Van Halen in Greensboro, NC, 29.9.07
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Yes, MOGsters, your world music, electronic, hip-hop Thursday and funky friday maven, jazz fan, and all around unhipster went to see what was once the world's biggest corporate rock band: Van Halen, in its modified original format - Alex and Eddie Van Halen, David Lee Roth, and Eddie's 16-year-old son Wolfgang replacing the disgruntled still-drinking Michael Anthony on bass. My husband Richard, the most patient and unassuming man in the universe (he of the "what the hell are you listening to now?" catchphrase, who tolerates his wife's music because, well, he loves me, glory be) is a huge fan of metal music. Van Halen? Not so much. However, he won tickets through the gospel, er, I mean, sports radio station he listens to here pretty much all day, 850thebuzz, and we left our football game early (not a real sacrifice really, since our team sucks and was getting their teeth kicked in by Louisville. By the third quarter, I was starting to feel like I was at the dentist. But I digress) to drive the hour and a half to Greensboro to see if three old men and one incredibly young men had anything.Boy, did they.
In my youth (er, this would be my college years youth) I had a dear friend named Chris who was an Eddie Van Halen worshipper who got me into the group, and I devoured their old albums. VH was popular at my high school but they were not played much on the radio - yes, there was a time when VH was not played much on the radio, young whippersnappers, and they weren't even corporate enough for corporate rock. Hard to believe now. When Van Halen played Asheville my junior year, Dave's buttless pants made the front page of the newspaper. I think local churches prayed for him. My friends who loved me when I played the Police and the Cocteau Twins and R.E.M. thought I had lost my mind. My friends who hung out with me when I listened to Run-D.M.C. and the Beasties thought I was smoking something they hadn't sold me. But I knew it was all good. Because, let's face it. Why was Van Halen so great? Eddie. Chant it with me now, my peeps. Eddie, Eddie.Drinking, Valerie, feuds with vocalists and bassists, homeotherapy and god knows what else aside, Eddie Van Halen is an artist who is without peer and watching him play is a joy that I highly recommend to anyone. I guarantee that the ten or twenty minutes he spends soloing at the show you may pay an exorbitant price for (actually I think the tickets are pretty reasonable from what I hear, but who knows how the tour will go in other cities) will alone be the price of a ticket. 
David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen in Charlotte, NC, 28.9.07, from vanhalen.comThe sound mix was WAY too loud, but the boys still sounded good (I think. My hearing hasn't quite returned yet). The show went on pretty much as advertised and reviewed in the USA Today article from the night before in Charlotte, but even having read that review, I was still touched, tickled, and amazed by the band. Dave's still got the voice, the swagger, and the penis, apparently, as evidenced by his no-hands hat-balancing trick during Everybody Wants Some. Junior did a good job, despite missing his cues from Dave a few times (he played great from what I could tell, he's just not up on the on-stage banter with Dave yet).The stage was incredible - very simple and stripped down, but probably the coolest set I've ever seen. It started with one huge video screen that spread from end to end of the stage. Below that was the main stage, which featured a cat walk that resembled the top curve of an "S" with what looked like doors underneath a platform at the top of the curve. Beneath the curve sat the drum kit, leaving the other three band members in front of the curve, which extended onto the floor. A second curve finished off the "S" by extending out into the audience. Lights were primarily shined onto the stage from above, with lasers and some large moving structures on either side of the stage. It had something of an Asian feel to it. During a few of the songs, some powerful green laser lights were extended above the heads of the audience. The set was rock and roll without being over the top - no fireworks. Dave did that on his own with his leather, his mouth, his dancing (Richard said he had Robin Williams from The Birdcage beat), his sexual banter with the audience, and, well, his overall Dave-ness. This is not the best sound recording, but you can see some of the stage in this vid. There aren't any good pictures of it yet out there, and I didn't take any. But ladies and gentlemen, let's be honest. It's all about Eddie, and Van Halen is smart enough to know that. and no one enjoys what he does and is a happier human being doing it than Eddie Van Halen. the power of the onstage set was the closeups of Eddie playing, which many times focused on what he was doing with his fingers or his feet. I had to physically push up my jaw so many times my hands got tired. And then came the long-awaited solo, which did not start with, but eventually came to, Eruption. And I must be an old softie, but I have to admit: Eddie made me cry. I have always wished he would just do an entire album of that stuff, but he never does, he always shrugs it off. So all we get is twenty minutes of it every few years. 
Photo courtsey losanjealous.comTake the opportunity. I believe that Eddie Van Halen is America's greatest living electric guitarist. At times his fingers and feet moved so fast, I thought I was seeing some kind of special effect. But it was all Eddie. And it was great.
The poster I had on my wall one year in college.
In my youth (er, this would be my college years youth) I had a dear friend named Chris who was an Eddie Van Halen worshipper who got me into the group, and I devoured their old albums. VH was popular at my high school but they were not played much on the radio - yes, there was a time when VH was not played much on the radio, young whippersnappers, and they weren't even corporate enough for corporate rock. Hard to believe now. When Van Halen played Asheville my junior year, Dave's buttless pants made the front page of the newspaper. I think local churches prayed for him. My friends who loved me when I played the Police and the Cocteau Twins and R.E.M. thought I had lost my mind. My friends who hung out with me when I listened to Run-D.M.C. and the Beasties thought I was smoking something they hadn't sold me. But I knew it was all good. Because, let's face it. Why was Van Halen so great? Eddie. Chant it with me now, my peeps. Eddie, Eddie.Drinking, Valerie, feuds with vocalists and bassists, homeotherapy and god knows what else aside, Eddie Van Halen is an artist who is without peer and watching him play is a joy that I highly recommend to anyone. I guarantee that the ten or twenty minutes he spends soloing at the show you may pay an exorbitant price for (actually I think the tickets are pretty reasonable from what I hear, but who knows how the tour will go in other cities) will alone be the price of a ticket. David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen in Charlotte, NC, 28.9.07, from vanhalen.comThe sound mix was WAY too loud, but the boys still sounded good (I think. My hearing hasn't quite returned yet). The show went on pretty much as advertised and reviewed in the USA Today article from the night before in Charlotte, but even having read that review, I was still touched, tickled, and amazed by the band. Dave's still got the voice, the swagger, and the penis, apparently, as evidenced by his no-hands hat-balancing trick during Everybody Wants Some. Junior did a good job, despite missing his cues from Dave a few times (he played great from what I could tell, he's just not up on the on-stage banter with Dave yet).The stage was incredible - very simple and stripped down, but probably the coolest set I've ever seen. It started with one huge video screen that spread from end to end of the stage. Below that was the main stage, which featured a cat walk that resembled the top curve of an "S" with what looked like doors underneath a platform at the top of the curve. Beneath the curve sat the drum kit, leaving the other three band members in front of the curve, which extended onto the floor. A second curve finished off the "S" by extending out into the audience. Lights were primarily shined onto the stage from above, with lasers and some large moving structures on either side of the stage. It had something of an Asian feel to it. During a few of the songs, some powerful green laser lights were extended above the heads of the audience. The set was rock and roll without being over the top - no fireworks. Dave did that on his own with his leather, his mouth, his dancing (Richard said he had Robin Williams from The Birdcage beat), his sexual banter with the audience, and, well, his overall Dave-ness. This is not the best sound recording, but you can see some of the stage in this vid. There aren't any good pictures of it yet out there, and I didn't take any. But ladies and gentlemen, let's be honest. It's all about Eddie, and Van Halen is smart enough to know that. and no one enjoys what he does and is a happier human being doing it than Eddie Van Halen. the power of the onstage set was the closeups of Eddie playing, which many times focused on what he was doing with his fingers or his feet. I had to physically push up my jaw so many times my hands got tired. And then came the long-awaited solo, which did not start with, but eventually came to, Eruption. And I must be an old softie, but I have to admit: Eddie made me cry. I have always wished he would just do an entire album of that stuff, but he never does, he always shrugs it off. So all we get is twenty minutes of it every few years. Photo courtsey losanjealous.comTake the opportunity. I believe that Eddie Van Halen is America's greatest living electric guitarist. At times his fingers and feet moved so fast, I thought I was seeing some kind of special effect. But it was all Eddie. And it was great.The poster I had on my wall one year in college.
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