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[frankm]

OK, just saw Van Halen last night and let me share my thoughts ...

A buddy of mine attended the show with me, he is an avid guitar player and plays every Van Halen song. He has loved Eddie since about 79 or 80. He started playing guitar because of Eddie. Why am I telling you this ... hang on for that. My buddy is not technically inclined and does not surf the 'net at all. I told him various things I read about in-fighting within the band, Eddie playing drunk and other various things, mostly rumors. I wanted him to watch for these things as he would more readily pick them up than I would.

I was told the doors opened at 6:30 and the show would start at 7:30. I heard nothing about an opening act but assumed there would be one. We showed up 7:40ish and could hear the opening act while we entered the arena. Security was not very tight.

My buddy commented to me as we entered that everyone looked so old, actually he started commenting on that while we were outside walking in. I said, well, VH has been around for 30 years.

The opening act wasn't that bad but wasn't that great either. Why does the opening act for Van Halen always stink? At the end of the set I thought the lead singer was trying to channel Jim Morrison ... what a joke.

Our seats were about even with the soundboard about half way up the lower section on Eddie's side of the stage. Not the best seats but not the worse either. The lower section was fairly well filled but the upper section was pretty much empty, pretty sad actually.

Eddie's guitar started out the evening, we could hear it and knew it was him and then when the lights went out we knew we were right. The band jammed some of their normal "just making noise" type jam. Then Sammy said his typical, "Hellloooooooo Baby!". Which I really don't care for anymore, but whatever. Then Jump started.

It was a typical setlist evening.

The band seemed to be enjoying themselves but to be honest they also could have been up there hating each other and we probably wouldn't have known. They seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Sammy said that they just got into Milwaukee that afternoon but he didn't need to be in Milwaukee to know everyone was Up For Breakfast ... lame intro for a lame song.

Mike's bass solo was as bad or worse than ever, I love the guy and think he is an awesome bass player but his solos are always garbage. I use to play the bass and played many Van Halen songs, I know he is a good player why are his solos always so bad?

When Sammy came out to play Eagles Fly a roadie brought out a little lighted Palm tree. Sammy commented that just because the tour was almost over didn't mean the road crew could just mess around but he said he does love Palm trees. He was laughing and it seemed genuine and funny. At the end of Eagles Fly Sammy started playing I Can't Drive 55 which was pretty cool, being just Sammy.

The night got better and better the further along it went.

Eddie's solo was just tooooo long. It was funny because at one point during his solo Eddie said, I hope you like what I just did because I don't know what the heck that was. Later during his solo he stopped and looked at his wrist, as if he was looking at a watch and looked around the stage and said, where do you think the rest of those guys went. He also did his Elephant and Horse sounds on his guitar and joked about doing a Pig but never did. He seemed very chatty during his solo, I've never seen him talk so much to the audience; that was the one really cool part. I am one who thinks if the guitar solo goes on for more than five minutes it is too long.

The screen behind stage had all sorts of new graphics for Right Now. Right Now Van Halen Is Kickin' In Milwaukee got a big cheer, surprise. Right Now The Red Socks Are World Champs got a decent cheer. I thought the graphic of Bush and Kerry was a little ill timed as the election is over, a week ago maybe it would have been cool but too late.

Overall, I left the show thinking it was great. I had a great time. If I had spent more money on the tickets I may have left different but hey it is just a concert and I got my money's worth, I had a good time and afterall that's what it is all about.

As for my buddy, he said as far as he could see, Eddie was playing well, has Eddie played better, maybe, has Eddie played worse, maybe. The only thing my buddy could say was Eddie seemed to play alright and couldn't provide any additional details.

Was Eddie drunk, maybe, we couldn't tell, nor did we really care. Actually I care a little, I don't want Eddie to drink himself to death. Was the band having a good time? They appeared to be. Nothing seemed to be obvious that they didn't want to be near each other or that they hated each other. Of course, nothing seemed to appear the other way either. It didn't seem to me that Sammy wanted to hug Eddie or to punch him. They just seemed to be having fun playing and we were just having fun enjoying the show. That's all that matters.

That's all.

[VHLIVE]

Thanks Frank......well said.

[soman]

Hey bro!

I'm glad you got the chance to check them out... and you had a good time!

Jeff

[macdon22shipp]

Well Frank you're take on the show really sounds a lot like what i was thinking.Right from your comments on the opening act to the EVH comments. Seems like we were at the same show. Now other people at the show here in Winnipeg said it sucked but i just didn't see it that way. Thanks for the review :)

[whitejo]

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel review on-line at www.jsonline.com. Sort of like Frank's..."generic at best". I guess the most stunning thing, even after reading this multiple times on here: 6,500 in attendance and one of the local radio stations was giving away free tickets right across the street.

And this from the band that promised, prior to the tour, one of the best set lists in rock-and-roll history.

The reviewer says at one point people around him were actually yelling for Eddie to stop during his solo, and Ed responded by essentially telling the crowd to humor him. Not sure if that's true or not (Frank???) since it wasn't mentioned...but if it is: hey dude, these folks (the few that were there) dropped a nice chunk of hard earned money to see this "greatest set list in rock and roll history"...humor them for once.


Scary. Really...delusional?

[frankm]

whitejo wrote: The reviewer says at one point people around him were actually yelling for Eddie to stop during his solo, and Ed responded by essentially telling the crowd to humor him. Not sure if that's true or not (Frank???) since it wasn't mentioned.

I didn't hear anyone yelling for Ed to stop but during Eddie's solo he did talk quite a bit to the audience and I didn't pick up on all of his comments so it is entirely possible that Eddie said to humor him. As I said he was more chatty than I've ever seen him. I've seen Van Halen every tour since 1986 and often two or three times per tour and Eddie has never talked during concert as much as he did that night, it was kindda cool.

The guys behind me did say during Up For Breakfast and Mike's Bass solo that it was the worse concert they have ever been to and that it "totally sucked" but I did noticed that by the end of the show, during Right Now and Panama, they were saying how awesome it was ... I guess it all depended on what the band was playing at the time.

As I said Ed's solo was definitely too long but hey that's OK. His joking around and comments made it worth it.

[redsky5150]

I've never known Edward to comment about himself before his guitar solo....and most of the fans just went silent after that...he was lost in himself, dazzling himself than the fans that were there...but hey!!..I was just so excited to see him in the flesh once again after all these years...his drinking is more excessive than he's ever been.This Winnipeg show was my 14 year old daughter's first time seeing Van Halen live...I must say she wasn't too thrilled about the performance, but she recognized most of the tunes and that was the only highlight for her....now I bet I'll have to wait another 13 years before seeing them again...and I was glad at the time,after that I went home and forgot all about it...I never thought that would ever be possible.Let's all hope DLR comes back someday!!

Love you guys.....rock on!! :thumb: