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Some Guy wrote:
Sway, prepare, rue or whatever it is you need to do to get ready for a review of moof-piss preportions!

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parmeda wrote:
Sorry boys... but I DO have a job without the luxury of posting on message boards all fricken day, lol


Ok...do you want me to lie, or shall I hit you with the honest-to-god truth?

In one word: Sad

Sad, my friends.

Let me start out in telling you it was a scary stroll from the parking lot to the UC! I absorbed every retro flashback from the early 80's within the first 5 minutes.... The only thought running through my mind was, "GROW THE FUCK UP ALREADY!" ...and it didn't get any better after each row of cars I passed! (Sorry Sway, I didn't take a close look at the makes and models...but, had I read your comment about the Camero's before I left...I think I would have pissed on myself.) Then, this shady prick approaches my son with an armful of knock-off T's... I roll my eyes and look at the guy, politely telling him, 'no thanks'... He starts following us trying to peddle this shit (almost begging!) and I whip around, flash open my jacket (whereas my beloved, big, bold, tongue-T blinds this jag-off and he takes a step back. I'm bold. I take a step forward and look him dead in the eye, "Hey asshole, do I look like I want one of those pieces of shit?" We walk off and about 20 yards later I hear, "Yeah? Keith sucks!" Usually, those are fightin' words. But I merely hurled my arm around, slapped and grabbed the left cheek of my ass and gave him a high-hard-salute.

What an ass....

My son and I finally wade through the tail-gaters (all of which looked like a circle-jerk was about to commence, btw...) and made our way inside. We head directly to the bar. I knew I needed a drink immediately. It was worse there, than it was in the lot! I haven't seen so much "big hair" in two decades. I grab my martini and get the fuck outta there.

Off to find our seats. Much to my surprise we were escorted to the Budweiser sky-box. Now, I have to give kudos to my vendor... but not before I give him some grief for never coming through for me to other events! (Oh, he's gonna owe me big time.) There were 10 other people with us (none of whom I knew), but I felt safe as they were all corporate types only there for the free ride much as my son and I were, lol. As soon as we settled in, the house lights went down.

"Omg, here it comes", I thought to myself. And this is when the "sad" part came into play.

Don't ask me what the first 2 or 3 songs were... I was too busy trying to place the faces with what I recollected they should have been. It was so hard for me to connect with what they were doing. It was actually painful to watch. What made matters worse was glancing up at the huge screen behind the stage trying to see if it was really THEM. In all fairness, I found myself NOT looking, and that's when I was able to establish and appreciate just how great a musician Eddie really is. That's when the songs began to blend.

Kids...the guy looks like walking death - but if you can get beyond that, it was Eddie at his best. He can play - I have to give credit were credit is due.

And Dave? Jesus... I've never seen anybody so in love with himself. It was almost comical. And yes, believe it or not, there were women flashing their tits at him and he ate it, AND his ego, up with all he could muster. At some points, you could sense a little tension between him and the VH's - and it took nothing more than a quick 'fuck-you-smiled-look' from Eddie that took Dave's spin down a notch.

Diamond Dave has been long lost... say hello to The Human Cubic Zirconia, folks.

Can't say too much about Alex - he didn't seem to change all that much.

Little Wolfgang - let me tell ya, he's still very wet under the ears... but give him some time. The kid was having the time of his life. Given the opportunity he's had handed to him; what kid wouldn't! It did take him a while to "unfreeze" from his spot on stage, lol (poor thing) but it was noticeable he was more at ease if Eddie was within an arm's length to him.

We didn't stay for the encores; I needed to get the hell out of there and wasn't in the mood to fight in the parking lot. Plus, the corporate tight-asses we were stuck with were about as much as I could take for one night.

In a nutshell. If you do choose to catch one of their shows...keep your eyes closed. And for god's sake don't encourage Roth's antics by flashing your tits...

Oh!... and the mega die-hard fans? Fuck 'em. They're imbeciles. I had more fun walking in the parking lot going in.

Musically, I don't think Van Halen is all that bad this time around. It's the baggage they tote around with them..

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Saint Sway wrote:
Hey Wingers,

is it me? Or does Eddie do a little tribute to Ashley Simpson's SNL lip-sync Debacle?

Notice he does a similiar little jig to the one Ashley did when her tape got screwed up.

but of course, theres plenty of other similiarities going on here...

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Some Guy wrote:
moonie??

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doo doo doo Dude wrote:
I want Some Guy to be rest assured that both 5150 (Ed's home studio) and the Mojo Dojo (Dave's palacial Pasadena mansion) were both unharmed from the horrendous wildfires that have ripped through Southern California the past few days making the chances of a new album (tentativly titled "Rueing With the Devil") all the more likely.

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Saint Sway wrote:


what about Wolfie's grade school?

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pdog wrote:
This is what VH inspires...

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doo doo doo Dude wrote:


They look more like Motley Crue fans

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Some Guy wrote:
Them cats like Poison(Posin'}.

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Saint Sway wrote:
what does it say about you if you have been longing to see THIS band reunite????

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Saint Sway wrote:
Van Halen? Or Winger?





Van Halen? Or Winger?

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sirmoonie wrote:
Had some technical difficulties at the middle of I'll Wait, which is too bad, because that is one of their most interesting songs. Continued problems into Hot For Teacher, feedback was screaming in my ears

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Saint Sway wrote:


the technical problems continue to hound this tour....

1982 band + 2007 technology = A Picasso Brothers Nightmare

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sirmoonie wrote:
Well, I loved it.

Edward Van Halen is the best rock guitarist I've ever seen or heard. I can't think of anyone except Pete Townshend who gets such a unique, distinctive and broad rock sound out of a guitar. All that sound credited to slick production on Van Halen I and II - hell fucking no bleeds, Edward hauls off and plays it all with every riff, hook, slice, piss, fill, break, slash and nuance that the tunes possess - he's a goddam musical marvel, in my opinion. And he does it so fluid and easy, fingers and picks all over that guitar, catching everything he wants. Watching him do the AT'BL riff - never seen anything like it, spectacular.

And not one half ass mugged Keith type move from Edward (he left that to Roth, who is one of the few who can pull it off) - Edward never even said a flippin' word the whole show, just played and riffed and played some more. And for all the guy has been through and put himself through, he's still always smiling at everyone. Obviously just loves playing, lives for it.

Band is well rehearsed and they slowed it down really nicely when they needed to. They had Twin Cities' white people dancing which is a feat in and of itself. A very cool interlude during Romeo Delight (or EWS - can't remember) when they did a bit of The Who's Magic Bus. Mean Streets was in the middle of show and they were on fire by then. (Some Guy - it was chugga, chugga, chugga, bop, bop, this is hommmmmme......this is mean streeeeeeet....... - they were smoking on that one, best song of the show.) The whole Fair Warning section was rocking, in fact. Had some technical difficulties at the middle of I'll Wait, which is too bad, because that is one of their most interesting songs. Continued problems into Hot For Teacher, feedback was screaming in my ears - but they fixed it at the end of that song, and got back in the groove.

The show was worth it just for Little Guitars, my favorite Van Halen tune. Pace was perfect and Edward damn nailed the amazing picking rhythm guitar on that song. Senorita! Little Dreamer was another stand-out, they seemed to shade it with some soul and seriousness that carried it high.

The Jump encore was probably the only let down, Edward kind of cruised through it as he was probably exhausted. He also came out hacking a butt, which kind of depressed me, then I remembered that I read here on RO that smoking doesn't cause cancer, so I got all happy again.

I've always though Alex Van Halen was an underrated drummer, great sound and rhythm, which is yet another thing setting them apart from the heavy metal bands they so stupidly get likened to.

Roth was cool, he never took it seriously, never got in Edward's way, and actually sang pretty well. His Jewishness is catching up with him a bit, because his dance moves have got very pedestrian - shades of Marsha Brady. But he's in really good shape and so is Edward, they were both running around the stage quite a bit. Not bad for guys in their 50s.

Wolfbang was fine, he actually does play bass, better than many - definitely better than the dude he replaced. And he's pretty quiet and humble about it.

A chica that frequently occupies my thoughts never did call me after the show, which saddened me........but other than that, I'd say that some doors were blown last night. Yep, some doors got blown.

-- Rue Press (2007) --

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Some Guy wrote:

How was the crowd, good vibe?

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