 Chicago – I was in line at Starbucks making small talk with the barista. The
subject of music comes up and I mentioned the new Van Halen live album, “Van
Halen Live At The Tokyo Dome” and I got a blank stare. “Who’s that?” he asked
me in an emotionless tone. “Eddie Van Halen? The greatest guitarist who ever
lived? You know… Van Halen?” again I am met with a blank stare. Good grief man.
Well, then let me speak to the fans and you know who you are. Van Halen has
finally released a live album with original front man David Lee Roth and it’s
nothing short of a big deal. This band has been through a series of ups and
downs and has a long history of changed band mates, fights, punch outs, fired
singers, and has even gone on a long hiatus due to health problems. This isn’t
an easy band.
The fans
don’t make it any easier either. Some of the group’s hardcore loyal followers
stand by the Sammy Hagar era and others side up with the bands original singer, David Lee Roth. Then there is the issue of who is the better bass player –
Eddie Van Halen’s son Wolfgang or original bassist Michael Anthony. To further complicate
the scene the fan base will even argue who is better as a singer, young David
Lee Roth or the current older Diamond Dave. The later argument will only be
settled once and for all when one of the fans can successfully conjure up a
time machine.
It just gets
more insane and ridiculous. Personally, I am glad the band has reunited with
David Lee Roth. The songs have a harder edge to them and are less bubble gum.
Nobody gets
along in this troupe and that goes for the band as well as the fans. One thing
is for sure though. This isn’t 1979 anymore and everyone fondly remembers the
original onslaught of electric power that came from the original line up. They
shook things up and gave way to the barrage of hair bands that covered the
radio and MTV in the 1980’s. That distinctive guitar sound, influenced millions
of people and even changed the face of rock music. Everyone has taken something
from this band and has introduced it to new audiences including Michael Jackson,
Ice T, and even the Circle Jerks. So when the first reviews came out I rolled
my eyes. Itunes released some snippets of the new, “Live at the Tokyo Dome”
album and the hardcore fans tore into David Lee Roth for singing. Some claimed
his voice didn’t have it anymore and that he should hang up his dancing shoes.
It was brutal. The album hadn’t even
been officially released yet and already some of the fans were set on trashing
it.
But you know
the funny thing is if Roth hadn’t come back you would hear the unanimous, “Come
On Dave – Gimme a Break”. People love to hate and haters love to rock. End of story.
The truth is that Van Halen fans are worse than a woman’s knitting circle and
about 100 times more violent. Throughout the years I have seen bizarre stuff in
their concert arena parking lots including bon fires, broken beer bottles, couches
on fire, full on punch outs, and cro-magnon like fans trying to literally kill
one another. ROCK AND ROLL MAN!!
It is hard to
put your finger on the pulse of what makes this band trigger off so many
emotions in people. I see a lot of nostalgia in the audience whenever I attend
one of these shows. It is like they are trying to relive the early days of
seeing Eddie performing for them the first time. I even hear people yell out
for Eddie Van Halen before the show starts like in the old days, “Eddie
!!! Get Yer Ass Out Here !!”. Man, I have
been hearing that at shows since 1984.
So who
exactly is this album for? It isn’t for Sammy Hagar fans. Those people have
their own live album to rock out with in the form of, “Live: Right Here and
Right Now” which -- to be fair – has
some incredible moments on it. This new album, however, is all about the
original thunder of Van Halen. Sure, Diamond Dave’s voice has matured but that
band has been doing this act for 40+ years. The fact that they are still
willing to get on the road and deliver something special for their fans is
nothing short of sheer dedication. It is their way of saying thank you. I’m sure many of you out there are shaking
your heads - “NO!” but this really evens
out the fan base. No doubt,
Van Halen will end up doing a 50th anniversary tour like The Who and the Rolling Stones. They have that kind of
ability. The same cannot be said for Motley Crue or even Led Zeppelin. Robert
Plant in comparison to David Lee Roth has lost a considerable amount of his
trademark sound. I was disappointed with the, “Celebration Day” recordings at
the O2 concert a few years back. Motley
Crue on the other hand has no excuse and should still be hitting the road
instead of saying, “Farewell” but it could be just a media stunt since they are
sure taking a long time to say goodbye to their fan base, (the final tour has
been going on for a ridiculous three years).
Van Halen’s
last album, “A Different Kind of Truth” has some interesting things going on.
The radio stations don’t really play any of the tracks off of it. This is true
for the Detroit market and I don’t know how it is for the radio markets out
there. Van Halen’s “1984” had a somewhat similar problem when it was first released. There were only
three tracks that made it to radio on a consistent basis. The radio stations will play a standard list
of songs from the bands catalog namely, “Running With the Devil”, “Panama”,
“The Cradle Will Rock”, “Hot For Teacher” and so on. It could be that the
majority of the bands catalog is just not radio friendly enough. Some of the
songs off of, “A Different Kind of Truth” take a while to grow on you but are
outstanding such as, “Stay Frosty”, “Chinatown” and “Tattoo”.
The new live
album was recorded in Tokyo during the 2012 tour and captures some of the great
performances and is all high energy. There is a nice balance of Eddie’s playing
and David’s adlibbing, and high pitched yells. There is a flow there that has
worked since day one. When Sammy Hagar took over I remember his voice
dominating just about all the tracks on, “5150”. The common cry of the day was,
“There’s not enough Eddie…. And too much Sammy”. While other people in the fan
base was crying out, “Dave who?”.
The nice thing about, “Live at the Tokyo Dome” is that this is a double album.
I will say that Van Halen should have done this a long time ago. There are a
lot of great performances back from 1979 and in the 1980’s that should be
released but for now we should be happy to get this one. I caught the Van Halen 2012 tour in Detroit when they came through. They rocked out at the Palace of
Auburn Hills and I was in the 10th row. One of the curious things
about this show was the Alex Van Halen drum solo. Usually Al just bashes away
on the drums and there is a light show and sometimes he will even light his
gong on fire. This time he is accompanied by an unannounced Latino beat with
horns. This sounds like something you would hear on Carlito’s Way or Scarface soundtrack. Eddie Van Halen comes
in at the tail end and lifts the song back up into a high voltage frenzy. It’s
out of character and I am still trying to figure out if I like it or not. It
sure is uncharacteristic of the band. Before I can make up my mind on what I
just heard the band leaps off into the Kink’s classic, “You Really Got Me”. The
back up vocals on Wolfgang are actually pretty good and he can really play the
bass.
This album is
nice too for another reason and that is it features the David Lee Roth era
songs. That means no Sammy stuff. The guitar work in, “Women In Love” from the
bands second album is thought provoking
and incredible. Hearing, “And The Cradle Will Rock”, and “Romeo Delight”
performed live is still a powerful experience and captures that original fire
and vitality of the band. There was always a kind of danger that surrounded the
original Van Halen. They weren’t the most radio friendly band out there and
they attracted a wild audience. That edgy unknown danger energy followed the
band around in live performances. David Lee Roth was unpredictable when it came
to interviews and his onstage banter with hecklers was legendary. Sammy era
fans will support the dream like quality of the songs and the level of
positivity. So the battle continues on who was better – Sam Halen, Van Hagar or Van Halen with Diamond Dave.
Another thing
the fans like to scrap about is Eddie Van Halen’s actual guitar. Some are
saying that it is too new looking…. Give me a break. When Eddie was using his
signature Frankenstrat it was a guitar made up out of spare parts with a Kramer
guitar body. That guitar is all bashed up and Eddie tinkered with it to get it
to scream, whine and do all of his signature sounds. It would be next to impossible to build another Kramer-esque
Frankenstrat. In fact, the Kramer guitar company is actually out of business.
The company officially went under in 1991 due to financial problems and a heavy
lawsuit. It was later bought out by Gibson. What Eddie did was capture that
original Kramer sound into new equipment. His new 5150 line has everything from
guitars, amps, and pedals. I think he has never sounded better but again this
is all argument material for the fans.
It is
interesting to note that David Lee Roth has a personal hand in how the tour
looks and feels. He gets involved right down to the t-shirts that go on sale.
Everything is precision and has thought behind it. There is a lot of thought
and consideration that goes into this type of production. I definitely noticed
that kind of attention in the 1984 Tour merch and felt that vibe again in the
2007 and 2012 tours. That is an unmistakable trait in the energy of the band.
That extra “oomph” was missing while he was away. I never read or heard about
Sammy taking an intense level in the bands merchandise or stage construction.
In closing, I
got some advice for all the feuding Van Halen fans. You don’t have to come to
the live shows or buy the new records. The good news is that you can all stay
home and watch reruns of, “Cops” or play old Hanson albums. Those may not
compare to the mighty Van Halen but you do have other options.
Personally, I
will continue to support Van Halen in its current form and look forward to
seeing them on the road once again in 2015. They are going to continue to give
you the best of what they got for years to come because that is what they do.
Full
Set List
“Unchained”
“Runnin’ with the Devil”
“She’s the Woman”
“I’m the One”
“Tattoo”
“Everybody Wants Some!!”
“Somebody Get Me a Doctor”
“Chinatown”
“Hear About It Later”
“(Oh) Pretty Woman”
“Me & You” (Drum Solo)
“You Really Got Me”
“Dance the Night Away”
“I’ll Wait”
“Cradle Will Rock”
“Hot for Teacher”
“Women in Love”
“Romeo Delight”
“Mean Street”
“Beautiful Girls”
“Ice Cream Man”
“Panama”
“Eruption”
“Ain’t Talkin’’Bout Love”
“Jump”
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