The 2004 Van Halen summer tour grossed almost $55 million, and Pollstar listed Van Halen in the top 10 grossing tours of 2004. Most of the concerts received positive feedback from professional reviewers. However, serious problems surfaced. Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony would subsequently admit that Eddie Van Halen had problems with alcohol during the tour that affected everyone involved. Hagar stated that he was "done with Van Halen" and wished that everyone would have "taken it more seriously." It was also revealed in Rolling Stone magazine that promoters had lost money on the tour. Many fans complained that tickets were overpriced (sometimes exceeding $200), and only some shows were actually sold out. Reports of Eddie being drunk and playing poorly also circulated, particularly later in the tour, while reports from the first half of the tour were largely positive. The most widely reported alcohol-related performance issue occurred during the band's first night in Chicago at the United Center when Eddie, staggering about, repeatedly tripped on his guitar cable, causing his guitar to become unplugged eighteen times. As a result, towards the middle of the set, Hagar asked Eddie's guitar tech to come onstage and follow Ed around to keep re-plugging the guitar. Also notable was Eddie stopping in the middle of his Eruption solo, laying down on stage and telling the audience in a slurred voice, "I'm sorry folks, I done run outta gas." He lay there for several seconds before standing back up and continuing. At the end of the bands final show of the tour, in Tucson, Eddie smashed one of his guitars on stage and quickly walked off stage.
As I mentioned previously, this 2007 Van Halen Tour will be a huge roll of the dice for promoters. Eddie is in no better state of mind than he was in 2004, so if promoters lost money then - why would they gamble on Eddie again now?
I don't want to turn this into a "negative" thread against Eddie, but this is truly what I believe has brought this tour to a screeching halt. I mean, if the guys in the band are all ready to move forward (as has been quoted and published), then who is putting on the brakes? Promoters are not willing to take the gamble and invest millions of dollars into a tour that will probably end up losing money for them. They are in this to make money, not to lose it.
