Van Halen- Conference Building, Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena, Ca 5/29/76

[jhale667]

This is a different Pasadena Civic Show than I have on tape (the one I have Ed's having major gear issues for the 1st half of the show, and it's the one where DLR announces "this one's off our 1st album" - pretty sure this pre-dates that), or have seen here...my former boss sent me the link this morning, figured I'd share...





The song arrangements are a little different too...

[Nitro Express]

I listened to it on a set of headphones off my iPad and you can hear the speaker distortion from Ed's cabs. Good stuff. I love that raw sound. What allowed Ed to get so wild and get away with it is Alex is just rock solid. That dude kept it in time.

One thing people overlook in getting that early Ed tone is the speakers. Best to go with 25 watters. Ed later used greenbacks on the top and Jensens on the bottom. The greens would start to fuzz out and the jensens would stay tight.

[jero]

nobody ever came close to this unique brown sound!

[Seshmeister]

Good grief that's a hell of a camel toe!

[Nitro Express]

nobody ever came close to this unique brown sound!

It's Ed more than anything. Probably a Marshal dimed pushing some 25 watt speakers with something like an echoplex loading the front. I think he used the echolplex as a signal booster and with a dimed amp that would drive it a bit harder.

[Nitro Express]

Good grief that's a hell of a camel toe!

That's probably why Sammy fell in love with Mike. Those big balls turned Sam on.

[Seshmeister]

Is that what it is?

[Jagermeister]

wtf is the matter with you two?

[Satan]

The other "Pasadena Civic" boot is from 1977 and the show was soon after VH signed with Warner Brothers, which is why Dave made the announcement that the song would be on the album. This show was over a year earlier, and just a few days before they signed a contract with ME on June 6, 1976

This is probably the earliest VH show of any decent sound quality though, unfortunately. Most of those recordings from the club gigs in 75/76 are awful.

[SunisinuS]

I love the Doubled "Turn your Radio On!" right at the start. Mike or Alex? Probably Mike.

So fucking weird....how people like Gene Simmons (for Buddha's sake) said that at first "Dave could not sing" lol.....guess the fact that Dave can hold a Harmony even here in 1976 shows that most people do not know how hard it is to hold a melody in the face of 4 mics and 1500 screaming fans.

[Blaze]

I just like the Civil Disobedience cover. It fits right now.
Maybe in the year 2012, I'll have video access again... without a trip into the big city of 4000 souls. ;P

[Nitro Express]

wtf is the matter with you two?

It must be those All Hallows Eve demons.

[Nitro Express]

Most people focus on what Ed is doing with his left hand. For me it was also what he was doing with the right hand. I always loved his fast pick runs and rhythm.

[jhale667]

Most people focus on what Ed is doing with his left hand. For me it was also what he was doing with the right hand. I always loved his fast pick runs and rhythm.

His pick technique was impeccable back in the day...

[Nitro Express]

Nobody can do it like ED but I really tried to do it like him. You have to let your hand go into a spasm. It's fun to do. It's like a relaxed spasm basically. Ed has all those unique things. You can haul ass on the pick doing it that way.

[Seshmeister]

They should never have shortened the Somebody Get Me A Doctor solo in the studio.

[Nitro Express]

I remember reading an interview with Ed's old guitar tech Rudy. He said he thought the whammy bar and some of the newer equipment made Ed lazy. He said Ed played better in the old days because for a lot of the set he didn't have a whammy and they were just normal amps he had to have more finger technique to squeeze what he wanted out of them. I think what Rudy was talking about shows up quite well in this recording.

[jhale667]

The Gain his amps have been capable of producing has been going up since the Soldano days shortly after Roth left. The "lead" channel on the Fender 5150 III has INSANE amounts of gain, almost to the point of overkill. The middle channel however is still "Brown Sound" city.

[Diamondjimi]

His pick technique was impeccable back in the day...

So true. Before he dove into the tapping thing full time, he used to rip shit up. And lets not forget Ed's vibrato (not the bar)...

[Diamondjimi]

Nobody can do it like ED but I really tried to do it like him. You have to let your hand go into a spasm. It's fun to do. It's like a relaxed spasm basically. Ed has all those unique things. You can haul ass on the pick doing it that way.

Ed would use that "gimmick" on single string trills. You'd never see him cross strings with that technique. I always hoped he would knock off the gimmick and get back to more shredding...

[Diamondjimi]

Killer bootleg, thanks for posting. I'm downloading this using Youtube Downloader to add to my collection. cool program....

[DONNIEP]

Damn they were on fire! Dave's voice is freaking unreal! I know I'm beating a dead horse here, but damn they need Mikey back in the band now...

[DLR Bridge]

They should never have shortened the Somebody Get Me A Doctor solo in the studio.

I know, right? Any time I've found a recording of that song, I'm more blown away by how sick that longer solo is. I think this is one of the first bootlegs I ever got, back in the early 90's at my hot spot on Bleecker Street. Used to walk in and go right to the glass case that had all of these cassettes with shitty covers printed on colored photcopy paper. Kid in a ma' fuckin' candy store.