hittman2001

DID THEY SHOW???????

Ashe

Hell yes they showed!!!!!

Awesome damn show. We all know the set list, but it was played to perfection.

Eddie was playing this stuff note for note, people. It was unbelievable. I'm telling you, I know the drama and all the mudslinging between former and current members is beyond silly, but go see them on this tour before the dates run out!

Does Dave look ridiculous doing his silly karate moves? Yes.

Is it the same set list? Yes.

Should Mike be there instead of Wolfgang? Yes.

Guess what...who the fuck cares?! It seriously rocked!

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Dad-O

Just got home. Another great show. We sat front row center. Everyone looked great and seemed very happy. Dave asked Eddie how he survived all that time on food an water alone. Later he said "is everybody happy, is everybody sober, close enough!" I am guessing he was referring to the break in the tour. Eddie had a bit of a cold. He blew his nose a few times and acted like is eyes were itching but he kept smiling all night. He does stay right in front of Alex 90% of the time. No Flying Eddies. Wolf keeps getting better and better. Alex was rock solid. Dave's voice was great. Eddie seemed to be pretty sharp. It was tough to here him well where we sat. Eddie's solo did have some very tasty licks that I had not heard. I don't think these guys are faking how well they are getting along and how much they are enjoying playing together. I saw Eddie and Dave interact much more than the last Dallas show. Eddie did play a new prototype Wolfgang during Jump that looked very cool. Dave changed his story to one about his dog named Detox. Very funny. Sorry to ramble but it's late and my head is pounding. All in all good show - worth the dough. Cheers!

VanRoth07

ok just got home, holy crap almighty!! It was great!! My fourth and final for this tour i guess unless they come again to Dallas, walked in about 7 pm, saw the shirts, YES, they have new merchandise!! Bought me a 1982 world tour style t shirt with the lion on front and tour dates on back!! Great show!! Dave said does Eddie look fan fuckin tastic tonight or what??!! And he played great!! Best ive heard him in a while, same setlist as the January show but yet a different show, Dave told some different stories tonight, he said all his best exs live in Texas, LOL, oh yea about Ryan Shaw, eh, the Marley guy was better, anyway, i think Eddie gained about 15 pounds, amazing how different he looked and acted from the January show, dont get me wrong, that show was great too, this one was just different, some chick handed Dave what was left of her beer Dave smiled and poured it out right in front of her, LOL, a friend of mine went and told me he thought it was good but wasnt impressed with Dave, hes no longer my friend, LOL, just kidding, Dave seemed real playful, Ed seemed like he was more serious tonight, i didnt see them hug tonight but they smiled at each other alot, a Dave didnt tell Wolfie to shut up either, LOL, Eddie didnt miss a note, seriously, if i think of anything else i will post later, im goin to bed now

VanRoth07

ah hah wouldnt you know i forgot somethin, i saw Valerie and her bf at the soundboard, hes bald right? I saw the backs of them standing there, i know it was them

Whadiddydoonow

I just got back myself.

Fantastic! I thought they stayed strong throughout the entire show...which surprised me since I had heard how they usually seemed to wear down a bit toward the end.

There were two comments Dave made that really made me nervous though. When he said "How do you do it, Eddie? You've subsisted on nothing but food and water for the past several weeks!" I thought Eddie was going to swing his guitar at the guy, but Eddie just did his little Eddie grin like nothing happened.

The second comment was "Does everybody feel good tonight? Feeling sober?" And with that last part he stared right at Eddie. Eddie took it in style and gave a thumbs up but I can't imagine that was good for their relationship.

As for the overall show....nothing short of fantastic. Dave hit the high notes and Eddie was fucking ON. Alex nailed it all as usual and Wolfgang did pretty well himself.....although.....he did act like the 16 year old that he is. You know, kind of aloof and shy, but he does have his old man's grin at times. Wolfie also seemed to keep too much of a distance from the mic a few times and let himself get drowned out. But at other times he would jump in there like in Jamie's Cryin. I have to admit, when he and Eddie sang the back up vocals for that song "...then one night stands!" it sounded just like Mike. Other times you could tell he either wasn't singing loud enough or he just couldn't hit the notes (may be a bit of both). He did play really well, that's for sure.

There were a few other odd moments. One was at the very beginning when DLR said "As Shakespeare said, all's well that ends well..." He was referring to the fact that they had finally made it to Dallas. I hope so. I hope it didn't have a double meaning or anything.

Another weird moment was one I noticed that most people probably didn't. Where I was sitting (right by the stage on the left where that little curly q ends but not inside it) I saw Valerie come up and stand about 15 feet in front of me; right in front of Wolfgang. She seemed to really enjoy watching him play but her boyfriend or whoever he was (sorry...I haven't kept up with her relationships) hung on her like a total geek the entire time. Strange, huh? I thought "Well here's Eddie taking shit from Dave right in front of everybody about finally being sober and here's Valerie with a guy hanging all over her right in front of his son. That's gonna be an ender." So awkward. It was fun to watch Wolfgang playing in front of his mom, though. He would act like she wasn't there and then glance down and grin. I could just imagine him thinking "Mommmm, come on! I'm trying to do a concert here, ok? Stop dancing around like that, it's embarrasing! I'm not gonna get chicks with you standing there!" Very funny.

Big thumbs up for the entire show! And cross your fingers that the comments Dave made don't fuck it up going forward!

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It's part of our nature. As much as I love (brother and guitarist Eddie), if you put us in a room with no one else for 15 minutes, we'd be at each other's throats. - Alex Van Halen

"Let's kick their ass then go pound some Budweiser" - Billy Martin

VanRoth07

i just thought Dave was clowning around, i noticed everything you mentioned, like i said it seemed like Eddie was being real serious tonight, it amazes me how different he was tonight, looks and sound

Whadiddydoonow

It sure seemed like Dave was just clowning around...and Eddie just kind of shrugged it off. In fact, Eddie seemed to really be having a great time and they seemed to really enjoy each other throughout the show. But knowing the history of Van Halen and how much they keep everything outside the arena to themselves I was shocked that Dave threw that out there. You know what I mean, they were deadly silent on the entire "eddie break" about what was really going on.

Well, there's certainly no doubt about it now! Eddie was drying out.

Man, they sounded great though, didn't they! Awesome show.

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It's part of our nature. As much as I love (brother and guitarist Eddie), if you put us in a room with no one else for 15 minutes, we'd be at each other's throats. - Alex Van Halen

"Let's kick their ass then go pound some Budweiser" - Billy Martin

VanRoth07

one more thing i forgot, right before Ice Cream Ma, it seemed like they were taking a long time starting, the stage got dark, and the crowd started chanting Eddie, then the lighters came out, finally Dave came out and started talkin to the crowd, another odd moment, but yes it was awesome!! I have no complaints

Whadiddydoonow

Me either!

Bedtime.....

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It's part of our nature. As much as I love (brother and guitarist Eddie), if you put us in a room with no one else for 15 minutes, we'd be at each other's throats. - Alex Van Halen

"Let's kick their ass then go pound some Budweiser" - Billy Martin

VHRx

They were on the money tonight. Thanks to Abe and Sixstring for making this a memorable VH experience. Eddie was on the money and "standing in the same place" for most of the show. During Cathedral and Eruption he headed to the Twilight Zone but it was not in a bad way. Just different from what we were used to hearing. He nailed some great outros and overall his playing was excellent. We had a guy in our crew that had not seen them since 1984 when he was in high school. He was more than pleased with the performance tonight. If you get the chance, see them. All the flaws listed beforehand, no Mikey etc. are valid, but if you want to rawk then this is THE concert to see this year.

Once again, awesome show/experience. DETOX RULZ!!

atomic_punk

They did that in East Rutherford in November, but then Eddie was having problems with his guitar and I thought Dave talked for so long before the song just to buy some time so that they could fix the problems... Maybe not then...

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Elwood P.

Awesome, awesome show! Great sound. Best show I"ve seen on the tour. Really can't think of anything negative. Ed looks like he's been on steroids pumping the freeweights. Solo was very good. Just a stellar performance!

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Tennessee Valley Authority, Power to the Hill People!

Rawhide in "A"

tbuenger

Cool! These are all excellent reviews. I can't wait until May 11th!

The "He does stay right in front of Alex 90% of the time." comments still make me think that he's nursing a hearing problem.

The Rover

Van Halen
Thursday, April 24, at American Airlines Center
By Robert Wilonsky
Published: April 24, 2008

http://www.dallasobserver.com/2008-0...van-halen/full

Dallas always has been and always will be a Van Halen kind of town—or maybe four out of 10 Texxas Jams back in the 1970s and '80s don't mean much to you. I saw two of them; couldn't make the 1988 "Monster of Rock" adios. Something to do with Dokken and Scorpions on the bill. Fuck that noise. Still, I'll swear that those were some of the best rock concerts in the history of the electric guitar—something about being crushed beneath the crumbling wall of sound the band made back then, when Dave was still a Diamond in the rough and Eddie had most of his tongue.

Nearly 30 years later, the band's here twice, both times at the American Airlines Center, in the same annum: last January and this Saturday, following the band's March 3 cancellation due to Ed's mystery ailment. (Of course, also in Dallas on April 24 is the former Mrs. Eddie, Valerie Bertinelli, who'll be Losing It at the Borders Books and Music at Preston and Royal.) The setlist from the first go 'round hit all the highlights; the only thing the fetishists didn't hear was, oh, "D.O.A." maybe. Otherwise, it was a solid set of 26 oldies but, um, oldies kept potent by a band that's made its peace with each other and has embraced its legacy as arena pop stars only playing "heavy metal" till the next time Journey, Kansas and Aerosmith need a warm-up act at the Cotton Bowl.



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Please Note..... I'm just Publishing the Dallas Observer Review -- Doesn't mean I agree with everthing that was said though...

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"READY WHEN YOU ARE SGT. PEMBRY."