The VH Trade Site Forums Archives

[Scott Roberts]

Date: July 6, 2004
City: Louisville, KY
Venue: Freedom Hall
Setlist: N/A
Length: N/A
Format: N/A
Menu's (Authored): N/A
VIDEO Quality/Generation: N/A
For multiple angle shows, shot where?: N/A
Audio Quality/Generation: N/A
Comments: N/A

[khdutton]

Tue 7/6/04 Louisville, KY - Freedom Hall

===================

SET LIST:
Jump
Runaround
Humans Being
Breakfast
Mike Solo
Doctor
Poundcake
It's About Time
Alex Solo
Top Of The World
Unchained
Why Can't This Be Love
Sammy Solo
Seventh Seal
Best Of Both Worlds
Edward Solo
Dreams
Ain't Talking 'Bout Love
Right Now

ENCORES:
You Really Got Me
Panama
When It's Love

===================

Me and two other buddies drove up from Nashville, TN for the show. I got tickets online through Ticketmaster. See my sig for where I sat. We were literally 5 rows in front of the soundboard - dead center.

Noticed two very nice condenser mics set up in front of the soundboard and several ambience mics hanging from the rigging out above the crowd's heads. They are recording these shows - I have no doubt about it in my mind.

When Silvertide started, the crowd looked VERY thin. It was embarrassing. But, by the time VH took the stage, it had filled up nicely. Not a sellout in my book. The seats behind the soundboard were very empty. But it was still a well-attended show, definitely. The band couldn't be upset about the turnout. It was good.

Silvertide...

These guys want to be The Black Crowes more than The Black Crowes want to be The Black Crowes. The frontman is an absolute carbon copy of Chris Robinson. They had TONS of energy. Every song was a rocker. The lead guitarist looks like the bastard child of Ted Nugent and Jonny Lang. Onstage, he is dead ringer for Angus Young - no doubt. They were L-O-U-D. We all agreed that they were louder than VH. Put in your earplugs. The drummer did a mini-solo and the lead guitarist did a mini-solo. Is that ballsy or what?!?! They quickly went from song to song to song, and it seemed to be over soon.

Van Halen...

What I walked away with...
It was worth it. Worth the trip, worth the wait, and worth the price that I paid. It is a S-H-O-W, people. A performance. It ain't the record. But it's a flat-out entertaining night! The most entertaining show you will go to in a long, long, time! Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT determine whether or not you will go see this show based on the audio boots alone! If you are a VH fan - go. Just GO!

So much has already been written that covers the majority of what was experienced, so I'll just hit the highlights.

Set List...
For the most part - It really works. Disappointed not to hear Learning To See, but oh well. Mike solo is short - good. Alex solo was great. Sammy solo is not as bad as everyone says. It works pretty well when you are there. When It's Love is a great closer. It DOES work. You just have to be there. They go into the "NA NA"s and the video screen is suddenly split four ways with close-ups on each guy. It was goosebump time.

Set Design...
Looks killer. If you can afford a spot in the rings - GET IN THERE! Crap - you are right on top of them!

Sound...
Here we go. The two guys I went with work in the music industry. They go to tons of shows. I was a roadie for four years. I've toured at this level. We were sitting in the PRIME spot for sound. Verdict? It was hard-rock concert good. But just good. It was not stellar. It was not a Pink Floyd, Yes, Rolling Stones, U2 kind of thing, ok? It will not set the sound standard for all live shows to come henceforth, ok?

Video...
Lordy, it was lame. The live band stuff is fine. The footage stuff is completely lame. Spend some money dudes! Using the old Poundcake video footage was dumb. It really shows it's age. Very mid-90's. Same with the Where Eagles Fly footage. Ugh.

Sammy...
We were BLOWN AWAY by his performance. He is taking care of his voice and it shows. He N-A-I-L-E-D every freakin' note! He is back in a big, big way. Our jaws were dropping. For example: he's sitting down, bending over, signing everything in sight and NAILING every single note of Dreams?!?!?!? C'mon! No way! We couldn't believe it - but we saw it happen.

Eddie...
He had major, major, MAJOR gear trouble. Why he didn't switch out guitars after Mike's solo break, I'll never ever know. It was ridiculous. He was looking like a fool at certain points. The tech should be canned, big time. He did nothing. Ed's walking over to the side of the stage, putting his hands out, giving a shrug like, "what the hell is going on, man?" And there's NOTHING happening to change anything. His D-Tuna thingy was getting stuck. He was fumbling with it all night. Low strings were out of tune and sounded like crap. My friends (guitar players) also noticed he was using the "cheaper" Wolfgang model, which surprised them. Just change guitars, dude!!! But, he plowed ahead and gave a great performance. They also said NO WAY is he drunk onstage and pulling of what his is every night at his age. B.S. rumor if you hear it. (Again, they are players and we have all seen our share of shows.)

Guitar Solo...
Little Guitars, Spanish Fly, Mean Streets, etc. No 316 at all. Not a note. We were like, "Huh?" Obviously, no Wolfie either. Eruption tapping was dead-on perfect. Sound was distorted and generally "off". We really couldn't enjoy the moment too well. Not really Ed's fault though.

Band Look and Interaction...
They are having a blast. Eddie is all over the place. All over! He won't run out to the edges of the stage, but stays in the middle. But TONS of energy. What I came to see!

Sammy does NOT look like a banana. He's wearing some kind of Cabo shirt that is yellow with a red palm tree near the right shoulder, and "Red Rocker" printed along the left bottom edge. It looks fine under the stage lights. He changed into a red one at Alex's solo.

Eddie's not wearing "balloon pants". They are salmon colored cargo pants (yes, I said "salmon"). Held up with a rope-belt. They are fashionably ripped with a green patterned fabric showing through underneath. He wore the stripped hi-top shoes! YEAH!!! YEAH!!! Hair down first three songs, then up. Ed's hair tie got stuck as he tried to pull it out at the beginning of When It's Love. He struggled with it the first half of the song. Eventually, he had someone in the ring yank it out. He practically didn't play the first half of the song at all. The hair being up did NOT look exactly like the rehearsal look. Pulled back a little further on his head. He did have some grey stubble going on. Did not look good on him. Ed did smoke two cigs. He did this fancy thing and flipped the first one into his mouth. Most people didn't catch that.

High Points / Fun Stuff...
SGMADoctor, Unchained, Breakfast, Best Of Both Worlds all completely slammed. During Breakfast, Sammy went to one of the rings, a guy handed up his prosthetic leg! Sam signed it and gave it back. Sam went by one ring and a guy handed up a VH bowling shirt. Sam took it, looked it over, walked away and said, "It's MINE now!" He put it on. Four more bowling shirts immediately fly onstage! Sam put one on each guy's mic stand. Sam messed up introducing Breakfast. Thought they were doing It's About Time next. Before his solo, Sam mentioned it was good to be back in the U.S. They were back from Canada. He said crossing the border with THIS group of guys...?!?!? "I had to check my OWN ass to make sure I wasn't carryin' anything!" He mentioned how good the weed was up there, and the good time they had - but, good to be back in the U.S.A. Ed pulled out the drill again during Best Of Both Worlds. My friends caught it, but I didn't. During Panama, when it came to the "rap", he gives the mic to some dude up front. He freezes, looks at Sam and mouths, "What do I say?" He mumbles out, "Ease the seat back." Sam takes the mic and says, "Oops! Oops!", then gives to another guy. And HE freezes!!! Then, he says, "It's a little hot in here tonight". But you have to understand...the written word can't express HOW he said it. It was like he was being interviewed. "So, how are things going so far, sir?" "Well...It's a little hot in here tonight." Sam rolls over laughing. It was HILLARIOUS!!!!!! Going on...at the very last bow, the guys saw something/someone in the front that made them ALL DOUBLE-OVER in laughter. They ALL lost it. They were all pointing and going nuts. We couldn't see who/what it was. Probably a prank by a roadie. Maybe someone else could explain.

Boot Info...
I would definitely get the DVD of this, if it surfaces. Nothing could stop me. Just for the hilarious Panama bit alone, it is worth having. NO WAY, and I mean N-O W-A-Y would I get the audio boot of this show all by itself. And I was THERE, ok? First off, Ed had tons of gear issues, plus he was all over the place, and had his hands off the guitar having fun with the crowd, which doesn't sound "right" if you are just listening to it alone.

That's all, folks!

Have a great day! PM or email me for more info if you need/want it.

[Chris UK]

Fantastic review!! Thanks for taking the time to write it bro :thumb: :thumb:

Chris.