September 2, 1984: Van Halen Ends an Era at Monsters of Rock

On September 2, 1984, Van Halen walked onto the stage at the Monsters of Rock festival in Nuremberg, West Germany, at what seemed like simply another stop in an enormously successful year. In hindsight, it became one of the most historically significant concerts of the band’s career.

The Nuremberg appearance came near the peak of Van Halen’s original David Lee Roth era. The band’s 1984 album had become a massive commercial success, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard 200, held from the top spot by Michael Jackson’s blockbuster Thriller. The album produced some of Van Halen’s most recognizable songs, including “Panama,” “Hot for Teacher,” “I’ll Wait” and their keyboard-driven crossover smash, “Jump.”

At Nuremberg’s Städtisches Stadion, Van Halen appeared on a formidable Monsters of Rock bill that also featured AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, Dio, Mötley Crüe, Gary Moore and Accept. Van Halen’s set drew heavily from the new album while still delivering established favorites such as “Unchained,” “Runnin’ with the Devil” and “Everybody Wants Some!!”

What fans could not have known was that the concert would effectively close the first great chapter of Van Halen.

Following the enormously successful 1984 era, tensions between David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen grew. Roth pursued solo projects, and by 1985 his departure from Van Halen was official. The band would move forward with Sammy Hagar, beginning another hugely successful period with the 1986 album 5150.

But for fans of the original Roth-fronted lineup, September 2, 1984 became an important dividing line. Van Halen would not perform a full concert with Roth again for more than 23 years. When Roth finally returned to the stage with Eddie and Alex Van Halen for the band’s 2007 reunion tour, Rolling Stone described the opening concert as the first Van Halen performance with Roth since 1984.

That makes the Nuremberg concert more than another stop on an ’80s rock tour. It captured Van Halen at its commercial peak—just before one of rock music’s most famous lineup changes.

Sources: Billboard Canada; Recording Industry Association of America; Rolling Stone; Setlist.fm.

Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Halen_Lineup_1984.jpg