Van Halen - Philly Oct 1

Poncier · October 2007

Atomic Punk wrote:

For those of you on the fence with whether or not to check this tour out.....GO!!!! They were fucking excellent last night. I was skeptical...very skeptical going into it. I have been a Van Halen fan since the first album came out and they have been my favorite band since. It was my first time seeing them with DLR. I was 12 when they broke up and not allowed to go to concerts yet. I saw VH 7 times with Sam and once with Gary. I saw DLR solo 6 times. But this was the first time for VH with DLR.

Having seen DLR many times I was a bit worried about how he would sound because let's face it, he is a showman, not a great singer. Well, they must have convinced him to go at it very seriously, learn and REMEMBER the lyrics, and actually use them instead of often going off into tangents and stuff in the middle of songs. He sounded the best I have ever heard him sound. He did the songs for the most part the way they are supposed to be done. You can tell he put a lot of hard work and effort into his preparation.

Eddie is still the master. That guy can fucking play his ass off and make it look so effortless. He is in top form. Physically he looks in good shape, but needs a sammich. Looked very happy all night long.

Alex is as solid as ever.

Wolfgang did an admirable job considering the position he was thrust into by his dad. His backing vocals along with Eddie sounded pretty spot on. It is amazing (and I already knew this) how HUGE the backing vocals are in Van Halen....they did a great job keeping the harmonies and whatnot. Wolf was solid on bass as well. No noticeable flaws that I was aware of.

The setlist was legit. I would have subtracted a couple and added a couple, but heck, we would all probably do that with any show we go to. The only song that sounded 'off' to me was Hot for Teacher. It sounded like they were playing it too fast. Other than that....WOW! The show started at 8:30 on the nose and went a bit over 2 hours. Considering they have 6 albums with Dave, and most of them are about 30 minutes long, I thought it was a nice size show. 25 songs, not counting 1984, Eruption, Cathedral and 316. The last 3 all being part of Eddie's 10 minute solo, with also a bit of the Little Guitars intro.

In any case, do not let the naysayers sway you away if you really want to go, it truly is one hell of a rock and roll show.

Glad you enjoyed it. I'm going tomorrow night at Mohegan Sun, then again on 10/30 in Boston. I am quite stoked.

Flagg · October 2007

Still waiting on them to announce an additional leg that include some Texas shows, but excited to read the good reviews.

Never saw them live with Dave, but saw them 11 times with Sammy and once with Gary.

Hopefully they will make it down here.

fanch75 · October 2007

Flagg wrote:

Still waiting on them to announce an additional leg that include some Texas shows, but excited to read the good reviews.

Never saw them live with Dave, but saw them 11 times with Sammy and once with Gary.

Hopefully they will make it down here.

Reason #1 for announcing/selling shows one leg at a time:

An entire 100 date tour sells out in advance, EVH gets cocky and spends it all on blow, hookers, & alcohol. Wolfie fucks something up due to his inexperience, DLR says something smart ass about it in front of 20,000 people, EVH gets pissed, launches his guitar at DLR, fist fight insues, tour cancelled, and then there's no money left to refund to the ticket buyers from future shows because EVH spent it all on blow, hookers, and alcohol.

Hawkshore · October 2007

fanch75 wrote:

Reason #1 for announcing/selling shows one leg at a time:

An entire 100 date tour sells out in advance, EVH gets cocky and spends it all on blow, hookers, & alcohol.

You say that like it is a bad thing???

Poncier · October 2007

Wow.

I went into last night with fairly high expectations, and VH exceeded them.

The show was fantastic.

Can't wait to see them again on 10/30.

Had seats right next to the stage on EVH's side. (section 14 at Mohegan Sun Arena) He looked like he was having a blast. And seeing him interact with his son makes me think that Wolfgang is the reason Ed cleaned his act up and got back where he belongs. If Michael Anthony needed to be the sacrificial lamb so this could happen, I'm OK with it after witnessing it last night.

Bathgate66 · October 2007

Poncier wrote:

Wow.

I went into last night with fairly high expectations, and VH exceeded them.

The show was fantastic.

Can't wait to see them again on 10/30.

Had seats right next to the stage on EVH's side. (section 14 at Mohegan Sun Arena) He looked like he was having a blast. And seeing him interact with his son makes me think that Wolfgang is the reason Ed cleaned his act up and got back where he belongs. If Michael Anthony needed to be the sacrificial lamb so this could happen, I'm OK with it after witnessing it last night.

is wolfie using a jack daniels bass, also ? :eek:

what about songs, which ones blew your socks off ?

i want to make it to the garden to see this reunited reformed version of the VH.

Poncier · October 2007

Bathgate66 wrote:

is wolfie using a jack daniels bass, also ? :eek:

what about songs, which ones blew your socks off ?

i want to make it to the garden to see this reunited reformed version of the VH.

NO JD bass for Wolfie, no Kool-Aid bass either. Couple of variations on the Frankenstrat design, one blue with white stripes, one black with yellow and a couple of standard design basses.

Song highlights for me would be Atomic Punk, Mean Streets, Everybody Wants Some, And the Cradle Wil Rock, Unchained and Little Guitars.

But really not a weak moment in the show.

Bathgate66 · October 2007

Poncier wrote:

NO JD bass for Wolfie, no Kool-Aid bass either. Couple of variations on the Frankenstrat design, one blue with white stripes, one black with yellow and a couple of standard design basses.

Song highlights for me would be Atomic Punk, Mean Streets, Everybody Wants Some, And the Cradle Wil Rock, Unchained and Little Guitars.

But really not a weak moment in the show.

fucking sweet.
so he broke out the little guitars huh
how about it
mean streets is awesome too.
wonder if valerie is far away at any given time.
hopefully ill get to go to msg.

Atomic Punk · October 2007

Poncier, that is awesome awesome awesome! It makes me feel great to hear others are seeing this like I have and make me feel a little validated. I did not want to be accused of looking at this through rose colored glasses being as though they have been my favorite band since 1978 (I was 6). I want to go again. I got shut out of MSG and Continental, but there is always a way to get in... I did not want to go to two shows close togather either because it is the same setlist every night so far and they probably will not deviate from that.

Nobody rules these streets at night but me! The Atomic Punk! Love that shit. Mean Street is fucking sick. Damn great show.

Poncier · October 2007

Atomic Punk wrote:

Poncier, that is awesome awesome awesome! It makes me feel great to hear others are seeing this like I have and make me feel a little validated. I did not want to be accused of looking at this through rose colored glasses being as though they have been my favorite band since 1978 (I was 6). I want to go again. I got shut out of MSG and Continental, but there is always a way to get in... I did not want to go to two shows close togather either because it is the same setlist every night so far and they probably will not deviate from that.

Nobody rules these streets at night but me! The Atomic Punk! Love that shit. Mean Street is fucking sick. Damn great show.

Keep on top of Ticketmaster. They have dropped seats for all the shows thus far, thats how I got my Mohegan seats, very good ones too, caught a release just about 2 weeks before show date. They released a few other times leading up to the show after as well.

I know they don't vary the setlists much, if at all. Hoping for maybe one or two changes by month's end when they hit Boston. If not, as long as Eddie's on fire like Friday, I'll be quite happy.

Oh, Jimmy · October 2007

Poncier wrote:

Wow.

I went into last night with fairly high expectations, and VH exceeded them.

The show was fantastic.

Can't wait to see them again on 10/30.

Had seats right next to the stage on EVH's side. (section 14 at Mohegan Sun Arena) He looked like he was having a blast. And seeing him interact with his son makes me think that Wolfgang is the reason Ed cleaned his act up and got back where he belongs. If Michael Anthony needed to be the sacrificial lamb so this could happen, I'm OK with it after witnessing it last night.

I never looked at the Wolfgang thing like that. Can you imagine the pointers he has gotten while trying to learn to play.

And........ I guess little Wolfy prolly aint a virgin anymore.

dCowboyPJ · October 2007

Wow wow wow wow.

I went to the Toronto show last night. Unfuckingreal. I cannot believe how good it was. DLR sounded so good. Those rehearsal videos that were posted on Youtube sound nothing like what they sound like. If they're comming through your city go. Van Halen is back, and they fucking rock!!!

Poncier · October 2007

Oh, Jimmy wrote:

I never looked at the Wolfgang thing like that. Can you imagine the pointers he has gotten while trying to learn to play.

And........ I guess little Wolfy prolly aint a virgin anymore.

Something tells me that Val Bert is probably along for the ride and keeping Wolfie far away from DLR once the show ends each night.

even flow? · October 2007

They did not disappoint!!!

We were having too much fun with old friends at dinner and missed the first song. Oh well!

One of the best concerts I have been too. Ever. Everybody on their feet. Everybody singing. Everybody dancing. Everybody jumping. NOBODY BEING ASKED TO SIT DOWN!

Yeah Eddie we know you are good at the guitar. Do you really need a personal solo to emphasize it? We also know your brother is a so so drummer. Does Alex need a drum solo? You could have squeezed a few more classics into the rotation. Wolfgang seemed to be okay. A little fast in a few songs and seemed right out to lunch in another one. But for the most part it is bass in Van Halen and what am I to expect. It was good to see Roth leading the parade. He truly knows what the meal ticket is and seems to not mind letting Ed do his thing.

Every single song had almost every single noise from the album done by Eddie. A huge Fuckin' Eh for that. I commented that I wouldn't mind coughing the bucks up to go and see the show again. It was that good.

I thought it was cute when Wolfie got to do the "come on Dave, give me a break" part and Roth commented, "this is your time to shine, son".

They all seemed to be having a good time. I don't think Roth can't smile while on stage. The story about weed before Ice Cream Man was funny. I don't think Roth made the motorcycle noises, nor played the acoustic during Ice Cream Man. But that is just me.

If you even thought about liking Van Halen when you were young. Don't miss this show.

4.5/5 or 9/10. Aside from very loud mix of guitar in some tunes that drowned Roth out. It was great! A blast from the past baby. Samalla billa biddy de bop!

stupidcorporatewhore · October 2007

saw the police this year, BORING!

based on reviews, I skipped Genesis.

van halen is kicking ass

wow

Van Halen - Philly Oct 1

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