Blimp Time-Hop: Van Halen Rock CCCC As Headliners In 1979

Nearly a year after their first appearance in Portland opening for Black Sabbath, Eddie, Alex, Mike, and Dave returned to the Civic Center on August 10, 1979. This time they were the headliners.

Van Halen was sold-out that night and would continue to sell ALL the tickets every time they came back, up to and including their final Portland performance with Sammy Hagar in 1991.

41 years ago today, Van Halen blew the roof off the CCCC touring in support of their latest album, Van Halen II. With the (then new) sound of Eddie’s guitar wizardry and Dave’s one-of-a-kind flamboyant stage antics, Blimpsters witnessed rock n’ roll history in the making.

Dance the Night Away was the highlight of the night, on the strength of it being their first top 20 hit and getting a heaping helping of spins on WBLM in 1979.

With Eddie’s cool ‘steel-drum’ guitar sound, it always takes us to the islands for a party and remains one of the most popular VH tunes in Blimpville today.

There's a YouTube Channel called Fresno Media Restoration and they do an absolutely fabulous job of preserving live footage of the days when live rock was at its best.

We gotta warn you, though. Once you start watching these videos, you might lose the whole day. They've got everybody on there...Aerosmith, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and more great rarely seen live videos that'll definitely take you back to golden years.

Watch this fantastic capture of Van Halen onstage at Selland Arena in Fresno, California in March of 1979.

Here's everything they played that night on the first date of World Vacation tour. Thank God they we got Jamie's Cryin' in Portland, cause they didn't in Fresno.