III Tour
| Tour by Van Halen | |
| Start date | March 12, 1998 |
|---|---|
| End date | November 2, 1998 |
| Legs | 8 |
| No. of shows | 78 played, 20 cancelled |
| Van Halen concert chronology | |
The III Tour was a 1998 concert tour by hard rock band Van Halen. It was the band's first and only tour with vocalist Gary Cherone, in support of the only album he recorded with the band, 1998's Van Halen III.
Despite positive critical reviews, the tour underperformed commercially by Van Halen standards, and was the last part of Van Halen's general decline after the early 1990s. It would be Van Halen's last tour until 2004, and last moment of stability for some time (the 2004 tour was surrounded with controversy, and was the band's last until 2007). It was Van Halen's last tour outside of North America until the 2012–2013 A Different Kind of Truth Tour, with dates in Europe, Australia/New Zealand and Japan. The Australian and New Zealand concerts were the first in Van Halen's history, and despite poor sales in some regions, these concerts were very popular. The band brought all the equipment for their US arena tour with them, whereas many bands scale down for Oceanic tours.
In a change from Sammy Hagar-era tours, Gary Cherone, who had grown up a big fan of the band, was willing to include material from both previous Van Halen vocalists. Due to both differing vocal styles and personal animus between himself and David Lee Roth, Hagar had only allowed a few Roth-era classics into the setlists while he sang for Van Halen. Cherone's voice was deeper than Hagar's, making it more suited to Roth-era songs, yet he possessed enough vocal range to perform Hagar-era songs as well. (Subsequently, when Roth rejoined Van Halen in 2007, he did not allow any Hagar-era material on the concert set lists.)
However, dissatisfaction with the new album and the band's various troubles in 1996 (big press arguments over Sammy Hagar's sudden departure, followed by a brief reunion with Roth which also ended abruptly) led to the tour's low popularity. Grunge had changed the face of rock music, and Van Halen's fame had endured due to their past heritage, which took a big hit with Hagar's departure.
Alex Van Halen was reported as looking sick throughout the first leg of the tour, due to an arm injury. This led to most of the European dates being cancelled, as well as other later dates. The Puerto Rico date was cancelled at first due to a hurricane, but also a second time due to Gary Cherone having tonsillitis – luckily this was the last date of the tour.
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