crazyjbn

I had ear plugs in and they took away that screeching sound, I thought it was great playing on all parts.
if the sound guy did not mess up, it would have been an 9 out of a 10

I was there sitting in section 123, I watch with binoculars the whole thing. he was mad, and after he went off stage he did comer back playing fast, but it sounded great, I think he just tried to play as good as he could with the situation.

look at cathedral, it keep coming in and out, he stopped and started, to try and correct it. if that was not a soundboard screw up then what is ?????

If he did meth, he would be stumbling and sounding horrible (like 2004)...


In addition, did you see during atbl that Dave went over and they both seem to complain (not facing crowd) about the bad night. then Dave patted eddy on the back and he smiled

Tells me that the band is tight, they just have to get better people working for them

__________________
DAVE vs SAMMY

People need to let this go.....it is like comparing an ex wife to your current wife...you can say how things would have be different if she were still here but she left you, so you moved on with your life.....


Same with Van Halen...would they have liked to have Roth stay, yes...but he decided to leave so they moved on.......

and the rest is history….. well until 1996……..lol

http://forums.delphiforums.com/strictlyace750

http://mybestpet.com/bskool/welcome.asp

James in New York

I was 2nd row a little right of center, right by Eddie & Dave.

The sound was the best I've ever heard, I was bracing myself for it to be too loud, but it was amazing, so clear, so good, just the best.

The band was incredible, Wolf is loosening up a lot, having fun up there.
Alex was great, as always.
Dave was DAVE. So good. Great entertainer. Smiling all night.

Eddie was rocking til he went crazy. He had a fit. I was right there in front of him, he went wild, throwing stuff...
He still played like a muthafucker.
I'd rather him yell @ the tech than yell @ Dave.

Oh, also heard, but could not see, the whole soundcheck. It was a real treat. Wolf sang the Dave parts. They played some stuff I've never heard. Great stuff.
Eddie was on fire, I knew then that he would be on his game later.

They rocked. Great show!!! Wish I could see them every week!

dooj17

I was really excited to see VH last night. The first couple minutes were absolutely magical. The sound mix from my seat was not too great tho. It's pretty clear from other reviews and recordings that depending on where you sit, you will hear a "perfect show" or a mudfest. Last night on Eddie's side section 236 row 20 it was a mudfest. The only thing that came through was Alex and Dave. As for Eddie you had to watch his hands to see if he was playing or not.

The lowlight of course was the monitor thing. I think everybody pretty much covered it, it looked to me like he kicked it off the stage, but either way it was shocking. The rest of the night was very..well - awkward. Dave was awesome. He didn't miss a beat. He told the Ice Cream Man story and tried to make us forget the image of what had just happened. Eddie then stumbled through an awful solo which I kept wishing would end (and this from a guitarist who was inspired to play by EVH). I have to say tho that Eddie was totally tight with Dave, in fact at end of ATBL and Jump he grabbed Dave's hand first for the bow outs. They really seemed friendly. The real problem is the sound guys. The stage mix stunk and it made Eddie blow his top. For those of you who heard good sound in the audience I am totally jealous, but everyone in my section said the sound was crap.

(oh yeah, they quoted Smoke on The water at the end of Cradle, also Magic bus in the usual place).

NYCIceCreamMan

Good show.better than Philly 10/1 but I agree with everyone who's dissapointed with the PA. Same issue with Philly but I think NJ was a little clearer.

Won't address Eddie's issue because it's been brought up here enough. If the tech isn't fired, Eddie'll probably stop talking to him for 22 years too. Put him on the list..Dave, Sammy, Mike.....eventually Alex, Wolfie, Valerie....

Wolfie is more than holding his own. I'll always rather have Mike there, but watching Wolfie and his dad jam is fun.

Dave's Ice Cream Man is always cool. It's a great point in the show to hear him chat..even if it is the same story at each show. I'll love it all over at MSG.

Dave's voice is slowly becoming the strongest part of this show.

Eddie is fantastic. Won't dwell because we all know he's magic.

Please please change the encore. I agree it should be more than 1 song, but if it's going to stay at 1, NOT JUMP. Just switch ATBL and Jump..thats the way to go out.

__________________
05/23/2008 MSG, NYC
05/13/2008 Izod Center, NJ
11/03/2007 Izod Center, NJ
10/01/2007 Wachovia Center, Philly
06/30/2006 The Other Half - PNC Arts Center, NJ
06/22/2004 Continental Arena, NJ
07/28/1986 Continental Arena, NJ

I don't feel tardy.

RIP BJM..you were there in 86 in NJ. Would've loved 2007-08.

5150friar

In terms of the sound issues, it was better than '04. I was sitting right behind the stage on Ed's side and actually missed the "meltdown" when I was getting another round of beers so did not really notice the tension. But maybe Ed's frustration had to do with also this was his second time playing in this arena with it not sounding perfect.

I would not say the band is "tight", but functional. In '04, the band was dysfunctional, with Eddie unable to stay sober. One observation of mine and others might differ is that a lot of people there had not seen Van Halen since 1984, so I felt as if their expectations were extremely high. If you saw this band on the '04 tour, your expectations would be tempered to say the least, and you just hope Eddie is sober enough to get through the show. Which was a reason I was reluctant to go to this show in the first place.

Overall I thought the show was good and was glad I went. Dave does an excellent job. I grew up during the Sammy-era, but once you see this show you get why people love Dave so much. I wish they would mix up the set list from night to night, but at this point we should be happy they have made it this far into the tour.

Finally, I think Wolfgang does a great job and inherited the Van Halen genes. At one point my friend turns to me and asks me, "how old is this kid." And he was just blown away he was up there. During the '04 tour it would of been nice to maybe have Wolf play guitar, while Ed plays keyboard on some songs. But there is no denying Mickey's presence is missing. At one point Wolfgang just ran around the ring, but did nothing, it was strange. We all had to laugh. But he is still feeling his way out there and me personally would just love to see the original band out there. I think we all would. But to a large degree this works very well with Dave the center of attention and Ed just proud to play with his son. However these songs lose something when you do not have a wild man on stage running around like a nut with a big smile on his face.

Edson

What songs did they play during soundcheck??


I really hope tonights blowup does not lead into a downward spiral. The show was extremely magical up into that point. Then from then on out I was just observing Ed's erratic behavior, whipping his guitar chord around, looking happy then mad, of course chucking a monitor, moving Dave's wand 2 feet to the left, then to the right, then launching it.....

interesting!!

__________________
www.myspace.com/kidboy

dooj17

I hadn't seen VH since 1986, you are right. And frankly most people who have been raving about Eddie's performance probably never saw that period. Actually his peak live playing was probably '76-82 IMHO. For these '07 shows I kept hearing "better than '04, maybe even as good as '98"...so maybe I should have known better. Nonetheless I know guitar teachers in their 20s who could play better than what I saw last night. (For an example of a guitarist who still "has it", check out Allan Holdsworth. 60 years old and still a god amongst guitarists.)

I totally agree about missing Michael Anthony as well, Wolf was about as good as any member of Tool or any other "modern" band stage-presence-wise I suppose, but not a party-MANIAC like Mike was. Even if you couldn't hear Mike he was still fun to watch. Also the "waaiiiii" scream he used to do at the beginning of every song....

ZORBA5150

The first 8 or 9 songs, the setlist and performance were near perfect. Dave was active as hell for most of the night, doing plenty of kicks and such, definitely fed off the energy from the crowd- which was deafening loud at some points. Dave was on the whole night, and did a great job with Ice Cream right after Eddie's fit he had. I thought that was bizarre, but shit happens. He came out playing great after that, so not really a bad affect on anything. Wolfie really played his ass off tonight. He really jammed out and just pounded his bass for the whole night. Somebody get me a doctor was played a little longer than usual, with Eddie doing the call, response thing with Dave and doing some hard rock solo stuff right after before kicking into the song again. Romeo Delight was fantastic. The outro work Eddie did last night was amazing- Mean Street, Romeo, Everybody Wants Some, Jamie's Cryin, And the Cradle will rock- really awesome endings. HE was on fire. His solo was kind of spaced out and a lot of feedback, but then he got back on track and the eruption (last few minutes) I thought sounded great. I'll Wait just is not a good song live.- real cheezy. Eddie's solo work in that song live is great, but just not a good song.

The sound is pretty good at the arena, but that's about it. The music was too loud at times, sound was a little uneven. Eddie 1st had sound issues during Cradle will rock, and still managed to fight through and play great though. More blame goes to the arena and not the band.

I think we're in for an even better show at the Garden in 9 days.


I saw Valerie by the soundboard before the band went on from my seat in the 100 level. She was moving her arms up much like defensive players do during a football game to get the crowd fired up. It worked. She looked really good from a short distance. Good looking woman. Lots of photos take of her then as well, like papparazzi-like attention

__________________
Wolfie is not Mike, but he's more than ok.
Mike is gone, but not forgotten. They played some amazing shows this tour- some people are in denial about it.


9/27/07- Charlotte
10/1/07- Philadelphia
10/20/07- Detroit
11/3/07- NJ
11/13/07- NYC!

05/13/08- NJ II!!!!!

RcoasterA

My first Van Halen Show, and from what I saw, probably my last.

Thats not to say it wasn't bad, IT WAS AWESOME!!! But judging from eddie's behavior last night, It didnt look good. I was actually lucky to get as crappy of seats as I got, cuase I was able to see the whole thing. Right Before Ice Cream Man he threw something at his guitar tech, then jumped off stage and started screaming at them. He didn't cool down either, during Dave's entire speech he was Literally flaming and hitting things all over the place. Something must have royally pissed him off. He got back on stage late for Ice Cream man ( a few seconds after he should have entered I Believe), and finished the song.

Dave was great, and the rest of the show was awesome. Wolfgang was great, and he didn't flip out like his dad. The Mic kept getting interference and was awful sounding. It only happened a few times, but it was enough to irritate me.

THe set list was the same as the other shows, but because this was my first show, Its new to me. Especially loved "So this is love", "Panama", "Jump" and "Little Guitars". I loved it! If they tour again, I'll see them, but not for 120 dollars a ticket if their is no new material, and from what I saw tonight with Eddie, I don't see much happening after this tour.

simplerhym

hey man---what time did u get in for the souncheck or was that part of the 5 star or something? love to get in for that for nassau or msg--fillme in via PM

tap1966

Don't have much to add. Show was mainly great, sound mix was horrible, Eddie's solo sucked and Dave ruled. I thought Wolfie did really well too.

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but after the monitor incident Eddie flung his guitar at his tech from a fair distance and then did it again at the end of the show. Kudos to the rest of the band for holding the end of the show together.

__________________
The Arrmo Wolfgang Appreciation Society

"It's the singer not the song" - Mick Jagger

simplerhym

agreed on the encore---also, agree with another poster about mean street. that was the worst vocal of the night cause it's not the harest song to sing (i am a singer myself) but the way he did it was very whiney

the_atomic_punks_rule

I have had great seats for this tour(CLT PHL1 PHL2) and I have to say the mix was really good last night. The IZOD(too funny) has always had terrible sound. I went during the FUCK tour and had nose bleeders and I remember not being able to tell what song they were playing for a bit into each song. I tell you what, the sound on the floor was awesome last night, granted I was dead center row 8. Wolfie was visibly shaken after the Ed tantrum. Ed also was chuckin' his guitar from 30+ feet to his tech's during the guitar changes after he was pissed, and they had some air on them too. Ed's behavior was very addict like with some mental problems thrown in for good measure. The show still killed. My girlfriend thought it was amazing and thought it smoked Van Hagar and Sam solo, but still felt "cheated" because a "little kid" was on stage.

Val looked great and she was sitting next to Chris Rock, who I ran over in 2004 getting back to the rings.

We have tix to Vegas for New Years, so 1 more show for us.

nycdj69

If Eddie's monitor was fucking up, why didnt one of the roadies replace it with another one? I'll tell you why, the douchebag running the board was fucking it up for all of us.......I could feel the tension from my seat 25 rows up! At one point after Eddie said something to the future Radio Shack employee he took one step back from the board and put his hands behind his back! WTF?!?!?! Still pissed about Mean Street, is DLR skipping the words at any of the previous shows?

James in New York

They were soundchecking really early, like 3pm or so...
Heard it all the way til about 5pm.
Then shot over to the 5 star.

The Eddie monitor thing isn't the end of the world.
VH tore it up last night, the MSG show should be incredible!