Van Halen - tonight in (Dallas)

[Sampire]

Anyone going? We are about to leave now. After waiting well over 20 years for this - thought to make a post here to see if anyone else is going - we have been back in Plano, TX (35 or so miles north of Dallas) since Oct (again) - if this show is really good - Z-Girl and I could make a trip back home and see the NOLA show in a couple of weeks (some friends have lots of tickets).

had to pay over $160 total for tickets up here - same tickets seemed to be around $90 total for NOLA, some reason tix were more up here

there's some other Dallas members still right? I'll post a review tomorrow

later

[Sampire]

forgot to add - almost didn't buy a ticket to this because it's not really VH - but i decided it was close enough, Zgirls ready time to go

[Don Wishon]

Sam,

My friend Ron and I attended the show last Saturday night along with my 10-year old son. Seats were in Section 308.

Here is a review Ron had written:

Concert review: Van Halen / Ky-Mani Marley
Eddie Van Halen's birthday in Big D

By Ron Dempesmeier

Van Halen setlist
You Really Got Me | I'm the One | Runnin' with the Devil | Romeo Delight | Somebody Get Me a Doctor | Beautiful Girls | Dance the Night Away | Atomic Punk | Everybody Wants Some!! | So This Is Love? | Mean Streets | Pretty Woman | Drum Solo | Unchained | I'll Wait | And the Cradle Will Rock... | Hot for Teacher | Little Dreamer | Little Guitars | Jamie's Cryin' | Ice Cream Man | Panama | Guitar Solo | Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

Encores: 1984/Jump

DALLAS — Even at 53 years of age, Eddie Van Halen and his band can still incite a riotous reaction from an arena full of fans. The reunited (minus bassist Michael Anthony) Van Halen Mk. I came to Dallas on Eddie’s big day and gave the ravenous crowd a present they’ll long remember.

2007 (when this current tour began) saw the reunions of some of the most beloved bands of the Seventies. The Police, Led Zeppelin and Van Halen with original lead singer David Lee Roth were all thought never to tread the boards together again, but they proved us wrong. Too bad Zeppelin’s reunion was a one-off in London, but getting to see Van Halen a second time around with the flamboyant front man Roth was an opportunity not to be missed.

The band kicked off their set with their remake of the classic Kinks’ rocker “You Really Got Me.” They quickly went into their early catalog with songs like “I’m the One,” “Runnin’ with the Devil” and “Romeo Delight” (which had a brief section by Roth and the audience to serenade Eddie with a rendition of “Happy Birthday” and then a bit of The Who’s “Magic Bus”). When they performed “Somebody Get Me a Doctor” the band incorporated Humble Pie’s “I Don’t Need No Doctor” and Cream’s remake of the blues classic “Spoonful” as homage to acts that influenced the young Van Halen and Roth.

Van Halen was always a band that had serious hard rock chops, but it also had a penchant for writing pure pop gems like “Beautiful Girls” and “Dance the Night Away” from their second album. These songs provide a bit of relief from the relentless rocking and the proficient manner in which the show was presented. When the band got to “Everybody Wants Some!!” from their Women and Children first album, the entire show felt like another gear had been reached. This was probably due to the primal, tribal beat that drummer Alex Van Halen uses to drive the song and the slightly lascivious spoken middle section in which the ever ready Roth tries to talk sexy to an imaginary girl.

When Van Halen went into Fair Warning’s “Mean Streets,” Roth swung his microphone stand like a crazed baton twirler. After a quick run-through of the their great remake of Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman,” Alex Van Halen got to demonstrate his percussion skills during a rather tidy (and not tedious!) drum solo. Somewhere offstage extra keyboard sounds were added to spice up the sound.

This led into an energetic “Unchained” and the first song off of their 1984 album: “I’ll Wait.” During that tour, Eddie insisted on playing the keyboard parts on stage instead of guitar, but in this one they were either pre-recorded or piped in from offstage. The harmony vocals also seemed a bit suspect on this song (formally handled by ex-bassist Michael Anthony and EVH, but now “sung” by EVH and his son Wolfgang), but there was no doubt that DLR was putting his all into the performance.

Going from the punkish/ultra macho “And the Cradle Will Rock…” and “Hot for Teacher” and the sublime “Little Guitars” showed the range of this re-energized quartet. Roth came out with an acoustic guitar and strummed while reminiscing about his days as a teenager in suburban Southern California. He claimed to have had a friend that actually drove an ice cream truck which they emptied out and stored beer for weekend parties and smoked herb with a neighborhood kid named “Kenny” while listening to Pink Floyd. This led into the Van Halen I classic “Ice Cream Man.” When Van Halen performed “Panama” the entire audience joyously joined in on the single word chorus.

Finally, the audience was treated to Edward’s wizardry on guitar during a 10-12 minute guitar solo. Van Halen started while sitting on the slope of the near “figure 8” stage and with a bit of flamenco/classical style picking. He then went into a distorted Hendrix-like section before going into the soothing, pipe organ-like sounds of his “Cathedral” solo from 1982’s Diver Down. The final movement of the solo was his seminal double handed tapping “Eruption” which whipped the crowd into frenzy. The only song that could possibly follow this display of genius was the ferocious “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love.”

After a brief exodus from the stage, Eddie, Alex, Wolfgang Van Halen and David Lee Roth came back on stage with the synthesized strains of “1984.” They launched into the buoyant, crowd-pleasing “Jump” and all the stage props like David’s 4th top hat of the evening, a giant, inflated microphone and showers of confetti came out. Roth even managed to do more drum major twirling and his highest jumping karate kick of the evening (he didn’t do one of those splits jumps from the drum riser, but he’s not 29 anymore either). There was no doubt that Van Halen could still deliver the goods. Actually, this was better than the last time I saw this version of the band because they were not on speaking terms then and Roth seemed to have taken a few too many drinks before the show and kept forgetting lyrics.

Finally, the opening act for this great show was Ky-Mani Marley, son of deceased Reggae superstar Bob Marley. He fronted a band very similar to his father’s in that he had female background singers with who he could rely on for excellent support. The music he performed was a mix of his own and his father’s (“No Woman No Cry” and “I Shot the Sheriff”). It was rather interesting to have an act whose music was so different from the headliner’s style. He was very grateful for the opportunity to tour with Van Halen. Like his brothers (Ziggy, Damian, etc.) it will take a bit of luck (and some amazing songs) for him to ever stand outside his father's large shadow. I hope for their sake this will happen some day!

[GuitarPLYR]

Don, thanks for the review. Less than two weeks to go until showtime!!!

[Sampire]

sorry i didn't get to write up on the show, been really busy. while it was good it wasn't what i expected :

low's - EVH didn't sound like EVH (his tone, was just dull, Cathedral was sorry, b/g vocals didn't have the classic VH sound <M.A. - if he can even still pull them off in 2008 would have solved this issue>, Wolfgang is really talented - a great guitarist i have heard - he needs though to play bass "VH style" - not showing off <the slap bass intro to J,'s Cryin' was just goofy>, DLR's vocals were too low most of the time - either there was a problem or this was done on purpose...

hi's - set list, opening band - they were better than VH,

i'm rough but i had high expectations - at least i finally have lots of old VH bootleg videos

my seat was sect 112, row k

there are lots of videos from the dallas and Nola shows - it seems like the Nola show may have had a more energy, maybe it's just me - dallas was great and i am too picky after waiting since grammar school to see them get back together (plus since M.A. wasn't invited i have been bummed about that from the start of the "reunion")

still glad i went - because even though it was a let down overall, I'd never get over wondering what the show was like if i wouldn't have made it

other shows coming up - RUSH - have tickets for that in NOLA, we are moving back next week

if hate to leave Plano because i will miss - a Pinball Expo in two weeks (www.texaspinball.com) , Asia in April, Megadeth, and most of all Roger Waters on May 2nd plus Supercross in April. Rush will also be in Dallas but at least they are coming to NOLA (speaking of RUSH - we bought tickets two days after they went on sale and could only get sect 300 seats, if NOLA can sell tickets for Rush like that - why don't more bands stop by???)

time to see Eric Johnson - just started on HD Net! Strat Pack 50th Anniv show after EJ on HD Net too - Fender HD night!

[VanAngel85]

Saw VH in New York back in November. Great show. Brought back alot of memories...DLR still has it for sure...Wolfie was awesome, quite a humble presence on stage...Michael Anthony was missed for sure...not so certain it can be called a "VH reunion" without him. Anyway, they're playing NY again on St. Paddy's Day....Parade in the am, VH in the pm...sounds like a plan! Have a great time at the show!

[Sampire]

I am not really into reggae at all - but i have to admit - Ky-Mani Marley - - really great!

i need to go out and grab one of his cd's - problem is that i have no idea if the tunes were mostly from his own releases or his father's tunes - prob a mix.

I'll have to search for a set list from one of the opening shows , if anyone knows more about K. Marley (could suggest a CD with a lot of the tunes played during the VH openings) - please fill me in

[macca]

More bands don't come down to NOLA primarily because of the tax BS and since *government incompetence* there aren't many places to do a show. Saenger.....closed. Orpheum....closed. UNO Lakefront Arena.....opening in May 2008. No Amphitheater and basically this city isn't a magnet for rock like it used to be. Hopefully, when UNO opens up again, more acts will come down to play(I had heard the promoters have been calling since GI day to know when it would re-open).

VH.......oh boy. Glad to see I'm not the only one on the negative side of the VH circus. Sorry, Wolfie might be talented, but he sure ins't Mike. Shame EVH has be such an A$$ over mike wanted to play music and hang out with Sammy. Piped in backing vocals to beef things up and having no PHYSICAL keyboard on stage for their parts is a slap in the face. EVH.....I feel he lost *something* the last time I saw him in 2004 and hasn't gotten it back. Maybe......JUST maybe......if they would have done a PROPER reunion show I might have gone. Until then, I'll stick to watching the "other stuff".

[OURSOOOOO]

As Macca pointed out we are one of 6 states, (I think its 6) that charge an entertainment tax on these 'BIG acts" its a crock of BS that deprives us fans of some great shows. Do any of You ever remember "the Stones" passing up NOLA??????? As they did on their last tour.
Lets see we have the Lottery, Casinos, and what have we gained from it absolutely nothing.
This is pathetic.

[macca]

Haven't seen the Stones live since 1994(the last time they played in NOLA). Besides, they've priced themselves out of the working man's pocket.

With all the stuff we have(lottery, etc.) unless things change politically, its business as usual. Nagin, Blanco.....they've laid a road of crap so deep, it will take years to eradicate the debris and stench. Jindal is trying to do things on the up and up, but he's outnumbered by the 'good ole' boy" network. Kind of trying to win a war by using cap pistols.

[Sampire]

macca - you are the only other person that wasn't head over heals for the so called VH reunion - i went to the show because i thought i'd regret it if i didn't - just because it was the closest thing to a real VH show - but the opening act was much more enjoyable <everyone i know that saw them in NOLA said the show was great, glad lots of folks liked the show>

Rush was great - NOLA , at least Zappa played Zappa in NOLA as well - those were awesome shows - glad i saw them, couldn't have been better elsewhere (maybe as good but not better, both of those shows were happening down here!)

wish i wouldn't have missed out on the Texas Pinball festival, Roger Waters, Asia, Megadeth, & Ozzfest (with the Dime tribute - must have been cool, we lived right near where that show was, couldn't picture Ozzfest in that area, sure was different than the sporting events usually held there)

Essence Fest - what do they get a break on the taxes? that sure seems to be a regular big event = maybe Nagin can land Ozzfest

[macca]

maybe Nagin can land Ozzfest
Is this a test Sam, or did you dip into the funny stuff?

[Sampire]

Is this a test Sam, or did you dip into the funny stuff?
just dreaming i guess :-)