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[King Edward]

So how was it???? Any final night antics or cool stuff that happened?

[ron]

King Edward wrote: So how was it???? Any final night antics or cool stuff that happened?
The show starts in 5 hours.

[BIGTOMIE]

Have a GREAT time Guys !!!!!!!!

[King Edward]

ron wrote: King Edward wrote: So how was it???? Any final night antics or cool stuff that happened?
The show starts in 5 hours.

Oh my lord how embarassing!!!!!!!!!!!!! :o :o :o :o :o :o

[mr_mojo_halen]

Just got in from the show & I'm wondering,"Who is this band & what have they done
with the band that played the first leg of the tour"? AWESOME SHOW! :cool: :dance:

Dave was 10 times better than he was last fall, as was Malibu Ed. Everything &
everyone was in tune & full of energy. The shorter, more on the ball guitar solo
was fantastic. As much as I like 'Little Guitars', the show was so good that you didn't
really miss it at all. Dave said to Wolfie, something like"You had one heck of a
job to fill on this tour & you got it done kid". Dave also thanked all of the people
behind the scenes who run the sound, lights, etc.. Ed brought out a red frankenstrat
& a black w/yellow striped guitar briefly in the middle of the show. I thought I heard
Dave call Grand Rapids "Detroit" at one point, quickly changing to just 'Michigan'. Maybe
someone else can confirm this. Up on the screen, it looked like someone had a Sony Cybershot
camera in the pit area. sssh All in all, one of the best shows of the tour. Hope there's
some quality audio of this show. I smell a 2nd Leg FLAC megatree sometime soon. :D
Otherwise, nothing extra for the last show of the tour. Crossroads rocked ! Ed ended
Unchained by putting his right index finger below his left hand to play some pull offs
instead of just using the whammy bar to end the solo. Brought a tear to my eye. :)
I had the pleasure of meeting the mighty GUITARD after the show. All the best in your
upcoming move. I wonder if he's still watching the Red Wing game at bar? It's still
tied 90 minutes later in quantiple overtime. :eek: So it wasn't the end of the world
or the end of the band, just simply the end of the tour. As, Dave said,
"Have a great summer & we hope to see you again next time !

Pittsburgh just won the game. :yell:

[VOODOO]

My buddies called me on their way home and I told them, "I wish I would have been able to see this Eddie back in November!" I hope this show ends up online soon, because if the Chicago show was any indication this one has to be a definite keeper!"

Van Halen is back.....even though it was waaaay too late. I HOPE TO CHRIST they release something from the END of this tour. Something special, retrospective and complete. NO MORE fucking "Best Of's". No more "Greatest Hits". You HAVE to do something that MEANS SOMETHING!!

The last leg was obviously the high spot, so DO SOMETHING WITH IT!! Throw in some retro, unreleased, unseen footage or audio and toss it in with a new 2008 live video and then come back and blow us away. Live up to your legacy. Kick our asses. Blow us away! Rock the fuck on, Van Halen! :confused: :thumb:

[liquid_steel_az]

Thanks for the reviews, guys....glad they went out with a bang!

Cool that you got to meet up with the almighty guitard, Pat! :thumb:

[mr_mojo_halen]

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/06/van_halen_concert_all_about_at.html

Van Halen concert 'all about attitude'

June 3rd, 2008

by John Sinkevics | The Grand Rapids Press

GRAND RAPIDS -- Halfway through Van Halen's raucous "You Really Got Me" opener on Monday night, lead singer David Lee Roth shook guitarist Eddie Van Halen's hand, with both veteran rockers beaming broadly.

"Better late than never, eh?" Roth screamed to the 10,000 or so on hand at the show, which originally had been scheduled for April.

The pair would trade smiles often during Monday's two-hour show -- the last concert on the band's much-publicized reunion tour and, who knows, maybe the last Van Halen show ever -- Roth even whispering into the guitarist's ear during "Somebody Get Me a Doctor."

Just a few short years ago, who'd a thunk it? Who would have thought these acrimonious rockers would joyously be playing a final glorious concert in a mostly triumphant reunion tour spanning two calendar years? Who would have guessed a 53-year-old guy, Eddie Van Halen, still could light up an electric guitar as few can after battling cancer and drug problems, or his teenage son, Wolfgang, actually would be the band's bassist?

And who'd a thunk it would all wind up right here in River City, the final show in an unexpected chapter of a tumultuous story of hard rock?

Just three days after Tom Petty treated Grand Rapids to the first show of his North American tour, Van Halen swooped in for the last show of its North American jaunt, appropriately opening the evening with that familiar cover of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" and ending with celebratory, confetti-splashed "Jump."

Grand Rapids fans had to wait an extra two months for their Van Halen fix (after part of the tour was postponed so Eddie could get treatment for an unspecified medical condition), but there's little doubt those who turned in their tickets for the rescheduled show (leaving some banks of empty seats) will regret it after hearing the concert report at work today from pals who partied and "danced the night away."

Ryan Shaw, a Georgia R&B/rock singer with a bucketload of soul, opened the evening with a half-hour set that included a moving rendition of The Beatles' "Let It Be," along with covers of tunes by Janis Joplin and Otis Redding. But it was an understated performance compared to what came next.

While Roth, drummer Alex Van Halen and even young bassist/offspring Wolfgang Van Halen all had their moments, Eddie Van Halen clearly was the unassailable star of this show, his fingers crawling like a high-speed rattler over the fretboard of his guitar, bending strings, unleashing tasty trills, tapping the fingers of his right hand on the strings. producing throaty growls and generally just making his electric guitar look like another appendage of his body, part of his very flesh and fiber.

Comfortable aura

There was a relaxed, energetic, pressure-free aura to the final show of Van Halen's tour with no special surprise guests or major setlist changes. Instead, the band tore confidently through its biggest hits, from "Runnin' With the Devil" to "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" to "Beautiful Girls" in a show that wasn't so much about the songs as it was about attitude and the way they're played on a loud and proud electric guitar.

Roth, once brutally described by music critic Dave Marsh as "the most obnoxious singer in human history," often lived up to that billing as he strutted the stage in goofy fashion in a loud pink jacket, waddling with a megaphone between his legs, making a "booty call," grabbing his crotch.

But even if his voice seemed to lose its luster at times (sometimes even undermixed), Roth also made the perfect over-the-top, rock-star foil to Eddie Van Halen's tattered-jeans-style guitar wizardry, and even showed off some nice vocal chops on "I'll Wait."

Of course, it helps when your lead guitarist is a master of his instrument and seems awfully happy to be so, grinning unabashedly all night long, hopping up and down in red, hightop sneakers, churning out eye-popping, Lamborghini-quick riffs, actually looking healthy.

And there were plenty of father-and-son bonding moments, as Wolfie and his dad sang into the same microphone and traded smirks across the stage.

It all made it seem like there was plenty more life left in this version of Van Halen, even as rumors of another studio album continue to crop up.

Roth referred to the band's story as an "epic" and a "saga," with some choice four-letter words thrown in for good measure.

"Hopefully, it won't be too long before we see you all along the road again," Roth declared.

So maybe Grand Rapids isn't the end of the line after all.

Van Halen concert highlights

Highlight No. 1: Eddie Van Halen's sizzling guitar work all night, especially on "Romeo Delight," "Atomic Punk" and after "Panama"

Highlight No. 2: The one-two punch of "I'll Wait" and "And the Cradle Will Rock," followed not long after by "Jamie's Cryin' "

Low point: The vocals on "Pretty Woman"

Time on stage: 30 minutes for Ryan Shaw; 2 hours, 6 minutes for Van Halen

[VHDrummer]

I pulled a SWEET recording from the back of the arena. Will be up ASAP!

[liquid_steel_az]

VHDrummer wrote: I pulled a SWEET recording from the back of the arena. Will be up ASAP!

Awesome! :dance:

[mr_mojo_halen]

VHDrummer wrote: I pulled a SWEET recording from the back of the arena. Will be up ASAP!

:cool: :dance: :cool: :dance: :cool:

[mr_mojo_halen]

Pics from the show.

http://www.mlive.com/grgallery/galleries/gallery.ssf?cgi-bin/view_gallery.cgi/mlive/view_gallery.ata?g_id=7566

[guitard]

mr_mojo_halen wrote: I had the pleasure of meeting the mighty GUITARD after the show. All the best in your upcoming move. I wonder if he's still watching the Red Wing game at bar? It's still tied 90 minutes later in quantiple overtime.
Pat ~ it was a real pleasure meeting you too.

I went to the BOB and looked all over the place for my friends - and after around 15 minutes I called...and they were waiting for me back at the car. Fuckers.

So we listened to the game on the way back to Battle Creek and heard about the winning (or should I say losing?) goal just as we were pulling into town. What a bummer.

On a related note: A guy in front of me took off his Shanahan jersey (I guess he figured if you're going to throw a nice jersey on stage - and probably never to see it again - it might as well be one from a former player) and wanted to throw it up on stage. I think this was around the time when the Wings had gone up 3-2 in the third period and he figured they were going to win. He asked a security guy about it and I couldn't hear what was said, but it was VERY clear by the look on the security guy's face that the answer was not just no - but you try it and we'll body slam you and haul your ass out of here. So then someone got the smart idea of giving the jersey to the blond that Dave was flirting with during the show ("Don't stick your tongue out.......etc., etc.). This woman looked to be in her late 30s or early 40s and was not particularly attractive or shapely - but I guess she somehow became the lucky girl that night. So........she gets the jersey and I'm pretty sure she gets the OK from security to throw it up on stage...which she did. DLR caught it in mid air, whirled it above his head several times, and tossed it onto the drum riser. I don't think he (or anyone else in the band) had a clue that it was a Red Wings jersey. And of course, if they didn't know that, they also didn't have a clue as to why someone would want to throw it up on stage to begin with. So for a split second, everyone was hoping DLR (or one of the Van Halens) would notice it was a Red Wings jersey and maybe say something about the Red Wings or Stanley Cup Playoffs (or better yet - the Wings had just won the cup). But of course, none of that ever happened.

[slappy123]

I sure hope that they continue in the studio with some new music.

[guitard]

Everybody Wants Some! I downloaded some software on my son's computer and put this clip together.