Tour by David Lee Roth | |
Tourbook cover (for tour in support of Eat 'Em and Smile)
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Start date | August 16, 1986 |
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End date | February 22, 1987 |
Legs | 2 |
No. of shows | 105 played |
David Lee Roth concert chronology |
The Eat 'Em and Smile Tour was a North American concert tour by hard rock singer David Lee Roth. It was his first tour since leaving Van Halen in 1985, and is the only tour to have featured the line-up of Roth, Steve Vai, Billy Sheehan, and Gregg Bissonette (as well as touring keyboardist Brett Tuggle).
With the success of the Eat 'Em and Smile album in North America, an extensive tour was embarked upon. The setlist was almost evenly split between Van Halen classics ("Unchained", "Panama", "Jump", etc.) and Roth solo hits ("California Girls", "Yankee Rose", "Goin' Crazy", etc.). As with past Van Halen tours, Roth once again incorporated a concert trademark in which he sang a song ("Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love") from a mini stage in the middle of the venue at each performance, while the rest of the band continued to perform on the main stage. Another concert highlight was an extended guitar and bass solo "battle" (often lasting over ten minutes), which saw Vai and Sheehan try to top each other on their respective instrument. No professionally filmed or recorded video or audio footage has ever been released from this tour, but its massive stage set can be seen in the performance section of the "Yankee Rose" video. The opening acts on this tour included Cinderella and Tesla at various points.
A video shoot took place on February 17, 1987 in Lakeland, Florida.