** REVIEWS - Detroit, MI - 10.20.07 **

Brett · 10.20.07, 07:42 PM

Reviews of this show only, all other posts deleted. If you weren't there, you shouldn't be posting in this thread.

Dimoncutr · 10.20.07, 08:34 PM

Flame me if you want. Short and sweet. FLAT. I'm pissed.

Brett · 10.20.07, 08:42 PM

Elaborate!

jabbo · 10.20.07, 08:42 PM

I posted this at DDLR as well, but I am too lazy to write 2 reviews, so...

Well I just got home from the show. Good performance. Same setlist, but they did Born under a Bad Sign in place of Spoonful during Somebody Get Me a Doctor.

Dave was a little low in the mix for the first few songs, but sang pretty well I thought.

Eddie's guitar overpowered everything

Wolfgang was passable. No Mike, but decent. Just kind of thumped along. Hard to hear his bass at times. Some of the background vocals were clearly piped in, but some clearly were not (like the brutally off-key Eddie during Little Guitars)

Eddie played the black #4 Wolfgang for the majority of the show. He started strong, seemed to lose steam in the middle and then picked it up again at the end. Lots of interaction with Wolfgang, sometimes to the detriment of the song. he high-fived him during one song and them came in late after. Still, he seemed to be having fun. Had some timing issues on a few songs and seemed to rely on the wah a lot

Dave told the Pink Floyd joint story again, but seemed to have some Detroit specific stuff to play,s aying it was one of the first big arenas they played and telling Wolfgang no place parties like Detroit, no place looks like Detroit, you'll meet your last ex girlfriend and first ex wife here.

Ed's solo was a bit lackluster. Seemed to bring the crowd down. About half of it was him just making noise. Hard to hear the backing track during Alex's solo.

Show was about 75% sold out. quite a few empty seats in the upper levels in the corners (Were those the $79 seats? That would explain it as I was able to pull up blocks of 8 in those sections). Anyways, my original seats were side stage,w ith a lighting rig in the way. We moved to the better seats and no one questioned us.

It was boiling hot at the Joe

Hope Monday is just as good. Have the expensive seats for that one.

rurbaniak · 10.20.07, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jabbo

I posted this at DDLR as well, but I am too lazy to write 2 reviews, so...

Well I just got home from the show. Good performance. Same setlist, but they did Born under a Bad Sign in place of Spoonful during Somebody Get Me a Doctor.

Dave was a little low in the mix for the first few songs, but sang pretty well I thought.

Eddie's guitar overpowered everything

Wolfgang was passable. No Mike, but decent. Just kind of thumped along. Hard to hear his bass at times. Some of the background vocals were clearly piped in, but some clearly were not (like the brutally off-key Eddie during Little Guitars)

Eddie played the black #4 Wolfgang for the majority of the show. He started strong, seemed to lose steam in the middle and then picked it up again at the end. Lots of interaction with Wolfgang, sometimes to the detriment of the song. he high-fived him during one song and them came in late after. Still, he seemed to be having fun. Had some timing issues on a few songs and seemed to rely on the wah a lot

Dave told the Pink Floyd joint story again, but seemed to have some Detroit specific stuff to play,s aying it was one of the first big arenas they played and telling Wolfgang no place parties like Detroit, no place looks like Detroit, you'll meet your last ex girlfriend and first ex wife here.

Ed's solo was a bit lackluster. Seemed to bring the crowd down. About half of it was him just making noise. Hard to hear the backing track during Alex's solo.

Show was about 75% sold out. quite a few empty seats in the upper levels in the corners (Were those the $79 seats? That would explain it as I was able to pull up blocks of 8 in those sections). Anyways, my original seats were side stage,w ith a lighting rig in the way. We moved to the better seats and no one questioned us.

It was boiling hot at the Joe

Hope Monday is just as good. Have the expensive seats for that one.

I concur with Jabbo on everything. I was sitting upper bowl on Wolf's side, and thought maybe because I was almost side stage I was having troubles hearing Dave. But no doubt was LOUD as hell, and they started out very strong. I am overall happy, but it could have been better if the mix was better. And also, I'd rather not see Ed do a solo break if he's just going to make noise, it was horrible. It could see Ed doing the speed picking portion of Eruption, but I really couldn't make it out. I was really like what the fuck?

This was way better than 2004. no doubt! But to use an Hockey analogy, they only played 2 periods, but were there for 3.

atomicpunk151 · 10.20.07, 09:10 PM

All in all it was a kick ass show. Same set lists as the other shows. One cool side note is my friends and I were sitting main floor and just before the show started Valerie walked right by us on her way to the soundboard where she hung out for the first 5 or 6 songs. She was hot! It was really cool to see her watch Wolfgang. You couldn't wipe the smile or the look of pride off her face. As a parent of 2 myself and my 2nd being born 3 weeks ago it was really cool to see. As for the band, Wolfie was solid, I agree a little more stage presence would have helped but I'm sure that will come with time because the boy can play and he does a great job with the vocals! Dave was better than I expected , good presence and it was Dave being Dave which is (almost) always good.
Al made a few mistakes which is rare but for the most part solid as always.
Eddie, much better than 2004. As far as we could tell all he drank was Gatorade heplayed just about everything note for note and ran his ass off, the only negative I have to say about Ed was the solo. Bottom line the show was fantastic. I can't wait to see them on Monday. Van Halen is back!!!!!!!!!!!

The J Man · 10.20.07, 09:35 PM

Wow.
Wow.
Wow.
Wow.

I went to the Hard Rock hoping to see the Invasion kit set up but it was just the toms, bass drums and snare in a pile roped off. Nobody was looking so I picked some of them up, touched them, grabbed Alex’s snare and inspected it for clues to his brown sound. I found the duct tape, two long strands on the bottom of the batter head about three-quarters of the way up. I will have fun experimenting with that.

I left with my dad and we went to the Joe, got there about 8, decided not to record this one, I’ll do the Palace on Monday. I found my seats, went to talk with my other friend and watched Marley’s set in his section. I wasn’t a fan of the music but the man put on a tight set

What the hell is with all the fog? That was so unnecessary—it was ridiculous, I couldn’t even see the stage when the house lights were on.

I heard that weird house music around 9 and I knew it was time for my dream to come true. Sure enough as I squinted into the suite TVs watching the Indians/Red Sox game it went dark.

Then, Mr. Asshole came on stage and noodled around, followed by Uncle Asshole and Wolf. The transition from the intro jam to You Really Got Me was a little bit rough, not as crisp as other shows I’ve heard. Nevertheless, there it was, Edward Van Halen and David Lee Roth on stage—together.

The sound was excellent, like Aerosmith excellent, not too loud, not too quiet, very good mix. That soon ended as soon as they jumped into I’m the One. No hug/homosexual love fest during the break, just the bow and back into the song.

When they started Runnin’ with the Devil, I finally saw the fists in the air, 18-19,000 fists in the air, it was an amazing sight. That’s when it finally hit me, and I honestly got a little choked up. Dave’s rap was brief like usual, yet classic Dave, a lot of people were laughing around us, not at him, but with him.

Then they kicked in to what is becoming my favorite VH song, Romeo Delight. Son of a bitch this song rocks—they extended the Magic Bus tease, it seems to get more and more “complete” with each show. I could sense very real vibes between Ed and Dave and it was awesome.

The hits just kept on comin’. Beautiful Girls was a huge smash, another song where everyone had their hands in the air and for the first time EVER I got to see what I had always hear DLR talk about. I got to see 18-19,000 people DANCE to ROCK music, it was a sight to see—the man wasn’t bullshitting. I loved Dance the Night Away, one my favorite VH tracks; during the A Cappella break they’re doing they let the audience sing it once without any of their help—not bad.

They seemed to get better as the show went on, Dave being Dave and interacting with Ed, the hi-fives, slaps, mocking, it was playful, but real. It did not feel staged to me at all.

So This Is Love rocked. Dave of course introduced Wolf, he got a very nice, respectful applause and Dave brought him over to his mic and said something to this affect. “Wolf, I want you to look out there. That’s Detroit right there. Ain’t nobody sounds like Detroit, looks like Detroit, parties like Detroit, smells like Detroit, rocks like Detroit. You’ll probably meet your future ex-girlfriend here tonight.”

Ed butchered the intro the Mean Street so bad—it started off ok but then went downhill, in the end he recovered ok I guess but it was still a major disappointed. The song itself was incredible, loved the ending to it, so dark and heavy.

Alex’s solo may have been the same it has been since 1991 but the man can play, he has a lot of endurance. It was the exact same thing as I saw in 2004 but he added that Latin shit from 1995 with a nice twist of Outta Love Again.
The intro to Unchained was a little off, it didn’t sound right, the song itself went down pretty good, surprisingly, and it did not seem like a crowd favorite.

I’ll Wait on the other hand, was the shocker. It got the fists pumping and Dave’s vocals were probably the best on this song, the backing vocals are so horrible to this song, it almost makes me wonder if they’re pre-recorded from Ed, Wolf, and Alex.

Cradle was great, not much more I can say. Little Dreamer seemed like a crowd killer to me, more people left during that song than any other. I loved the lighting affect they did with Dave at the end, very, very cool.

Then it was time for the essential live VH song, Little Guitars. While they were playing it, I had the 1984 version playing in my head as well and it was just awesome. The “oooh-oooh-oooh”s made it all seem so real, I felt like I was at one of those 1984 shows but then again there was no high pitched girly scream during that part and there was no insane influx of crowd noise—but I heard it in my head.

Ice Cream Man seemed to go by really fast, same old story by Dave. Panama was good, used to be my favorite live, but seemed like just another track. At this point I felt the show was starting to drag on—but how fortunate am I to feel a VH show is dragging on, especially at their age?

Ed’s solo, pure SHIT. The man used effects and feedback, just noise, no Little Guitars intro; I think he tried to do Cathedral. Overall, it was very sloppy and disappointing.

Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love seemed to go by very fast, and they played it well. They did the classic VH jam ending to send us into the encore break.

Jump was by far the loudest song of the entire night. The sound was so muddy and distorted, but it was ok I guess. Not my choice for a closer but it worked, they played it well.

Overall, my experience was just phenomenal, I am so glad I got to see this and am looking forward to Monday.

zombywoof · 10.20.07, 10:55 PM

Allright, extremely longtime lurker, first time poster here. Went to my second show I've seen of this tour, first one was in Cleveland. I've been a fan since birth of VH (one of the cool things my parents did for me, put a record player and the first six in my room when I was born) and absolutely loved the Cleveland show. Tonight straight up, friggin' awesome as only the almighty VH could bring it, but as an eagle-watchin' musician that I am, there was way to many mistakes. I had my reservations about the backing vocals being tape when I was in Cleveland and tonight it was way obvious. Joe Louis has an extroadanary amount of slapback, but they must have had a REALLY shitty monitor mix onstage tonight. There were just to many trainwrecks. Everybody being off, and the vocals completely out of sinc with Eddie and Wolfie's mouths let alone the music. Eddie's solo was as bad as what I've read in the previous posts. No tapping part during Eruption, slopped crap version of Catherdral. At one point he was just tap-dancing on his pedals. Just crap. Really bummed me out and I was starting to wonder if he was completely trashed. I would really like to think otherwise. Regardless, it was still awesome and tons of fun. Same setlist that's been posted a million times before. And I will take some mishaps over not seeing this amazing show. If you are sitting around scratching your ass debating whether to catch this tour or not, do it. Awesome! Hoping to get into the Palace show on Monday!!

Dimoncutr · 10.21.07, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brett

Elaborate!

I have always been short on what I say so here it is. Mixing was terrible. Highs and lows all night. Point, During Ed's solo YOU COULD"NT HEAR CATHEDRAL.
You could see that Eddie was in pain and it was affecting his playing. He rolled his wrist in the past. Can't do it anymore. When he tried, he looked distraught.
Wolf can't play to a standard that should be expected. He also doesn't have any stage presence. He stands and plays his part like dad wants him to. Very robotic.He can't sing. Way to pitchy. If you couldn't hear it. Your lying to yourself.
Al didn't look like he wanted to be there. But, he was the best part of the show IMO.
Dave. What can I say? It reminded me of last year at DTE. I said it before. HE looks like he has Parkinson's. He shakes when he talks. The drugs have really effected him. He really is a great entertainer. Just not with this band. He needs to be in front. You can see he's third fiddle, "behind Wolf". Worried he's going to piss someone off. Needs to stop the kicking. It shows his age. I felt as if I saw the same show in 96 but Dave super imposed where Sammy was.

I want this to work so bad. But you just can tell it won't. I loved hearing Little Guitars. It's one of my favorite songs. That to me was a very shiny moment last night. They looked like they flowed during it. And thats what I'm looking for. They don't flow together anymore. Like the Happy Days episode where they put a band together, Fonzie thumbs them up separately. But together he thumbs them down. Like I said before, I want this to work. But it reminded me of when Cherone sang. I got to see VH but it just didn't fit. One more Thing. Who designed this F'N stage setup. "Lasers". FUCK THAT !! Am I at a Pink Floyd concert? Where were the pyros? They barely used the front part of the s and Eddie didn't acknowledge the left side of the crowd once. I know because I was on his side. If he was over there he went to see Wolf. I have seen these guys so many times and I plan on seeing them as long as they keep playing(I'm going Monday and in the pit.) They need to put out a CD of new material and promote it and NOT themselves. I put these guys on a higher standard than anyone. So maybe I'm setting my self up. I don't care. This is nothing more than a cash grab people. I saw it as soon as they said tour(with no CD). The elevated ticket prices to not meet them.(I paid Ticketmaster price for my pit seat for Monday). 450.00 for what? 1250.00 what are you getting that I didn't? If your looking for cheesy stuff they are giving. It will be on ebay. Now that I think of it, I'm not setting myself up, they're setting us all up.

There you go Brett. That good enough. All of you that saw a great show last night. Should really look at what you want from a band that we put higher than others. Because they fell this year. Eddie you have tons of music? Prove it. And for Gods sake hire some new mixers.

C5150 · 10.21.07, 06:34 AM

Sorry Dimoncutr, but I disagree! From my seats it sounded great! Regarding his solo he just tried mixing it up abit but I didn't care for it! It was just ok! Thet rest of the show was dead on! I Got to Meet Val, and Her boyfriend! They sat at the sound board for a few songs, then moved up to the front row! All in all the same set list, Wolfgang is a great bass player but lacks the movement, and flash of a Michael Anthony! Not having Mike, and Ed being wired, and not wireless makes me say it could have been better!

slossar7 · 10.21.07, 07:29 AM

I love the fact that Dave is back. I had an awesome time. These guys are in much better shape than I am and they are 20 years older than me. They did their best. Look at Mick Mars - they have to wheel that poor guy out on to stage.

Too many good emotions about the show, and I'd have to write a book about them. Here are my mainly disappointing observations.

There is deifnitely a gag order on Dave. They need to let the leash be just about a foot longer and he'd be perfect. Sounded good singing. IMHO the shakes are just his Vegas schtick. I still think he looks like my dentist, and he does need to stop the kicking. The routine with the silver pole was pretty cool though.

Eddie's solo was FLAT. Horribly disappointing. No energy. Plenty of mistakes. But he still plays a million times better than me and a lot of other popular guitarists out there.

Wolf needs to start doing drugs or something. He was like dumpy frumpy up there. His bass playing was good though.

Alex, well. I went to pee and get another Jack & Coke during his solo. It was perfect timing as I got back to my seat at the end.

The acoustics of that arena were horrible. When Marley was playing I commeneted that I hoped the ping pong would stop. Acoustics still sucked after the place filled up. Horrible mix. I am a guitarist, and I actually said "the drums are not loud enough." There was more energy at the Joe show in '04, just because of the sound.

We were sitting "right next to" Valerie. She was at the FOH boards. As previously stated she didn't stay long and she looked happy.

C5150 · 10.21.07, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C5150

Sorry Dimoncutr, but I disagree! From my seats it sounded great! Regarding his solo he just tried mixing it up abit but I didn't care for it! It was just ok! Thet rest of the show was dead on! I Got to Meet Val, and Her boyfriend! They sat at the sound board for a few songs, then moved up to the front row! All in all the same set list, Wolfgang is a great bass player but lacks the movement, and flash of a Michael Anthony! Not having Mike, and Ed being wired, and not wireless makes me say it could have been better!

To sum it all up for me the show was awsome, but having Mike, and Ed with a wireless would have made it perfect! Wolf kicked ass, but didn't get into it as must as a seasoned Vet! Thats all!
By the way Val looked HOT! Thanks Jenny C.!

The J Man · 10.21.07, 07:52 AM

It wasn't until after the show when I realized "Michael Anthony wasn't there."

Looks like they accomplished their goal.

Seeing Dave and Ed on stage together set it in stone for me, nothing compares to DLR-fronted VH.

C5150 · 10.21.07, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The J Man

It wasn't until after the show when I realized "Michael Anthony wasn't there."

Looks like they accomplished their goal.

Seeing Dave and Ed on stage together set it in stone for me, nothing compares to DLR-fronted VH.

Wow! You summed that up quick! Hope to see some of you on Monday!

davio · 10.21.07, 10:39 AM

The show was great. The band was tight. Wolfie is growing into his stage presence. Give him time.

As everyone says, Edward was 100 times better than 04. He rocked. I'm sure he was going to kill the sound guy. He was getting some feed back during sound check, through a couple songs and his solo. Some people proabably thought it was all part of it but the guitar players in the audience knew better. We were 6 rows up on eddies side right where he sat when he started his solo.
Cant wait for the Palace!!!