than it would be to simply sing them. So why does he go the yelp route?

If his voice IS shot, of course it's no crime considering his age. Shit, it's coming up on 40 years since the first album was released. It was furious hard rock performed by young men, and it's not a surprise that these same men hitting their 60s are having trouble keeping up with what they did in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Roth is an old man. I don't expect him to jump around onstage anymore, nor do I expect him to unleash one of those barefoot on hot coals screams.

I do require that he sing the tunes reasonably in key, though. Anything short of that, I pass. I had a chance to see and listen to several shows online at the start of the 2015 tour before tix for the one in my area went on sale. My wife was somewhat shocked because I said I had no interest. The venue they were playing at was literally 6 miles from our house, and tickets weren't too expensive and pretty easy to get. So it wasn't going to be a hassle getting there or getting home after, and it wasn't going to cost much, either. And I couldn't be bothered. And it was Dave's vocals, which sounded worse than what I heard in 2012, that made the decision very easy.

I'd tend to think a Van Hagar tour would do well if only because Ed in the end did reunite with Dave and they did manage to do a few tours and an album together (I'm not even including that live album, which was a bad joke: I'd sooner listen to my old audience-sourced 1981 boots than that album). So there shouldn't be any resentment about a Hagar reunion at this point in terms of it standing in the way of Dave being in the band. I mean, fuck's sake, they've been together for nearly a decade, and all we got was one new album out of it (half of which were remakes of leftovers), so it's not like a Van Hagar reunion in 2017 is going to interrupt some hot creative streak Dave and Ed have going on. And it's not like a Van Hagar tour in 2017 is going to rob Dave of precious time in terms of his live vocal abilities - he's all done in that respect, and has been for the last two tours. Plus, while there's no accounting for tastes, there are more than a few people out there who liked Van Hagar. If Hagar and Anthony rejoin Ed and Al for a tour, I'd imagine they'd be able to do a summer run of 10,000 seater sheds with not too many empty seats in the house. You gotta figure Hagar is even older than Roth, and realistically how many more tours is he gonna be able to do? Doubtless there will be plenty of people who will figure it could be the last time to hear that lineup play those tunes.

[binnie]

Well, at least we can now debate the question we've all been keen to ask:

Will they play 'A Apolitical Blues'?

[Va Beach VH Fan]

If Hagar and Anthony rejoin Ed and Al for a tour, I'd imagine they'd be able to do a summer run of 10,000 seater sheds with not too many empty seats in the house. You gotta figure Hagar is even older than Roth, and realistically how many more tours is he gonna be able to do? Doubtless there will be plenty of people who will figure it could be the last time to hear that lineup play those tunes.

The report is that it will be a fall tour, so that means arenas vice ampitheaters....

And with a fall tour, Samuel Roy Hagar will turn 70 on October 13th....

[DONNIEP]

The report is that it will be a fall tour, so that means arenas vice ampitheaters....

And with a fall tour, Samuel Roy Hagar will turn 70 on October 13th....

I wonder if Van Hagar is gonna play Sam's Birthday Bash. Maybe Mtv can do another Cabo Wabo Contest!!

[Terry]

The report is that it will be a fall tour, so that means arenas vice ampitheaters....

And with a fall tour, Samuel Roy Hagar will turn 70 on October 13th....

Well, okay...that's fine from where I sit.

I mean, for whatever dismissive comments I have about Chickenfoot's or Hagar's abilities to draw sizable crowds to their shows, the fact of the matter is that Dave as a solo act hasn't been able to draw sizable crowds on the strength of his name since...what, 1991? The biggest live venture he was involved with post-1996 was the Sam and Dave tour: prior to that tour, he was an opening act for such bands as Bad Company in 1999. Should Roth leave Van Halen now and go back to being a solo act, he'll be back to doing that same circuit of small capacity venues/Ribfests/State Fair circuits that he has in the years between 2002 and 2007.

He is in a similar situation that Hagar is, in which Hagar's biggest touring venture since leaving Van Halen in 1996 was the Sam and Dave tour. Chickenfoot isn't selling out arenas, and Sam has been playing the same type of similar size gigs that Roth has been as a solo act.

Should Hagar rejoin Van Halen, the band should be able to fill 10,000 seaters, at least for one tour: it's the strength and visibility of the Van Halen name that enables this to happen. Doubtless there are all sorts of subcategories within the Van Halen fan base these days:

Casual fans who don't make severe distinctions between various lineups in terms of it being a deal breaker for buying a ticket or not.

Diehard Eddie fans who will pay to see him play regardless of who is singing for the band.

'Dave or the Grave' fans of that particular lineup.

Van Hagar fans who actually prefer that era of the band above CVH, but would still see VH w/ Roth (and those who wouldn't).



I would tend to think Van Hagar 2017 might need a stronger opening act in terms of name recognition and drawing ability than the ones who have opened for the group over the last 3 tours, and probably a rock act (as opposed to Ziggy Marley or Kool & The Gang), so as to ensure the venues come close to selling out. Motley Crue did the same thing with Alice Cooper on their last tour, where Cooper's name was an inducement and made sense in terms of the Crue audience. And possibly a stronger opening act than whatever band Wolfgang Van Halen is playing with (assuming Mike Anthony is to be part of a hypothetical Van Hagar 2017 tour).

But, yeah, Sammy Hagar is getting up there in terms of age. Or, rather, he is already up there. And while his voice has held out a bit better than Roth's has in terms of durability, even Hagar's voice isn't quite what it once was, either.

So, if they're gonna do it, sooner would be better than later.

However, if such a plan IS in the works, they've managed to keep it pretty quiet: if they were actually already rehearsing and were actually already making approaches to promoters for specific dates and venues, it's hard to imagine all of that wouldn't have leaked in a substantive way.

[Von Halen]

Well, okay...that's fine from where I sit.

I mean, for whatever dismissive comments I have about Chickenfoot's or Hagar's abilities to draw sizable crowds to their shows, the fact of the matter is that Dave as a solo act hasn't been able to draw sizable crowds on the strength of his name since...what, 1991? The biggest live venture he was involved with post-1996 was the Sam and Dave tour: prior to that tour, he was an opening act for such bands as Bad Company in 1999. Should Roth leave Van Halen now and go back to being a solo act, he'll be back to doing that same circuit of small capacity venues/Ribfests/State Fair circuits that he has in the years between 2002 and 2007.

He is in a similar situation that Hagar is, in which Hagar's biggest touring venture since leaving Van Halen in 1996 was the Sam and Dave tour. Chickenfoot isn't selling out arenas, and Sam has been playing the same type of similar size gigs that Roth has been as a solo act.

Should Hagar rejoin Van Halen, the band should be able to fill 10,000 seaters, at least for one tour: it's the strength and visibility of the Van Halen name that enables this to happen. Doubtless there are all sorts of subcategories within the Van Halen fan base these days:

Casual fans who don't make severe distinctions between various lineups in terms of it being a deal breaker for buying a ticket or not.

Diehard Eddie fans who will pay to see him play regardless of who is singing for the band.

'Dave or the Grave' fans of that particular lineup.

Van Hagar fans who actually prefer that era of the band above CVH, but would still see VH w/ Roth (and those who wouldn't).



I would tend to think Van Hagar 2017 might need a stronger opening act in terms of name recognition and drawing ability than the ones who have opened for the group over the last 3 tours, and probably a rock act (as opposed to Ziggy Marley or Kool & The Gang), so as to ensure the venues come close to selling out. Motley Crue did the same thing with Alice Cooper on their last tour, where Cooper's name was an inducement and made sense in terms of the Crue audience. And possibly a stronger opening act than whatever band Wolfgang Van Halen is playing with (assuming Mike Anthony is to be part of a hypothetical Van Hagar 2017 tour).

But, yeah, Sammy Hagar is getting up there in terms of age. Or, rather, he is already up there. And while his voice has held out a bit better than Roth's has in terms of durability, even Hagar's voice isn't quite what it once was, either.

So, if they're gonna do it, sooner would be better than later.

However, if such a plan IS in the works, they've managed to keep it pretty quiet: if they were actually already rehearsing and were actually already making approaches to promoters for specific dates and venues, it's hard to imagine all of that wouldn't have leaked in a substantive way.

Did you read the post on the Main page?

I've been told Ed would like to consider doing it sooner than the Fall, but he has a lot going on with the EVH brand right now, and they would need to start booking the sheds very very soon, as a lot of these bands are now booking so far in advance, it will soon be too late to get a whole route/tour scheduled in these venues. I don't believe they are far enough along in this idea, to have started rehearsing.

I believe Van Hagar could absolutely sell 10,000 seaters for one tour. Especially in major cities. The last Van Halen tour while heavily papered in a lot of the cities, was still selling well in the most major markets. You have stated quite well in your posts, why the last tour didn't sell well in a lot of places. In fact, a lot of what you stated is exactly why I went to the show in London, Ontario (and to see Twonabomber and some crazy ass Canadians!) and skipped the show right here in my own back yard. I could have had 6th row on Ed's side, for face value the day of the show, and passed.

I'm over it. With the way they have treated us, for so long, I am fucking over it. If they could have all performed like Dave did in '07, and the rest of the band did in '15, I'd be more inclined to go to more than one show. But at this point, I don't think it is possible. As much as it pains me to say it, I truly believe it is time for Dave to move on. My vote is for him to release the John 5 album.

The only thing this band has left for me, is the release of at least one of the old shows. I'd much rather sit on my couch, and watch one of those shows at ear splitting volume, than go see what I saw in 2015, again. In fact, at this point, I'd choose to sit on the couch and watch my grainy, shitty sounding version of the US Festival, than I would go see what I saw in 2015, again.

[vandeleur]

Fucking vonzie is a mean ol grizzly bear .... he is like the Roth army equivalent of quint in jaws

[DONNIEP]

It fills my heart with Heavenly Joy to know that Ed knows him and his brother and his kid couldn't fill a Walmart without Dave or Sam up there. And then the ultimate insult - he's gotta kiss Mike's ass every damn nite by pretending to like him. When do the motherfucking tickets go on sale, Vonzie Claus?? I wouldn't miss this for anything.

[ZahZoo]

Fucking vonzie is a mean ol grizzly bear .... he is like the Roth army equivalent of quint in jaws

I was somewhat distracted when I first read this... I thought it said "Fucking vodka" and you were referring to Sesh...