I still recall listening to the short lived David Lee Roth radio show and hearing Dave first predicting, then practically begging for, the inevitable Van Halen reunion of the original members. And, of course, there were all the "confirmed reports" in the spring that the tour was on, but you'll recall Earvolution had the early scoop that those early reports were not so "confirmed" as the headlines made them out to be. But, now it looks like this announcement is real and the Van Halen brothers will reunite with Roth. Of course, this being Van Halen this won't be a complete reunion. Bassist Michael Anthony is not going to tour and is basically out of the band. Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfie will take over those duties. Anthony was much more integral in the group than he is typically given credit for, including some great harmony vocals, so it'll be interesting to see how Wolfie stacks up.

So, after months of maybes, here are the Van Halen tour dates:

Sep. 27 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Bobcats Arena
Sep. 29 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
Oct. 01 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
Oct. 07 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
Oct. 10 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena
Oct. 14 Indianapolis, IN Conseco Field House
Oct. 16 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena
Oct. 18 Chicago, IL United Center
Oct. 22 Auburn Hills, MI Palace of Auburn Hills
Oct. 24 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
Oct. 26 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
Oct. 28 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center
Oct. 30 Boston, MA TD Banknorth Garden
Nov. 03 E. Rutherford, NJ Continental Airlines Arena
Nov. 13 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Nov. 20 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center
Nov. 23 Glendale, AZ Jobing.Com Arena
Nov. 25 San Diego, CA Cox Arena
Nov. 27 Sacramento, CA Arco Arena
Nov. 29 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose
Dec. 01 Portland, OR Rose Garden
Dec. 03 Seattle, WA Key Arena
Dec. 05 Vancouver, BC General Motors Place
Dec. 09 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
Dec. 11 Calgary, AB Pengrowth Saddledome

There is bound to be plenty of theatre, comedy, drama and somewhere in all that there is likely some good rock and roll left in these boys that is worth seeing. Van Halen tickets go on sale Saturday, August 18th.

Labels: David Lee Roth, Van Halen