Van Halen to play Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Energy Arena
May 15, 2012 (Menafn - The Oklahoman - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --Van Halen will perform Sept. 15 as part of Chesapeake Energy Arena's 10th anniversary celebration, arena general manager Gary Desjardins announced Monday.
"This was a show we were really wanting to get," Desjardins said during a Monday morning news conference at the facility. "We were very excited to hear that they were extending their tour and had added Saturday, Sept. 15, to their itinerary."
It also was announced Monday that guitarist Eddie Van Halen has donated one of his signature EVH guitars to the University of Central Oklahoma's Academy of Contemporary Music for auction.
Academy President Scott Booker said during the conference that SMG, the facility management company for the arena, approached the guitarist about the donation to the school, which teaches performance, production and music business.
"I think that's amazing," Booker said. "It shows ... the relationship our school has with local music industry leaders and business leaders, and I just want to thank you so much for this."
Van Halen performed May 2 at BOK Center in Tulsa, another facility managed by SMG.
Eddie Van Halen reunited with singer David Lee Roth in 2007, and last performed in Oklahoma City in January 2008.
The band, featuring Roth, Eddie Van Halen, drummer Alex Van Halen and bassist Wolfgang Van Halen, is touring in support of "A Different Kind of Truth," the band's first new studio album to feature Roth on vocals in nearly three decades.
ACM@UCO student guitarists Joshua Qualls and Dwight Hamlin performed a medley of Van Halen songs at the event, including "Eruption," "Panama" and the band's version of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me."
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