Van Halen to play BOK in May
BY JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer
Saturday, January 07, 2012
1/07/12 at 4:59 AM
Watch Van Halen video and read more about music at staff reporter Jennifer Chancellor’s
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Rock band Van Halen - including original frontman "Diamond" David Lee Roth - announced 40-plus arena tour stops during a Thursday night club show in New York City.
The band will indeed perform May 1 at the BOK Center, Paige Reese, BOK Center director of sales and marketing, confirmed in a phone call to the Tulsa World on Friday morning.
Ticketing prices and on-sale information will be announced soon, Reese said.
The band gathered for an exclusive show at Cafe Wha? in New York City on Thursday night and played a set of hits before making the tour announcement official.
"The last time we played a stage this low, we had to have the car home by midnight," Roth reportedly joked with the crowd.
Also, Van Halen's new studio album, "A Different Kind of Truth," drops Feb. 7 on Interscope Records. It's the first full album with frontman Roth since "1984," released that same year.
The band formed in California in 1972. Including its stints with other frontmen Sammy Hagar and even Gary Cherone, the group has sold more than 70 million albums globally.
This tour features Roth, Eddie Van Halen, his 20-year-old son, Wolfgang Van Halen, on bass and Eddie's brother Alex Van Halen on drums.
Hits include "Jamie's Cryin'," "Dance the Night Away," "And The Cradle Will Rock...," "Runnin' with the Devil," "Unchained," "Beautiful Girls," "Everybody Wants Some!!," "Panama," "Jump," "Where Have All the Good Times Gone!" among others.
The iconic band also has local ties. Tulsa Sound and Red Dirt musician and producer Steve Ripley built one of Eddie Van Halen's most complicated and sound-defining instruments after starting his Ripley Guitars business in 1982. It was called a "stereo guitar."
Ripley also built axes for Steve Lukather, J.J. Cale, John Hiatt, Ry Cooder, Jimmy Buffett and others. The guitar was featured on the recording of the Van Halen's seminal "1984" album, including the song "Top Jimmy."
"He had this idea where each string on the guitar has an individual pan pot. You have to use two amplifiers. On this guitar you can pan each string to whatever side you want," Eddie Van Halen said in a 1983 interview with Guitar Magazine. "I have a super-duper prototype which allows you to not only put each string to the left or right, but also add an effect to each string, left or right. It's a crazy sound. I use it on two tracks on the album and I'll definitely take it out live."
Ripley recently hinted that the custom guitar may also be used on the upcoming Van Halen album, too.
The band's new album deal with Interscope was finalized in November. Roth officially reunited with Van Halen for a tour in 2006.
The Tulsa show has been more than a year in the planning, Reese said.
"For some of us, this is definitely a 'dream' show. ... We're all excited about it."
Original Print Headline: Van Halen to play BOK
Jennifer Chancellor 918-581-8346
jennifer.chancellor@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Van Halen members Eddie Van Halen (left) and David Lee Roth perform Thursday at Cafe Wha? in New York City. CHARLES SYKES/Associated Press
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