Skyscraper Tour

The Skyscraper Tour was a North American, European, Japanese, and Australian concert tour by hard rock singer David Lee Roth. It was his second ever solo concert tour, and is the only tour to have featured the line-up of Roth, Steve Vai, Matt Bissonette, Gregg Bissonette, and Brett Tuggle.

Skyscraper Tour

Tour by David Lee Roth
Start date	March 4, 1988
End date	December 13, 1988
Legs	2
No. of shows	146 played
David Lee Roth concert chronology

History

With the success of the Skyscraper album and "Just Like Paradise" single, an even more extensive tour than its predecessor (the Eat 'Em and Smile Tour) was embarked upon – this time visiting outside of just the United States and Canada, and including dates in Europe, Japan, and Australia. Like the prior tour, the setlist featured Van Halen classics ("Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love", "Hot for Teacher", "Jump", etc.), solo hits ("Goin' Crazy", "Yankee Rose", the aforementioned "Just Like Paradise", etc.), and cover tunes ("Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody", "California Girls", "You Really Got Me", etc.).

Some of the concert highlights included Roth lowering himself onto the stage via rope (a la a mountain climber) for the song "Skyscraper,"[1] the entire band playing a steel drum solo together, the singer climbing up a ladder and singing the song "Panama" from a boxing ring located at the other end of the venue,[2] and riding a surfboard back to the stage during "California Girls."[3] The stage set can be viewed in the performance footage included in the "Just Like Paradise" music video.[4]

The tour included a performance at the Monsters of Rock festival in England, which also included performances by Iron Maiden, Kiss, Megadeth, and Guns N' Roses, among others. This would be the last Roth solo tour to feature Vai in its line-up. The opening acts on the North American leg of the tour included Faster Pussycat and Poison at various points. Guns N' Roses was originally supposed to open the first month of the U.S. leg of the tour, but cancelled and was replaced by Faster Pussycat.[5] On the European tour, Poison was announced as opener but cancelled. Among the replacements were Great White and Dutch AOR band Zinatra.

Set list

1. "The Bottom Line"
2. "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" (Van Halen song)
3. "Just Like Paradise"
4. "Knucklebones"
5. "Goin' Crazy!"
6. "Hot for Teacher" (Van Halen song)
7. "Easy Street" (Edgar Winter cover)
8. "Skyscraper"
9. "Hot Dog and a Shake"
10. "Just a Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody" (Louis Prima cover)
11. "Yankee Rose"
12. "Panama" (Van Halen song)
13. "California Girls" (The Beach Boys cover)
14. "You Really Got Me" (The Kinks cover)
15. "Jump" (Van Halen song)[6]

Tour dates

Date	City	Venue
North American Leg
March 4, 1988	Lakeland, Florida	Lakeland Civic Center
March 5, 1988
March 6, 1988	Hollywood, Florida	Hollywood Sportatorium
March 9, 1988	Cedar Rapids, Iowa	Five Seasons Center
March 11, 1988	Madison, Wisconsin	Dane County Coliseum
March 12, 1988	Peoria, Illinois	Peoria Civic Center
March 13, 1988	Battle Creek, Michigan	Kellogg Arena
March 15, 1988	Fort Wayne, Indiana	Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
March 16, 1988	Saginaw, Michigan	Wendler Arena
March 18, 1988	Niagara Falls, New York	Niagara Falls Civic Center
March 19, 1988	Toledo, Ohio	Toledo Sports Arena
March 20, 1988	Columbus, Ohio	Ohio Center
March 22, 1988	Dayton, Ohio	Hara Arena
March 24, 1988	Johnstown, Pennsylvania	Cambria County War Memorial Arena
March 25, 1988	Hampton, Virginia	Hampton Coliseum
March 26, 1988	Salisbury, Maryland	Wicomico Civic Center
March 28, 1988	Glens Falls, New York	Glens Falls Civic Center
March 29, 1988	Portland, Maine	Cumberland County Civic Center
March 30, 1988	Providence, Rhode Island	Providence Civic Center
April 1, 1988	Utica, New York	Utica Memorial Auditorium
April 2, 1988	Rochester, New York	Rochester War Memorial
April 3, 1988	Binghamton, New York	Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena
April 5, 1988	Erie, Pennsylvania	Erie Civic Center
April 7, 1988	East Rutherford, New Jersey	Brendan Byrne Arena
April 8, 1988	Hartford, Connecticut	Hartford Civic Center
April 9, 1988	Richmond, Virginia	Richmond Coliseum
April 11, 1988	Hershey, Pennsylvania	Hersheypark Arena
April 13, 1988	Toronto	Maple Leaf Gardens
April 14, 1988	Richfield, Ohio	Richfield Coliseum
April 15, 1988	Washington, D.C.	Capital Centre
April 17, 1988	Philadelphia	Spectrum
April 18, 1988	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania	Stabler Arena
April 19, 1988	Syracuse, New York	Onondaga County War Memorial
April 21, 1988	Uniondale, New York	Nassau Coliseum
April 22, 1988	Worcester, Massachusetts	Worcester Centrum
April 23, 1988	Worcester, Massachusetts	Worcester Centrum
April 26, 1988	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Met Center
April 27, 1988	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	MECCA Arena
April 29, 1988	Kansas City, Missouri	Kemper Arena
April 30, 1988	St Louis, Missouri	The Arena
May 1, 1988	Cincinnati	Cincinnati Gardens
May 3, 1988	Memphis, Tennessee	Mid-South Coliseum
May 4, 1988	Nashville, Tennessee	Municipal Auditorium
May 5, 1988	Atlanta	The Omni
May 7, 1988	Dallas, Texas	Reunion Arena
May 9, 1988	Houston, Texas	Summit
May 10, 1988	Austin, Texas	Frank Erwin Center
May 12, 1988	El Paso, Texas	El Paso County Coliseum
May 13, 1988	Albuquerque, New Mexico	Tingley Coliseum
May 14, 1988	Denver, Colorado	McNichols Arena
May 15, 1988	Casper, Wyoming	Casper Events Center
May 17, 1988	Billings, Montana	MetraPark Arena
May 18, 1988	Spokane, Washington	Spokane Coliseum
May 20, 1988	Seattle, Washington	Seattle Center Coliseum
May 21, 1988	Vancouver, British Columbia	PNE Coliseum
May 22, 1988	Portland, Oregon	Memorial Coliseum
May 24, 1988	Salt Lake City, Utah	Salt Palace
May 25, 1988	Reno, Nevada	Lawlor Events Center
May 27, 1988	Oakland, California	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena
May 28, 1988
June 10, 1988	Los Angeles	Forum
June 11, 1988	Laguna Hills, California	Irvine Meadows
June 14, 1988	Sacramento, California	Cal Expo Amphitheater
June 16, 1988	Fresno, California	Selland Arena
June 17, 1988	San Diego	San Diego Sports Arena
June 18, 1988	Phoenix, Arizona	Veterans Memorial Coliseum
June 20, 1988	Odessa, Texas	Ector County Coliseum
June 21, 1988	San Antonio, Texas	Convention Center
June 22, 1988	Lake Charles, Louisiana	Civic Center
June 24, 1988	Shreveport, Louisiana	Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
June 25, 1988	Jackson, Mississippi	Mississippi Coliseum
June 26, 1988	Birmingham, Alabama	Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center
June 28, 1988	Charlotte, North Carolina	Charlotte Coliseum
June 29, 1988	Greensboro, North Carolina	Greensboro Coliseum
July 1, 1988	Jacksonville, Florida	Jacksonville Coliseum
July 2, 1988	Albany, Georgia	Albany Civic Center
July 3, 1988	Biloxi, Mississippi	Mississippi Coast Coliseum
July 6, 1988	Savannah, Georgia	Savannah Civic Center
July 8, 1988	Columbia, South Carolina	Carolina Coliseum
July 9, 1988	Roanoke, Virginia	Roanoke Civic Center
July 10, 1988	Huntington, West Virginia	Huntington Civic Center
July 12, 1988	Philadelphia	Spectrum
July 13, 1988	New York City	Madison Square Garden
July 15, 1988	New Haven, Connecticut	Veterans Memorial Coliseum
July 16, 1988	Springfield, Massachusetts	Springfield Civic Center
July 17, 1988	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Pittsburgh Civic Arena
July 20, 1988	Knoxville, Tennessee	Knoxville Civic Coliseum
July 22, 1988	Huntsville, Alabama	Von Braun Civic Center
July 23, 1988	Little Rock, Arkansas	Barton Coliseum
July 24, 1988	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	The Myriad
July 26, 1988	Wichita, Kansas	Kansas Coliseum
July 27, 1988	Omaha, Nebraska	Omaha Civic Auditorium
July 29, 1988	Lexington, Kentucky	Rupp Arena
July 30, 1988	Indianapolis, Indiana	Market Square Arena
August 1, 1988	Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio	Blossom Music Center
August 3, 1988	Vaughan, Ontario	Kingswood Music Theatre
August 4, 1988	Columbia, Maryland	Merriweather Post Pavilion
August 6, 1988	Ionia, Michigan	Ionia Free Fair
August 7, 1988	East Troy, Wisconsin	Alpine Valley Music Theater
August 9, 1988	Montreal	Montreal Forum
August 10, 1988	Ottawa	Ottawa Civic Centre
August 11, 1988	Manchester, New Hampshire	Riverfront Park
August 13, 1988	Charlevoix, Michigan	Castle Farms
August 14, 1988	Auburn Hills, Michigan	The Palace of Auburn Hills
European/Japanese/Australian Leg
August 20, 1988	Leicestershire, England	Castle Donington
August 24, 1988	Helsinki, Finland	Icehall
August 27, 1988	Schweinfurt, Germany	Mainwiesen
August 28, 1988	Bochum, Germany	Ruhrstadion
August 30, 1988	London, England	Hammersmith Odeon
August 31, 1988
September 2, 1988	Paris, France	Le Zénith[7]
September 3, 1988
September 4, 1988	Tilburg, Netherlands	Gemeentelijk Sportpark Stadion
September 20, 1988	Sapporo, Japan	Makomanai Ice Arena
September 22, 1988	Sendai, Japan	Sendai Gym
September 23, 1988	Yokohama, Japan	Yokohama Bunka Gym
September 24, 1988
September 26, 1988	Nagoya, Japan	Nagoya Rainbow Hall
September 27, 1988	Osaka, Japan	Osaka Castle Hall
September 28, 1988
September 30, 1988	Tokyo, Japan	Yoyogi National Gymnasium
October 1, 1988
October 3, 1988		Budokan
October 4, 1988
October 12, 1988	Melbourne	National Tennis Centre
October 15, 1988	Adelaide, Australia	Thebarton Theatre
October 17, 1988	Canberra, Australia	Bruce Stadium
October 18, 1988	Sydney	Sydney Entertainment Centre
October 22, 1988	Brisbane, Australia	Brisbane Entertainment Centre
November 14, 1988	Birmingham, England	National Exhibition Centre
November 15, 1988	London, England	Wembley Arena
November 17, 1988	Edinburgh, Scotland	Playhouse Theatre
November 18, 1988	Edinburgh, Scotland	Playhouse Theatre
November 21, 1988	Toulouse, France	Le Gymnase
November 22, 1988	Barcelona, Spain	Palacio Municipal De Deportes
November 24, 1988	Madrid, Spain	Sports City of Real Madrid Pavilion
November 26, 1988	San Sebastian, Spain	Velódromo de Anoeta
November 28, 1988	Milan, Italy	Palatrussardi
November 29, 1988	Turin, Italy	Palasport
December 2, 1988	Stockholm, Sweden	Isstadion
December 3, 1988	Gothenburg, Sweden	Scandinavium
December 5, 1988	Oslo, Norway	Skedsmohallen
December 7, 1988	Lund, Sweden	Olympen
December 8, 1988	Copenhagen, Denmark	K.B. Hallen
December 10, 1988	Brussels, Belgium	Forest National
December 13, 1988	Rotterdam, Holland	Rotterdam Ahoy

[8]

References

1. "Skyscraper, Toronto 1988". YouTube.com. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
2. "Panama, Toronto 1988". YouTube.com. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
3. "California Girls, Toronto 1988". YouTube.com. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
4. "Just Like Paradise Music Video". YouTube.com. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
5. "G n' R 1988 Setlist Almanac". gnrontour.com. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
6. "David Lee Roth Setlist at Kingswood Music Theatre, Vaughan, ON, Canada , August 3, 1988". Setlist.fm. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
7. "David Lee Roth HUGE 46x62 1988 Paris France Concert Tour Poster 100% Real RARE". www.collectors.com. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
8. "David Lee Roth – Skyscraper Tour Dates – 1988". Jamtothis.com. Retrieved October 25, 2015.