Iameddie

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95Crash

Originally posted by RightHereRightNow
Quote:
Sammy always could sing better than Dave but Dave was always a better showman, that is now clearly gone. I have tix to MSG next week but I'm not going (it's going to be the same exact show again so why bother?). Overall I was disappointed and I actually thought 2004, as bad as it was, was a better show. Just my 2 cents.


I'm with you Atomic Punks Rule, I thought Dave was stellar on Saturday.

JazzyJoeyD

Anyone know why the videoboard at the Izod Center show was black-and-white half the time? Has that been the case for the rest of the tour or did the videoboard engineer have just as much trouble as Eddie?

romanesq@optonline.net

Guys,

There's been lots of talk about Eddie and the monitor. I was right across from the side of the stage, right on the rail facing the stairs coming off the stage with only 20 feet and the roadie folks and sound engineer milling about below.

First, Eddie didn't just meltdown. It was an ongoing problem and he was trying to get them to address it. He was communicating that there was a problem and then he started to get more emphatic about it. He started mouthing over to the sound board where two guys stood, "Fix it, now!" and they gave him conflicting signals. Finally, one guy on the right raised one finger indicating like one minute but the other guy who was on the board the whole time made a motion like forget it.

So after this was going on for a bit, Eddie went and unplugged the monitor. Then he shoved it over to that side of the stage. He was looking for a someone still to do something. It didn't look like they had another anywhere available. At the end of the song Eddie just went over and tossed it over the side. It wasn't directed at anyone and then a roadie came and carried it off backstage.

So Eddie basically played about 25% of the show without being able to hear himself. But he still played his ass off if you ask me. The solo, he kinda lost me overall but maybe he was impacted by his frustration. He played really well the rest of the songs.

People who say it was a meltdown are just being melodramatic. BTW, during Alex's solo Eddie came down the stairs, the crowd started chanting his name and he gave a little wave before going back stage. He came back toward the end of the solo, and had a Budweiser which he seemed to decide not to drink. It was an unopened cold can passed up to me and I shared it with a guy next to me. I let him keep the can as a souvenir which he appreciated. Took some pictures with the Eddie Van Halen Bud and while doing so a security guard came up from behind me and squeezed the can and tried to rip it from my hand.

Me and this kid started telling him that Eddie gave it to us. At first he was not getting it and then after the second time telling him, he got all sheepish and turned and walked away.

Dem's the facts.

SterileEyes

Yeah ok this isn't a "review" but thanks to the above poster, Eddie has been outed as drinking again.

Sober people on the wagon don't just 'have a beer that they decide not to drink'.

romanesq@optonline.net

Okay to stay within the letter of the law, here's my review:

Saw the Fair Warning Tour 1981 Madison Square Garden. No way they can top that show as it was beyond stellar and of course father time has the final say.
Sound was excellent from 20 feet to the right of the stage but then again the sound board is right there. If the sound doesn't sound good there.....

Not as loud there and didn't need to use the sonic II plugs (unlike in 81, yes same model but just bought this pair) and the balance was there throughout the show. Unfortunately, the one song on youtube showed how bad the guitar was out of tune. But overall a great, great show.

To hear all these great songs together was just amazing. Jump shouldn't be the finale but you can't have everything.


Not going to speculate or conclude on anything about Ed drinking. I did see him smoking right by the stage at one point but never saw him drink anything.

geb6000

I have seen EVERY VH concert since VH II, 1979, with the exception of 2004 and anything with Gary Cherone. I even saw the Dave and Sammy show at the PNC ARTS CENTER. I have seen EVH at his f'd up worst, and still watch him get through a show.
I watched every single song Saturday night like I was back in HS, and it was great. But, Eddie was complaining off stage from the start of the show, with You Really Got Me. He was telling them up, then cut, then down. I was less than 50' away when he took the monitor, dragged it over to the side of the stage and tossed it. I was right there when he went down the ladder to talk to the sound guys, who in my opinion, are the ones that owe everyone that went to that concert a rebate. They did nothing. As for Eddie's solo, that's either on him, or his guitar tech. He started his solo with his guitar out of tune, evident in the beginning with 316, and obviously more evident after during ATBL.
I give the concert an overall thumbs up. I watched all the youtube stuff, I didn't see any conflict or anything else over Eddie's, 'Meltdown' between Dave or Wolf or even Alex. I did notice that when Ed was pissed, he did what he always does, he finds comfort in being with Al and his drums.

Honestly, I've seen these guys over 50 times, it used to be a hobby. This was not their best show, but certainly not their worst, and this one I will defiitely chalk up to the sound crew. Whoever they work for.

rdefabri

That's CLASSIC and true! We were tailgating and some of the people there were too hilarious! Granted they were younger 25 years ago, but at least the spirit was the same - plenty of air guitar and drums, albeit with a touch of gray or baldness...

dooj17

Hey thanks so much for your report. It was pretty upsetting to see it from halfway across the arena. The sound was already pretty awful from back there and then to see something so un-guitar-heroic was the thing which broke the rose-colored glasses. Your more close-up account certainly makes it seem less like a tour-derailing meltdown and more like an onstage adjustment, altho a pretty "emphatic" one. Tho I wish EVH would have waited til the lights had gone down before doing all the redecorating... In the best of all possible worlds, I think he probably impulsively/impatiently did all that monitor stuff, then afterwards realized how it must have looked, and that affected the rest of his night. In reality he probably played pretty OK, but after I saw the "drama" everything for me seemed kinda colored by that....

Still recommend the show. Also I wonder how many of these kinds of mishaps occurred before we had the internet and no one ever reported on this stuff. I don't see Circus magazine writing a feature on something like this. Ah well - nowadays we all get 15 minutes of fame, right?

Charvel2

I'm just posting my review now because I just flew back to Ireland overnight. In short, when they were good they were great, but the show was patchy from Jamie's Cryin' on.

I was in 236 and getting vertigo attacks from the steep drop (bloody hell, American arenas are very strange to someone who'd never been in one before!). The sound was simply too loud, with the speakers being driven to distortion which in turn compounds any acoustic problems. Generally speaking, if a PA system is powerful enough you should be able to get high volume without distortion. Given that the sound seems to be an issue throughout this tour, I wonder of the PA they're using isn't quite powerful enough, so they're having to drive it too hard with the resulting distortion and perceived loudness. Either way, a set of Vater ear plugs helped things considerably.

The band was tight and nailing it all the way, though the guitar was often a little buried. A lot of the low end mush seems to be coming from the kick drums, particularly when Alex is giving it both barrels.The drum solo was a highlight, surprisingly, and I loved the disco thing it segued into, including the brass section playing the riff from Outta Love.

Wolfgang more than held his own, and from my point of view, there's no question he was playing. His extended riffing on So This Is Love seemed to be almost proving a point. Like everyone else, I'd rather it had been Michael Anthony, but the kid did well.

The guitar solos were hard to discern, but everything seemed to be fine up to Ed's flip out. After that it seemed to go down hill for him specifically, culminating in a solo spot that was just embarrassing. 316 was clumsily handled, and Cathedral was a mess. The issues with Cathedral could very possibly have been down to the missing monitor and his not being able to hear the delay repeats for timing, but it was toe-curlingly bad. The rest of the solo was a mish mash of half-hearted riffs and noise-making that didn't seem to have any structure or flow. In the end, he just about made it through snippets of eruption, but even those lacked finesse. It's hard to say how much of that was down to the monitor issue.

Dave was Dave, and he balanced vocals and showmanship perfectly. While his voice wasn't perfect, it was still much better than the bootlegs I own. The glaring thing, though, was his professionalism. He kept the train running even when Ed was threatening to derail it.

It saddens me to say it, but I truly felt Ed was Van Halen's weakest link in New Jersey. The monitor issues may not have been his fault, but the rest of the band were able to remain focused and professional, even a sixteen-year-old kid on stage for the first time. In contrast, I saw The Police at MSG the night before, and overall theirs was the better show (and I say that as a passionate VH fan, and only a casual Police one). Up to about the half way point, Van Halen were blowing Sting & Co out of the water, but when things got shaky, the difference in professionalism bacame clear. While the Police show was verging on the clinical, they knew how to get the job done.

Having said all that, for that first hour or so, Van Halen in NJ was about the best concert I'd seen. It's just a pity they (or Ed, to be precise) couldn't go the distance, bringing a 9 or 10 out of 10 show down to about a seven.

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dooj17

Nice review. Me and my wife were in 236 also, row 21. My wife compared it to climbing an Incan pyramid. Also all the artificial fog accumulating up there gave us both chest pains which became real obvious the next day. This is why I've only been to 2 arena shows in the last 10 years...if VH plays an outdoor show I would try again.

elvhfan

these guys are VH...don't they fookin use in ear monitors like everyone else?.

if not....start

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the_atomic_punks_rule

I thought that the company, actual just a dude at the time, was supplying AVH back in the day with the prototypes of what have now become an industry staple, the in ear monitor. Someone not long ago posted that great article about it. I guess EVH just does it his way instead.

romanesq@optonline.net

Well I'm no where near an expert on the matter but I had one shot of Eddie right below me. Not the best shot and not conclusive but it did not show an ear monitor in the left ear. Other reports and video show Dave putting his finger in his right ear to guide himself while singing at times.

Also Eddie was whipping his cord around quite a bit through the night. He doesn't want to go the digital wireless route. So he has a highly defined of the tubes image in the sound that he values.

Considering how long the guy has been in the business, he may also feel as strongly about having the sound not restricted to an ear monitor and prefer a stage PA where he can hear himself the way he is most comfortable.

Not making an excuse to your suggestion but really taking some known information and extrapolating. Hopefully we will hear good reports about the show in MA.

Then I can go back to planning on seeing them on Long Island and plotting to get into the big dance at Madison Square Garden.

With this lineup and song list, there's no telling if this is really the finality to our love of the REAL Van Halen. I mean that in the most gentle way.

Rock on!

crhfish

I'm afraid that Ed maybe deaf. I know this is not a review but I have looked at the vids. That's the only thing that explain all the out of tune moments for me. My heart goes out to him if thats the case. The show does look like fun but those few moments out of tune are real hard to listen to.