Wickett

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2008...y-mani-marley/


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.
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

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!

This story was submitted by a member of the Pegasus News community.

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Wickett

http://www.star-telegram.com/live/story/435030.html

DALLAS -- Van Halen's fans have certainly been through a lot over the past several years, from enduring changing-of-the-guard lead singers to wading through some fairly awful albums to waiting out the constant infighting that has kept the original lineup off the road for more than 20 years.

The payoff, however, came Saturday night when the California-reared rock band returned to Dallas, its original lineup mostly intact. Playing to a sold-out American Airlines Center, the band was a far cry from its MTV image. Singer David Lee Roth and guitarist Eddie Van Halen have short hair now, and neither of them zoomed around the stage as they did 20 years ago.

In a way, though, age has worked to their advantage, at least for this tour. It forced them, and their fans, to focus solely on the music. Instead of trotting out hit after hit, they punctuated their 20-song-plus set with a number of lesser-known songs -- I'm the One, Somebody Get Me a Doctor -- that seemed to further prove that the music was just as important as the money.

Eddie and drummer brother Alex Van Halen played exceptionally well. Any thought that the legendary guitarist, who turned 53 on Saturday, might have lost his touch was wiped away as he peeled off solos from Romeo's Delight and Runnin' With the Devil with grit, ease and his signature two-handed tapping.

In the center of it all was Roth, clowning and kicking. What he lacked in stamina, he more than made up for with a robust voice and his jester's smile. Actually, they were all smiling -- it's about time.

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OU1976ER

Out of all the reviews I've seen I'm surprised no one has mentioned what Dave said to Wolfie before Romeos Delight. Dave said to the crowd that it was Eddies birthday to which the crowd roard and Wolfie said "Lets sing happy birthday." and Dave said "Shut the fuck up and play the fucking song Junior". Wolfie then walked up the ramp and Eddie walked toward the front of the stage and started playing Romeos Delight but then stopped and looked over to dave as if to say,Hey my kid wants to sing happy b-day to me WTF!?!
He then continued playing and in the middle of the song Dave sang happy b-day to Eddie whitch stopped the song completely and said "I'm sorry Wolf I just couldn't sing it in that key you see" and then kissed Eddie on the cheek. Maybe it's just me but it seemed like a very tense moment. I mean how would you feel if someone told your kid to shut the fuck up? Overall I felt the show was B+. I loved the setlist and their playing was alot better then it was in 04. My seats were better also. IMO I couldn't help notice that Mikey was gone especially on Someone get me a doctor and I'll wait and the guy that therw him out was on stage. I didn't think it would matter to me that much but it did. I really tried to enjoy the knight and I'm glad I got to see them with Dave at least once but I don't plan on seeing them when they come back on March 3rd. If you've never seen them with Dave definetly go but if your already upset that Mikey isn't there then I recommend you don't. In closing it would have been a nice touch to see them do Happy Trails at the end. I had a good time but I didn't leave feeling like I have to see this show again. Keep on rockin Yall!

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DTrain

It was a great show, and they were tight. Really clean sound and I was pleased, especially with how well Dave and Ed performed.

To be fair, toward the end of the show I remember Dave saying something like "you played really great tonight Wolf" and gave it up for the crowd to acknowledge. Not something you hear often and I though it was a nice gesture.

rrussou812

It was a great show, despite having a bad seat.

I was supposed to have had two platinum seats but the person who was supposed to sell them to me decided to send me a nice email the morning of the concert saying her husband decided to sell them to his friend instead....

So I ended up scrounging and found one seat, on ed's side way up in section 308. Not sure if it was just where I sat or if there were really issues with the sound that night, seemed like Dave's mic was turned up too high and Ed's guitar wasn't loud enough. Hopefully come 03/03 I can get better seats with it being on a Monday.

The show itself was great, Dave was clownin around, Ed and Al seemed to be having a great time. Wish I could say the same for Wolfie, he just seems like he's not that much into it. Don't get me wrong he played great the whole night but just seemed really stiff, maybe it's just not enough stage experience yet.

Yeah I was thrown back a bit when Dave told Wolf to basically 'STFU' when he wanted to sing Happy Birthday for his dad. I guess the whole reason why Dave pointed out that he was really playing good to the crowd was to make up for it.

I loved how they just went from one song to the next, no BS'ing in between.

For all those who haven't gone I recommend going, it's a great time and you'll love the show!

VanRoth07

I dont remember Dave tellin Wolfie to shut the fuck up, I remember Dave sayin, you just couldnt find the goddamn note huh? Then laughed, Ed started Romeo, then stoped for some reason, then Dave said, give it up one time i think, but what do i know, all i know is i LOVED THE SHOW!!

Sirarpeggio

Worth.. every..damn.. penny..! I never thought I'd get to to say I've JUMPED to the song Jump, or attemt a DLR yell while seein' em live! Not to mention throwing my fist in the air to Panama! But its done and am glad I got to see this historic event... no doubt!

And yes Ed still has it! Though he's not as young as he used to be, he did his signitaure kick off the drums platform and occasionally danced to his playing. He looked happy, and I wouldn't say he was bored playing the same sets on night after another either, at least he didn't look it. Him and Mr. Roth did have chemistry going and always smiling, though I'd agree on a slightly tense moment when David told Wolfie to "Shut it!" after suggesting we sing to Ed on his B-day, but nothing too bad. Dave's story was pretty funny before the start of Ice Cream man buuuuuut I think he uses that same story at all the shows and just changes the town name b/c I've heard some previous show recordings and reconized that part when he started it.

Dave was jumpin around and did some of his kicks, twirling poles, waving his flags, showing his various top hats/outfits and was over all impressvie. Not to mention his inflateble microphone that he busted out on the encore lolol, priceless. Alex was straight up [B]solid[B] all night, he had a nice drum solo with enough strobe lights to make me go into shock lol. You could definitely tell it was a sold out show, and a awesome one at that. Ed got his birthday wish! Wolfie seemed comfortable out there actually. I remember seeing him playing next to his dad in front of the camera and using his foot he covered the camera. Ed just looked at him and laughed. Wolf and Ed were also sitting on the ramp of the stage together "bonding" that I could see while Dave was telling his stories.

I'd see it again and hope I will when March 3rd comes around, had a great time and along with my shirt, even took home a souvenir bumper sticker that says "I can barely(VH symbol)see the road" lol nice... I give it a perfect 10! As one gentlemen told me while leaving the arena .. "This is a concert to tell the grand-kids about..."

Texas Poundcake

First of all.. it was great meeting everyone! I better see you ALL at TLW! Wickett... was fun hanging with you and the guy in the Living Room! Abe and Saywin It was great meeting you finally! Hope you all can make it in June! Mikey.. it's always great seeing you. Your daughter is just beautiful! I thought the show was great. Great energy. I was surprised to find that our crappy seats weren't too bad afterall. Wolfie was awesome. He is so cute how he was trying to play to the crowd. He was the only one throwing out picks. Dave... this was my first time seeing him and he is a great performer, but I think he tried to over sing some of the songs. On a couple he didn't even hit the high notes.. Jamie's crying and one other.. it just didn't sound right. There was one time when he was walking around on the stage and several people had their hands held out for him to touch and he didn't even bother. If that would have been Sammy he would have been all down in the crowd. I mean he was right there.. it wouldn't have taken any effort to lean over a bit! That's just Dave though I guess. He looked great... a bit sexy even! Alex was perfect as always. Great drum solo. Eddie... I was most impressed by him. Ladies.... he looked soooooooooooooo good. OMG he looks 10 yrs younger than 4 yrs ago. He has his cute boyish grin back and for 53 yrs old... yummy! He and Dave both had some great abs going on... I wouldn't have minded being in the middle of a Ed and Dave sandwich!

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Texas Poundcake

Oh yeah.. one more thing.. someone mentioned the sound.. it was good.. but I did not leave with my ears ringing! I thought it could have been alot louder. Most of the shows I go to.. my ears ring for 2 days after.

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jacksonguitars4life

Amazing simply Amazing i now own a shirt that smells like pot(not mine i don't smoke)lol

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"MY FAVORTITE THING ABOUT MY RIG IS MY PEDALBOARD. MAN, I WENT TO HOME DEPOT, BOUGHT A FEW METAL STRAPS AND BOLTED THOSE MOTHER F**KIN' STOMPBOXES DOWN! SCREW THAT WIMPY VELCRO! YOU NEED METAL!"-Zakk Wylde

ScottyBHarris

GREAT Show!

I was in section 105 (to Eddie's left side), about 14 rows from the stage, the interaction from Dave and Ed was great! My only complaint is that I could'nt hear every note that Ed played over Al's drums. But it was a great show otherwise. Most people stood the whole show, the crowd sang every word to every song.

Interesting thing, Rita Haney and Vinne Paul sat right behind me, they were great! They had "All Access" passes and were hanging out with Ed before the show. I actually got Ed's cell phone number when they were giving it to one of their people.

About the comments from Dave to Wolf. It was all in fun, I didn't sense any tension that others mentioned. It seemd to me that Dave and wolf have a great relationship. Toward the end of the show, Dave looked at Wolf and said "You are playing fucking great tonight". That was a great moment, you could tell that Dave ment it and Wolf did indeed deliver.

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Texas Poundcake

Yeah I took the comment to Wolfie as a joke kinda thing too... nothing serious!

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Eddie Rocks!!!

[QUOTE=ScottyBHarris;931848]GREAT Show!
Interesting thing, Rita Haney and Vinne Paul sat right behind me, they were great! They had "All Access" passes and were hanging out with Ed before the show. I actually got Ed's cell phone number when they were giving it to one of their people.
QUOTE]

PLEASE! DO NOT call Eddie on his cell phone or give his number to anyone else. But if Eddie wants mine, it's 701-261-....

TakeMyWhiskeyHome

This show in Dallas was just plain AWESOME!!! Dave, Edward, Alex, Wolfie. Thanks for a kick ass show fellas! Everything was so tight! Alex was a thunder god! Wolfie can play that bass man! Ed fuckin tore it up! Dave is singing the best I have ever heard him in his Rock n Roll career! Thanks guys! You are rock GODS in my book! Have to say I am leaving this message after the Jan. 28 Houston show. Just got home. 4 hour drive. This show in Dallas saturday kicked major balls! But I think they were even better in Houston!!!

sickman

So is Dave still doing the bit about his friend Kenny and the ice cream truck?