Here we have a totally unheard, uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Rockford during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously. It’s a bit of an unusual night for Eddie, as he fumbles over his guitar parts on a few occasions throughout the show. The synth on Intruder even gets fumbled, which I believe was done by Dave. These little hiccups naturally don’t wreck the show, unlike some dates later in the tour, but it is interesting to note in comparison to other shows. There are still plenty fun performances here, and overall what seems to be a pretty good sound mix. Notably, this is the very first show where Dave expands the little “how much are you willing to give” interlude during Everybody Wants Some into his lengthy tangent about meeting a girl in the bar and going back to the hotel room, teasing the lighting crew, etc. This tangent would continue to evolve in little ways as the tour progressed. Another fact of note, this is the first show of the tour where the short, seconds-long “Growth” is played as an intro to You Really Got Me. This would continue through 1982 and would sometimes be done as an intro to Bottoms Up instead. For those who don’t know, Growth is a short hidden track at the end of the Women And Children First album. This recording is one of a small handful of tapes that captures the rarely heard “outro music” that plays over the speakers at the end of the show after the band walks off stage. While this may seem insignificant, I’m not even sure if the outro music has ever been heard before in any Diver Down audience recordings. In all instances this outro is captured, the song that can be heard playing is called “Imitation” by Kid Creole and the Coconuts. Knowing Dave’s taste in music, this seems likely to be a song he picked out. Here in Rockford only, 20 seconds of a second outro song can be heard at the end, which is called “Harder Than Diamond” by Chubby Checker. With the small handful of tapes later in the tour that also capture the outro music, those all have Van Halen’s own Big Bad Bill as the second outro song instead. This recording is one of only three shows where Roy chose to use 60 minute tapes instead of his usual choice of a single 90 minute tape. Unlike the show in Louisville, Roy ran two 60 minute tapes in Fort Wayne and Rockford, allowing him to capture nearly the entire setlist at these two shows. While this Rockford recording is nearly complete, there are a few notable cuts. The first side of the first 60 minute master tape runs out during Where Have All The Good Times Gone, but luckily Roy flipped the tape quickly enough to still capture the most of the song. The second side of the first tape ends right after Dance The Night Away, while the first side of the second 60 minute master tape starts right at the beginning Somebody Get Me A Doctor. The first side of the second tape ends near the end of D.O.A., so is sadly missing the end of the song and Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love. The second side of the second tape starts at the beginning of Bottoms Up, and runs through capturing the remainder of the concert. Track Listing: 01 Intro [0:00] 02 Romeo Delight [0:35] 03 Unchained [4:13] 04 Drum Solo [7:49] 05 The Full Bug [10:44] 06 Runnin’ With The Devil [14:33] 07 Dave Talks [17:45] 08 Jamie’s Cryin’ [21:08] 09 Little Guitars [24:49] 10 Where Have All The Good Times Gone! [29:41] 11 Bass Solo [32:47] 12 Hang ‘Em High [36:32] 13 Cathedral [40:28] 14 Secrets [41:56] 15 Drum Solo II [45:28] 16 Everybody Wants Some!! [47:19] 17 Dave Talks [50:26] 18 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise) [55:30] 19 Dance The Night Away [57:25] 20 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I’m So Glad [1:00:37] 21 Dave Acoustic Solo [1:06:39] 22 Ice Cream Man [1:09:11] 23 Intruder [1:14:10] 24 Pretty Woman [1:16:05] 25 Guitar Solo [1:19:25] 26 D.O.A. (cut) [1:29:40] 27 Bottoms Up! [1:31:58] 28 You Really Got Me [1:37:46] 29 Happy Trails [1:41:36] 30 You Really Got Me (Reprise) [1:42:55] 31 Outro Music [1:45:10] Lineage: Maxell UDXL-I C-60 cassettes (x2) / Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) / Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD / Audacity (24 bit – 96 khz) / FLAC 6 Liberating unheard soundboard tapes, and other significantly rare master tapes, is absurdly expensive, and we release everything for free. If you appreciate what we do, any donations will help recoup the massively accumulating expenses of acquiring these tapes. Donation link: https://ko-fi.com/musicmediaarchives Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time. If you recorded audio tapes, video tapes, or film at concerts of classic bands/artists, and would like help digitizing them free of charge, you can contact us at admin@rush-archives.net
