# III Tour

The III Tour was a concert tour by American hard rock band Van Halen, in support of their eleventh studio album, Van Halen III. It is the only concert tour to feature vocalist Gary Cherone.

## Background

Despite positive critical reviews, the tour underperformed commercially by Van Halen standards, and capped the band's general decline after the early 1990s. It would be their last tour until 2004.
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 allowed only a few Roth-era classics into the set lists while he sang for Van Halen. Cherone's voice was deeper than Hagar's, making it more suited to Roth songs, yet he possessed enough vocal range to perform Hagar songs as well. Thus, of the 19 full songs performed on the tour, 10 were from the Roth era, and 4 from the Hagar era, the remaining 5 pertaining to III (since Roth rejoined Van Halen in 2007, no Hagar-era material ever graced the setlists again). "It may have looked odd on paper but it actually worked live," Cherone told KNAC. "I made a concerted effort to do the old Van Halen tunes that Sammy was not doing. I wanted to do the deep cuts… we did songs their fans had not heard in years."
However, dissatisfaction with the new album and the band's troubles in 1996 (arguments over Hagar's sudden departure, followed by a brief reunion with Roth that also ended abruptly) led to the tour's low popularity. Grunge had changed the face of rock music, and Van Halen's fame – which had endured due to their heritage – took a big hit with Hagar's departure.
A 15-date European tour planned for the end of May and June had to be cancelled after four shows only due to Alex Van Halen's injury. The band also cancelled all of their 4 September dates in Brazil and Puerto Rico.
The April 20 show in Sydney, Australia was recorded live for an MTV special, Live from the 10 Spot. It aired on May 1, 1998.

## Setlist

* "Unchained"
* "Without You"
* "One I Want"
* "Mean Street"
* "When It's Love"
* "Fire in the Hole"
* "Why Can't This Be Love"
* "Romeo Delight"
* "Alex Van Halen Drum Solo"
* "Dance the Night Away"
* "Feel Your Love Tonight"
* "Humans Being"
* "Somebody Get Me a Doctor"
* "Year to the Day"
* "Eddie Van Halen Guitar Solo"
* "Right Now"
* "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love"
Encore 1
* "Josephina"
* "Panama"
* "Jump"
Encore 2
* "I'm the One"

## Tour dates

List of concerts, showing date, city, country and venue :
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
| Warm Up ||||
| March 12, 1998 | Hollywood | United States | Billboard Live |
| March 18, 1998 | Toronto | Canada | Sam the Record Man |
| Oceania ||||
| April 10, 1998 | Wellington | New Zealand | Queens Wharf Events Centre |
| April 11, 1998 | Auckland | New Zealand | North Harbour Stadium |
| April 14, 1998 | Launceston | Australia | Silverdome |
| April 17, 1998 | Melbourne | Australia | Rod Laver Arena |
| April 18, 1998 | Canberra | Australia | AIS Arena |
| April 20, 1998 | Sydney | Australia | Sydney Entertainment Centre |
| April 23, 1998 | Newcastle | Australia | Newcastle Entertainment Centre |
| April 24, 1998 | Brisbane | Australia | Brisbane Entertainment Centre |
| April 27, 1998 | Adelaide | Australia | Adelaide Entertainment Centre |
| April 29, 1998 | Perth | Australia | Perth Entertainment Centre |
| North America ||||
| May 13, 1998 | The Woodlands | United States | Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion |
| May 14, 1998 | Dallas | United States | Starplex Amphitheater |
| May 16, 1998 | Rosemont | United States | Rosemont Horizon |
| May 17, 1998 | Cleveland | United States | Gund Arena |
| May 19, 1998 | Auburn Hills | United States | The Palace of Auburn Hills |
| May 21, 1998 | Boston | United States | FleetCenter |
| May 22, 1998 | New York City | United States | Madison Square Garden |
| May 24, 1998 | Philadelphia | United States | CoreStates Spectrum |
| Europe ||||
| May 27, 1998 | Helsinki | Finland | Helsinki Ice Hall |
| May 29, 1998 | Nuremberg | Germany | Rock Im Park |
| May 30, 1998 | Halle | Germany | Eissporthalle |
| May 31, 1998 | Nürburgring | Germany | Rock Am Ring |
| June 2, 1998 | Berlin | Germany | Huxley's Neue Welt |
| North America ||||
| July 1, 1998 | Phoenix | United States | Blockbuster Desert Sky Pavilion |
| July 3, 1998 | Del Mar | United States | Del Mar Fairgrounds |
| July 4, 1998 | San Bernardino | United States | Blockbuster Pavilion |
| July 5, 1998 | Mountain View | United States | Shoreline Amphitheatre |
| July 7, 1998 | Concord | United States | Concord Pavilion |
| July 8, 1998 | Sacramento | United States | ARCO Arena |
| July 10, 1998 | Portland | United States | Rose Garden Arena |
| July 11, 1998 | George | United States | The Gorge Amphitheatre |
| July 14, 1998 | Park City | United States | The Canyons |
| July 16, 1998 | Greenwood Village | United States | Coors Amphitheatre |
| July 18, 1998 | Bonner Springs | United States | Sandstone Amphitheater |
| July 19, 1998 | Maryland Heights | United States | Riverport Amphitheater |
| July 21, 1998 | Cincinnati | United States | Riverbend Music Center |
| July 22, 1998 | Noblesville | United States | Deer Creek Music Center |
| July 24, 1998 | Burgettstown | United States | Starlake Amphitheater |
| July 25, 1998 | Columbus | United States | Polaris Amphitheater |
| July 26, 1998 | Hershey | United States | Star Pavilion at Hersheypark Stadium |
| July 28, 1998 | Scranton | United States | Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain |
| July 30, 1998 | Charlotte | United States | Blockbuster Pavilion |
| July 31, 1998 | Atlanta | United States | Coca-Cola Lakewood Amphitheatre |
| August 2, 1998 | Antioch | United States | Starwood Amphitheatre |
| August 4, 1998 | Paso Robles | United States | California Mid-State Fair |
| August 12, 1998 | Boston | United States | Hard Rock Cafe |
| August 13, 1998 | Mansfield | United States | Great Woods Center |
| August 14, 1998 | Mansfield | United States | Great Woods Center |
| August 15, 1998 | Wantagh | United States | Jones Beach Theater |
| August 16, 1998 | Holmdel | United States | PNC Bank Arts Center |
| August 18, 1998 | Raleigh | United States | Hardee's Walnut Creek Amphitheatre |
| August 19, 1998 | Virginia Beach | United States | GTE Amphitheatre |
| August 21, 1998 | Bristow | United States | Nissan Pavilion |
| August 22, 1998 | Atlantic City | United States | Trump Marina |
| August 23, 1998 | Saratoga Springs | United States | Saratoga Performing Arts Center |
| August 25, 1998 | Darien Center | United States | Darien Lake Performing Arts Center |
| August 26, 1998 | Toronto | Canada | Molson Amphitheatre |
| August 28, 1998 | Richmond | United States | Classic Amphitheater |
| August 29, 1998 | Hartford | United States | Meadows Music Theater |
| August 31, 1998 | Syracuse | United States | State Fair Grandstand |
| September 2, 1998 | Grand Rapids | United States | Van Andel Arena |
| September 3, 1998 | Clarkston | United States | Pine Knob Music Theatre |
| September 5, 1998 | East Troy | United States | Alpine Valley Music Theatre |
| September 15, 1998 | North Myrtle Beach | United States | House of Blues |
| September 16, 1998 | Lake Buena Vista | United States | House of Blues |
| September 17, 1998 | Sunrise | United States | Sunrise Musical Theater |
| October 2, 1998 | Las Vegas | United States | The Joint |
| October 3, 1998 | Las Vegas | United States | The Joint |
| October 13, 1998 | Anchorage | United States | Sullivan Sports Arena |
| October 16, 1998 | Honolulu | United States | Neal S. Blaisdell Arena |
| Japan ||||
| October 20, 1998 | Hiroshima | Japan | Hiroshima Sun Plaza |
| October 21, 1998 | Fukuoka | Japan | Fukuoka Kokusai Center |
| October 23, 1998 | Osaka | Japan | Osaka-jo Hall |
| October 24, 1998 | Nagoya | Japan | Rainbow Hall |
| October 26, 1998 | Kawasaki | Japan | Sangyo Bunka Kaikan |
| October 28, 1998 | Tokyo | Japan | Nippon Budokan |
| October 29, 1998 | Tokyo | Japan | Nippon Budokan |
| October 30, 1998 | Tokyo | Japan | Nippon Budokan |
| November 2, 1998 | Yokohama | Japan | Yokohama Arena |

### Box office score data

List of box office score data with date, city, venue, attendance, gross, references :
| Date (1998) | City | Venue | Attendance | Gross | Ref(s) |
| May 14 | Dallas, United States | Starplex Amphitheatre | 13,789 | $400,825 | |
| May 21 | Boston, United States | FleetCenter | 12,073 | $363,730 | |

## Personnel

* Eddie Van Halen – guitar, backing vocals
* Michael Anthony – bass, backing vocals, keyboards
* Alex Van Halen – drums
* Gary Cherone – lead vocals
Additional musician
* Alan Fitzgerald – keyboards