Van Halen at LA Staples Center

[skorb]

grow up endrik. you are taking this waay too personally man.

I happen to think this MA decision and subbing in a fat kid for him on bass is cheap. I like the performances, the clips I've seen. I love DLR.

but yeah I think Eddies a dick along with liking his music.

[Shibs]

I have met Eddie Van Halen on several Occasions and each time he was a jerk except for last January at the NAMM show, I went backstage after the party and met him (along with John 5) and he was great.... I guess that he was in a good mood! He is still a great guitar player, I went to the Sacramento show and his solo wasn't as good as past shows, but I was happy to watch him play!

[khabibissell]

No, Endrik is right. I think they should just pipe in the studio tracks for the whole set list. The band could get up there and act out playing their instruments and singing. Why should bands have to actually perform their music accurately live? That is just a silly waste of time with all the technology available to them. They should charge more for their tickets too. Why charge $1500+ for front row seats when the fan boys will pay even more than that to see a facsimile of a once great band.

[Endrik]

No, Endrik is right. I think they should just pipe in the studio tracks for the whole set list.

I said something like that? you just can't seem to get over that some people like their shows

[khabibissell]

I said something like that? you just can't seem to get over that some people like their shows

No, I think it is great that people are enjoying themselves. I guess I just had higher expectations.

[lerxstcat]

By all rights this tour should have been a 5-date trainwreck, possibly ending in an onstage murder.

Anything better than that, should exceed expectations. They're doing alright considering the egos and friction that must be involved, and anybody who went expecting more than the simple act of Ed and Dave onstage together, expected too much.

If you went to go to a cool party, a high school reunion more or less, then you'd be happy. If you went expecting them to play flawlessly, well they NEVER did that. They played drunk and drugged in their heydey. Dave is actually singing better now than he was back then, and Ed is... okay.

I may go see them in New Orleans, just because it's around Mardi Gras and a VH show would fit the spirit. Then again, it's a royal PITA to navigate the city dirung Mardi Gras, so I dunno...

[Posepatrol]

Matt,

I know you have friends on the Road Crew, I'm not being over critical, I paid good money for my tickets, and expected alot more than what I got.

But I will throw in the fact that.

I spent many years as a Backline Tech, working for pretty much every HERO in some capacity. I know Van Halen is hard to compare to KISS, But at least KISS never used any tracks except for Beth, which is nothing New.

I personally play in LIGHTS, we are the Premier Journey Tribute on the West Coast. We do not play to ANY TRACKS, though sometimes I wish we could, but that is not what I SELL, meaning we get paid well, to do our shows, so to use tracks to me is a farce, isn't that what you pay to see/ear?....

The funny thing is Jeff Scott Soto told me "Why don't you guys use TRACKS, Journey Does...?"

My Only Answer was "We aren't JOURNEY".

The Band over all would be better with Mike, I tried My Best with wanting to like Wolfie, but for $150.00 a seat..I have seen my last Van Halen show.

[j4vice]

I saw then in 1981 and they did NOT use a 'TRACK'
I'm going to see this tour in FEB 2008.

A lot of 'acts' use TRACKS. I prefer 'raw' music but today's iPoD audience . . .

Does Alex wear headphones?

[VinceV]

I was at the show and posted this review on another forum. But WTF I'll post it here too.


"I wasn't planning on going to this show at all. I have 5* for the Anaheim show and was happy to wait. At the last second I decided to take my 15 year old and ended up getting seats in the 106 section.

I have never seen VH with Dave my 1st VH Concert was the 5150 tour(saw them 2 times) when I was around 15, saw them twice on ou812, and 3 times in 04 all front row seats for 04.

To get back to last night, since I was at the end of the floor looking straight down to the stage, I was removed from the excitement of being up close and in the "mix of it".

I thought the show was bland, for being home for the 1st time in 20+ years, it didn't seem like there was much made of it. No reference except 1 comment about Pasadena, but they could have really made it something special and I didn't get that vibe, the "Ice Cream" story seemed even edited down from versions I have seen on youtube.

They came out rocking, but after a few songs it seemed to almost lose steam. There is a very different vibe to the band. They almost got a bluesy slow tempo thing going, almost every song had a come to a halt in the middle, so we can groove thing, which is fine but it almost seems to get predictable to a point.

Lots of people around me were sitting, and no one really seemed that excited after awhile. It almost was more enjoyable to watch the way too drunk women around me pass out and stumble, that seemed to be in full force last night.

It was really more like watching theater than a rock band. In 04 they may have sounded like crap, but the energy and crowd interaction from Mike and Sam was in full force. It could have also been that I was in the front for those shows, thus giving me a false sense of what was really happening.

I also thought it sounded like crap, the mix blew. Dave's vocals faded in and out, many times you couldn't even hear him. Same with the guitar mix, it was horrible. Many times I couldn't even tell what was being played till some vocals started up.

Highlight of the show. ALEX, he plane assed rocked. Usually drum solos are a boring break for me. His kicked ass, he really is the star or glue of that band. Eddies solo was 1000x better than in 04, but it wasn't great there were some odd pauses/transitions in it, but it was still very good.

Like others have said, I think Eddie/Wolfgang are the weaker links in this band as of now, with Alex being the star. The Dave stuff is cool but to me it wasn't all that, like many other would have you believe.

In the last year I have seen Rush and Prince and I will say that both those shows were awesome. The Rush show I hadn't even heard the new album when I went and the majority of their show was the new material, and I still had a great time.

I didn't hate the show, I just thought that it wasn't that good. I am seeing them again next month and will be in the pit for that, so maybe things will seem different, I just am not as excited to seem them next time."


Some thoughts since I made that post.

I was excited to see this show, but to me it just wasn't that good of a concert, maybe because I wasn't drinking and was further back. Even though the not drinking has been the case for almost every time I have see them.

I have always liked VH, didn't matter if it was Sam or Dave. It's just that everyone has so hyped the Dave is a the greatest frontman thing since I can remember. That I was expecting more. I think others are in retro heaven and get really sucked up in it. But if you have seen prior VH concert, I think you have seen a better show from them.

If I already hadn't paid for the next show, and friends were flying in. I'm not too sure I would be going to see them again.

[Tetsuo]

Wow some people are really too critical. I personally rather dislike Van Halen and can site maybe 3 songs I can stand. That being said Is there something to be said for just sitting back and enjoying the show ike Endrik did instead of deconstructing everything? I am totally guilty of deconstructing things so I understand but aren't some things in life better if we suspend some disbelief?

[pro-fusion]

For $150, I don't expect to have to suspend disbelief. Even if EVH didn't want Mike in the band, he could have hired a real bassist and had Wolfgang play second guitar or something. Wolfgang is a guitarist like his dad, and we all know that most guitarists suck at bass, me included.

[Ralph E.]

Truly sad when "live" doesn't mean "live".

I'll wait for the "live" DVD (which i'm sure they'll put out $$$).

If i'm gonna watch "fake" I might as well do it from the comfort of my own home...

[MBreinin]

Blah, blah, blah...MT blah, Tele-blah.

I was right there Saturday morning at 10 am getting my New Orleans tickets. I am going again, with my 10 year old and my ex-brother in law. It is going to be a blast, yet again...just like Greensboro was. I am on the floor this time. I don't care if there are "click tracks" for Wolfie, I don't care about fucking bass...bass is for guys that can't play guitar. Just hold down the low end and be done with it. I don't care if the keys are piped in, or the Cradle Will Rock flanges are piped in, or if backups are piped in...Eddie is doing enough tap dancing out there as is.

What I do care about is seeing some of the greatest rock songs ever recorded, by one of my favorite bands ever, being played right before my eyes. Is that worth $150 a ticket to me? Fuck yes. If it isn't worth it to you, fine.

Even when the odds were stacked against Ed and the crew and everyone said he was done, he brought it. Now everyone wants to nitpick the show because they can't slam Ed for being a strung out junkie any longer. I love the Booze rumors too. PROVE IT.

God, people just relish in failure. I guess when your life is lacking, you look for validation in other's mistakes.

Fuck all of you haters.

Mike

[Top Jimmy B]

I am going on Friday night, in Calgary, and I can't wait to see my hero and listen to, as Mike said, some of the greatest rock songs ever written. There is no more to this, than that, for a guy like me - a die hard, life long(literally since '78) fan of Van Halen.

Mikey shmikey - fuck him. His solo was always a joke, he pedalled around on root notes waiting to sing backup, in my opinion. He has lived a financially secure life on the talents of Ed, Dave and Sam and he should have been smart enough to know where his loyalties(and royalties) belonged. He will never again bank the cheese he made playing with the brothers VH. Ed, Dave and Al have always been the show anyway and that's who I'm going to see. The portly dude on the left is just a bonus, I suppose - whether it's chubby Wolf or chubby Mike.

[khabibissell]

Blah, blah, blah...MT blah, Tele-blah.

I was right there Saturday morning at 10 am getting my New Orleans tickets. I am going again, with my 10 year old and my ex-brother in law. It is going to be a blast, yet again...just like Greensboro was. I am on the floor this time. I don't care if there are "click tracks" for Wolfie, I don't care about fucking bass...bass is for guys that can't play guitar. Just hold down the low end and be done with it. I don't care if the keys are piped in, or the Cradle Will Rock flanges are piped in, or if backups are piped in...Eddie is doing enough tap dancing out there as is.

What I do care about is seeing some of the greatest rock songs ever recorded, by one of my favorite bands ever, being played right before my eyes. Is that worth $150 a ticket to me? Fuck yes. If it isn't worth it to you, fine.

Even when the odds were stacked against Ed and the crew and everyone said he was done, he brought it. Now everyone wants to nitpick the show because they can't slam Ed for being a strung out junkie any longer. I love the Booze rumors too. PROVE IT.

God, people just relish in failure. I guess when your life is lacking, you look for validation in other's mistakes.

Fuck all of you haters.

Mike

Calm down there fanboy... No need to get hostile.

The fact is, Ed SUCKED when I saw them, and most of the youtube clips aren't much better. And for the record, I'm 36, so I think I have a pretty good idea when I'm witnessing someone under the influence. Especially with those gigantic Jumbotrons going, it wasn't hard to tell by the unsteady gaite and clueless look on EVH's face. I'm not being a hater, I just think it is insulting that they are charging the outrageous ticket prices are and obviously going through the motions. EVH is in no shape to be touring. His playing is in sad shape. Don't give me that Ed is always sloppy live routine. Like he says, his style is like falling down the stairs and landing on his feet. In the past, that is what happened. Now, Ed is just falling down the stairs... If he was sober, he would be able to pull it off. Remember, we're not talking about your average bar band guitarist butchering covers. This is EVH. Following the band blindly and kissing their ass will do nothing but allow them to turn in crappy performances and milk the cash cow for all it is worth. If enough people turn their back on them (which is what they deserve) then maybe we'll all be able to hear VH be the kick ass band they should be.

I'd rather spend $150 to see the Atomic Punks. They deliver VH as it should be.