Might as well jump!

Reunited rock group Van Halen blasted out its hits for 14,000 Research In Motion employees, co-op students and invited guests last night at an employee-appreciation party at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

As if that wasn't enough, Canada's top rock band, the Tragically Hip, made its second appearance at a RIM party by providing the evening's opening act.

Jim Balsillie, RIM's co-chief executive, said he was glad to land "the two greatest rock bands" for a party to thank the company's employees.

"When looking at what the people of RIM have done in the last couple of years, it's nothing short of spectacular," he said. "This is definitely a company-building event and a fun event (to recognize) the tens of billions of dollars in value they've created."

For weeks, speculation has focused on Van Halen being this year's house band at the RIM party. The group, best known for its hits Jump and Panama, reunited this fall with its flamboyant original lead singer, David Lee Roth.

Its fall tour has sold out across North America, including two sold-out gigs in Toronto and Montreal. Since releasing its first album in 1978, Van Halen has sold 80 million records worldwide.

Balsillie said planning for the party began several months ago. Six weeks ago, the company's management was able to confirm the legendary rock band as its house band.

Balsillie wouldn't say how much the event cost, but said it was not any different from recent company parties.

Although Balsillie was to be back at work today for a 9 a.m. meeting, he wasn't all that concerned if some employees came in late for work.

"If anything, it's my job to get people to be easier on themselves," he said.

Alan Cross, program director of new rock radio station The Edge 102.1 FM in Toronto, said it's not uncommon for A-list bands to fetch at least seven figures for private concerts.

"It starts at $1 million and goes up," he said. "The thing you're paying for is the effect on your employees."

Cross, the host of the syndicated History of New Music radio show, said bands like the Rolling Stones have been known to play the occasional corporate gig, including one for Deutsche Bank in Spain this summer that was reported to be worth $5.4 million.

Since so many bands are seeing lower CD sales because of illegal music downloading on the Internet, private concerts represent a good source of new income, Cross said.

RIM has already managed to land top-flight entertainment for its past parties. Aerosmith, the Barenaked Ladies and Tom Cochrane have headlined company bashes in the past.

Besides the price of the evening's entertainment, it costs $25,000 to rent the 19,800-seat hockey arena for the evening, according to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the facility's owner.

Since RIM employs 5,200 people in the region and 6,000 across Ontario, the Toronto arena is one of the few venues that can accommodate the company's staff and invited guests. Most employees came from Waterloo, although the company has operations in Ottawa and Toronto as well.

RIM has hundreds of millions of reasons to throw a lavish party for employees. In its most recent quarter, the BlackBerry maker's profit rose to $287.7 million US on sales of $1.4 billion. Also this year, the BlackBerry subscriber base surpassed 10 million.

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