Van Halen Extends North American Tour to Include Joe Louis Arena, 7/19

Van Halen has added 18 concerts to its highly successful "2012 North American Tour" to include Detroit's Joe Louis Arena on Thursday, July 19 at 7:30 p.m. Ky-mani Marley is the opening act for all added concerts.

Tickets ($29.50, $49.50, $79.50 and $149.50) go on sale Saturday, May 5 at 10 a.m. and can be purchased at OlympiaEntertainment.com, Livenation.com, The Fox Theatre and Joe Louis Arena box offices, Hockeytown Authentics in Troy (without service charge) at all Ticketmaster locations and Ticketmaster.com. To charge tickets by phone, call (800) 745-3000. For additional information, call (313) 471-6611.

Van Halen recently premiered the video for "She's The Woman", the second single from A Different Kind Of Truth, the band's first original studio album with singer David Lee Roth since the iconic, multi-platinum 1984. Shot during its on-going live tour, the video presents a greatest hits of the band's concert moments.

Fans and music critics alike have praised the group's recent shows:

"Van Halen is still one of the most limber bands in hard rock, with a higher center of gravity than most." – New York Times

"Roth remains the ultimate showman. The energy was palpable between him and master guitarist Eddie Van Halen, who looked equally thrilled to be sharing the stage and gave no hint of any past disharmony as they delighted the crowd with a mix of their early classics and cuts from their new album." – Tampa Bay Online

"The band's center has always been Eddie Van Halen, who still deserves his exalted stature among rock guitarists. Even his heavier riffs came threaded with filigree, and his solos were bold in their extravagance. The one solo that didn't come fastened to a song, late in the show, featured not only his proprietary tapping technique but also a drift of cascading arpeggios, rendered beautifully strange by his finessing of a volume knob. There could have been more of this."
- New York Times

"Tattoo drew a big cheer from the crowd. Everybody Wants Some drew a bigger one, bookended with Somebody Get Me a Doctor in the early highlight. After the crazy intro to China Town, Pretty Woman and You Really Got Me, you saw the new songs would slow nothing down. Not when The Trouble With Never was setting up Dance the Night Away. I'll Wait for the girls, the sonic roman candle of Hot For Teacher for everyone. You realized you'd been pulling for Eddie, and needn't have – he was in top form and complete control in those fretboard calisthenics, and seated on the steps for Eruption, and unleashing the riff to Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love … Don't get me wrong – despite all that writing of a New Grace in a recent column, David Lee Roth remains a hooting Vaudevillian, his band a hard rock boom-bah parade candy coating a kind of genius center …" - Montreal Gazette
"Van Halen came out unannounced. No intro reel, nothing. They just started. Alex was pounding on the drums, Eddie started ripping, Dave said, "Let's go!," and it was on. Eddie fired into the opening riff of "Unchained," and the place went nuts...the band was in fine form, especially Eddie, who looks happy and healthy, doing what he was put on earth to do. He is playing the best he's played in years." - GuitarWorld.com

"Diamond Dave doesn't need auto-tuning and a backing track and he was dancing like someone was shooting at his feet. His song and dance routine put the 20-something pop princesses to shame. Take note, ladies. Autotune does not a good singer make, and dancing is not an excuse for a lack of talent. These guys have it in spades. The show concluded with an encore of Jump, an explosion of confetti and Roth waving a comically oversized flag over the first four rows. When they took their bow, the boys all hugged, and you could feel how glad this tour is making them." – Atlantic City Weekly

Formed in Los Angeles in 1974, Van Halen changed the rock and roll landscape forever with the release of their self-titled, 1978 debut album. Displaying unparalleled stage presence, musicianship, and songwriting abilities, the band has sold more than 75 million albums sold worldwide and created a record of achievement that is hard to top. Van Halen joins an elite short list of two-time Diamond Award (10 million sales) honorees for their albums Van Halen and 1984. The band was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in March of 2007.

Opening act, Ky-mani Marley, son of legendary Bob Marley, has gained world-wide recognition and praise for his musical style, which transcends cultural and creative boundaries incorporating world music, hip hop, blues, rock, and reggae into one melodic entity. Since 1999, Marley has released four studio albums and an autobiography, a Grammy nomination, and in 2009 started the charitable Love Over All Foundation (LOAF), which caters to empowering and educating youth. Ky-mani Marley is currently putting the finishing touches on his new album, Evolution of a Revolution.

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