Wolfman

If you went to the August 13th show, please feel free to add a reply with your review here.

Let's try to keep this thread for REVIEWS ONLY, and not for discussion. That way, it will be easy for people to read them.

If you want to discuss this particular show, just make a new thread for that.

Thanks!

Rubnose

I'm too tired right now. Here it is in a nutshell.

Dave was really good. Sammmy was really better. Wish it was the other way around though but I gotta be honest.

More details tommorrow. Yawnnnnn!

Love

Rubby

mattjw01

Short Review.. I was really impressed with sammy... He seems like he has improved since the ohio show. He was good then, i'm not saying he was bad. But, he seems like he is really trying his hardest. He put on a really good stage show. Very interactive with the audience, so you have a lot to look at. I do agree with some that have said this before, eagles fly should be dropped. But sammy was craZy. So, it went from like amazing, so i thought the night was gonna get crazier when dave came on. Well the first couple songs i was like Wow this is gonna be fun again, but it got old really fast.. I have seen dave live 3 times recently, and it got old. Same routine.. I was kinda disappointed.. But i tried to go crazy like i usually do, but i kinda just kept on getting tired, and a lot of other people around me were just like walking up and leaving.. I look back, and the place is starting to file out. I gasped when he almost fell over, and so did hardcore dave fans too.. His legs were really really skaky.. Sam had fuck ups too.. His lights went out, and the sound. He said "someone is trying to sabatoge me, wonder who it could be?" "nahh eddie is in california" He also used a dave line, which shows they don't like one another. He mocked the "i'm gonna reach down between my legs, and ease the seat back.." And I thought well dave should change it a bit, but he didn't.. But maybe he was trying to be bigger than that. But music wise, and show wise. Sam did a better job than dave, and this is coming from a person that came in a dlr t-shirt.. But, every show varies... I had an awesome night, and enjoyed both regardless!! [img]smile.gif[/img] The fans really do win with these shows.

~Matt

[ August 14, 2002, 02:09 AM: Message edited by: mattjw01 ]

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"And my loves got no rain check baby!"-DLR

Mambo Slammer Casalad

OK...been lurking for a while, and it's time to post. My frame of reference before my review: I'm a VH fan since '81. I was practically raised on the first six VH albums! Had a hard time accepting the split, but warmed up to Van Hagar in '91 after seeing them live (again in '95) and recognized that they were still a good band, just...different. I've seen every DLR solo tour and have been a big supporter of every release and career move Dave has made...in my opinion, he's always been great and to me, misunderstood. I also saw Hagar solo in 97 and thought he was excellent.

Sound-wise: Sam's sound was great...the mix was clean and everyone in the band was audible. Dave's sound was good for the most part, but some of the faster songs ("Hot For Teacher," "I'm the One") got a little distorted.

Performance: Hagar was full of energy and fun, and his voice was great. I did notice him go flat twice and cheat on one or two high parts, but that's live! Recently he's been poking fun at Dave for acting like he's still in the '80s, but I think Sam's acting more like Dave's 80s 'character' than Dave is these days! And the audience loved it.

Dave's performance style has changed somewhat. Even as recently as '99, he was still all about fun, but last year and last night, he seems to have taken that dynamic away somewhat, and it's disappointing somewhat because Dave is at his best when he gets both his band and audience into the show. The magic and charisma of DLR is still there, but it's latent at times. His voice was fine...rough start, but it got stronger as the show went on. He can still kick (though he did almost fall once--at least he was able to laugh at himself!), and he's the only person who can get away with wearing pink and black diamond patterned pants with masculinity intact!

Song Selection: Sam played to the masses for the most part, and won the crowd over because of it. I've always thought Sammy's material (with and without VH) was always hit or miss...but the songs he played in concert are arguably some of his best ones, though I could do without "Eagles Fly" and (I know I'm in the minority here) "Dreams". With the exception of these two songs, the show was a big party thrown by Sam and the Waboritas.

As a classic VH fan, how could one not be pleased with his setlist? However, I think his inconsistent 'Dave-ness' coupled with some of the more obscure song choices were lost on the crowd. I may love "Atomic Punk" and "Mean Street", but those songs didn't get nearly as big a reaction as the 'poppier' tunes like "Beautiful Girls", the hits like "Jump", or well known anthems like "Runnin' with the Devil." It was during songs like these that Dave owned the crowd!

Final opinions: A great Hagar show; a good Roth show. Sammy's got a good thing going with the Waboritas and doesn't really need Van Halen. For the type of show Dave's doing, he needs Van Halen. Ever since the split from VH in '85, I always thought his best music and performances were his forays into different territory. He wouldn't duplicate what he did with VH, so why not try a "Skyscraper" or "Your Filthy Little Mouth"? Why not do a showroom show? It all made sense to me, as DLR is not one-dimensional. This tour makes sense to me too, as without it, VH music could evaporate. It's great that Dave's keeping it out there; he's just got to put more of himself into it.

Next stops: Camden, NJ and Hartford, CT...

Balanced Rock

Wow, where to start. I'll keep it short and sweet.

Got into the gates around 6:30pm. After checking out the scenery and getting a beer i heard Sammy's video start to play so it was off to our seats. Great way to start his show, as the video really got the crowd into it. When Sammy finally came out, the crowd was primed and Sammy delivered. Why people say that Vic can't play VH tunes is beyond me, the Waboritas are sounding really tight these days. Bottom line: Sammy is kicking ass and showing no signs of slowing. He had the crowd from beginning to end, without a doubt.

When Dave finally came out the crowd seemed just a tad mellow. I got a kick out of the pink with black diamond patterned tights. I was quite surprised at how damn good his band is. They were totally on. Dave, however, has definately lost a step or two. I really enjoyed hearing some of the "classics", but by the time he came out for Ice Cream Man i had had about enough. Many people were already starting to file out of the joint at that point, so i assumed they had had enough too. I even heard a few comments on the walk back to the parking lot about how Dave's voice sucks. I gotta give him his due for trying though. There were quite a few hardcore Roth fans that stayed though, so he still has his following.

End result:

Sammy kicked major ass, and Dave was just OK.

I couldn't help but think about what Sammy said about how he enjoyed opening the concerts because when his set is done he has a big smile on his face because he knows the show is over. It don't get no better than that. Well, i beleive he was right.

Next stop: New York State Fair.

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The 'Foot has landed.

ScottF5150

I had great 3rd row seats for last nights Sans Halen show in Scranton. They were off to the side, but that didn't really matter. When Sammy hit the stage, security was letting people come up front, so my wife and I planted ourselves right in front of Mona - right at the fence. It was the closest I have ever been for a show (the only closer I could get was if I was in the center, or perhaps if I was one of the lucky ones to be onstage with Sammy!). Sammy was great. He played a good cross section of VH and solo tunes - the only one I was unfamiliar with was his opener - Shaka Doobie. His voice was great, and he looked like he was having fun. He was constantly engaged with the crowd - weather it was holding up a banner, or serving a margarita to the people in the front rows. Even when the power went out, he took it in stride, got his waitress to get him another drink, and joked that Eddie couldn't have done that because he was in California. My wife got a Mona pick, which was cool - she was a very good performer, but I wished that this would have been a Mike Anthony show. All in all, Sammy gets an A.

When Dave came out to Hot For Teacher, I could not hear the guitar at all. They did not get the mix right until And The Cradle Will Rock. I love Dave-era VH, but he looked really pathetic up there. I was not unhappy with his voice - he sounded better than most bootlegs that I have from the 80's. It was his stage persona that was too fake - it just doesnt cut it anymore. He still says the same lines that he said in 1980! Also, he hardly interacted with the crowd. He looks at the crowd and says a canned line. He is still in great shape (I wish my abs looked like his), but he tried to do a roundhouse kick and practically fell over. He then was tenative in his moves for the rest of the night. Also, he grabbed the mic stand and looked like he was going to do his twirling routine, and then just sorta stood there. People were leaving from about halfway through the show. I felt really sorry for him at some points, because he showed flashes of his brilliance at times, and then he looked like a cheap lounge act. And then he skips Unchained in his regular set list - which he also did when I saw him in a Club in Reading PA a few years ago. He plays Atomic Punk and Pretty Woman, and skips Unchained. Doesn't he know that VH fans rank that song as #1???? Roth was much better when I saw him in a Club in Reading, PA a few years ago, but then I hadn't seen Sammy right before Dave.