Bring back Sammy!! (VH)

halv

Went to see Van Halen last night in Vancouver. The 3 Van Halen's were incredible. Eddie is in top form, Alex was rock solid and Wolfgang was a solid replacement for Michael Anthony. The music sounded perfect and their backing vocals was impressive. And then there was David Lee Roth....ugh. I never thought I would say this, but Sammy Hagar would have been soooooo much better. DLR was borderline awful. Either forgetting lyrics or not bothering to use them. Annoying scat singing. Mostly completely out of tune. He outright ruined songs. The momentum build to the big chorus in Everybody Wants Some.....here we gooooo..."scooby do wah wah wah"...AWFUL! I felt bad for the Van Halens. They were so good. They need to call up Sammy, make amends, offer him a ton of cash to sing Roth era songs and then get back on the road.

tybird

Sounds like you jumped into a time machine and went back to see the show on the Diver Down tour that I saw way back when.....exact same complainants that I had about DLR thirty years ago.

Monster Rain

The only time I saw VH in concert was on the Balance tour. Sammy was spot on for the entire show. I've never been a big fan of the DLR era because Dave did way too much of that stupid stuff to cover for his average voice. The backing vocals were always better than his lead vocals.

mysticweed

yeah - david lee who?

sammy rocks

Bronx Bombers

Maybe the tour is taking its toll on him because I saw them at MSG 1 and he sounded great although he needs to lose the headset microphone he spent a lot of time adjusting it all night.

tybird

mysticweed wrote:

yeah - david lee who?

sammy rocks

:thumbup: :thumbup:

Monster Rain

Bronx Bombers wrote:

Maybe the tour is taking its toll on him because I saw them at MSG 1 and he sounded great although he needs to lose the headset microphone he spent a lot of time adjusting it all night.

He's using a headset mic? Does he wear a half-shirt and choreograph the whole show, too?

halv

Monster Rain wrote:

Bronx Bombers wrote:

Maybe the tour is taking its toll on him because I saw them at MSG 1 and he sounded great although he needs to lose the headset microphone he spent a lot of time adjusting it all night.

He's using a headset mic? Does he wear a half-shirt and choreograph the whole show, too?

We got lucky last night. He got rid of the headset and used a good ol' microphone. He did have some good moves twirling the mic stand. I'll give him that, and only that.

josevolution

I can't believe people actually pay to see them :fp:

tybird

Does DLR still break out those silly samurai swords too???

halv

tybird wrote:

Does DLR still break out those silly samurai swords too???

Nope, he's sticking to throwing around the mic stand and pulling some James Brown shaky ankle moves.
I really have to stress that Alex, Wolfgang and Eddie were amazing. Really tight and sounded great. If Dave had been any good it could have been a very cool, nostalgic party like show. Oh well. Good thing I only bought the $29 seats but snuck into the $170 section...ya!

DewieCox

josevolution wrote:

I can't believe people actually pay to see them :fp:

It surprises you that one of the biggest bands ever has paying customers?

kenneth gossard

DewieCox wrote:

josevolution wrote:

I can't believe people actually pay to see them :fp:

It surprises you that one of the biggest bands ever has paying customers?

Haha...that's funny... Great band and the new album is excellent but Dave is brutal live,,,, bring back Sammy. Ou812 is a great album

iammine16

I was at the show as well, and about half way through people started to leave in my section. I had always been more of a Sammy fan, and this show defenitly proved as to why. Awful! I have never seen a singer single handedly kill any kind of buzz the building had at the start of the set. Good thing I was in the $29 seats!

I can't wait for Iron Maiden in July!

helplessdancer

i am sam fan

g under p

iammine16 wrote:

I was at the show as well, and about half way through people started to leave in my section. I had always been more of a Sammy fan, and this show defenitly proved as to why. Awful! I have never seen a singer single handedly kill any kind of buzz the building had at the start of the set. Good thing I was in the $29 seats!

I can't wait for Iron Maiden in July!

Bruce Dickerson has one hell of a metal voice and can frnce too.

Peace

g under p

Sammy had a better live voice but DLR was a better lead entertainer....it's pick your poison with DLR.

pEACE

PKTrekGirl

kenneth gossard wrote:

DewieCox wrote:

josevolution wrote:

I can't believe people actually pay to see them :fp:

It surprises you that one of the biggest bands ever has paying customers?

Haha...that's funny... Great band and the new album is excellent but Dave is brutal live,,,, bring back Sammy. Ou812 is a great album

I don't think anyone would tell you that DLR had a great voice. He never did - Sammy was always better in that regard.

But what Diamond Dave lacks in talent, he makes up for in over-the-top entertainment value. The guy is, like, the William Shatner of the music industry. Over-the-top goofy as hell.

Speaking as only one fan of the DLR-era of Van Halen, I can tell you that I do not still watch the videos for Panama, Jump, and Hot for the Teacher because Dave has such a compelling voice. I watch them to listen to Eddie Van Halen shred...and I watch them to laugh at Diamond Dave's antics - pure and simple.

That was always the magic of DLR-era Van Halen - Eddie Van Halen's jaw-droppingly awesome talent combined with Diamond Dave's jaw-droppingly stupid over-the-top antics. A unique marriage of the Incredibly Awesome and the Incredibly Goofy. And it worked for them! They were the only band on the planet who could pull off this odd combination....and they did it really, really well. And in the 80's, were the biggest arena band going as a result...despite giving the impression (mostly thanks to Dave) that, in spite of Eddie's amazing talent, they never took themselves too seriously. This was their magic - it's what made them such a refreshing change of pace from every other band out there.

The OP must have never seen them back in the day if he went to this show expecting Dave to deliver superior vocals. That's not his forte - never was. Dave will never make any top 100 vocalists in rock list. Never.

You have to have a whole other mind-set for a DLR-era Van Halen show. Because while, even back in the day, Dave would never have made a top 100 vocalists in rock list, he would have easily made a top 10 entertainers in rock list. So the mindset you need to have is that you will get the mind-blowing music from Eddie, Alex and Wolfgang...and the get the laughs from DLR.

You really cannot approach DLR-era Van Halen with the same mind-set and idea of "good" that you approach most other bands. At least I don't think so.

locked

Saw them in 1980 at the cape cod collesium ..
Remains the worst concert I ever witnessed.. Because of DAVE.

VH fans wil appreciate this..
On "ain't talkin bout love" he wouldn't even sing "I've been to the edge.." part..
Band had to just keep playing while he giggled to himself in the microphone ..

My older brother got me into Hagar independent of the VH STINT.
He and his friends saw HAGAR back up BOSTON (in Boston!) and everyone agreed HAGAR blew them off the stage.

If you never heard Sammy solo, buy his first live CD "all night long" and play "bad motor scooter" "reckless" "young girl blues" and "turn up the music"..

You will understand why..

halv

locked wrote:

Saw them in 1980 at the cape cod collesium ..
Remains the worst concert I ever witnessed.. Because of DAVE.

VH fans wil appreciate this..
On "ain't talkin bout love" he wouldn't even sing "I've been to the edge.." part..
Band had to just keep playing while he giggled to himself in the microphone ..

My older brother got me into Hagar independent of the VH STINT.
He and his friends saw HAGAR back up BOSTON (in Boston!) and everyone agreed HAGAR blew them off the stage.

.

This is exactly what happened at the Vancouver show last week! A lot of Van Halen songs are kind of epic with a big sing-a-long chorus and Dave would just ruin it. You could feel the crowd just deflate. If I want to see a comedian or lounge act I'll go to a casino.

EdsonNascimento

I was tempted to go to this, but what you guys are saying is exactly why I didn't. I saw them with Sammy, and they were great. Sammy even knows how to give Eddie his space to work. DLR strikes me as someone that would come off as a clown AND not know the show is about Eddie and not him.

Sounds like Eddie may begin to recall why they got rid of him in the first place.....

Not making this a DLR vs. Sammy thing (Though I guess that's exactly what the thread is). Both eras have GREAT music. And DLR definitely helped build the brand. But, ultimately, it's about Eddie and his guitar, and while at times Sammy's writing didn't necessarily lend directly to album stuff for Eddie - he knew how to draw folks in and allow Eddie space to breath in a live setting which is really where he's at his best anyway.

Kind of funny that the profile works the opposite (Eddie wasn't happy where Sammy's albums were headed and thought Sammy thought it was about him when in fact Sammy was the best thing that ever happened to him). Eh, I guess it's the old story of not knowing what's good for ya.......

Tom K

There is a commercial playing for the VH album and tour.. DLR with a big goofy grin, waving some kind of flag or something.. It reminds me of a parody commercial from SNL (especially since DLR has an uncanny resemblance to Chris Kattan)..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZigvKtaC_3o

I would still go to the show if I could get cheap tickets..

PKTrekGirl

EdsonNascimento wrote:

Not making this a DLR vs. Sammy thing (Though I guess that's exactly what the thread is). Both eras have GREAT music. And DLR definitely helped build the brand. But, ultimately, it's about Eddie and his guitar,

Word.

tybird

locked wrote:

Saw them in 1980 at the cape cod collesium ..
Remains the worst concert I ever witnessed.. Because of DAVE.

VH fans wil appreciate this..
On "ain't talkin bout love" he wouldn't even sing "I've been to the edge.." part..
Band had to just keep playing while he giggled to himself in the microphone ..

My older brother got me into Hagar independent of the VH STINT.
He and his friends saw HAGAR back up BOSTON (in Boston!) and everyone agreed HAGAR blew them off the stage.

If you never heard Sammy solo, buy his first live CD "all night long" and play "bad motor scooter" "reckless" "young girl blues" and "turn up the music"..

You will understand why..

Change 1980 to 1982...and change Cape Cod Coliseum to Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Coliseum, then our stories agree......a drunken karaoke singer would have been more entertaining than a drunken DLR that long ago night.....saw Sammy out-play ZZ Top a year later as their opener.....better voice, better songs is what you get with Sammy

Monster Rain

EdsonNascimento wrote:

I was tempted to go to this, but what you guys are saying is exactly why I didn't. I saw them with Sammy, and they were great. Sammy even knows how to give Eddie his space to work. DLR strikes me as someone that would come off as a clown AND not know the show is about Eddie and not him.

Sounds like Eddie may begin to recall why they got rid of him in the first place.....

Not making this a DLR vs. Sammy thing (Though I guess that's exactly what the thread is). Both eras have GREAT music. And DLR definitely helped build the brand. But, ultimately, it's about Eddie and his guitar, and while at times Sammy's writing didn't necessarily lend directly to album stuff for Eddie - he knew how to draw folks in and allow Eddie space to breath in a live setting which is really where he's at his best anyway.

Kind of funny that the profile works the opposite (Eddie wasn't happy where Sammy's albums were headed and thought Sammy thought it was about him when in fact Sammy was the best thing that ever happened to him). Eh, I guess it's the old story of not knowing what's good for ya.......

I'm not sure what Ed didn't like about Sammy's writing. Ed was still the one writing the music, so the style of music he played would have a lot to do with the type of lyrics Hagar would write. Did he think that "Feelin'" or "Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do" should have been less serious? Then don't write serious-sounding music. Did he think "Amsterdam" was too goofy? If so, then why get back with Dave when his voice is so bad that he's really only capable of doing goofy (especially without Mike's backing vocals to pick him up)? I think Eddie and Alex just gradually became more and more insane as time went by. I read the part of Sammy's book where he describes how they got back together to record new songs for the "Best of Both Worlds" set. Yikes!

red mos

I'm scared to go and try to get a ticket night of, because of this thread. :? cheapest tix are 100 bucks for obstuctive view. I'm hoping to get a cheap one in the parking lot. Not sure what I am going to do. :? Love the DLR era VH on cd. Only Sammy one I have with VH is 5150. I do like Sammy's solo stuff though alot.

locked

tybird wrote:

locked wrote:

Saw them in 1980 at the cape cod collesium ..
Remains the worst concert I ever witnessed.. Because of DAVE.

VH fans wil appreciate this..
On "ain't talkin bout love" he wouldn't even sing "I've been to the edge.." part..
Band had to just keep playing while he giggled to himself in the microphone ..

My older brother got me into Hagar independent of the VH STINT.
He and his friends saw HAGAR back up BOSTON (in Boston!) and everyone agreed HAGAR blew them off the stage.

If you never heard Sammy solo, buy his first live CD "all night long" and play "bad motor scooter" "reckless" "young girl blues" and "turn up the music"..

You will understand why..

Change 1980 to 1982...and change Cape Cod Coliseum to Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Coliseum, then our stories agree......a drunken karaoke singer would have been more entertaining than a drunken DLR that long ago night.....saw Sammy out-play ZZ Top a year later as their opener.....better voice, better songs is what you get with Sammy

cool brother!
:corn:

EdsonNascimento

Monster Rain wrote:

I'm not sure what Ed didn't like about Sammy's writing. Ed was still the one writing the music, so the style of music he played would have a lot to do with the type of lyrics Hagar would write. Did he think that "Feelin'" or "Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do" should have been less serious? Then don't write serious-sounding music. Did he think "Amsterdam" was too goofy? If so, then why get back with Dave when his voice is so bad that he's really only capable of doing goofy (especially without Mike's backing vocals to pick him up)? I think Eddie and Alex just gradually became more and more insane as time went by. I read the part of Sammy's book where he describes how they got back together to record new songs for the "Best of Both Worlds" set. Yikes!

True. And you're probably more on target. It was more Sammy having enough than anything else and now they NEED someone that will put up with them, and Daves the best they can do.

In the end , I guess it's better the family stuck together than The Kinks where the brothers ended up hating each other.

Yefa

I've been a Van Halen fan since 1983 but have never seen them live. It's too bad if DLR isn't doing the songs the right way on the current tour, but I still vastly prefer the Van Halen era to the Van Hagar era. In fact I own all 6 Van Halen albums and zero Van Hagar albums.

EdsonNascimento

BTW, we all know this is not happening. Even though Chickenfoot is playing theaters and VH is playing arenas (for now), it sounds like Sammy doesn't need the money and he found a plenty great guitarist to play with and not have the aggravation. I'm sure Eddie thought he'd come crawling back, and when the realization that he had in fact moved on to a better place, he settled for Dave. I mean look at the false restart with Dave and you realize the latest effort is not only the settling, but that it won't last very long (unless he's desperate, which might be the case). I mean half the "new" album is in fact a glorified Lost Dogs. Which is fine. But, it also seems to indicate they didn't have a lot off creative ideas in the pipe line when they threw this back together.

It has recipe for disaster written all over it, and some of these reviews only go to confirm that.

None of this has anything to do with the argument of which era is better (which is a silly and futile argument if you ask me. They were both great). It just goes to some fans desire to see this band as an entertaining going concern. This train will lose steam real fast if this becomes the prevailing wisdom of this tour. Nobody's paying $100 to seer Dave with a back up all time guitarist. At that point Eddie would just be better off going back to theaters and doing a co headlining tour with Jeff Beck or Joe Bonamassa.

tybird

EdsonNascimento wrote:

BTW, we all know this is not happening. Even though Chickenfoot is playing theaters and VH is playing arenas (for now), it sounds like Sammy doesn't need the money and he found a plenty great guitarist to play with and not have the aggravation. I'm sure Eddie thought he'd come crawling back, and when the realization that he had in fact moved on to a better place, he settled for Dave. I mean look at the false restart with Dave and you realize the latest effort is not only the settling, but that it won't last very long (unless he's desperate, which might be the case). I mean half the "new" album is in fact a glorified Lost Dogs. Which is fine. But, it also seems to indicate they didn't have a lot off creative ideas in the pipe line when they threw this back together.

It has recipe for disaster written all over it, and some of these reviews only go to confirm that.

None of this has anything to do with the argument of which era is better (which is a silly and futile argument if you ask me. They were both great). It just goes to some fans desire to see this band as an entertaining going concern. This train will lose steam real fast if this becomes the prevailing wisdom of this tour. Nobody's paying $100 to seer Dave with a back up all time guitarist. At that point Eddie would just be better off going back to theaters and doing a co headlining tour with Jeff Beck or Joe Bonamassa.

I think you are pretty close to target with your arguments....one of the problems in the Sammy/Eddie relationship is that Sammy did NOT need Eddie to be successful....whereas despite some early solo success, DLR floundered past a certain point without the brothers. This may also be the root of the Michael Anthony exile from Van Halen, once he was in with Sammy....he didn't need Eddie....so they, the brothers Van Halen, gave him the boot.