Van Halen 1983-02-11 Buenos Aires, Argentina (radio broadcast)

Here is an uncirculated radio broadcast recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Buenos Aires during the South American leg of their Diver Down tour in 1983 (No Problem tour). This is the first of two consecutive nights Van Halen played at the Estadio Obras Sanitarias (Obras Stadium).

While the proshot video source of this same concert is pretty well known, it unfortunately has a fair bit of missing and incomplete songs. This uncirculated radio broadcast captures a different mix, probably as close to a raw soundboard as we may ever get, considering this date was NOT one of Roy’s recordings. It’s pretty surprising that a recording of this broadcast has never circulated online before now.

Special thanks to the two Argentinian fans who separately sent me their unique recordings, both of which were of the same radio broadcast, though both had various different cuts throughout. Those cuts were how they were recorded, but the FULL show was indeed broadcast. Since these recordings were both the same broadcast, I decided to do something special and use each source to patch together a full show.

Please note, this is not a flawless recording, so don’t expect it to sound like all the other Van Halen tapes that have been shared. There are flaws inherent to the way each were recorded, and both have the same annoying fluttering issues with the right channel during a few songs in the middle of the show. The fluttering is simply caused by a bad broadcast signal. I considered copying over the left channel to compensate, but opted not to since this is a stereo recording, with Mike’s bass and Ed’s backing vocals panned to the hard right.

It’s never going to be completely perfect, and with all the frustration trying to complete this in an extreme time crunch for the anniversary, I hope fans find enjoyment out of this. Special thanks to all the VH fans from Argentina who have been eagerly awaiting uploads of the two Buenos Aires shows, this one is for you.

A unique thing to note about this particular night, the band played Somebody Get Me A Doctor prior to Dance The Night Away, which are otherwise always played in the reverse order. Then unlike in Montevideo where Summertime Blues transitioned from the end of Somebody Get Me A Doctor, here in Buenos Aires they play Summertime Blues after So This Is Love. Both Argentina shows also see the return of Growth, but as an intro to Bottoms Up rather than for You Really Got Me in 1982.

While Argentina is mostly free from the date revision chaos that plagued 1983, there was originally a third night set for February 13, and I’m told tickets were sold, but was ultimately cancelled. There was also a planned show in Rosario on February 8 and/or 9, but near assuredly cancelled as there’s no evidence it ended up occurring. While on the subject, to amend the notes from Porto Alegre regarding the documentation discrepancies: I want to thank those who lived through it and shared their first hand memories, confidently stating that there was no concert in Belo Horizonte, and that there was only one show in Porto Alegre.

Track Listing:

01 Intro [0:00]
02 Romeo Delight [0:06]
03 Unchained [3:46]
04 Drum Solo [7:45]
05 The Full Bug [10:49]
06 Runnin’ With The Devil [14:33]
07 Dave Talks [17:39]
08 Jamie’s Cryin’ [18:49]
09 Little Guitars [22:22]
10 Bass Solo [27:21]
11 Where Have All The Good Times Gone! [31:57]
12 Dancing In The Street [34:56]
13 Little Dreamer [37:48]
14 So This Is Love? [41:18]
15 Summertime Blues [45:49]
16 God Bless The Child [51:15]
17 Cathedral [52:12]
18 Secrets [54:18]
19 Drum Solo II [57:36]
20 Everybody Wants Some!! [1:00:39]
21 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I’m So Glad [1:06:23]
22 Dance The Night Away [1:17:27]
23 Argentina Jam [1:22:10]
24 Ice Cream Man [1:28:24]
25 Heartbreak Hotel [1:31:10]
26 Intruder [1:34:04]
27 Pretty Woman [1:37:02]
28 Guitar Solo [1:40:10]
29 Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love [1:52:12]
30 Bottoms Up! [1:59:03]
31 You Really Got Me [2:03:05]
32 Happy Trails [2:05:40]
33 You Really Got Me (Reprise) [2:08:03]