Official 5/19 St. Paul Meetup/Review Thread

[Never was]

Three weeks complete rest but then 30 days to essentially retraing your voice because usually singers have adapted to the damage and developed bad habits because of that. Paul Stanley sounds much stronger after his surgery last year and Don Dokken raved about the rehab which he said surprised him how many bad habits he picked up. Have not heard him sing since his surgery.

Doing that surgery mid tour would be very unlikely but not impossible.

I think 2007 Dave was much more disciplined with his mechanics

[Zing!]

The St. Paul crowd was amped from my angle. The only people sitting down were the little kids (a couple who fell asleep by STW and slumbered until Jump). Otherwise, I didn't see a soul sit down for the entire show. Crowd was loud and appreciative - even saw quite a few Zippos come out for Women In Love and Dave's Ice Cream Man dog story...

[78/84 guy]

Hello, I'm Northern Girl, member #200! Thanks so much for telling me all about Dave. I know nothing about him. None of us here do.

No one is expecting him to be perfect, but facts are facts. I know the songs. I know the lyrics and I know what I heard. And NO FUCKING WAY was Dave as good as he could be last night. Now you are the one ragging on him and basically saying subpar is all we can ever expect of him. I don't fucking believe that.

Your the one who said you were embarrassed for him last night right ?? Yep Dave singing subpar sometimes is a fact !! He has his great moments every show. Always has. But he also has never been concerned with missing lines and coming into a song late. Ever ! It's who he is. It has nothing to do with his voice being strong at all. In 07 it was strong and that was great. I'm sure he was happy as hell he could sing that good for that tour. This one he can't. So he does what works for him. I think it's the dancing and showmanship this tour. If you feel I was going after you sorry.

[Zing!]

Random 45 I came across at a vinyl shop a few blocks from the Xcel. They had a decent condition record of their first album for $4 - seriously considered buying it - but already own that album. Kind of wish I would have now. They also had 45's of Goin' Crazy, and lots of other vintage VH, but none in their original sleeves.

P.S. Also had Spamulus Flatulas live 1980 album in the dollar bin. Heh heh...

[So this is love]

HAIL

wtf only two of us like this vids.......come on!!!!!!!!!!!

[Zing!]

Yep. I ordered it.

Divine intervention? I like to think so...

[Zing!]

Random =VH= shot...

[Zing!]

I got better tickets for free...

[Zing!]

At the same vinyl shop mentioned above. I gave this guy a break. He's a small business owner just trying to make ends meet. He wants to sell albums - and unfortunately there's a dwindling market for the Spam Hagar years. My logic is: at least he had the good sense to separate the two and not lump all the records under VAN HALEN. I appreciated his effort and told him so.

[78/84 guy]

wtf only two of us like this vids.......come on!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought Dave sang this very good watching this back. Some of the early shows he struggled with it like Dance The Night Away. He did better with that last night also in spots. Still a little high though. Ed's solo on this is awesome.

[Zing!]

Nothin' left to do but sweep up the confetti...

[So this is love]

Zing! is everything alright?

[Zing!]

Zing! is everything alright?

Do you mean other than =VH= withdrawal? Seriously hoping this isn't the last time I'll ever see the band live - others can relate to the next-day syndrome. Other than slightly hung over, I'll feel like a hundred dollars. How are you?

[Never was]

Dave's voice has gotten stronger as the tour has progressed. Its not as solid as 07 but I do not think he has been bad either. He has not been as consistent at times but his range has been what it usually is just not as tightly controlled.

[So this is love]

Do you mean other than =VH= withdrawal? Seriously hoping this isn't the last time I'll ever see the band live - others can relate to the next-day syndrome. Other than slightly hung over, I'll feel like a hundred dollars. How are you?

Day after is always like a huge hangover....VH future looks very bright for us fans by the look of dlr vids from your woods...

[Northern Girl]

wtf only two of us like this vids.......come on!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you see Dave sucking on a lemon there in the middle? What's that about?

[Never was]

Minneapolis is a surprisingly good music town.

Surprise cause not often thought about nationally.

[FORD]

Did you see Dave sucking on a lemon there in the middle? What's that about?

Vitamin C? Probably good for his throat also. Gotta keep the instrument tuned up, and in his case, that's it.

[Never was]

Lemons help build calf muscles. For some odd reason he has recently become very anxious about how his calfs look and others being critical.

[Sensible Shoes]

Nothin' left to do but sweep up the confetti...

Don't get rid of that, it has magical properties!!!!

[Light Em' Up!]

Lemons help build calf muscles. For some odd reason he has recently become very anxious about how his calfs look and others being critical.

LMAO! Can't imagine why?!?!

[Northern Girl]

Vitamin C? Probably good for his throat also. Gotta keep the instrument tuned up, and in his case, that's it.

Have you ever though? That sour hurts my mouth. LOL. It does produce a lot of saliva though. Maybe he does that instead of drinking, 'cos I didn't see him drink anything at all; and it was sweltering.

[Northern Girl]

Dave's a conundrum!

[Zing!]

Did you see Dave sucking on a lemon there in the middle? What's that about?

Yes! I was wondering what that was at the time. I did see him sip from a water bottle from my angle at least once - but he definitely wasn't chugging the water, which seems odd considering how goddamn hot it was in there!

[kwame k]

Dave's a conundrum!

........wrapped in an enigma

[SunisinuS]

........wrapped in an enigma

I will have your finest food stuffed with your second finest!


Just a thin waffffer?

[Zing!]

I will have your finest food stuffed with your second finest!

Just a thin waffffer?

Fuck off... I'm absolutely STUFFED!

[So this is love]

Did you see Dave sucking on a lemon there in the middle? What's that about?

yeah saw that... but for some reason I'm not the type to bring it up kind of shy not being rude....tell me about it...

[So this is love]

Lemons help build calf muscles. For some odd reason he has recently become very anxious about how his calfs look and others being critical.

lol thats funny

[gene]

He did the lemon thing in Chicago too. April 1. Saw it from the frist row. Did not understand why he was doing that.

[Northern Girl]

He does it during the Downtown Sessions too.

I googled 'singers sucking on lemons' and got the answer.

Try it.

[IceCreamBlondie]

Quick little observation:

From my seat in section 120 I had a clear view behind Al's drum riser and could easily see the band as they would come and go and hang out during solos and other parts of the show. Any suggestion from supposedly credible rock news sources that there is infighting were put to rest by what I saw. The band not only were getting along great in the pit area behind the drums, they were actually being somewhat silly and having fun - lots of smiles (even from Alex!) and kidding around. When Dave left the stage for Al's solo and went down the steps to a small corridor under the big screen, the fans in our section gave him some love with lots of screams and whistles. Dave seemed genuinely appreciative of the gesture. With a huge smile on his face, he bowed deeply and blew us a huge kiss. Cool moment.

You are a lucky man to have witnessed that, Zing. !!! Way to go, Diamond Dave!!! And thanks Zing for cluing us in!

[IceCreamBlondie]

from the St Paul Newspaper

That's a picture for the ages! WOW!

[Angel]

You suck on lemons to clear mucus in the throat. I have post-nasal drip and I always have lemons backstage during plays.

AC really makes it bad too. I've had AC make my sinuses so stuffed that I couldn't even talk.

Wonder if Dave has post-nasal drip? I can't imagine what a bitch that would be for a singer!

[GreenEyedMurder]

Yes! I was wondering what that was at the time. I did see him sip from a water bottle from my angle at least once - but he definitely wasn't chugging the water, which seems odd considering how goddamn hot it was in there!

If he chugged the water, he'd have to take a bathroom break -- probably in the middle of a song.

[SNIPER]

I heard somewhere Big Al had a trash can to piss in behind his drums on the earlier tours. With all the tall beers he drank I am sure he needed that.

[78/84 guy]

Minneapolis is a surprisingly good music town.

Surprise cause not often thought about nationally.

Very true. Lots of great bands around local or a big act. Great clubs to see a blues band or metal almost any night. To bad the reviewers all suck !! John Bream is good. He has been around forever. He did a great Led Zeppelin book a few years ago. Nice guy. The guy that did a good review also had that great photo with it from Pioneer Press. I don't think it was posted.

[FALCO]

Your the one who said you were embarrassed for him last night right ?? Yep Dave singing subpar sometimes is a fact !! He has his great moments every show. Always has. But he also has never been concerned with missing lines and coming into a song late. Ever ! It's who he is. It has nothing to do with his voice being strong at all. In 07 it was strong and that was great. I'm sure he was happy as hell he could sing that good for that tour. This one he can't. So he does what works for him. I think it's the dancing and showmanship this tour. If you feel I was going after you sorry.

This definitely has been an ongoing topic from the first Cafe Wha? gig... for me, it just seems like Dave is singing WAAAY out of the "necessary range" the songs were recorded in, for no apparent reason... the "pay my bills" part of Hear About It Later is perfect example... NO reason to go high when Wolf and Eddie are there... just do the root note (see HAIL Oakland vid) ... but for some reason Dave is overcompensating... as a vocalist, I have felt that there is something a bit off with Dave for a while now... just seems like he lost a bit of something somewhere... also, regardless of what anyone is saying, he is off key alot... don't get me wrong, it's Dave Or Grave for me, but it is what it is... in the "old days" he may have not sang the songs in full, or even correctly, but his "voice" itself sounded very good... and he still has that smokey growl, he just seems to want to strain to go higher (DTNA for example)... when he stays in the actual range and melody the songs were recorded in he is amazing... 07'08 DLR was amazing... I remember watching the videos and seeing them live and being very very impressed with Dave's performance... this tour, while I have worn out the CD, I have to say that Dave for me is the weak link live... the 3 Twins are like an unstoppable freight train, but Dave changing up the songs too much pitch wise can sometimes be a bit trying on the ears...

That being said, it is still David Lee Fucking Roth

\m/ \m/

[Zing!]

You are a lucky man to have witnessed that, Zing. !!! Way to go, Diamond Dave!!! And thanks Zing for cluing us in!

Not sure how old Alex's son Malcolm is, but there was also a kid hanging out with Al behind the drums during the show - I'd guess about 12 or 13 years old - wearing a black concert t-shirt with the train on it. They horsed around quite a bit - and each ate a banana together at one point.

[Northern Girl]

Sure wish we could have hooked up for pints Northern Girl and 78/84. I asked several folks with Roth Army shirts their names, hoping they were you guys - but to no avail. Almost everyone I asked said they were members years ago but hadn't checked in here in ages. Many seemed surprised that the Army was still operational. Had a great conversation with a Canuck and his wife outside of Eagles for about a half an hour. Spotted his DLR t-shirt from the ALAE tour - complimented him on his attire. He had a bitchin VH tat on his shoulder - didn't even think to snap a pic of it. Next time we'll be a little more organized...

I checked this thread before I left in the morning, and there were no plans to meet; so I made my own agenda. And I don't wear T-shirts, especially not that ugly, cheap POS that I got in my swag bag. LOL.

As for the future, I have a feeling this is the last time I will ever see Van Halen...