Van Halen opening for Sabbath

[danielc]

Did anyone happen to see Van Halen open for Sabbath in Nashville? I heard that Sabbath did'nt show up on the first night. So they wound up playing two nights instead. I also heard that VH really blew them away. Also Dave came out swinging on a cable? Just curious.

[tjvhou812]

i think that tour was over sea,s i dont think they toured the u.s.

[POJO_Risin]

One of Van Halen's first tours through Europe...

I believe it was 1978...almost positive...

and the tour was limited to the UK...

so unless there's a Nasville in Europe...and redneck Europeans...

I'd say no...

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Not so fast.... Your Nashville question is answered as well....

LOL, look at the Sept. 23rd lineup.......

P.S. - Pojo, check out Aug. 31st...

http://www.black-sabbath.com/tourdates/1978.html

May 16 Sheffield City (Oval) Hall Van Halen

May 17 Liverpool Empire Theater Van Halen

May 18 Glasgow Apollo Theater - Renfield Street Van Halen

May 19 Aberdeen Capitol Theater Van Halen

May 21 Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Newcastle City Hall Van Halen?

May 22 Manchester Apollo Ardwick Theater Van Halen

May 23 Hanley Victoria Hall Van Halen

May 25 Portsmouth Guildhall Van Halen

May 25 London TOP OF THE POPS (1st 1978 appearance)
1st TOP OF THE POPS appearance in '78. Performed "Never Say Die"
May 26 Bristol Colston Hall Van Halen

May 27 London Lewisham Odeon Van Halen

May 28 Ipswich Ipswich Gaumont Van Halen

May 30 Coventry Coventry Theater Van Halen

May 31 Leicester De Montfort Hall Van Halen

Jun 1 London Hammersmith Odeon Van Halen

Jun 2 Oxford New Theater Van Halen

Jun 3 Southampton Gaumont Theatre Van Halen

Jun 5 Birmingham Odeon Theatre Van Halen Aborted show, due to PA failure. Rescheduled for 6/12/78.
Jun 6 Birmingham Odeon Theatre Van Halen Rescheduled for 6/13/78.
Jun 7 Bradford St. George's Hall Van Halen

Jun 8 Preston Lockley Grand Hall - Guild Hall Van Halen

Jun 10 London Hammersmith Odeon Van Halen

Jun 11 London Hammersmith Odeon Van Halen Cancelled due to PA failure
Jun 12 Birmingham Odeon Theatre Tanz Der Youth

Jun 13 Birmingham Odeon Theatre Tanz Der Youth? Make-up gig for the 6/5 Odeon gig
Jun 14 Manchester Apollo Ardwick Theater Tanz Der Youth

Jun 15 Manchester Apollo Ardwick Theater Tanz Der Youth

Jun 16 Bridlington Bridlington Spa Tanz Der Youth

Jun 17 Liverpool Empire Tanz Der Youth?

Jun 18 London Hammersmith Odeon Tanz Der Youth? Filmed professionally
Jun 19 London Hammersmith Odeon Tanz Der Youth Filmed professionally
Jun 22 London TOP OF THE POPS (BBC TV)
BBC TV Appearance; They performed "Never Say Die"
Aug 14 Chicago International Amphitheatre Van Halen

Aug 22 Milwaukee Milwaukee Arena Van Halen

Aug 23 Chicago International Amphitheatre

Aug 27 NYC Madison Square Garden Van Halen Sold out

Aug 28 Uniondale Nassau Coliseum Van Halen

Aug 29 Philadelphia The Spectrum Van Halen

Aug 31 Erie Erie County Fieldhouse

Sep 1 Hampton Hampton Coliseum

Sep 2 Pittsburgh Civic Arena Van Halen

Sep 4 South Yarmouth Cape Cod Coliseum Van Halen

Sep 5 Portland Cumberland County Civic Center Van Halen

Sep 7 Utica Utica Memorial Coliseum Van Halen

Sep 8 Niagara Falls Niagara Falls Convention Center Van Halen

Sep 9 Baltimore Baltimore Civic Center Van Halen

Sep 10 New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum Van Halen

Sep 12 Indianapolis Indianapolis Convention Center Van Halen

Sep 14 Detroit Cobo Arena Van Halen

Sep 15 Cleveland Richfield Coliseum Van Halen

Sep 16 St. Louis Checkerdome Van Halen

Sep 17 Kansas City Kansas City Municipal Auditorium Arena Van Halen

Sep 18 Tulsa Assembly Center Van Halen

Sep 22 Fresno Selland Arena Van Halen

Sep 23 Anaheim Anaheim Stadium Boston (HL), Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, Richie Lecea [cancelled], Russia [whom replaced Richie Lecea] Sold out
Sep 26 Vancouver P.N.E. Coliseum Van Halen

Sep 27 Portland Memorial Coliseum Complex Van Halen Sold out
Sep 28
NEVER SAY DIE is released in the U.S.

Sep 28 Spokane Spokane Coliseum Van Halen

Sep 29 Seattle Key City Arena Van Halen

Sep 30 Seattle Key City Arena Van Halen

Oct 9 Hamburg Audimax Van Halen

Oct 10 Essen Gruga-Halle Van Halen

Oct 11 Offenbach Stadthalle Van Halen

Oct 13 Goppingen Haldenburghalle Van Halen

Oct 14 Ludwigshafen Friedrich-Ebert-Halle Van Halen

Oct 15 Würzburg KÜRNACHTHALLE Van Halen

Oct 17 NÜRNBERG (Nuremberg) HÄMMERLEINHALLE Van Halen

Oct 18 Heilbronn Sporthalle

Oct 20 Cambrai Palais Des Grottes Van Halen

Oct 31 Atlanta The Omni Van Halen, The Ramones Postponed until 11/13/78
Nov 3 St. Petersburg Bayfront Center Van Halen

Nov 4 Jacksonville Coliseum Van Halen

Nov 5 Hollywood Sportatorium Van Halen Sold out

Nov 7 Columbus

Nov 8 Birmingham Boutwell Auditorium Van Halen

Nov 10 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum Van Halen

Nov 11 Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum Van Halen [ Read concert review ]
Nov 13 Atlanta The Omni Van Halen, The Ramones Rescheduled from 10/31/78.
Nov 14 Mobile Mobile Municipal Auditorium Van Halen

Nov 15 Huntsville

Nov 16 Nashville Nashville Municipal Auditorium Van Halen Postponed until 11/19/78
Nov 17 Austin

Nov 18 Odessa Ector County Coliseum

Nov 19 Nashville Nashville Municipal Auditorium Van Halen Make-up gig
Nov 20 Oklahoma City The Myriad Van Halen

Nov 21 Amarillo The Amarillo Civic Center
Unconfirmed
Nov 22 Corpus Christi Memorial Coliseum

Nov 23 Houston Sam Houston Coliseum Van Halen

Nov 24 San Antonio Convention Center Arena Van Halen

Nov 25 Dallas Dallas Convention Center Arena Van Halen Sold out
Nov 26 Dallas Dallas Convention Center Arena Van Halen Added after 1st show sold out.
Nov 28 Denver McNichols Sports Arena Van Halen Sold out
Dec 1 San Bernardino Swing Auditorium The Ramones

Dec 2 Oakland Oakland Coliseum Arena Van Halen

Dec 3 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena Van Halen

Dec 4 Long Beach Long Beach Arena The Ramones

Dec 5 Phoenix Veterans Memorial Coliseum The Ramones

Dec 7 Abilene Taylor County Coliseum Head East

Dec 8 El Paso

Dec 10 Albuquerque Tingley Coliseum

Dec 11 Albuquerque Tingley Coliseum
Last show with Ozzy until LIVE AID reunion in 1985

[Va Beach VH Fan]

And here's the very interesting review of the Cincinnati show...

http://www.black-sabbath.com/tourdates/reviews/7778.html

I saw Sabbath again on 11/11/78, same venue...

That was the year Van Halen became well-known, with Eddie going wild with the Hendrixish air war and arpeggiating guitar. It was what we were waiting for, and that was, in my opinion, the peak of their career. After that, it was almost a crime that they were referred to as 'heavy metal.'" Heavy Metal was Sabbath and Zeppelin and certainly not Van Halen. The term became seriously corrupted through misuse.

It's sort of amusing to think back on the days when Eddie Van Halen was considered a great guitarist- amazing how far the guitar craft has come along- he's nothing compared to modern guitarists like Mike Keneally, for instance.

I say all of this because Black Sabbath didn't want to be blown offstage by this hot new band Van Halen who was their opening act. The fast guitar of Eddie Van Halen was the reason much of the audience was there, and it seemed that Sabbath tried to compete with Van Halen by playing THEIR game. Too much fast guitar, it seemed, not the careful, thoughtful, craftsmanship that made Black Sabbath such a powerful force. Compared to the time I'd seen them in '77, it was like seeing a different band, one who had deliberately sought to change its sound to keep up with the times. Huh?!

[Panamark]

Fuck that would have been great to see...

Two of the best.. Sounds like it was a bit of a shitfight, but still, it must have been great !

[SoCalChelle]

Here's some pics

[SoCalChelle]

another one

[SoCalChelle]

Eddie and Ozzy

[Seshmeister]

I found out recently that my pal was at the Glasgow Apollo gig. She was a big Sabbath fan but says that the unknown Van Halen utterly blew Sabbath off of the stage.

I'm jealous at missing it but I was too young at the time...

Cheers!

[Seshmeister]

Fuck tours used to be really long huh?

I can't believe the number of gigs in the UK. Those were the days before arenas...

[ZahZoo]

I was disappointed that year because Sabbath took July off during the tour and I ended up seeing VH with Foreigner, Pat Travers, Aerosmith and AC/DC in Oakland. Still a good show and AC/DC brought the house down Bonn was totally wild... but I really wanted to see Sabbath w/ VH...

[blkstrat73]

Nashville w/Sabbath

Actually, a friend I was in art school with told me that was one of her of her favorite concert experiences. Van Halen did play the first night opening for Sabbath. (Smoking show from what I hear) After about an hour they came out and announced that Sabbath wouldn't be performing that night and people should keep thier ticket stubs for a later date. (One of the many times that couldn't find Ozzy. He'd gone into the wrong hotel room and passed out.) Then a couple of days later she went back to the Sabbath show again with her ticket stub and saw VanHalen in even better form and said they pretty much kicked Sabbaths butt. I was supposedly (can't confirm this part) rescheduled as a late afternoon show because she went back to the Auditorium to see The Moody Blues later the same night. I had a friend in high school (1981) whose older brother told him the exact same story...and his brother was a HUGE Sabbath fan. After that he was a VanHalen convert. Until he saw them live, his opinion had been that they were a "Bubblegum Metal" band. I always hear some great concert stories from people who lived in Nashville & Memphis in the mid 70's & 80's. VH 1984 tickets cost like $11.25. (We thought that was outrageous at the time too.) It's kind of sad. i used to go to about two BIG concerts a month here back in the 80's and early 90's. Now I barely afford to see one band for what I used to pay to see 5 or 6 shows. NONE of them have ever stacked up to VH 1984...thats the saddest part.

[Satan]

Unholy shit.... just imagining Black Sabbath, the Ramones and Van HALEN all on the same bill.... .

[speedtruckermf]

Wouldn't it be cool if Van Halen reunited and Sabbath opened for them. That'll never happen.