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[Moonbeam]

Just got home from the show in Little Rock.

I don't remember who has been saying that Ed has lost it, or that he is a step slower than usual, but he was definetely on tonight. In fact, the whole band was on top of their game.

Ed sounded much better than the times I saw him on the 2004 tour, Alex sounded as good as I have ever heard him play (awesome drum solo), and I am now convinced that Wolfie is a pretty darn good bass player. And...of course, Dave was just like old times, a great show man with a lot of quips and famous Dave one-liners...although, at times he had some problems with the high notes.

A couple of highlights from the show:

Before Ice Cream Man, Dave told his story about smoking dope at his buddy Kenny's house in 1972. He was also kicking his legs high...and a chick that was in my party commented on his abs....He had the crowd rocking all night.

During Everbody Wants Some...Ed and Dave broke into a little blues riff...which was pretty cool.

During Ed's guitar solo, he got one of Alex's drum sticks and played the guitar with it (ala...Jimmy Page style from Song Remains the Same). I have never heard him play a drum stick on the guitar...and am uncertain if I saw it on the DVDs of this tour that I have. Also, Ed didn't dick around in the solo, he played alot of the old riffs that we grew up listening to...it was one of the better solos that I have heard him play in a long time.

Other than that...it was a great show with the same set list as usual for the tour. The arena holds about 20,000 for concerts...I would guess there was about 15,000 there. The place was packed with the exception of the upper deck in the far back..which was closed off. There were alot of folks from out of state...i.e., Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee...I guess because Little Rock was about as close as they are coming to their cities.

Over all a great show...definitely worth the price of admission.

One side note that I thought was worth mentioning...After the show I went to a little Irish Pub which is about 2 blocks from the arena. Everyone in there was at the show. I was outside drinking a Budweiser and lighting up a smoke and this 21 year old kid was talking on his cell phone to his buddies, telling them how awesome Eddie was. When he hung up I struck up a conversation with the "Yute" and asked him what he thought of the show. He said..."Man...I have been to about 20 shows in my life...but I have never seen anything like what I just saw!" My response was "Oh yeah...what is it that was so awe inspiring.." He said, "Man...I have heard of Van Halen...even know a handful of their songs...but I have never heard anyone ever make the sounds come out of a guitar like I heard tonight." He then boasted, "I just saw the greatest guitar player to ever walk the face of the earth...I don't think any guitar player in the history of rock is at Eddie's level...not even Hendrix, Clapton...or (some other guys I never heard of)....he was totally awesome. I am going to go home and download every Van Halen song that I can get."

I was like..."Well...what the fuck did you expect...it's Eddie Van Halen..." He paused and mumbled quite a bit...then went back inside.

But, he reminded me of me when I was 10 and saw Eddie for the first time back in 1977. Ever since I saw him that night (and VH was an opening act back then) I have been hooked. A new VH fan was born tonight in this young punk...and probably many others who saw Van Halen for the first time in their life.....

I am really glad that I was able to see them on this tour. It reaffirmed something that I grew up believing....Van Halen is really something special....

[VHLIVE]

Great Review, thx for sharing it.

did kent go, or was he out of town?....

[r_pinnington]

Awesome Review, Thanks for sharing :thumb:

[darcul666]

Review of the month :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

[ron]

Moonbeam wrote: Other than that...it was a great show with the same set list as usual for the tour. The arena holds about 20,000 for concerts...I would guess there was about 15,000 there. The place was packed with the exception of the upper deck in the far back..which was closed off.
Arktimes.com claims attendence was 9,368.

[liquid_steel_az]

Excellent review, Moonbeam! Glad to hear you had a great time. :thumb:

[UnMiked20]

Just to show how much of an icon Van Halen is and how they gap generations and genres.......at the San Antonio show, two rows in front of me and about 5 seats over were a couple of 14/15 year old emo dudes. Emo, punk....whatever.....one of them had a well coifed 6 inch spikey Mohawk going. Pretty rad 'do!

But they looked out of place.

Before VH hit the stage I remember thinking it odd to see them there. Flash forward to VH performing "Pretty Woman" and seeing all those guys singing along! And NOT mockingly either - they looked like they were thoroughly enjoying it!

I kept reminding myself that I wasn't high.

It was pretty surreal but very cool.

[Moonbeam]

ron wrote: Moonbeam wrote: Other than that...it was a great show with the same set list as usual for the tour. The arena holds about 20,000 for concerts...I would guess there was about 15,000 there. The place was packed with the exception of the upper deck in the far back..which was closed off.
Arktimes.com claims attendence was 9,368.

That could be right. I couldn't really see the upper deck that well, but I would say there were more than 12,000...but my judgement may be wanning as I get older.

[Mink]

Great review, Van Halen is something special. I think seeing them live really makes one appreciate them more.

[ron]

Moonbeam wrote: That could be right. I couldn't really see the upper deck that well, but I would say there were more than 12,000...but my judgement may be wanning as I get older.
You know those blow-up dolls they used to sell? They are now being used as audience fillers.
:D

[Moonbeam]

Here is the write-up from the Arkansas Times.

http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/rockcandy/2008/01/vh_pics.aspx.

I am still not so sure that there were less than 10,000 as reported by them. The Arkansas Times is a liberal political newsrag that specializes in demonizing any thing remotely close to the Republican Party and goes out of their way to ensure that both Hillary and Bill Clinton will go down as the greatest two U.S. President's in the history of man-kind...so, take what they say with a grain of salt.

[Moonbeam]

Moonbeam wrote: Here is the write-up from the Arkansas Times.

http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/rockcandy/2008/01/vh_pics.aspx.

I am still not so sure that there were less than 10,000 as reported by them. The Arkansas Times is a liberal political newsrag that specializes in demonizing any thing remotely close to the Republican Party and goes out of their way to ensure that both Hillary and Bill Clinton will go down as the greatest two U.S. President's in the history of man-kind...so, take what they say with a grain of salt.

Let me try that again...

http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/rockcandy/2008/01/vh_pics.aspx#more

[asdfanofpriest]

Awesome, Great Review, Glad to hear you enjoyed it!!

[rockstarjeep]

I was at the show also. GREAT show! I just love watching Eddie rock.