The 1978 World Tour was the first concert tour by the American hard rock band Van Halen. The world tour, which was in support of their debut album, covered mainly North America with 125 shows in the United States and two shows in Canada, 38 shows in Europe, and seven shows in Japan. At 172 shows total over a 10-month period, the tour was one of the band's most extensive overall. Throughout the tour Van Halen was mostly a supporting act for bands such as Black Sabbath and Journey, however, Van Halen headlined shows in Europe and Japan.
Background First North American leg See also Infinity Tour Van Halen started their first leg opening for acts Montrose and Journey. Herbie Herbert, the manager for Journey at the time, recalled bringing guitarist Neal Schon of Journey along with him to go see the band in New York to a sold out audience of 3,500 people.
Opening for Black Sabbath See also Never Say Die! Tour (Black Sabbath)
"We did 23 shows in 25 days," recalled Eddie Van Halen regarding the European leg. "I didn't know they had that many places! But to meet Tony Iommi when I was so into him was really incredible." David Lee Roth summed up the experience as "a real shot in the ass". The Liverpool Empire Theatre date was attended by future members of Apollo 440 – who, in 1997, issued an adaptation of Van Halen's 'Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love' as 'Ain't Talkin' 'bout Dub'.
"We had a great time with the Sabbath guys…" recalled Alex Van Halen. "It was really special because Ed and I were big fans of the band. Every time they came to LA, I was out there in the audience, fighting tooth and nail to get to the front so I could get my eardrums destroyed. But I learned a lot from them about audience participation… One time, we were up near Leicester, about half an hour before showtime, and Ozzy and Bill Ward were out there on the front lawn with the punters, having a beer. I thought, 'Fuck me, none of this star-type shit.' I was really impressed."unsourced clipping, reproduced in Sabbath fanzine Southern Cross #12, January 1994, p6
"Ozzy used to tell a funny story…" recalled onetime Osbourne sidekick Don Airey. "Sabbath had done a tour for a year [sic] with Kiss… and it nearly killed him because Kiss had been so good. And he said, 'We're never doing that again. Next tour, we just want a bar band from LA. That's all we want.' And then he got to the first gig. Ozzy said they walked in as 'Eruption' was going on. Ozzy said, 'We just went into the dressing room. We sat there going, That was incredible… and then it finished, and we were just too stunned to speak. Then there was a knock on the door and the best-looking man in the world walked in and said, Hello' – you know, David Lee Roth. I think they only lasted about two months on that tour. Then the record broke… I went to see them at the Rainbow when they supported Sabbath. By the time they played the Rainbow again a month later, they were headlining. Incredible!"
Of the North American leg of the tour, Ozzy Osbourne said: "Van Halen are so good they ought to be headlining the tour."
Tour dates + List of 1978 concertsDateCityCountryVenueSupport Act(s)March 3, 1978ChicagoUnited StatesAragon Ballroom (Live premiere)JourneyMontroseMarch 4, 1978SpringfieldNelson CenterMarch 5, 1978IndianapolisIndiana Convention CenterMarch 7, 1978MadisonShuffle InnMarch 9, 1978MilwaukeeRiverside TheaterMarch 10, 1978DetroitMasonic Temple TheaterMarch 11, 1978TrotwoodHara ArenaMarch 12, 1978HomesteadLeona TheaterMarch 14, 1978TorontoCanadaMassey HallMarch 15, 1978ClevelandUnited StatesCleveland Music HallMarch 16, 1978ColumbusColumbus Veterans Memorial AuditoriumMarch 17, 1978LouisvilleLouisville GardensMarch 18, 1978EvansvilleEvansville ColiseumMarch 19, 1978South BendMorris Civic AuditoriumMarch 20, 1978SchaumburgB'GinningsMarch 21, 1978UticaUtica Memorial AuditoriumMarch 22, 1978AlbanyPalace TheatreMarch 23, 1978BuffaloNew Century TheatreMarch 24, 1978Upper DarbyTower TheaterMarch 25, 1978New York CityPalladiumMarch 26, 1978HempsteadCalderone Concert HallMarch 27, 1978BostonParadise TheaterMarch 29, 1978DuluthDuluth AuditoriumMarch 30, 1978Saint PaulSt. Paul Civic Center TheaterMarch 31, 1978Kansas CityMemorial HallApril 1, 1978St. LouisKiel Opera HouseApril 2, 1978OmahaOmaha Music HallApril 3, 1978WichitaPogo'sApril 4, 1978TulsaCain's BallroomApril 5, 1978IndianapolisMurat Temple TheaterApril 6, 1978FlintIMA AuditoriumApril 7, 1978NashvilleWar Memorial AuditoriumApril 8, 1978MurrayMSU Field HouseApril 9, 1978BirminghamBoutwell Memorial AuditoriumApril 11, 1978Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi Memorial ColiseumApril 12, 1978AustinAustin Municipal AuditoriumApril 13, 1978ShreveportShreveport Memorial AuditoriumApril 14, 1978Fort WorthWill Rogers Memorial AuditoriumApril 15, 1978HoustonHouston Music HallApril 16, 1978New OrleansThe WarehouseApril 18, 1978MemphisEllis Memorial AuditoriumApril 20, 1978TallahasseeRuby Diamond AuditoriumApril 21, 1978Pembroke PinesHollywood SportatoriumApril 22, 1978TampaCurtis Hixon HallApril 23, 1978AtlantaFox TheatreApril 25, 1978Virginia BeachRogues' Galleryrowspan="4" April 26, 1978April 27, 1978NorfolkThe ScopeApril 28, 1978New York CityPalladiumMay 4, 1978PoperingeBelgiumZaal Maeckeblijderowspan="7" May 5, 1978DelftNetherlandsDe Stads DoelenMay 6, 1978AmsterdamParadisoMay 8, 1978HamburgWest GermanyMarkthalle HamburgMay 9, 1978May 10, 1978May 12, 1978ParisFranceThéâtre MogadorMay 16, 1978SheffieldEnglandSheffield City HallBlack SabbathMay 17, 1978SouthportSouthport TheatreMay 18, 1978GlasgowScotlandGlasgow ApolloMay 19, 1978AberdeenCapitol TheatreMay 21, 1978NewcastleEnglandNewcastle City HallMay 22, 1978ManchesterManchester ApolloMay 23, 1978StokeVictoria HallMay 25, 1978PortsmouthPortsmouth GuildhallMay 26, 1978BristolColston HallMay 27, 1978LondonLewisham OdeonMay 28, 1978IpswichIpswich Gaumont TheatreMay 30, 1978CoventryCoventry TheatreMay 31, 1978LeicesterDe Montfort HallJune 1, 1978LondonHammersmith OdeonJune 2, 1978OxfordApollo Theatre OxfordJune 3, 1978SouthamptonSouthampton Gaumont TheatreJune 5, 1978BirminghamBirmingham OdeonJune 6, 1978June 7, 1978BradfordSt George's HallJune 8, 1978PrestonPreston Guild HallJune 10, 1978LondonHammersmith Odeon June 11, 1978June 17, 1978TokyoJapanTokyo Cultural Hallrowspan="7" June 19, 1978June 21, 1978Nakano Sun Plaza HallJune 22, 1978June 24, 1978NagoyaNagoya Civic Assembly HallJune 25, 1978OsakaFestival HallJune 27, 1978Osaka Cultural HallJuly 1, 1978DallasUnited StatesCotton Bowl (Texxas Jam)rowspan="7" July 2, 1978San AntonioSan Antonio Municipal AuditoriumJuly 3, 1978AustinArmadillo World HeadquartersJuly 6, 1978PhoenixCelebrity TheatreJuly 7, 1978July 8, 1978San DiegoSan Diego Sports ArenaJuly 9, 1978Long BeachLong Beach ArenaJuly 13, 1978New OrleansThe SuperdomeThe Rolling StonesThe Doobie BrothersJuly 15, 1978Kansas CityRoyals Stadium (Summer Jam)KansasSteve Miller BandEddie MoneyJuly 16, 1978DavenportCredit Island Park (Mississippi River Jam)The Doobie BrothersAtlanta Rhythm SectionJourneyJuly 17, 1978La CrosseMary E. Sawyer AuditoriumJourneyJuly 18, 1978SeymourSeymour SpeedwayJuly 21, 1978JacksonCarl Perkins Civic AuditoriumJuly 23, 1978OaklandOakland Coliseum (Day on the Green 1978 #3)AerosmithForeignerPat TraversAC/DCJuly 24, 1978ReddingRedding Civic Centerrowspan="11" July 25, 1978RenoWashoe County FairgroundsJuly 29, 1978Lake CharlesLake Charles Civic CenterJuly 31, 1978AlexandriaRapides Parish ColiseumAugust 2, 1978Wichita FallsWichita Falls Memorial AuditoriumAugust 3, 1978LubbockLubbock Municipal AuditoriumAugust 4, 1978AmarilloHollywood Bowl (West Texas Jam 1978)Concert poster distributed by Hastings Books and RecordsArticle with photos taken of Van Halen at Hastings Books and Records in Amarillo before the concert.August 5, 1978Great BendSRCA Raceway (Summer Jam)August 6, 1978Oklahoma CityOklahoma State Fairgrounds Grandstand(Oklahoma Jam 1978)August 7, 1978WichitaPogo'sAugust 9, 1978PeoriaSecond ChanceAugust 10, 1978SalemHooker Lake InnAugust 12, 1978LandoverCapital CentreTed NugentAugust 13, 1978BinghamtonBroome County ArenaAugust 19, 1978Bay CityEngel Stadium (Summer Celebration)Bob SegerBanditAugust 22, 1978MilwaukeeMECCA ArenaBlack SabbathAugust 23, 1978ChicagoInternational AmphitheatreAugust 24, 1978August 25, 1978Terre HauteHulman ArenaAugust 27, 1978New York CityMadison Square GardenAugust 28, 1978Uniondale NYNassau ColiseumAugust 29, 1978PhiladelphiaSpectrumAugust 30, 1978PoughkeepsieMid-Hudson Civic CenterAugust 31, 1978ErieErie County Field HouseSeptember 1, 1978HamptonHampton ColiseumSeptember 2, 1978PittsburghPittsburgh Civic ArenaSeptember 4, 1978South YarmouthCape Cod ColiseumSeptember 5, 1978PortlandCumberland County Civic CenterSeptember 7, 1978UticaUtica Memorial AuditoriumSeptember 8, 1978Niagara FallsNiagara Falls Convention CenterSeptember 9, 1978BaltimoreBaltimore Civic CenterSeptember 10, 1978New HavenNew Haven ColiseumSeptember 12, 1978IndianapolisIndianapolis Convention CenterSeptember 14, 1978DetroitCobo ArenaSeptember 15, 1978RichfieldRichfield ColiseumSeptember 16, 1978St. LouisCheckerdomeSeptember 17, 1978Kansas CityKansas City Municipal AuditoriumSeptember 18, 1978TulsaTulsa Assembly CenterSeptember 21, 1978BakersfieldBakersfield Civic AuditoriumSeptember 22, 1978FresnoSelland ArenaSeptember 23, 1978AnaheimAnaheim Stadium (Summerfest 1978)September 26, 1978VancouverCanadaPacific ColiseumSeptember 27, 1978PortlandUnited StatesPortland Memorial ColiseumSeptember 28, 1978SpokaneSpokane ColiseumSeptember 29, 1978SeattleSeattle Center ColiseumSeptember 30, 1978October 9, 1978HamburgWest GermanyAudimax TheatreBlack SabbathOctober 10, 1978EssenGrugahalleOctober 11, 1978OffenbachStadthalle OffenbachOctober 13, 1978UhingenHaldenberg HallOctober 14, 1978LudwigshafenFriedrich-Ebert-HalleOctober 15, 1978KuernachKuernach HallOctober 17, 1978NeunkirchenHemmerleinhalleOctober 18, 1978Bad RappenauBad Rappenau Sports HallOctober 20, 1978CambraiFranceGrottos PalaceOctober 22, 1978LondonEnglandRainbow Theatrerowspan="2" October 27, 1978KoekelareBelgiumKoekelare Sports HallNovember 3, 1978St. PetersburgUnited StatesBayfront CenterBlack SabbathNovember 4, 1978JacksonvilleJacksonville ColiseumNovember 5, 1978Pembroke PinesHollywood SportatoriumNovember 7, 1978ColumbusMunicipal AuditoriumNovember 8, 1978BirminghamBoutwell Memorial AuditoriumNovember 9, 1978NashvilleNashville Municipal AuditoriumNovember 10, 1978MemphisMid-South ColiseumNovember 11, 1978CincinnatiRiverfront ColiseumNovember 12, 1978NashvilleNashville Municipal AuditoriumNovember 13, 1978AtlantaOmni ColiseumNovember 14, 1978MobileMobile Municipal AuditoriumNovember 15, 1978HuntsvilleVon Braun Civic CenterNovember 17, 1978AustinAustin Municipal AuditoriumNovember 18, 1978MidlandChaparral CenterNovember 19, 1978HoustonSam Houston ColiseumNovember 20, 1978Oklahoma CityMyriad Convention CenterNovember 22, 1978Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi Memorial ColiseumNovember 23, 1978HoustonSam Houston ColiseumNovember 24, 1978San AntonioSan Antonio Convention CenterNovember 25, 1978DallasDallas Convention CenterNovember 26, 1978November 28, 1978DenverMcNichols Sports ArenaNovember 29, 1978OgdenDee Events CenterDecember 1, 1978San BernardinoSwing AuditoriumDecember 2, 1978OaklandOakland ArenaDecember 3, 1978San DiegoSan Diego Sports ArenaDecember 4, 1978Long BeachLong Beach Arenarowspan="6" December 5, 1978PhoenixArizona Veterans Memorial ColiseumDecember 7, 1978AbileneTaylor County Expo CenterDecember 8, 1978El PasoEl Paso County ColiseumDecember 10, 1978AlbuquerqueJohnson GymnasiumDecember 11, 1978
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