Start Date: 3/25/1979
End Date: 10/7/1979
Locations: North America, Europe, Japan
Van Halen’s 1979 World Vacation Tour was the band’s first headline tour taking them all around the world.
Note: Dates below in red are links to content posted on this site. Just click to view a specific date. Or you can view all posts from 1979 here.
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America (1st leg) | |||
| March 25, 1979 | Fresno | United States | Selland Arena |
| March 26, 1979 | Redding | Redding Civic Auditorium | |
| March 27, 1979 | Central Point | Compton Arena | |
| March 29, 1979 | Missoula | Adams Field House | |
| March 30, 1979 | Caldwell | O’Connor Field House | |
| March 31, 1979 | Logan | Smith Spectrum | |
| April 3, 1979 | Tacoma | UPS Memorial Field House | |
| April 5, 1979 | San Rafael | Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium | |
| April 6, 1979 | San Jose | San Jose Performing Arts Theater | |
| April 7, 1979 | |||
| April 8, 1979 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (California World Music Festival #2) | |
| April 10, 1979 | Reno | Centennial Coliseum | |
| April 12, 1979 | Seattle | Seattle Center Arena | |
| April 13, 1979 | |||
| April 16, 1979 | Portland | Jantzen Beach Ice Arena | |
| April 17, 1979 | |||
| April 18, 1979 | Vancouver | Canada | Pacific Coliseum |
| April 19, 1979 | Spokane | United States | Spokane Coliseum |
| April 21, 1979 | Boulder | Balch Fieldhouse | |
| April 22, 1979 | |||
| April 24, 1979 | Kansas City | Kansas City Music Hall | |
| April 26, 1979 | Chicago | Aragon Ballroom | |
| April 27, 1979 | |||
| April 28, 1979 | St. Louis | Checkerdome | |
| April 29, 1979 | Indianapolis | Market Square Arena | |
| May 1, 1979 | Detroit | Detroit Masonic Temple | |
| May 2, 1979 | |||
| May 3, 1979 | Kalamazoo | Wings Stadium | |
| May 5, 1979 | Cincinnati | Riverfront Coliseum | |
| May 6, 1979 | Louisville | Louisville Gardens | |
| May 7, 1979 | Pittsburgh | Stanley Theatre | |
| May 8, 1979 | Toledo | Toledo Sports Arena | |
| May 9, 1979 | Buffalo | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium | |
| May 11, 1979 | Washington, D.C. | Warner Theatre | |
| May 12, 1979 | New York City | Palladium | |
| May 13, 1979 | Boston | Orpheum Theatre | |
| May 15, 1979 | Toronto | Canada | Maple Leaf Gardens |
| May 16, 1979 | London | London Gardens | |
| May 17, 1979 | Syracuse | United States | Manley Field House |
| May 18, 1979 | Rochester | Rochester Community War Memorial Arena (“Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert”) (Promo-Vids of “Dance the Night Away”, “You’re No Good” and “Bottoms Up!”) |
|
| May 19, 1979 | Philadelphia | Spectrum | |
| May 30, 1979 | Atlanta | Fox Theatre | |
| May 31, 1979 | Charlotte | Charlotte Coliseum | |
| June 1, 1979 | Norfolk | Scope Arena | |
| June 2, 1979 | Raleigh | Carter–Finley Stadium (June Jam) | |
| June 4, 1979 | Knoxville | Knoxville Civic Coliseum | |
| June 5, 1979 | Birmingham | Boutwell Memorial Auditorium | |
| June 7, 1979 | Memphis | Mid-South Coliseum | |
| June 8, 1979 | Little Rock | Barton Coliseum | |
| June 9, 1979 | Dallas | Cotton Bowl (Texxas Jam) | |
| June 10, 1979 | New Orleans | The Superdome (A Day of Rock ‘N’ Roll) | |
| Europe | |||
| June 14, 1979 | Brussels | Belgium | Forest National |
| June 15, 1979 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | Jaap Edenhal |
| June 17, 1979 | Düsseldorf | Germany | Philips Hall |
| June 18, 1979 | Offenbach | Stadthalle Offenbach | |
| June 19, 1979 | Munich | Circus Krone Building | |
| June 21, 1979 | Lyon | France | Palais des Sports de Gerland |
| June 22, 1979 | Paris | Pavillon de Paris | |
| June 25, 1979 | Birmingham | England | Birmingham Odeon |
| June 26, 1979 | Newcastle | Newcastle City Hall | |
| June 27, 1979 | Manchester | Manchester Apollo Theatre | |
| June 28, 1979 | London | Rainbow Theatre | |
| June 29, 1979 | |||
| North America (2nd leg) | |||
| July 5, 1979 | Jacksonville | United States | Jacksonville Exhibition Hall |
| July 6, 1979 | West Palm Beach | West Palm Beach Auditorium | |
| July 7, 1979 | Miami | Miami Jai-Alai Fronton Arena | |
| July 8, 1979 | Lakeland | Lakeland Civic Center | |
| July 10, 1979 | Corpus Christi | Corpus Christi Memorial Coliseum | |
| July 11, 1979 | Houston | Houston Music Hall | |
| July 12, 1979 | |||
| July 14, 1979 | Amarillo | Amarillo Civic Center | |
| July 15, 1979 | Midland | Chaparral Center | |
| July 16, 1979 | Austin | Austin Municipal Auditorium | |
| July 17, 1979 | San Antonio | San Antonio Convention Center | |
| July 19, 1979 | Wichita | Century II Concert Hall | |
| July 20, 1979 | Tulsa | Tulsa Assembly Center | |
| July 21, 1979 | Oklahoma City | Gaylord Performing Arts Theater | |
| July 22, 1979 | Lincoln | Pershing Memorial Auditorium | |
| July 24, 1979 | Saint Paul | St. Paul Civic Auditorium | |
| July 25, 1979 | |||
| July 26, 1979 | Dubuque | Five Flags Arena | |
| July 27, 1979 | Springfield | Illinois State Armory | |
| July 28, 1979 | Trotwood | Hara Arena | |
| August 10, 1979 | Portland | Cumberland County Civic Center | |
| August 11, 1979 | Asbury Park | Asbury Park Convention Hall | |
| August 12, 1979 | New Haven | New Haven Coliseum | |
| August 14, 1979 | Cleveland | Cleveland Music Hall | |
| August 15, 1979 | |||
| August 17, 1979 | Springfield | Springfield Civic Center | |
| August 18, 1979 | South Yarmouth | Cape Cod Coliseum | |
| August 20, 1979 | Madison | Dane County Veterans Memorial Coliseum | |
| August 21, 1979 | Milwaukee | Milwaukee Auditorium | |
| August 25, 1979 | Oakland | Oakland Civic Auditorium | |
| August 26, 1979 | |||
| Asia | |||
| September 3, 1979 | Kyoto | Japan | Kyoto Kaikan |
| September 5, 1979 | Fukuoka | Fukuoka Kyuden Kinen Gymnasium | |
| September 7, 1979 | Nagoya | Nagoya Civic Assembly Hall | |
| September 8, 1979 | Kurashiki | Kurashiki Civic Cultural Hall | |
| September 10, 1979 | Osaka | Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium | |
| September 11, 1979 | |||
| September 13, 1979 | Tokyo | Nippon Budokan | |
| North America (Final leg) | |||
| September 18, 1979 | Edmonton | Canada | Northlands Coliseum |
| September 19, 1979 | Calgary | Stampede Corral | |
| September 22, 1979 | Regina | Agridome | |
| September 23, 1979 | Winnipeg | Winnipeg Convention Centre | |
| September 25, 1979 | Duluth | United States | Duluth Arena |
| September 27, 1979 | Bismarck | Bismarck Civic Center | |
| September 28, 1979 | Rapid City | Rushmore Plaza Civic Center | |
| September 29, 1979 | Billings | MetraPark Arena | |
| October 2, 1979 | Tucson | Tucson Community Center | |
| October 3, 1979 | Phoenix | Phoenix Exhibition Hall | |
| October 6, 1979 | San Diego | San Diego Sports Arena | |
| October 7, 1979 | Inglewood | The Forum | |
*Source: Wikipedia and VHarchives.com
Some of these tour dates are incorrect.
Wikedpedia probably got these dates from VH Archives, which has some innacurracies.
These are the actual dates that I know.
April, 16, – Seattle.
April, 17- Portland
April, 18 – Vancouver,
April, 19 – Spokane
One of the Spokane shows was rescheduled due to DLR passing out from exhaustion.
The June 30, Vancouver date is totally wrong. They were in England the night before. The correct date is April, 18th.
Damn Wikipedia!!!
The tour date lists from the official VH site and Wikedpedia, ( as well as the official Black Sabbath and Journey sites,) are pretty much 90% correct. But just contain a few ommissions and improper dates. Some shows were cancelled, then rescheduled, so that might have something to do with it.
I only noticed this mainly on the 1979 tour date listings. There are very few mistakes to my knowledge on most other tour listings. Aside from a couple unlisted shows, and maybe a few odd incorrect listings.
I just know for sure about the ’79 shows in the Pacific Northwest. As I wondered which Vancouver date was correct. I was pretty sure they didnt do two shows here.
It can get confusing, because one list specifies one date, then another says a different one.
Here is a link to another short listing . I believe these are correct.
http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=87637
At times I have cross-referanced different listings, and websites such as Setlist.com, and a few others.
I’ll compile some other links in a different post later on. There is a really good thread at Jam To This.com, where Greg posted quite a few corrections out based upon his ticket stub collection.
That Vancouver bootleg is how I first noticed the conflicting tour dates in the first place.
Whoever put that June, 30th date on the bootleg was wrong. It caused a fair amount of confusion.
It was explained to me, that Brad Starks might have used some of the bootleg dates as a referance while composing the tour date lists for the official VH website. It is no big deal really, people make mistakes, but if one date is wrong, then that means another is also incorrect, then it gets really confusing.
It is really no big deal I guess. Most fans wouldnt notice or care anyways. I guess I’m just a stickler for details. No idea why. Ha, Ha.
Here is a link to the April, 18, 1979 show review from Google newspapers.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bDBmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9IwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=768,1477561&output=html_text
The July 7, 1979 venue is wrong here is my stub.
Thanks for the correction and ticket stub. Always looking to update w accurate info when possible.
No problem, here is a set of Michael Anthony picks from the show I was right in front of him so I got the whole set.
i can’t recall who opened for VH in San Diego in Oct 79 at the Sports Arena ANYONE?
The opening act was Screams. Fortunately I always immediately wrote the names of the bands on the ticket stubs that I saved. I took some pretty good photos at the 79 show, one of which will be in my book coming out later this year.
Front and back of tickets from 78/79 VH shows
(edit: images won’t attach for some reason?)
There is a May date missing. My dad told me about his most epic night ever on his 19th birthday seeing Van Halen on May 30th, 1979. Ticket stub pictured.
ahh thank you!
March 29, 1979, Adams Fieldhouse, Missoula, MT.
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Van Halen did a show at the Capital Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey on the 1979 tour.
Thank you very much for sharing, I learned a lot from your article. Very cool. Thanks.