Ampitheathers?? What no Stadiums?

[firestarter]

I always thought when dave returned they would play at stadiums and MSG type venues!!

[Nitro Express]

Because the last Van Halen tour was such a money loser nobody wants to foot the risk again.

[DLRdelight!]

what a bitch

[Nitro Express]

To be honest, if I was a promoter the historic volitile nature of Van Halen trying to do anything with David Lee Roth would have me nervouse.

Van Hagar proved it no longer is a money maker and is dead.

From the last tour sevral things were learned. The drummer and bass player do their jobs well. The guitar player is no longer up to snuff playing wise and shows signs of mental instability.

Now we have lost a reliable bass player replaced by a family member with no experience and unproven. They are bringing in a singer who has never done anything live with the band since 1984 because everything since then has fallen through due to bad blood. The new singer has proven himself and still has it. The drummer usually does his stuff. The guitar player is a scary bet. What are we really getting with him? The whole thing is volitile and someone is taking a risk bankrolling it. If it's successful the promoter will make some good money.

[BrownSound1]

Fuck some stadiums...I hate stadium shows. I still bet they play some arenas, especially if this thing picks up a head of steam.

[RuzDNailz]

Come on, take it one step at a time. There will be stadium shows sometime in the near future and we will relive those days like the back of Diver Down album cover.

[VHrocks]

Van Halen with DLR will fill stadiums in some cities. In other cities, they won't. I think Nitro spelled it out pretty well in his post above. EVH is a roll of the dice.

[mott98]

Remember, if the band falls apart, there are tons of moneys owed and damages that the promoter collects. That is why bands often stick it out to finish a tour in the first place -- they lose their shirt if they do not.

That said, the post above is correct in some ways -- 2004 taught promoters that you cannot just print Van Halen on a ticket and make buckets of money. Remember as well, how much the tickets cost! More people might have gone ahead to see that lineup, but if you were wavering, the ticket cost alone would end that thought.

With Irving Azoff as manager, two things are definite -- tickets WILL be very expensive, and they WILL finish the tour. It is probably wise to do the summer sheds and see how demand is. But I am almost sure this will be like a very wary Kiss putting tix on sale in 1996 and then seeing everything sell out like crazy. Perhaps that enthusiasm alone will give the band the positive energy and kick in the ass they need to be serious about the tour and hold things together.

[jasonmint]

The 2 ampitheater venues I am familiar with, First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre (Chicago) and Verizon Wireless(Indy) hold 30,000 and 24,000 respectively. These are both Live Nation amps. If all 40 they play are similiar to these, and they sell them out(wishful thinking perhaps?), it will make a shit load of money and I would imagine stadiums will be next(if they hold it together), although in my experience, stadium gigs are a big rip off but I always have nosebleed seats.
JD

[Bob_R]

With Wolfie on bass they ain't playing stadiums.

[mott98]

If venues have 25-30,000 capacity, they dont even need stadiums. If ticket demand is that rampant, they will just add more shows at the venue, much like the Prince tour in 2004.

[sadaist]

1996 was the time to play stadiums.

[Terry]

If the 1996 reunion had resulted in a full-length album, and presuming EVH had recovered from his surgery in time for CVH to hit the road in the summer of 1997, I think then the band could have easily filled arenas with the capacity of MSG...and did several stadium shows that would have sold well IF the band had taken at least one other name act on the road with them...you have to remember that CVH did stadium gigs, but always as either an opening act earlier in their career or as a headline act at the top of a bill in which many other name bands were performing. CVH even back in the day was never a proven commodity in terms of bringing 50,000 or more people to a gig based just on their appearance...not that they COULDN'T have...


For a promoter in 2007, with only 3/4s of the band appearing and after the underperforming nature of the LAST Van Halen tour, I'd say venues of 10-15k capacity is much more resonable. It's gonna be better to sell out those venues than take on larger sized arenas only to find out they're only gonna be 2/3rds full...I have serious doubts the band could come close to selling out a 60,000 seat stadium now, even with Mike being there, much less with the Wolfie freakshow element.

Also, what has transpired since 1996 has given the whole Van Halen name a Spinal Tap element to it, and this has inevitably caused casual interest to wane, and it is the casual interest that is going to make up at least half of the audience at a stadium size gig.

Plus, I have no desire to see any band in a stadium. Have seen 4 of them, and the sound quality and proximity isn't half as good as a 10,000 seater.

[TAKIN WHISKEY]

If 40 shows sell out quickly, like I have to believe they would, I would think they will add plenty more dates. Hopefully all of this attention, unlike the Spammy 04 debaucle, will lead to a new album.

[TheArchitect]

Originally posted by jasonmint
The 2 ampitheater venues I am familiar with, First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre (Chicago) and Verizon Wireless(Indy) hold 30,000 and 24,000 respectively. These are both Live Nation amps. If all 40 they play are similiar to these, and they sell them out(wishful thinking perhaps?), it will make a shit load of money and I would imagine stadiums will be next(if they hold it together), although in my experience, stadium gigs are a big rip off but I always have nosebleed seats.
JD

Very wishful thinking. No new material and the lameass PR machine they use will hurt them. Those crowds in the 80's have mortages, tuition payments and responsibilities like finding babysitters getting in the way. Not to mention a lot of people are just over VH now and won't even consider a nostolgia trip for $100+ a head.

I think in most markets they would do well to sell out 8000-10000 seat venue