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csgdemon · Joined: 2008-01-29 Posts: 31

I just wanted to give my impression of my FIRST Van Halen concert. I've been a musician my entire life (43 years), a certified VH fan for about 25 years, and serious about playing EVH-style guitar for about 15 years. BUT, for one reason or another, I've never seen them live. Till last night in Ft. Lauderdale...

A couple comments about the show:
- They all seemed to be having fun

- They played more tracks than I expected and we got a good view of some of his new guitars

- Eddie still displayed moments of brilliance (early)

- Wolfie has some chops
- Eddie was razor-sharp early but seemed to fade quickly, especially after the drum solo, where he appeared "drunk"
- Eddie's patch cord kept disconnecting from his guitar
- Eddie's solo was AWFUL - he could barely trem-pick
- Some kind of strap seems to be on Eddie's right wrist in a few of my pics - like some sort of sling for his right arm that is attached to the guitar strap??

The best part, I get to see them again in Ft. Lauderdale a week from today!

-Dave

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

There is a pretty positive review of this at the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel website with more good pics, and all of the guys are indeed smiling more than I've seen in other pics (evan Al appears to be laughing in a few).

oryo · Joined: 2002-02-02 Posts: 5895 Location: California

csgdemon,
1st of welcome to the site... What an awesome post and thank you for sharing it with us.. The pictures are amazing and glad to see that you finally got to see the mighty VH live.

Welcome to the site and hope to see you around more..Ory

liquid_steel_az · Joined: 2004-02-21 Posts: 3560 Location: Mesa, AZ

Thanks for sharing the pix, csgdemon. :thumb:

I wonder what the hell Ed's arm "sling" is all about....... :confused:

UnMiked20 · Joined: 2006-01-10 Posts: 633 Location: San Antonio, TX

csgdemon wrote: Eddie was razor-sharp early but seemed to fade quickly, especially after the drum solo, where he appeared "drunk"

Say it ain't so, Ed!!

kaloway · Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:28 pm Post subject:

arm sling just helping to relieve "fatigue" holding him arm for solo's?

Mink · Joined: 2006-10-28 Posts: 786 Location: PC Burner +

Thanks for the review and pictures. Welcome to VHT!

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

Nice post and pics. thanks for passing your memories along

ks

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

I never noticed the sling at the Omaha show. Is this something new?

Gilligan · Joined: 2006-10-11 Posts: 137 Location: The Land of Aloha

Hmmm, I wonder if it has anything to do with the drill? He wasn't "drilling" earlier and he wasn't wearing the sling earlier either...

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

Since I can't find an official Lauderdale show thread - I'll post my review here.

This was my 4th show of the tour. So far I was 4th row, center for the first show in Charlotte, hit Greensboro and saw them at MSG. The excitment of Charlotte was amazing.. but MSG was the show to be at. Everything about that show was amazing. Edlie was playing like you'd expect him to - his solo was AWESOME at that show.
I totally agree with csgdemon - the band came out of the box really strong... they killed it for the first hour. I was really pleased with Eddie's playing - he seemed to be sober and very focused. The new Wolfgang guitar that he was playing sounded and looked great as well. Dave & Eddie were interacting and having a great time up there. However, Eddie seemed to be playing the show in 'safe' mode... he played well, but really wasn't pushing it... more on that later.
That being said - the show was very rushed... I first noticed it when Dave caught Eddie of guard during the 'improv' in 'Somebody Get Me a Doctor' - Eddie was jamming Spoonful, and seemed to be enjoying it when out of nowhere Dave went back into the song... Eddie wasn't in front of his pedals and almost blew the riff coming back in - but no big deal.. it all worked out. The next one for me was during 'Unchained' where Dave really rushed through the middle section, and caught Wolf off guard a bit with the 'Give him a break' part... the band wasn't ready for it. Also noteworthy, Dave didn't do the ICM story for this show... he just launched right into it, and played through 1 verse rather quickly. Eddie totally BLEW the solo for ICM - so bad that there was just silence and clunking notes for the first section of the solo. Just terrible. I knew we were in trouble after that... they ran through Panama in record time... Dave didn't really talk in the middle... they just ran back into the song and that was it.
Up next was Eddie's solo... he basically ran through 316, the tapping part of Spanish Fly, made some feedback, Cathedral - which was unimpressive - he seemed to lose his place a few times, then into a half-assed version of Eruption... I felt so flat after the solo, that I just wanted the show to end. I have never felt that at a VH show. Eddie messed up the beginning of Ain't Talkin Bout Love, but recovered it...
Overall, a good show. Dave was on the mark, Al was solid as ever, Wolf played great... but I just can't figure out Eddie. He plays the songs well enough.. but can't nail down a solo spot lately. I think Eddie has wrist issues that we don't know about preventing him from doing the crazy runs that we've all come to love and appreciate... I'll be seeing them again for the 2nd round on Feb 20 - and I'm hoping they don't rush through the set and Eddie can get his shit together... we'll see.

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

VAiN wrote: ...but I just can't figure out Eddie. He plays the songs well enough.. but can't nail down a solo spot lately. I think Eddie has wrist issues that we don't know about preventing him from doing the crazy runs that we've all come to love and appreciate... I'll be seeing them again for the 2nd round on Feb 20 - and I'm hoping they don't rush through the set and Eddie can get his shit together... we'll see.
I saw him at the next show in Orlando and he blew the roof off the place.

Like anything in life...you have good days and bad days...and in between days. Sounds like you caught him on a bad day.

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

guitard wrote: VAiN wrote: ...but I just can't figure out Eddie. He plays the songs well enough.. but can't nail down a solo spot lately. I think Eddie has wrist issues that we don't know about preventing him from doing the crazy runs that we've all come to love and appreciate... I'll be seeing them again for the 2nd round on Feb 20 - and I'm hoping they don't rush through the set and Eddie can get his shit together... we'll see.
I saw him at the next show in Orlando and he blew the roof off the place.

Like anything in life...you have good days and bad days...and in between days. Sounds like you caught him on a bad day.

I don't know.. I saw the YouTubes of his Orlando solo and it was more of the same... Eddie just isn't playing up to par... he can do ALOT better then what he's been giving us. Not saying that as a whole they're not rocking - because they are.. but Eddie's solos are just garbage compared to what he's capable of.
Now before anyone launches into the 'You can't compare YouTube to the live experience argument' - I KNOW - being there is different - but seeing/hearing it later, it is still the same notes and selection and performance. Eddie isn't playing to his potential. He seems tired and/or bored. You can't tell me that his lame version of 316 followed by some feedback and into a sloppy Eruption is exciting.... if you think so, look up the MSG show and listen to that solo... night and day.

Here, I put it online for everyone to compare: http://www.digitalcomplexion.net/vain/vh2007-11-13t23.mp3

I think you'll agree that Eddie is not cutting it lately...

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

VAiN wrote: I don't know.. I saw the YouTubes of his Orlando solo and it was more of the same... Eddie just isn't playing up to par... he can do ALOT better then what he's been giving us. Not saying that as a whole they're not rocking - because they are. But Eddie's solos are just garbage compared to what he's capable of.
Now before anyone launches into the 'You can't compare YouTube to the live experience argument' - I KNOW - being there is different - but seeing/hearing it later, it is still the same notes and selection and performance. Eddie isn't playing to his potential. He seems tired and/or bored. You can't tell me that his lame version of 316 followed by some feedback and into a sloppy Eruption is exciting.... if you think so, look up the MSG show and listen to that solo... night and day.

Here, I put it online for everyone to compare: http://www.digitalcomplexion.net/vain/vh2007-11-13t23.mp3

I think you'll agree that Eddie is not cutting it lately...
Actually, when I make a judgement of Ed's playing at a particular show, the solo is only a small part of what I base my opinion on. You can compare solos from night to night and definitely make distinctions. And no doubt, some solos will be much better than others. But to me, the overall performance is the key. Something else to consider: the opinion of someone like a boot collector who has seen/heard several shows will almost certainly be different than that of your average fan's. I can tell you that the people sitting around me were whooping and hollaring over just about every part of the solo.

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

guitard wrote: Something else to consider: the opinion of someone like a boot collector who has seen/heard several shows will almost certainly be different than that of your average fan's. I can tell you that the people sitting around me were whooping and hollaring over just about every part of the solo.

This is very true, and I'm definitely very guilty of being the over sensitive/critical super fan. Don't get me wrong, I think the overall show was awesome too. They really played the songs well and were having a great time up there...

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