The Eat 'Em and Smile Tour was a North American

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Best known for his wild, energetic stage persona, he was the original lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen across three stints, from 1974 to 1985, in 1996 and again fro ...

. It was his first tour since leaving

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

in 1985, and is the only tour to have featured the line-up of Roth,

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...

Billy Sheehan William Sheehan (born March 19, 1953) is an American musician. He is best known for playing the bass guitar with acts such as Talas, Steve Vai, David Lee Roth, Mr. Big, Niacin, and The Winery Dogs. He is also known for his "lead bass" playing ...

, and

Gregg Bissonette Gregg Bissonette (born June 9, 1959) is an American jazz and rock drummer and vocalist. He is the brother of bassist Matt Bissonette, with whom he frequently collaborates. He has played on albums by dozens of recording artists, including David ...

(as well as touring keyboardist Brett Tuggle).

Overview

With the success of the ''

Eat 'Em and Smile ''Eat 'Em and Smile'' is the debut studio album by former Van Halen singer David Lee Roth, released on July 7, 1986, after his unpredicted successful debut EP ''Crazy from the Heat'' (1985). History After releasing ''Crazy from the Heat'', an ...

'' album in North America, Roth embarked upon an extensive tour. The setlist was almost evenly split between Van Halen classics ("Unchained", "Panama", "Jump", etc.) and Roth solo hits ("California Girls", "Yankee Rose", "Goin' Crazy", etc.). As with past Van Halen tours, Roth once again incorporated a concert trademark in which he sang a song ("Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love") from a mini stage in the middle of the venue at each performance, while the rest of the band continued to perform on the main stage. Another concert highlight was an extended guitar and bass solo "battle" (often lasting over ten minutes), which saw Vai and Sheehan try to top each other on their respective instrument. No professionally filmed or recorded video or audio footage has ever been released from this tour, but its massive stage set can be seen in the performance section of the "Yankee Rose" video. The opening acts on this tour included

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

and Tesla at various points. A video shoot took place on February 17, 1987 in Lakeland, Florida.

Setlist

# "Shy Boy" ( Talas cover) # "Tobacco Road" (

John D. Loudermilk John Dee Loudermilk Jr. (March 31, 1934 – September 21, 2016) was an American singer and songwriter. Although he had his own recording career during the 1950s and 1960s, he was primarily known as a songwriter. His best-known songs include "I ...

cover) # "Unchained" (Van Halen song) # "Panama" (Van Halen song) # Drum solo # "Oh, Pretty Woman" ( Roy Orbison cover) # "Ladies' Nite in Buffalo?" # "Everybody Wants Some!!" (Van Halen song) # "On Fire" (Van Halen song) # "Bump and Grind" # "Ice Cream Man" (

John Brim John Charles Brim (April 10, 1922 – October 1, 2003) was an American Chicago blues guitarist, songwriter, and singer. He wrote and recorded the song "Ice Cream Man" which was later covered by the rock band Van Halen for their first album, and ...

cover) # "Big Trouble" # "Yankee Rose" # Bass/Guitar Solos # "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" (Van Halen song) # "Goin' Crazy!" # "Jump" (Van Halen song) # "California Girls" (

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

cover)

Tour dates

References

{{David Lee Roth David Lee Roth Concert tours of the United States Concert tours of Canada 1987 concert tours 1986 concert tours