Van Halen Tour Dates 2012: Kick-Off City Buzz + New Song Title Revealed

Van Halen announced last month that they will go on tour in 2012 and tickets for the shows will go on sale Tuesday, Jan. 10. The tour schedule has yet to be announced, but rumors offer details of kick-off city buzz, a new song from their upcoming album and a show in NYC.

According to fan site Van Halen News Desk, trusted industry sources revealed that Van Halen's tour - which is slated to showcase frontman David Lee Roth, guitarist Eddie Van Halen, drummer Alex Van Halen and bassist Wolfgang Van Halen - will begin as early as next month. The site states that the kick-off city will be Louisville, Kentucky. However, this could prove false as the official tour dates have not yet been released. Dates should be revealed soon since tickets go on sale in less than one week.

The site also disclosed some information on one of the new songs from their upcoming album, which is due out Feb. 7 according to the leaked cover art. The album title is still a secret but one of the songs on the record will reportedly be titled TATTOO. The song will be released next Tuesday.

The band will perform on Thursday, Jan. 5, at Café Wha? at 115 Macdougal, between Bleecker and West 3rd, in Greenwich Village, according to Rolling Stone. Nothing is official yet, but journalists across New York have been invited to what is speculated to be a 45-minute set.

Roth's uncle Manny Roth owned and operated Café Wha? and booked legendary acts like Jimi Hendrix, Bill Cosby, Bob Dylan, Richard Pryor and others. The 250-seat setting will surely be an exciting venue to launch Van Halen's 2012 tour.

Van Halen has not played in public since their 2007 reunion tour with Roth. Prior to that, Roth had not performed with the band since 1996. Roth left the band in 1985 and was replaced by Sammy Hagar and Gary Cherone as lead singer.

They are said to have been rehearsing for the 2012 tour at the Roxy in Los Angeles for the past few months. Until tickets are released, you can click here to visit the official Van Halen Web site and watch HD videos of the band performing.