PaulMarshall

Here we go:

The first four songs...they played as good as I've seen them. Very tight. Dave on key. Ed tight.

At one point..Ed and Dave came together, and it appeared that Dave called Ed an asshole. They stayed apart for a few songs.

Word I got from someone backstage was that Dave was in a shit mood all day. His cottage cheese backstage was not fresh enough. Really. He was unhappy with the dressing rooms...which are about a week old.

Ed obviously had problems during cathedral. He got lost a few times and it seemed haphazard. He was off for a good part of the set. But when he was on...he was really tight. Unfortunately, it was pretty rare.

My impression was that they've become sort of a machine. They're going to come out, do 2 dozen of the songs you love. No vegas. No goofing off. Very little improv.

Wondering if they made the low-key Dave a stipulation of the reunion.

2/3rds of the way into the set, I actually thought "this is going on too long and the longer it goes, the sadder it looks"

They're old. They can pull it off...but not every night. I look forward to the studio record when they can take their time and get it right.

I want to say the show was a 6 on a ten scale. I'm glad I went...but it wasn't what it was, and probably not what it has been/could've been

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"Neander" Paul Marshall
Doom Crew Inc.
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Hack

I've never put more thought into a post on this board in my life. So, here's my best shot.

The main concept I keep thinking about for the show in KC Friday is 'everything is relative'. How you thought they did Friday I feel is relative to your expectaions, and what kind of fan you are. I keep narrowing them down in my head into three categories.

1. General rock fan: Rock fan, loves concerts, saw CVH play 25 great songs, saw DLR, saw Ed jump off the riser a few times. I think this fan loved the show, thought it was incredible.

2. Van Halen fan: Loves VH, really amped to see the show, thought it was good, not great. Realized there were some mistakes, but overall had a great time.

3. Diehard: Lives for VH, is on the vhlinks 10-20 times a day, buys every thing they can get their hands on, names their son after EVH (oh wait, that was me), etc.. Anyway, this fan that disects every boot and every move these guys make. The diehards know that something wasn't right Friday night.

I can prove my above statements because I was there Friday. FLR 1, Row 6, seats 1,2,3.

I know the General Fan had a blast cus I saw and heard the crowd. If it wasn't technically sold out, it was damn close. The crowd was happy. People around me during and after loved it. Talked to people as we walked out that loved it. Saw the review in the KC Star online the next day, now it's posted on the Links, that review is as positive as most of the other shows so far on the tour.

I know Van Halen fans dug it cus I talked to some of them. 'Great show, little off at times but had a blast.' That type of quote is what I was hearing.

I, as a diehard, knew something was off after RWTD. Dave didn't acknowledge the crowd in any way, shape or form. I was there opening night, I know the boots, I know youtube. They've done the same routine every night, except Friday. Before Doctor, he's been doing a harmonica and megaphone thing, the pre Ice Cream Man story, all of it gone. They were cutting short endings of some songs to get to the next.

I stopped drinking about an hour before the show so I could remember everything so I'm real clear on what I saw/perceived. My thoughts during the show were that either Dave was sick, or they we're just wanting to get to their mini-vacation a little early.

Some of the songs they nailed. Many songs sounded great. It was a bummer though that they weren't taking you for a ride, telling stories, setting a mood, making our crowd feel special/different. They simply played one song after the other (with the solos obviously) from start to finish. It honestly might be the ONLY Van Halen concert in history where no one said one word to the audience between any song. The next VH Encyclopedia might observe that one.

Ed was off. He's my hero (entertainment wise), he's the best ever (IMO), he played some great stuff Friday night. Just overall, he was off. This is what I was referring to earlier about EXPECTATIONS. We know how flawless he can be. Not just decades or years ago, but last week from what I read about Chicago or evern Minnesota. I can vouge for Charlotte, he was incredible. In my Charlotte review I wrote that Ed was "in comlplete control of the fretboard." However you want to phrase it, it seemed to me that every note was intended. I know for a fact that that wasn't the case Friday. I officially knew there would be trouble in this board five minutes into his solo. He messed up 316 pretty bad. He couldn't get Women In Love. Cathedral got me really worried. That was the moment I got nervous that something was wrong. He just was not in control of his guitar. I have dozens of VH boots. One that comes to mind is an old VHS, I even know the date in my head, 8-20-86 Montreal. It's 21 years old, same VHS I bought in Jr. High, audience recorded, Ed is flawless. Every note on that boot sounds perfect. I think we all want that Ed. I think our expectations are perfection. When it's not, there are people that get pissed. I thought his solo was bipolar. The first five minutes had me sad and worried, the second five minutes I felt were vintage, fast, precise Ed. He played all the songs well after the solo. It was just a wierd, up and down night.

As far as Ed and Dave not getting along; Ed was in the way during one of Dave's kicks. It seemed to me that they laughed it off. I didn't see the 'asshole' quote by Dave, buy I saw what everyone is talking about where Ed sung in his mic. Again, I'm not saying I'm right, they're wrong, but in between songs when the house lights were down, I could see them talking and shaking hands, seemed like they were totally fine to me, just two mishaps/accidents. I could be wrong.

One guy that posted earlier in this review section kind of sums up my point about expectaions. He posted that the show sucked and they were basically horrible. Later he came back in and said that people should definitely see this tour. I'm paraphrasing, but that was the point. I think he's right. I think every review on here has merit. They were sloppy at times. They did rush. Ed was off at times. -- They were great at times. Some songs were incredible. Ed was great at times. Does that make sense at all? I would guess that most human beings that walked out of the Sprint Center that night had a blast and went on with their lives. I thinks people like us are so addicted, so interested, so vested, that every thing is overanaylzed and put under a microscope.

Worst case scenario; we're in trouble. They're going down hill. If they play like they did Friday on the East Coast in front of that media, we're in big trouble.

Best case scenario; they had and off night. They go play Boston, DC, NY, etc... like they have basically every other night than KC, and we all win. Our band takes over the world again.

I personally want the latter. I want them to win. And by the way, I had a blast in KC. Met up with some Linkers for the first time, had kick ass seats, screamed like a kid when they played Atomic Punk, screamed when Ed and Dave did their jumps. I had fun. I'll take VH on an off night over virtually any other band in the world. I've been waiting too long to be too picky. For some though, an off night isn't exceptable, and I respect that. I knew during that show some would be pissed, and I was right. I was happy to be there even though it wasn't perfect.

I love Van Halen and I always will. I want them to win, and I want us Diehard's to win.

__________________
...AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY, GOD CREATED VAN HALEN

VAN HALEN IS A LIFESTYLE

Brett

For the billionth time, if you didn't go to the show, you shouldn't be posting in here.

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mikeinkc

after reading all of the posts regarding fridays show, one thing is clear, we all saw the same show! the ups were really up and downs were painful. it's been 3 full days since the show and i'm thinking back on my guitar hero eddie and i really believe that something was up between ed and roth. aside from the "asshole" thing which did happen, i think ed in some way was pissed as well about something totally different and took it out on dave by cramming riffs into parts of songs that they really didn't belong. i mean, riff after riff and some were just way off tone and even pitch at times. he seem to rely on the volume and feedback more than i thought was necessary. please do not get me wrong, i totally enjoyed the show with my son (11), his first concert and hopefully not his last VH show. but i do not go to simply be there, i watch and i watch closely to everything going on, on the stage. call me a knit-picker, but thats what i do. i don't get high or bombed off my ass, i go to watch music being played at a high level from my superheroes!!! ed still has it for sure. he looked great, was incredibly loud and all over the place. i may try to go if they come here again in 08. thanks for having these boards i found a new place to hang once in a while, mike in k.c.

scalicea

Well ladies and gents...

I would have to say I agree with just about all you have had to say... I was third row with my crazy drunk brother... I have seen VH years ago with Sammy but from 50+ yards away, however, being so close was a real treat for me. Loud, yes, older band members, yes, Alex killing the drums, yes, Eddie, still on I think, Dave, yeah forgot some lines which Eddie laughed at a couple times, Dave also did have problems with his mic or something but all in all it was a great show.

I have to say that for me I had higher expectations. I say this only because I have had friends that have been close like I was, but this was years ago. The gal next to me asked me if I was OK a couple times, I must have looked like the deer in the headlights look because in all honesty, I was mesmerized by being 10 feet from Eddie and the action. Being that close to the action was at times like my skydiving experience, indescribable.

As the show was coming to a close, Wolfgang decided to walk the small outer stage behind Dave. I didn't think much of it and talked to others in the "pit" and all agreed that Wolfgang looked to only throw one pick. Eddie threw only one and hit this guy in the forehead right in front of me which was kind of funny... When Wolfgang threw his, it came right at me when the lady next to me tried to grab it and knocked it to the floor. When the show was over with, and through all the confetti on the floor, no one could find it... I waited at the stage for my crazy brother when something told me to go look for it again... I went to the chair that was in front of me and low and behold, there it was... Me and another guy dove for it and I happened to be a millisecond faster and got it... It is my first pick and my first time up front next to the stage. It has the stripes from Wolfgang's and Eddies guitar on one side and on the other, it has 316 and Wolfgang's autograph. I was offered 50 bucks and had a guy at the airport take pictures of it... Pretty weird.

All in all, thank goodness for earplugs and my brother who gave me the ticket as a college graduation present, it was a killer show... I would definitely go again... Take care fellow VH fans!!!

Steve

VanHalenRocks

Whoops - sorry. I missed Brett's post.

calvin12

Licking the plug could have been due to a bad connection. The moisture can make the connection close if its loose. It's odd but does work.

calvin12

Just looked at the clip from NAMM, that was odd, he seemed to be trying to find "new" ways to make noises, like the drill, playing hte springs ect, and was just liking the dound of grounding his plug on his tongue, but drunk people like stupid things. I don't know if thats what he was doing in KC though.

AteEmAndSmiled

I updated my review a bit, but can't edit the old post, so here it is again for anyone who's interested:

---------

For those of you who were at the Kansas City show Friday night, I was the guy in the Eat ‘Em and Smile hoodie. Several of you high-fived me or gave me a shout-out about the shirt. Yes, I made it myself, and, yes, I got a kick out of all the attention it drew. As for why I wore that shirt to this show…

http://khenzden.googlepages.com/vanhalen.htm.

For those who take the time to read the whole review: I don’t frequent this board and probably won’t read any replies you post, so don’t waste your time with lengthy rebuttals, especially if they’re flames :-) . I don’t care what anyone else thinks. This review was about what I thought.

LtBennett

EDIT:
I forgot to add that in KC like in Minneapolis, the two big things missing from teh VH concert are-

Me Wise Magic and Yankee Rose.

namedmydaughterHALEN

Van Halen at Sprint Center
Mon Oct 29, 2007 at 01:07:49 PM
Van Halen
Friday, October 26
The Sprint Center
Better than: Valerie Bertinelli's weight-loss blog.

A crowd roughly the size (and appearance) of Independence, Missouri, poured into the Sprint Center last Friday night to worship at the altar of once-lusty '80s guitar rock kings Van Halen, fronted this time around by original bitch-on-the-mic David Lee Roth.

Side note: I would not go see Van Halen unless Diamond Dave was there. I'm pretty sure that man was the main reason my parents wouldn't let me watch MTV in the '80s. His persona was so lecherous and trashy that him simply dancing around, doing the scissor kicks in a pair of tights and what not, mooching at the camera, etc etc inspecting women... hell, him just being himself was an affront to moral living. His successor, Sammy Hagar, on the other hand, to me, was just a chubby red dude with a porcine howl. By the time For Unlawful Carnal Kabbage and its flagship video Poundcake came out in 1991, my parents didn't give a crap what I watched. VH and all those other bands had become so ineffectual by then that watching them made kids hate rock and roll. (Hence the rise of gangsta rap.) So, all that's to lament how Friday night at the Sprint Center, I made the mistake of expecting Dave to be entertaining -- or even really part of the show -- but more on that in a minute.

Anyway, before the show, my companion the Ginger Man and I hit the Kansas City Cafe on Grand Street for a few drinks. Hilariously, they had Sammy Hagar's Cabo Wabo 100% blue agave tequila available. We did shots. Pretty smooth stuff. Then we drank about five beers apiece and did a couple more shots while watching the broadcast of a professional wrestling match that had (again, hilariously) been filmed at the Sprint Center three days prior (Finlay, why must you be such an asshole!?). In addition to wrestling on the flatscreen and really really nice servers, the KC Cafe offered a great deal on an all-you-can-eat buffet targeted specifically at arena goers. For about $12, you get to pop in, eat fast, good food, pop out. Next time I'll do that instead of wolfing down a gyro from the sad, sad deli across the street, where there was either ketchup or blood on the toilet (or both) and a very sociable roach crawling on the wall.

Ginger and I were pretty lit when we passed through the metal detectors. He, having no worldly possessions, got through fine, but I was stopped because I had car keys and a cigarette lighter, because you don't see Van Halen without a real lighter -- fuck that cell phone glow. Walking around the main level of the tire-shaped arena was like being in a dream. There was a noisy throng of people in denim and black shirts and actual, honest-to-God mullets. There were QuikTrip stands all about the place, selling snacks and syrup-enhanced drinks and bottled water and magazines and nachos and wiper fluid and gas -- OK, not all of those things, but there were QuikTrips inside the arena, I swear. And at the resident concession stands, the employees wore black and yellow Sprint polo shirts, making them look like retail-store salesmen who didn't sign up enough unsuspecting fools for seven-year contracts and were demoted to the arena to sell giant, $7 light beers. We just kept walking and walking. We'd walk one way and get lost, find an ATM, find a bathroom, walk the other way, get lost, need an ATM, a bathroom, and so on. That lasted about 12 minutes, but, man, it felt like hours. We missed opening act Ky-Mani Marley, who couldn't have played more than 30 minutes, unless he started well in advance of 8 p.m., the start time on the tickets. In one bathroom, I heard a bald man with a goatee (the anti-mullet, apparently) bellowing, "A REGGAE ACT? WHAT KIND OF ACT WAS THAT TO OPEN FOR VAN HALEN!??" That wasn't as bad as what Ginger was yelling, which was "PANAMAW!" in lieu of "excuse me" anytime he needed to pass through a line of people on his way to an ATM, bathroom, or slushie machine. I started doing it, too. We were officially pumped.

Inside, the arena was crawling with people like a sticky punchbowl overriden with ants. A small dirigible stamped with the VH logo floated overhead with a camera attached to it, maybe 20 feet over the floor. The people on the fifth level of the arena were probably over 100 feet above the floor. Make that 1,000,000 feet. That place is big. Ginger and I had seats on the floor, about four rows back from the large circular thrust that extended from the stage, forming an enclosed pocket right down front for the really important people, who didn't look important or interesting at all. As Ginger put it, the effect was "MTV VMAs: Lee's Summit."

Soon enough, the lights went down, David Lee appeared atop the stage a bullfighter-like jacket waving a flag like he was Jean Fucking Valjean, and the mighty Van Halen launched into "You Really Got Me," the band's famousest cover song.

What ensued was rather grotesque, and not in an interesting way. Eddie, shirtles, wiry, shorthaired, clad in camo pants and red high tops, was the star of the show. And he truly is a monster guitar player; he can wring supernatural sounds out of his guitar merely by waving his hands inches over the neck. He had played so hard by the end of the show, curled up and sweating over his guitar that he looked like a barbecued shrimp. His 16-year-old son, Michael Anthony -- oops, I mean Wolfgang -- meanwhile, held down stage right, doing a pretty good job on backup vox and playing pretty good bass.

Between father and son, DLR stalked about, the whole time smiling so hard his neck muscles looked ready to snap, trilling the final note of each phrase with his patented wild-man-coyote jaw flap, and overall looking about as rock and roll as International Male. The camera projecting images of the band and crowd to the three-story screen behind the stage would occasionally fix on the drummer, only to reveal Sydney Pollack in a wig chugging away tirelessly on the snare and double-kick.

It's not anyone's age that was grotesque, it was rather the band's refusal to be great, to have faith in rock and roll rathen than wallow in their own bloated egos, and constant-victim mentalities. They need to get over themselves, Eddie and David especially. WAAAAAY over themselves. Or maybe they just need to throw down once and for all on stage -- I swear I saw DLR mouth a snarling "thank you" to Ed early in the show after the latter had horned in on the former's microphone for a duet bit. And Eddie Van clearly loves playing on a stage with his little Wolfie Van, but we don't need to see that. We want a man and his band who will rock out, get wild, get down, wreck shit, and get the girls' tits out -- THAT is the spirit of Van Halen. Not an emaciated, shirtless, middle-aged man fawning over his chubby kid in between guitar licks (at one point, they pawed at each other's guitars and E. kissed W. on his head).

The most imaginative moment came during the final encore song, "Jump," when DLR brought a ten-foot long inflatable microphone onto the stage and bounced on it like a retard. What does a ten-foot inflatable microphone have to do with anything?

Well, shit. I've gone into righteously indignant young man mode. Sorry, all you old people reading this and hating me. We all already know Van Halen hasn't rocked in 20 or so years; what am I doing excoriating them for being jaded wankers on stage? They maybe had fun, they played well, and most of the people in the huge crowd saw whatever show they went in wanting to see.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------


rather harsh review.

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THUD

I was also at the K.C. show and i sure as hell would like some answers as to why the show was as off as it was. I think they need to bring their butts back and give us the show that everyone else is getting. Obviously Boston was better because Dave kept saying shit like, "This is a good show" and " you're seeing a great show tonight" yeah thats because Kansas City sucked and he knows it. You pay that much money to see aband you love and they give you shit. I agree with all the different views about this show that have been posted. They did not give us a complete show that night, they left out the parts that make it seem like a real show. If its true that they had a problem with the venue or whatever it was someone said about Dave not liking the dressing rooms, and they took it out on the crowd.....then fuck that. Dont get me wrong, i love this band and the real V.H is back as far as im concearned, but id like to know why they decided to shit on the K.C. show and then go to Boston and return to the apparent great form they have had the whole tour so far. That was my only shot at seeing them so yeah im pissed.

Hammer On, Pull What?

Here's my first foray into the Links because I had to set my own observation about K.C. I have seen Van Halen many times in StL with Sammy, so when the choice between K.C. and StL came up (I live equal distance between both) I chose K.C. Why? Sammy is a king in St. Louis. The only reason VH had multiple shows in St. Louis during his era was because of SH. 5150 had three St. Louis shows; the 2004 tour even had two. Plus, KSHE-95, the legendary StL rock station, has always been in Sammy's corner. KSHE's 40th birthday party is coming up and Sammy is the front and center on that. Just look at their Web site.
That being said, I think Dave and Eddie are a little weird (that's an understatement) when it comes to Missouri in general. I saw the Dave vs. Sammy show in StL in 2002 and Dave pretty much gave the audience the same cold shoulder he did in K.C. The set was machine like and didn't take any time to slow down and make the crowd feel at ease. That was in forefront of my mind the whole time I saw K.C. I was glad I was there, but I couldn't get over the fact that they just wanted to get the hell out of there. Now I read the Boston review and it seems like Dave is back to story telling and working the crowd. Well, thanks for being so generous to us stick-in-the-mud Midwesterners.
Am I surprised about the "postponed" StL show? No. I also don't have much faith in this March 30 makeup date. Why favor StL with the start of a second leg if you're not really welcome there? I also think K-SHE was supporting fans not going to see VH in favor of its Sammy alliance.
K.C. is an 8 on a 10 scale, IMO. I'm just not getting my hopes up for their return to Missouri.

5150Sooner

God as funny and true as that was I wish you would have been in Chicago with me....god that was a sight to see also...

__________________
Imagine a world without Eddie Van Halen.

"From the moment David Lee Roth appeared at the top of a giant runway that snaked through the Oklahoma City Ford Center audience Tuesday night, he wore the one thing that told every Van Halen fan that everything was right with the world. It was a maniacal Cheshire cat smile announcing happiness and enthusiasm that cannot be faked. Not only was the old band back together, it was thriving."

5150Sooner

Dude...I am right there with you....I felt the same way while I SAT there and watched that show....couldn't get into it if I tried any harder. Like I said before if they had that many problems or Dave was sick, whatever they should have cancelled the show and re-scheduled it. I know I know...costs too much money, contracts, etc...but GET OVER IT.

__________________
Imagine a world without Eddie Van Halen.

"From the moment David Lee Roth appeared at the top of a giant runway that snaked through the Oklahoma City Ford Center audience Tuesday night, he wore the one thing that told every Van Halen fan that everything was right with the world. It was a maniacal Cheshire cat smile announcing happiness and enthusiasm that cannot be faked. Not only was the old band back together, it was thriving."