I am on this board alot, although never post. I have spent a large amount of time with my other Van Halen fan buddy argueing the Sammy Vs Dave issue. I beleive that 5150 may be their best album. I was at the Vancouver show tonight. I am a huge Sammy fan.
Two words.
Sammy who.
Tonight may have been the best concert I have ever seen. And I have seen probably over 200 shows.
Spectacular.
Ice Cream Man...unreal. Unchained...come on. Everybody Wants some...I almost wept openly. Mean Street...ridiculous. Panama...wow. ...And the Cradle Will Rock...kick ass.
I have never seen Dave with Halen. I have seen Sammy with Halen 3 times.
I was blown away.
The show was awesome. The only way it could have been better is if it was 1984. And that is impossible. Or if they dropped Pretty Woman and played Light Up the Sky or Bottoms Up. VHII is under represented.
Since every review is similar no matter what show you are reading about, all I'm gonna say is that I would like a full refund on all of my 2004 tickets. This show was spectacular, a full on 2 hour aural assault that left me wiped at the end of it. As for Wolfie? The kid can play and he is only gonna get better.
One funny note, I was on the opposite side of the stage, but it looked like Dave took a big spill at the end of the show as he tried to hurdle something while exiting. Anyone else see that?
I'm in Providence, RI in March for business, and this show has convinced me to go to that one while I'm there, and perhaps the Mohegan show too!
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Official driver of the "Fire Brad Childress" Bandwagon!
Ok, a couple more: HOLY 2$#!%&#%^#@$!@#~!##!#!## MOTHER #%#@%@#$ AND A #%#@$!@!!!!!
That was amazing.
More in depth...
I'd only been to two Van Halen shows, both on the 2004 tour, one in Vegas and one in Vancouver. They were the highlights of my life to this point; great shows for me, great energy, but this had a whole different feeling than that tour. It had camraderie; Eddie and Roth got along in a way Eddie and Sammy never did in 04. The bits where they slowed the show down and traded solo spots(the car sound effects, Dave's story about the Ice Cream Truck) were some of the best spots of the night.
Last night started with an ear crushing bang and it didn't let up. They ripped through songs that Eddie just killed on the guitar; Beautiful Girls, Jamie's Cryin, I'm the One, Unchained, Little Dreamer, Hot for Teacher, Runnin' with the Devil....it just kept going and going. The energy was contagious
High songs of the night:
Jamie's Cryin(big cheers for this one)
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
Runnin' With the Devil
My ONLY complaint was the sound mixing. In 04 it was crystal clear and everything could be heard; this one was loud to the point of distortion and I had trouble hearing what was what from time to time. But that didn't stop me enjoying it at all(at least until I try to go back to work and hear what people are saying!)
Awesome show, I give it a 10 on a 10 scale!
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Don't forget to bring your rocking shoes!
My wife and I did the 5 star VIP ILAA package and got 1st row tickets, seats 19 and 20, smack in the center in front of DLR all night. Met up with Kelly and Gordie from Vernon, two terrific guys and we had a great party the whole night. Two guys next to us (seats 21 and 22) flew in from Munich Germany. How's that for dedication!!!!
Van Halen 2007 Vancouver - the band was bang on tonight!!!
DLR interacted with the audience (and eye contact with my wife) all night, he was have the time of his life. DLR had a permanent smile the entire time.
Eddie's solo was awesome. I complimented him on his solo, shouting out: "beautiful Ed, Thank-you!" He looked me straight in the eye and said "thank you so much" and he jestured sincerely. That was so cool Ed! Ed, I just want you know that my wife and I are so happy that you have pulled this concert together and made it happen for us and everyone. Exec summary: Ed played outstanding the entire night, no technical issues, 100% Ed!
Since we were up front, we had awesome sound the entire night thanks to front directed monitors at the PIT. The sound could not have been better for us. We wore ear plugs the whole night though.
Wolfgang was simply amazing, extremely talented kid. Awesome background vocals. Ed and Wolfgang interacted several times last night, Ed kissing Wolfie, Ed running circles around Wolfie trying to trip Wolf up in Ed's guitar cable, the two played little guitars together each playing a 1/2-3/4 bass/guitar. So cool!!!
The background vocals are live. The tech also attested to this as well.
Ed played mostly the new EVH wolfgang guitar. I spoke to the tech and there's no schedule yet for that guitar to hit the market. I'll post on the 5 star thread shortly about the 5 star VIP ILAA experience (unbelievable value by the way).
Anyway, by far the best concert I've ever seen. I saw VH the last 3 times with Sammy, this is the first time with DLR. DLR brings an extra 'something' to the table with VH, something that Sammy doesn't have.
Simply the best! You must go see VH when they come to your town!!!
Don’t call it a concert. I’ve been to concerts and they’re good. This was a show. Full on showtime courtesy of Master Roth. One of my first concerts was Queen with Freddy back in the early 80’s. Back then I came in with no expectations (only about ten years old-thanks mom and dad) and came out with my mind blown at how one man on a stage could so literally command 15,000 people, get in a bus, and do it all again the next night in the next town. That is the league that Roth is in. He is designed and built for this exact purpose. I was left in awe, with a silly smile reflecting the one he beamed at us from the big screen for the past two hours.
Of course the caliber of the musicians behind him didn’t hurt. Despite the poor definition of the instruments at times they played every song brilliantly with enough improvisation to satisfy the techies and multiple time VH viewers (myself included), and apparently have the press box wondering what song they were playing.
Eddies solo was indisputable. He is a revolutionary. A modern day Mozart. It’s a shame that he is considered by some to be responsible for the spawn of wanky riff rock left in his wake. I wish those people could have seen the mood created on the extended take of cathedral. The places he goes. It’s insane.
This show easily eclipsed anything I’ve ever put a needle on, inserted into a CD tray, seen or heard from the franchise of VH. The fact that they did it looking fit, sober, and hungry enough to prove it made it even sweeter. This band gets written off in a slough of shit bands that came out of punk and new wave in the 80’s and they clearly proved they don’t deserve that write off. Thanks VH for getting your shit together and coming back around to prove you’re an original and an inspiration.
PS – loved the end of the encore when the guy ran on stage and Eddie (the only band member on stage at this point) was trying to call him over with his arms out for a hug. But the guy was oblivious with his back to Eddie and just bolted like a deer and crashed hard off the side stage. Last thing I saw was Ed’s arm around the guy taking him back stage.
PS – loved the end of the encore when the guy ran on stage and Eddie (the only band member on stage at this point) was trying to call him over with his arms out for a hug. But the guy was oblivious with his back to Eddie and just bolted like a deer and crashed hard off the side stage. Last thing I saw was Ed’s arm around the guy taking him back stage.
That guy was my friend karl !!!! LOL i told him eddie was behind him but it was so surreal he didnt know what was up.He got to hi five alex, run into the barrier...crashed..and then eddie helped him up, told security to leave him alone...and my friend was on his way. I have to say Eddie is a class act, super nice guy...and the king!! Long Live EDDIE!!!
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The Mighty Van Halen, The Greatest Band Of All Time.
p.s. i thought it he was more like a cheetah running up on stage LOL
Why didn't you stop to shake Ed's hand? It looked like Ed was at least going to shake your hand for your effort (before you got "escorted" away). Why didn't you stop for a second before you ran and fell off the stage?
By the way, that looked like it hurt!
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"The last singer was a singer, I am THE singer" - DLR
"If Gary is in, he's in for life" -EVH
"Don't hold your breath. There's probably no possibility [of a VH reunion] at this point." - DLR
"...you'll be hearing from us very soon." - EVH 5/7/02
Wella Wella Wella.... $175 bones well spent. 2-3 songs in my buddy and I were almost in tears, it was that great of an experience. When it was over we were both physically and emotionally spent.
Dave killed it the whole night, not a weak spot at all... it's the best I've ever heard him period.
Alex was awesome as usual. His drum solo was short and sweet and to the point.
Wolfie....he's got "it" alright but he's no MA. He did a great job though and I'd love to see how he sounds in a couple of years.
Lord Edward, my god. Last night he reminded me of why I spent my youth freakishly obsessed with him. The man was on. He nailed everything and then played with it a bit....and yes he fell down the stairs all night long and landed on his feet every time.
Now for us guitar geeks. That white flattop wolf proto sounds great. The bridge p/u is bright but cleans up well. The neck p/u is fat and creamy but still articulate. He beat the shit out of that guitar all night and it stayed in tune. I saw 3 maybe 4 tuning chances. There was one tune towards the end where either the b or g string was out a tiny bit.
The Frankie sounded great to me.
The Charvel Art series sounded awful. Thin, buzzy...totally unimpressed.
Fantastic show, great energy...no Mike, which sucked, but well worth the cost.
The background vocals are indeed live...sorta. I bet a million dollars that they're pumped into an outo-tuner then into a vocal harmonizer to thicken them up.
At the end of the day they sounded great. When Ed missed a Q there were no vocals, but when he kicked in it sounded like 10 guys singing.
I agree generally with all the previous posts, but I would like to ask my fellow Vancouverites what they thought of Ed's solo...I thought it was the weak point in an otherwise amazing show. I thought the first half of his solo was especially weak and uninspired, but picked up a bit at the end...I will admit to nitpicking as the rest of Ed's performance was really strong...just wondering if it was just me or if others noticed the same thing?...
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"The last singer was a singer, I am THE singer" - DLR
"If Gary is in, he's in for life" -EVH
"Don't hold your breath. There's probably no possibility [of a VH reunion] at this point." - DLR
"...you'll be hearing from us very soon." - EVH 5/7/02
Why didn't you stop to shake Ed's hand? It looked like Ed was at least going to shake your hand for your effort (before you got "escorted" away). Why didn't you stop for a second before you ran and fell off the stage?
By the way, that looked like it hurt!
It wasnt me, it was my friend karl!!!! LOL i told him eddie was right behind him and was lookin for like a handshake or something....but my buddy was in shock he didnt know what was what! and ya he had a little bump on his head after he bailed. Remember in 2004 when 3 guys ran up....i was the first one LOL followed by karl and my other friend, this year tho eddie seemed like he enjoyed the sttage jumping by his warm reaction and having my friends back against the security guards! EVH is the king!@
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The Mighty Van Halen, The Greatest Band Of All Time.
I saw that guy jump/fall off the left side of the stage wednesday. Is he ok? I also remember the people running on stage at the 2004 show! I was amazed that people were able to get on stage so quickly before security grabbed them. Did you get the honour of shaking Eddie's hand or something at the 2004 show?
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