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Anonymous · Guest

Van Halen on fire
Two decades on, these guys can still rock the house
By JENNY FENIAK
Edmonton Sun

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VAN HALEN
Rexall Place, Edmonton
Monday, October 25, 2004
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EDMONTON -- Last night was a Van Halen reunion of the highest order.

Not just for the thousands of fans who packed Rexall Place last night, but for the band as well.

The last time the Van Halen brothers, Eddie and his older brother Alex, and "Mad" Michael Anthony performed with Sammy Hagar was back in 1996.

The split that followed was so deep, Hagar didn't even speak to the other members until opportunity came knocking and the chemistry that made Van Halen a legend was all that surfaced.

The band has been touring with a vengeance since June and if last night was any sort of indication, it's just been one big celebration of brotherly love.

Sure, Anthony and Hagar jostled for the lead a little bit, but the camaraderie was evident as everyone got their moment in the spotlight while the rest of the aging rockers took a breather off stage.

The band exploded right off the bat with Jump, one of their most recognizable anthems from the past two decades and one of the 36 songs on The Best of Both Worlds, released earlier this year.

With his tightly curled blond locks tied back beneath a tuque and wearing dark shades, Hagar looked like a hip hop daddy.

If anyone wasn't aware of his post-Van Halen work, his red pants and matching 'Red Rocker' T-shirt clued them in to his anthology CD, The Essential Red Collection, released in August.

The group sounded great and they kept their age concealed at first.

Eventually, close-up shots on the video screen and some attempts at their old rock moves set the record straight, but by that point nobody cared.

Surrounded by fans singing, screaming and dancing along to hits such as Up for Breakfast, Why Can't This Be Love and 5150, Van Halen turned the energy around and pumped it back into the crowd.

On the VH logo stage with golden rings running around each side and containing a handful of fans in seats auctioned for charity, Hagar brought out a miniature palm tree all lit up "for some atmosphere."

Anthony, with a moment alone on stage, pulled a mini bottle of Jack Daniel's from his Jack Daniel's shaped bass and tossed it to a fan when a roadie appeared with a full-sized bottle to replace it.

Having kept relatively quiet for the first half, Eddie was left alone on stage, bare-chested and with his hair tied up over his head for an almost moving and well-deserved solo.

Fans of Van Halen showered the band with adoration and thanks for this rare opportunity.

Van Halen, in turn, gave their fans everything they had.

If you were there, it was a moment in history to cherish and if you weren't, go find somebody who was and get all the juicy details that I couldn't fit in here.

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Sounds like a good show, 5150 was a typo though right? Anyone at the show?

Acoustic Viscosity · Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2004 8:08 pm Post subject:

Oh please let it be true, they played 5150. Sadly, I'm guessing the author was just confused when Sammy shouted the usual "It's 5150 time" before jumping into Best of Both Worlds.

I so want to hear 5150 in person, just once! :dance:

Anonymous · Guest

I was there and this was the most amazing concert I've been to in my life. Before Monday I was a virgin to the Van Halen concert experience and I now know that I will never miss a future Van Halen concert in my city should they ever tour again.

Sammy was awesome. His voice is just amazing, and he interacts with the fans great. He signs tons of autographs while singing and at appropriate times shares the mic with entusiastic fans. He did Eagles Fly and I Can't Drive 55 for his solo and expressed his love for Canada's slack marijuana laws. :p

Mikey was really cool to see with his JD bottle bass. His solo was quite short but typical Michael Anthony. He does an awesome job of vocals on Somebody Get Me A Doctor.

Alex was right on and never missed a beat. His solo was typical as well but was really cool to see.

Eddie stole the show. His guitar playing was just incredible for the whole night. The guitar solo blew everyone away and was 20 minutes long. He told crowd he was going to "f*ck off for 10 minutes or so and let loose." He then spent 10 minutes messing around with some chords and playing some cool stuff I've never heard before. Then he spent another 10 minutes doing the usual Cathedral, Mean Streets, Eruption. When the solo was done the fans were going nuts and Eddie became very emotional and started to cry. He was very appreciative of the response and I was quite startled at how emotional he became.

The show was awesome and pushed 2 and 1/2 hours in length. The band was having a great time on stage joking around with eachother and Sammy assured the crowd several times that we wouldn't have to wait so long for them to come back. Considering all the rumours about the band not getting along, they seemed to be pretty friendly on stage. I hope everyone going to the upcoming shows have a great time.

PS. They did not play 5150. 5150 time was for Summer Nights. Sorry. ;)

ron · Guest Joined: 2001-11-06 Posts: 2981 Location: Wisconsin

jahoeksema wrote: PS. They did not play 5150. 5150 time was for Summer Nights. Sorry. ;)

They played Summer Nights ?!?

macdon22shipp · Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 7:20 pm Post subject:

Oh how sweet would that be if Sammy passed out some Cabo and i'm gonna be close enough to get some. I might take some Tequila just in case Sammy comes by looking for some!!!! Hope that VH energy carries onto Saturday night here in Winnipeg. Thanks for the review. Saw them in 81/84/91 and i'm ready again!!!!!

TheFish · Guest Joined: 2002-11-24 Posts: 1085

"Summer nights" would be tits! :cool:

vhroxu2 · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 7:16 am Post subject:

jahoeksema wrote: The band was having a great time on stage joking around with eachother and Sammy assured the crowd several times that we wouldn't have to wait so long for them to come back.

:dance: Let's hope it lasts and they make another studio album! :dance:

Acoustic Viscosity · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 7:58 am Post subject:

Did they really play Summer Nights? Really?!?!?! :dance: :dance: :dance:

spanked55 · Guest Joined: 2001-04-29 Posts: 447

Whoa.. whoa.. whoa... SUMMER NIGHTS?!??!!!! You trying to be funny???!!!! Them's fightin' words, ya know! ;) :D

Acoustic Viscosity · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2004 9:26 am Post subject:

From what I've seem on vhforums.com, they did not play it. :(
Don't torment us like that!

Anonymous · Guest

Acoustic Viscosity wrote: From what I've seem on vhforums.com, they did not play it. :(
Don't torment us like that!

Seriously I thought they played it. Sammy said something about that song being appropriate since it was freezing cold outside. Crap, its all kind of a blur now. :confused: Oh well... I know that 5150 time was not 5150. All I can say is that they played Best of Both Worlds for sure!!! :)

macdon22shipp · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2004 3:53 am Post subject:

One more sleep for me til the boys hit the stage. I'm not gonna get all F#%&ed up like i did in 84 and not remember a darn thing. :thumb:

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