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ron · Joined: 2001-11-06 Posts: 2980 Location: Wisconsin

LOTS of negative comments about this one...

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/.../rothled_van_halen_returns_to_a.html

jgdrag · Joined: 2006-01-21 Posts: 186 Location: Ontario

Those reviews were horrible!

guitard · Joined: 2001-12-01 Posts: 3410 Location: Seoul, South Korea

I haven't read the reviews....but they are bound to have a bad show or two every now and then. I just hope they get their shit back together before they hit Florida!!

asdfanofpriest · Joined: 2007-06-21 Posts: 725 Location: Western USA

SOMEONE doesn't like Van halen With Roth :uhoh: :uhoh: :furious:

Concert review: Roth-led Van Halen returns to Atlanta

By Rodney Ho | Sunday, February 10, 2008, 11:11 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

David Lee Roth is like the ultimate in American processed cheese food.

There doesn’t seem to be an authentic bone in his body. He’s 120% showman, with that stupid grin plastered on his face. Sometimes he opens his mouth in mock surprise, like he’s imitating Carol Channing. I’ve seen him solo, and it can be pretty painful to watch. But somehow placing him in the company of Eddie and Alex Van Halen Sunday night at Philips Arena made this cheese tolerable. And amazingly, Eddie and David seemed to get along after more than two decades of avoiding each other.

Was it sincere or merely an act? It was hard to tell. At one point, Roth even hugged Eddie from behind and Eddie didn’t even flinch.

Sadly, the fourth original Van Halen member, fun-lovin’ bassist Michael Anthony (a Sammy Hagar loyalist) was booted before the tour. In a case of pure nepotism, Eddie replaced Anthony with his 16-year-old son Wolfgang, who is clearly very talented but not quite up to snuff in terms of stage presence. Still, it’s good to see the Van Halen skills have passed onto the next generation.

The 26-song set list, which has remained unchanged since the tour began, didn’t include a single tune from the Sammy Hagar era. (Hagar sang a couple of Roth tunes during his last visit with Van Halen at Philips around 2004 but obviously, Roth wasn’t going to return the favor.) But folks who loved those first six albums weren’t disappointed as the group sprinkled big radio hits (“Runnin’ With the Devil” “Jamie’s Cryin’ ” “Panama”) with deeper cuts (“I’m the One,” “Little Guitars”) “Hot For Teacher” is still a stupendously delightful goof, even if Diamond Dave is 54 years old. And it’s hard not to smile while singing along to “Everybody Wants Some.”

Not surprisingly, the crowd was packed with beer-swillin’ frat boy types in their 30s, 40s and 50s. Those Philips Arena concessions folks stayed busy all night. They swayed and sang along to songs celebrating beautiful girls and dancing the night away. And not a power ballad in sight, thank goodness.

With Roth, what you see is what you get: a middle-aged man in tight leather pants prancing around for much of the show in embroidered jackets that were probably stolen from the Sgt. Pepper. He twirled the mike stand like an oversized baton and attempted a few leg kicks — but not too many. He does look better than most rockers his age. (See Mike Reno of Loverboy.) His vocals served the songs just fine most of the time even if the sound mix meant you couldn’t understand him half the time. (And if you know the lyrics already and are singing along, who cares?)

Eddie was better during his last visit to Atlanta. To make matters worse, during his extended guitar solo, the sound went out partway through, diluting what is often a highlight of any Van Halen concert. Even after he got his sound back, the mix was confoundingly bad during the final pre-encore song “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love.” The guitar was too loud and Roth’s vocals were swallowed up. The crowd seemed deflated at that point when they should have been frothing into a frenzy.

The encore was brief, with Roth waving a big red flag to “1984,” then jumping into the band’s biggest hit “Jump.”

Overall, it was a good concert, just not a great one. Sound problems badly marred the proceedings.

Disclosure: I’ve seen Van Hagar twice and David Lee Roth doing his solo bit at HiFi Buys Amphitheatre with Sammy Hagar. This is the first time I’ve gotten to see the David Lee Roth/Eddie Van Halen combo.

And folks in the comments section have noted: why was Eddie on a corded guitar? Was that just the beginning of the technical problems plaguing the band the entire night? Having read other reviews in other cities, this sound issue doesn’t appear to be a chronic problem so you have to wonder what was happening behind the scenes this time around.

Moonbeam · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 7:18 pm Post subject:

SOunds like Rodney just doesn't like VH. The way he starts off his review, you can tell he ain't a VH fan.... Screw him!

ron · Joined: 2001-11-06 Posts: 2980 Location: Wisconsin

Moonbeam wrote: SOunds like Rodney just doesn't like VH. The way he starts off his review, you can tell he ain't a VH fan.... Screw him!
Fine, screw him. Now read some of the other 140+ posts/comments at the bottom. That's where the real gist of the show comes through IMO...

guitard · Joined: 2001-12-01 Posts: 3410 Location: Seoul, South Korea

Moonbeam wrote: SOunds like Rodney just doesn't like VH. The way he starts off his review, you can tell he ain't a VH fan.... Screw him!
Actually, I read his review and got the feeling that he was desperately looking for a way to slam the band bust just couldn't come up with one.

And what a name... Rodney Ho.

Rod Need Ho.

Moonbeam · Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 7:32 pm Post subject:

ron wrote: Moonbeam wrote: SOunds like Rodney just doesn't like VH. The way he starts off his review, you can tell he ain't a VH fan.... Screw him!
Fine, screw him. Now read some of the other 140+ posts/comments at the bottom. That's where the real gist of the show comes through IMO...

Sounds like most folks were attacking the accoustics of Phillips arena and/or the sound mixing, more so than VH. Although, several jumped on Dave....

whitjoss · Joined: 2006-12-02 Posts: 43

I really still don't get the sound thing...but we've beat that horse to death...but surely someone on here knows...who designed the rig?...whose rig is it (e.g. JBL, V-dosch, blah blah blah)?...what kind of amps/consoles?...who is mixing?...and on it goes...but every other band seems to get the combo right...i haven't heard many truly bad sounding shows in the last 3-5 years...except vh...don't get it...not in 2008 with all the great production companies out there...and the GEAR...it can be configured to compensate for most anything...sort of like sound production for dummies...which, of course, makes it even more puzzling...and irritating

the lights and effects were quite nice, by the way...minimalist...but ok

thereadog · Joined: 2006-02-23 Posts: 751 Location: NJ

Yeah most of the comments were shots against the sound in Phillips Arena as opposed to the band themselves being bad. For the money people are paying, I can understand why they would be upset if they can't hear Dave or Ed's guitar sounds all messed up.

VAiN · Joined: 2004-10-19 Posts: 478 Location: South Florida

Well, I fully expect them to bounce back when I see them tomorrow night in Sunrise (Ft.Lauderdale). I'll post a review and let you guys know what I thought....

omahaswine · Joined: 2008-02-05 Posts: 45 Location: Omaha

VAiN wrote: Well, I fully expect them to bounce back when I see them tomorrow night in Sunrise (Ft.Lauderdale). I'll post a review and let you guys know what I thought....

Looking forward to the review. Not to get too far off topic but I hope a video surfaces from Sunrise. Back in the day every major show at that venue got filmed. Keeping my fingers crossed.

VHLIVE · Joined: 2002-09-15 Posts: 5146

omahaswine wrote: VAiN wrote: Well, I fully expect them to bounce back when I see them tomorrow night in Sunrise (Ft.Lauderdale). I'll post a review and let you guys know what I thought....

Looking forward to the review. Not to get too far off topic but I hope a video surfaces from Sunrise. Back in the day every major show at that venue got filmed. Keeping my fingers crossed.

It's being filmed by an old school filmer....im sure a few of those FL shows will be filmed as there are quite a few retired Filmers down there. hopefully they will come out of retirement....and hopefully they will get released.

ks34vh · Joined: 2001-10-31 Posts: 1322 Location: Pittsburgh Pa

vhroxu2 · Joined: 2004-04-15 Posts: 1598 Location: North Carolina

whitjoss wrote: I really still don't get the sound thing...but we've beat that horse to death...but surely someone on here knows...who designed the rig?...whose rig is it (e.g. JBL, V-dosch, blah blah blah)?...what kind of amps/consoles?...who is mixing?...and on it goes...but every other band seems to get the combo right...i haven't heard many truly bad sounding shows in the last 3-5 years...except vh...don't get it...not in 2008 with all the great production companies out there...and the GEAR...it can be configured to compensate for most anything...sort of like sound production for dummies...which, of course, makes it even more puzzling...and irritating

the lights and effects were quite nice, by the way...minimalist...but ok

I agree. You'd think that as long as VH has been doing this, plus Eddie being the "mad genius" that they would have an amazing sound setup. :confused: :sus:

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