Why it just isn't fun being a VH fan anymore

[Edeble Ed]

For me especially, because I'm in college, so many don't share my love for the band. It is hard defending a band that is known more now for it's soap opera with singers then actually doing what they do best, which is rock out.

If its Dave's fault, if his ego demanded strict circumstances, like 35% (I don't buy the lawyer bit: it was to save face), then fuck him, it ain't 1985 anymore.

If its Eddie's fault, and he feels he is the leader of this band, fuck him, because its a team effort, and everybody brings something to the table.

But more so, it sucks being a fan, because even in 2002, fans of VH bicker and bitch like they are 4 yr olds (and they claim Dave is should grow up??). I want Dave back in the band, but you know what, if Hagar comes back fine, at least it is something. I just wish people would just enjoy what VH gave us and will hopefully give us, wtih whoever the singer is.

[Brett]

The fan infighting has pretty much ruined it for me. Every discussion turns into a bashfest. You could be discussing the weather, and it would turn into a Sam vs. Dave shitfest.

The band has also become a laughing stock in the music industry, which is the worst thing, that they've allowed themselves to fall so far so fast.

[Edeble Ed]

I agree Brett. I have noticed it in you recently. I am actually surprised you keep the boards going, with how many of the threads are ruined by the bickering. It is like you are the parent trying to break it up, but at some point, you just can't take it.

[Joe5150]

Originally posted by Edeble Ed:
If its Dave's fault, if his ego demanded strict circumstances, like 35% (I don't buy the lawyer bit: it was to save face), then fuck him, it ain't 1985 anymore.

Lawyers = %s + $

Translation: Lawyers are used to negotiate and put in writing all the terms of a contract, including dollars and percentages.

Dave's perspective: It's a good thing lawyers were involved to prevent me from getting screwed like in 1996.

Eddie's perspective: We used to do things on a handshake (that was back in 1976). Once the lawyers got involved ... they made my cancer seem like a tiny zit on my ass...

[ September 23, 2002, 06:51 PM: Message edited by: Joe5150 ]

[Edeble Ed]

Maybe

Or Maybe both just couldn't mesh. Maybe one wanted to go in one direction, and the other wanted to go in another direction. So in order to hide the fact that they just don't want to do it, they say it was due to a third party: the lawyers.

[Joe5150]

Originally posted by Edeble Ed:
Maybe

Or Maybe both just couldn't mesh. Maybe one wanted to go in one direction, and the other wanted to go in another direction. So in order to hide the fact that they just don't want to do it, they say it was due to a third party: the lawyers.

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[hain23x]

or maybe Eddie found out he had cancer and couldn't do it at the time

you guys DO remember Eddie was sick don't ya??

[Joe5150]

Originally posted by hain23x:
or maybe Eddie found out he had cancer and couldn't do it at the time

you guys DO remember Eddie was sick don't ya??

Yeah, and with regard to his sickness AND reuniting with DLR, Eddie was quoted as saying, (I think it was in the "Maximum Golf" magazine article in 2001), that "Once the lawyers got involved ... they made my cancer seem like a tiny zit on my ass..."

[redfire]

This is why it suck in my opinion...

http://www.melodicrock.com/news/vanhalen.html

If you don't want to look at that, just know that it's the sum of all the VH rumors and storys since 2000. I remember almost all of those, atleast the real old ones, after a while I stopped caring. That's why it sucks.

[willyum]

I wonder if it truly dawns on Ed & Al the state of things when folks like Grant & Brett want to start packing it in.

hmmm.

[jrk5150]

Originally posted by Brett:

The band has also become a laughing stock in the music industry, which is the worst thing, that they've allowed themselves to fall so far so fast.

I'm not sure I agree with that. If you have music industry sources or contacts or whatever saying that, then, yeah, I guess so. But I think that the fact that Ed and Al have been silent have saved them to an extent from all of this nonsense. WE are the ones stirring it up, and WE are the ones creating a circus.

I just think that we are too close to the situation, and we assign our frustration at the rumors and pissing contests, that only the few of us here are even aware of, to the public or the general industry. I don't think too many care about the day to day bs of Van Halen.

When or if there is a new Van Halen project is when people will start to care again. Was anyone screaming for a new Stones tour? Or a new Bruce album? Many artists keep quiet for a while and then come out of nowhere, and they regain some if not most (or even more if considering Santana) of their popularity. See Bon Jovi, Bruce, Stones, etc. If Van Halen comes back with either old singer, they will get some attention. Enough to sell millions of albums? Don't know. Enough to rake in the bucks on tour? Absolutely.

A new singer? Who knows, will have to see what it sounds like. I DO think enough time and BS has passed that a new singer will get a better listen than Gary did.

[jrk5150]

Originally posted by willyum:
I wonder if it truly dawns on Ed & Al the state of things when folks like Grant & Brett want to start packing it in.

hmmm.

Unfortunately, I think the fans' bickering and bull shit rumors have contributed to that as much as the inactivity.

[be_deviler]

If you have music industry sources or contacts or whatever saying that, then, yeah, I guess so.

Hell, even the industry people turn a conversation about VH into a Sammy vs Dave clownfest. They're not immune to it either, and that in and of itself says a mouthful.

-bd

[Wolfman]

I think it depends on what the defintion of "being a VH fan" is.
if you enjoy the music they have put out and are available to view it it's exisitng form, then I can't see what could make it no fun anymore. The music's still there, and my love for it hasn't changed.
But, if we start making expectations and demands and base our "being a VH fan" on them, then all we are doing is setting ourselves up for disappointment. Obviously, there are far too many reasons for delay in new music (health, divorce, backstabbing, failed reunion attempts, label disputes, trying to rmain relevant in today's music scene without selling out, putting out music with integrity, trying to please as many of the fans as possible while pleasing themselves, etc.) to base being a fan on a current or future basis.
So, in order for us to base our pleasure on whether or not VH is doing for us exactly what we want them to do, on our time, is nothing but setting ourselves up for disappointment.
Furthermore, if our interest in VH starts to revolve around arguing who is the better singer, which website is best, name-calling of people we don't agree with, bitching about how a free site put up for us is run, etc - then the whole point of being a VH fan is totally irrelevant. How can anyone "enjoy" being a fan of the band amidst all that?
Personally, I'm still a fan of the band, and it's still fun for me to be so. What's NOT fun so much anymore is the involvement in the boards when all this stuff takes center stage. When every other thread becomes a flame-war and debate that ostracizes the people that want to have friendly, healthy discussions without taking things too seriously, then it takes a lot of fun out of these sites as sources of leisure. And that's the point where someone like Brett, who puts a hell of a lot of time and money into, is going to very justifiably get frustrated and worn out with providing a free place for everybody to post. All of the obvious appreciation for the site and the feeling of community that many of us gain from it is hard to see, when you have to deal with the bitching and bickering in your face all the time. it's good that many of you have made sure to tell Brett how much you would miss this site, because he needs to have that positive reinforcement to nullify all the other bullshit.

Enjoy VH. Make friends here. If you can't do that easily, then don't torture yourself and everyone else in the process.

meantime, rock on peeps.

[Stuff No More]

I had a thought.

Back when the whole Same/Dave tour thing was announced, it seemed like for the first time the adamant followers of each camp were honestly getting along. There was some common ground. It was like one big 'ole love fest. For about a week (but that's beside the point, I'm not there yet).

I can recall someone speculating that the tour could lead to real peace between the two camps. I can recall responding that I figured as soon as the shows started happening we'd be in for a whole new round of bickering about who did better.

I'm thinking (IMHO) that Sam and Dave being so close together in an evening reopened a lot of those competitive feelings in posters. Given that the members of each camp are usually divided fairly well by age - Dave fans being older and Sam fans being younger - comparisons don't usually fly well. Dave and Sam never went, "Head to head," in the same place, in the same era, in the same fashion. Now they have, and people have all kinds of new material to fight over.

Of course, you can also add to this that a portion of us have been involved in the VH internet scene since just after Gary left and have had a lot of time to get really jaded. Another large portion have been around a good year plus now, having been brought in by the Dome. Tastes are going to vary, and a message board will tend to homogenize around the viewpoints of the majority of its users. Just look at this site - long long ago it was a militant pro-Sammy fanbase that settled on it, then the Dave fans fought back and eventually took over, then the Dave warriors got restless, got people mad, and moved on, and now things have moderated much more. Through all of this the remaining fanbase has had a chance to segregate themselves into settings that match their general feelings. When you go to a site like the DLRArmy you tend to have some of that strongly pro Dave atmosphere rub off on you. People who identify closely with something (like a culture) often act MORE like that culture when they're away from it. We go over there, things get rowdy. They come over here, things get rowdy. In the meantime, people who aren't as fully indoctrinated pick up on this and either get disgusted by it or start polarizing to one side or the other. Next thing you know you have bickering and fighting and either have to do something about it or allow it to explode out of control and give up on actually moderating the place.

(wow, this is longer than I intended )

Anyway, for people wanting to skip right to my point, it's like this:
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• It's been a long time since anything new happened </font>
• Lots of people have been around so long they're jaded</font>
• Interest groups have polarized into microcosmic cultures
  </font>

All of this brings petty bs. Petty bs brings hurt feelings. Hurt feelings keeps things from being fun.