So I went to see the Van Halen concert last night, St. Patrick's Day 2012 of all nights. I have been a die-hard VH fan for 28 years, ever since the album "1984" came out in 1984. I was twelve years old and began to quickly buy up the rest of the VH tapes I knew nothing about before "Jump" and "Panama": Van Halen I and II, Women And Children First, Fair Warning and Diver Down. To this day I still sing the songs from those albums loudly and emphatically. One of my greatest regrets in life is that I discovered the band too late and I was too young to see the tour that accompanied "1984". The next year saw the band kick front man David Lee Roth out of the group and I would never get to see the original four members play together. I've seen them with Sammy Hagar twice (and I don't hate Sammy as other older fans seem to) and with Diamond Dave twice now. When Dave came back into the fold in 2007 to tour with Eddie and Alex for the first time in 23 years, I was ecstatic! I would finally get to see the original Van Halen!! But, alas, it wasn't meant to be, as the original bassist, Michael Anthony, had been kicked to the curb and replaced with Eddie's son, Wolfgang. On October 7, 2007, I travelled down to the Air Canada Centre here in Toronto and saw Dave valiantly try to remember the words to past hits, Eddie jump around the stage, Alex beat the drums as flamboyantly as ever, and Wolfgang look like he was about to puke at any moment. (It's gotta be hard for a 17 year old to play in front of 18,000 people when EVERYBODY wants to see the former bassist). That concert was a lot of fun. Dave sounded good, Eddie and Alex were tight, Wolfgang needed to develop, but all in all I left that concert feeling pretty damn good. Last night was different...
First of all, let me say my expectations were not too high for last night. I realize these boys are only getting older. Christ, Eddie is close to 60 now! I thought the guitar playing would be great as ever, as I watched some footage on You Tube before the show, and I also knew Dave wouldn't be doing any of his signature jumping and bouncing around like he did in the late 70's early 80's. I figured most of the night would be me and the surrounding fans singing most of the songs over Dave anyway, so it didn't necessarily matter how he sounded. The band came out on their very minimalistic stage around 8:50pm, approximately 30 minutes after opening band Kool & The Gang finished their set. (Yes, Kool & The Gang!!). The crowd went nuts as the lights went up and my favourite band in the world started into one of my favourite songs ever, "Unchained". I was up on my feet way up in the 300 section of the ACC, bouncing up and down, singing quite loudly. Only three or four people around me joined in. What the fuck??? This is VAN HALEN...with DAVID LEE ROTH...singing UNCHAINED!!!!! What's wrong with this crowd?!?!? So it's gonna be that type of evening, is it? I don't care. I'm drunk and I'm here to have a good time, dammit!! Unfortunately, my excitement started to wane as I slowly began to stop singing and started to listen to Dave singing. At least, I tried to listen to Dave singing. The sound was terrible! I could barely make out what was being said. Never mind Dave forgetting the words to songs and making stuff up as he went along, but I just couldn't make out the words most of the time. I was beginning to feel sad. I just thank God I could still hear Eddie's guitar. I have to say, he sounded phenomenal! He may have lost a bit of speed in his old age, but his technique and sound was spot on. But why did he look like Bart Simpson after getting hit in the face with shrimp? He had to have been on some pretty powerful prescription drugs to puff up like he has. This did not look like the Eddie of old...and he barely moved out of one spot. Alex was hidden behind his huge drum kit, wearing shades all night, banging on his drums just as aggressively as he always had. His drum solo seemed to last 45 seconds though. It was over way too quickly, as I remember his solos going on for days. He didn't even bang on that huge gong behind him like he always did in the past. One of the bright spots, and biggest surprise for me, was Wolfgang. The kid who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but on stage four years ago took total control of his surroundings. His playing, by what I could make out, was solid. What made me sit up and forward in my seat was his fantastically improved backing vocals. I almost didn't miss Michael Anthony, the greatest harmony man in the world...almost. As the night wore on, I was getting more and more disappointed with Dave. He sounded much better in 2007, I thought, and he just wasn't doing it for me this time. He looks a little like Barry Manilow these days and can barely get his foot of the ground to attempt those signature high kicks of his. (Perhaps he's afraid of breaking a hip). The crowd around me just wasn't into it...until they played their final song, "Jump", which is one of my least favourite and, as my buddy Greg said, probably their gayest song. (Not trying to be rude, but you know what he meant). On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give the concert, total experience, a solid 4. Van Halen played for just under 2 hours with barely a moment to breathe between songs...very little personality and often terrible sound. Oh well, I guess I'll play my own concert on my XBOX with Van Halen's Guitar Hero. Here's the setlist from last night if you're interested:
Unchained
Runnin' With The Devil (great into still)
She's The Woman (new song from old demo...sounded good)
The Full Bug (very happy to hear this, I sang very loudly)
Tattoo (I went to pee during this awful new song!)
Everybody Wants Some
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
China Town (new song, sounded good)
Hear About It Later
Oh, Pretty Woman (usually has a long opening of Cathedral...didn't)
Drum Solo (way too short)
You Really Got Me (not enough energy for this one)
The Trouble With Never
Dance The Night Away
I'll Wait (not very good...Dave couldn't get up there)
Hot For Teacher (usually has Alex' into go for a loooong time...didn't)
Women In Love
Girl Gone Bad
Beautiful Girls (LOVE THIS SONG...Dave forgot some words again)
Ice Cream Man (Dave forgot the second verse)
Panama (Dave let the crowd sing most of it)
Guitar Solo (still fabulous!)
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
Jump
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