Come on Wolfgang, You're in Van Halen (Sunrise Concert Review)
So, I finally got to see Van Halen in concert a bit late in life, but it was at least Van Halen and not Van Hagar. I got the second show 2-2-0-08 in Sunrise Florida at the Bank Atlantic Center.. As you will know (and if you don't know, you won't be reading this post), the band now comprises not one, not two, but three Van Halens. Joining the line-up on bass guitar is none other than Eddie's 16 but turning 17-year-old prodigy Wolfgang. The opening act was Ky-Mani Marley, the 11th of reggae legend Bob Marley’s 13 kids -- he ain't Bob that's for sure, and that concludes my comments on that.
Now, before I get on to the concert, I can say that pretty much all guy teenagers in high school all dream of being a rock star. We all wanted to play guitar, drum, or whatever in a headline act to sold-out stadiums. It's the ultimate fantasy. (Why do you think the game Guitar Hero is so successful?)
So, here's Wolfgang, on stage, with a band that is beyond famous and has one of the world's best guitarists in it. And Wolfgang, he being no slouch himself and widely regarded as on his way to being a legend like dad, stands around on stage looking mopey and unhappy barely cracking a smile and for all appearances looking like he's going through the motions. In fact, he didn't look like he even wanted to be there until the encore when Jump started and he smiled and even jumped around a bit. He definitely acted the role of the stereotypical, mopey, goth, teenager. Good old Wolfie is talented, but it's still weird seeing someone who looks about 15 on stage. It's not like this was Hannah Montana or something. Lighten up Wolfgang!
Next up, I have a serious complaint. This is no reflection on Van Halen. The acoustics for this show were some of the worst I've ever heard at any concert in my life. The sound engineer should be fired. Other reviews posted on-line echo similar sentiments. There's nothing wrong with loud, it is after all a rock concert. However when the sound is bouncing around so much you can't hear the vocals at all, you need to turn it down. The sound engineer is supposed to go around the arena before the show and make sure the sound is adequate everywhere and adjust volumes and/or speaker positions. He failed miserably and this considerably affected my enjoyment of the show -- and judging by the comments of everyone around us, most everyone felt this way.
Our specific seats had a fantastic view. Unfortunately, row 21 of section 107 in the BankAtlantic Center is one of those with the glass partitions and the space in front was too small. This is made worse by the steel support beams holding the glass. It was unspeakably uncomfortable, enough so that one of our party threw in the towel and left early. My knee is still sore today from being pressed into a metal support bar all night. I'd mention the lack of air conditioning but about halfway through the concert, it finally kicked in.
David Lee Roth is still his legendary Diamond Dave self. He doesn't move as fast, but he's still got the look, the attitude, and more importantly the sound. He hit all the notes, and I do mean all of them even on Jamie's Crying. He seems to actually be having fun and not wanting to kill Eddie. I'm glad about that, though I doubt it will last.
Eddie Van Halen still owns the guitar hero of our time award. He's probably one of the greatest guitar players ever and he was amazing. The sound he made come out of that guitar ranged from the sublime to the earth shattering and everything in between including a car (or motorcycle depending on your view). He's a legend and earned it.
Alex Van Halen (Eddie's brother) was amazing on drums and was definitely having more fun than anyone else on stage. He also got a huge solo which brought the roof down.
Wolfgang Van Halen taking over for Michael Anthony was awesome. He really was. His sound is a bit different, of course, but nobody will find fault with him on his skills. His voice, maybe. His sound is different than Anthony's and you can notice it in some songs, and his voice is noticeably different. Other comments on Wolfie appear at the top of the page.
1- You Really Got Me
2- I’m The One
3- Runnin’ With the Devil
4- Romeo Delight (a bit of The Who’s “Magic Bus” sprinkled in)
5- Somebody Get Me a Doctor
6- Beautiful Girls
7- Dance the Night Away
8- Atomic Punk
9- Everybody Wants Some
10- So This is Love?
11- Mean Street
12- Pretty Woman
13- Alex's extended and obviously awesome drum solo
14- Unchained
15- I’ll Wait
16- And the Cradle Will Rock
17- Hot For Teacher
18- Little Dreamer
19- Little Guitars
20- Jamie’s Cryin’
21- Ice Cream Man
22- Panama
23- Eddie’s extended thrashing guitar solo including selections from Spanish Fly, Cathedral and Eruption
24- Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love
25- the encore was Jump
We also got the added side bonus of watch the hot chick in the luxury box in front of us tease all the guys by trying to flash her boobies but not quite spilling the goods. It was amusing because she was hitting on every guy in the box (about 8 of 'em) -- and there was one guy who obviously not interested and she was all over him. I guess that's two shows for the price of one.
Labels: Concert Review, Music, Van Halen
posted by Rev. CMOT TMPV @ 2/21/2008 08:59:00 AM (permalink)
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5 Comments:
I found Eddie's playing to be subpar. I've seen Van Halen several times and always walked away thinking that is why he is Eddie Van Halen. The 2/20/08 show his playing seemed a bit sloppy at times and he appeared to be disinterest. Dave and Alex were awesome. Wolfie just appeared to be along for the ride, though his playing and vocals were great.
It was a great show (my 3rd of the tour including Vegas.) It took them about 3 songs to get warmed up, but full speed after that. The sound was good where I was sitting, but I think the acoustics are not great there and vary where you sit. It was not as loud as it should have been (definitely not as loud as they were in the 80s.) You missed 'Mississippi Queen' by Mountain on the set list. Ed was jamming some nice blues stuff and cranking out the old favorites as usual. David is either queer or missed a great opportunity becasue he is heading doen the Liberace path of fashion and stage antics. It is great to hear him singing the old songs again though, and doing a fine job. Alex was a machine as usual. Wolfgang is not very animated, but his playing and background vocals seem to be improving. It is neat to see the kid onstage, but too bad Michael Anthony was left out. You failed to mention that Eddie (who seemed to be drinking throughout the show), must have had one that threw him over the edge during Dave's Ice Cream Man intro becasue he was WASTED during his sloppy solo, and for the remainder of the show. He seemed to be a little embarrassed about his playing (and his fall at the end got him angry.) He did make the encore, but was having a rough time (luckilly Jump has keyboard recorded background!) Throwing his cream colored Wolfgang guitar 20' off stage left while still plugged in was a classic, but pushing over one of Wolfie's EVH amp stacks after running ito it to get offstage was even better. I hate to see him going back downhill, but he is still great and was on the ball for the first 2 hours of the show. Eddie drunk still smokes all the clowns playing guitar in new bands today. Van Halen is stll the greatest American rock bank of all time (with Dave OR Sammy) and I hope they keep it going and make a new record.
I had been bidding on tickets for the VH concert in St. Louis next month, but when they got to over $170 for 2 tickets, that's too much for my blood. Even the crappy seats via the concert website are over $100 a ticket. I've consoled myself by realizing that this ISN'T the band I grew up with anymore. Wolfie may be fine, but he isn't Michael Anthony, and for those of you who don't notice a difference in the background voices, go back and listen to the songs that Anthony sang background for. The unique "sound" that VH once had is gone without Anthony. I also thought Sammy Hagar was a MUCH better singer than David Lee Roth. Sure, Roth was fine during his time, but the group sold many more records and sold tons of tickets to their concerts when Hagar was in the group. I'm reading that they are now playing NONE of the Hagar songs on their tour, so there would be like maybe 2-3 songs that I'd even want to hear that Roth would sing. Sorry, but I don't believe Roth or Wolfie have the talent of their previous members of the band. And if anyone hasn't already figured it out, Eddy has had some MAJOR personality problems in getting along with other people. Maybe it was mostly the drugs/alcohol, but it would be nice if they could all bury the hatchet and be the group they used to be--even now in their 50's. Sad because it didn't have to end up this way. I'm saving my $.
If there are only 2 or 3 songs you would want to hear that were Van Halen songs, not Van Hagar songs, you should have saved your money because that is VAN HALEN. They became a differnet band with a different sound with Sammy, which I was a fan of that era as well. But when you say Van Halen to me, and most others, we think David Lee Roth.
Hagar was with the band longer than Roth was (I think) and they had many more "hits" under Hagar than they did Roth. To me, there is no comparison. I think Roth's ego was as bad or worse than Eddy's was. I think that is why Roth split from the group to begin with. With Hagar, he had a smoother sound and appealed to a lot wider audience (hence the record sales during that era). But, when Hagar split, I believe it was due to Eddy firing him basically. I think Eddy screwed over Michael Anthony big-time. No, this ISN'T the group I remember because Wolfie just isn't Michael Anthony. I would have been disappointed if I had gone anyway.
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