Official 4/25 Charlotte Meetup/Review Thread

[Momshell]

Singin about the roth army ladies now - beautiful girls!! <>

[Momshell]

ICM now

[Momshell]

Singin about the roth army ladies now - beautiful girls!! <>

I guess I can't just hit 'thanks' cause I can't thank myself, but I didn't say it. Thanks Donniep!!
(I'm confused!)

[Zempi]

Our next set of shows cannot come soon enough!! Thanks for these updates. Would LOVE to be there!

[Momshell]

Panama now.

[Momshell]

Eds solo - damn he's shredding!

[Momshell]

Atbl!

[Momshell]

Shit - sorry guys- I fell asleep waiting for Jump! It happened - show's over. Time for bed!! See ya in the am with YouTubes!

[Momshell]

Awesome show!!! Time to head home for some beers and see whats up at the army <>;->>

[sob33316]

Shit - sorry guys- I fell asleep waiting for Jump! It happened - show's over. Time for bed!! See ya in the am with YouTubes!

I hear ya momshell....waiting to do midnight feeding and i am going to bed. I almost fell asleep also!

[Floridaman1985]

Just got back home from the show. My first VH show and first time seeing DLR live. It kicked ass! I was very glad I got to hear GGB, HAIL and Full Bug. Those were the alternates I was really hoping for, especially GGB.

During one of the songs, Roth had a funny moment trying to get one of the lighting guys to put the spotlight on two girls up high, stage right. I'm sure someone will have the exacts. Sorry, my memory is pretty blurry right now.

[DONNIEP]

Back from the show! First off, thanks to Momshell for posting the updates! This lady is a class act all the way! Even though I must have texted her like a hundred times she didn't mind Sorry I don't have any good pictures - my daughter's android died and I can NOT figure out how to zoom my damn phone in before taking a picture. Makes it look like we were out on Trade Street, but we were really only half way back on the floor. I didn't shoot any video because her phone crapped out. We had damn good seats but I probably should have waited til today to buy my tickets - probably could have been up front.

If you're thinking about skipping Kool And The Gang's set, do yourself a favor and check it out. Those motherfuckers can still jam and they freaking bring it!! Great set and the place was going nuts over them! Another thing, if you wear your Roth Army shirt be prepared to be stopped by about a dozen strangers. I told them all to come over to the Roth Army and pick one up - apparently everbody does want some!

What to say about the show? Anything I say will be an understatment. The show was incredible! It was a stellar production from start to finish! There were absolutely zero technical issues. And no, there was no blower rant. It was hotter than hell in there and like I said, Dave was sweating like crazy. Dave did give the spotlight guy a hard time because he wanted the spot on a couple of cute chicks off to the left of the stage. But come on! Everybody in the fucking arena knew exactly which chicks he was pointing at and the spotlight guy couldn't find them??? So yeah, Dave razzed the dude a little.

And for those reviewers who've said that Dave is slow, or doesn't jump around as much - fuck you very much! The dude barely stood still the whole time and tossed in plenty of hi-kicks, a couple of back bends almost all the way to the floor and at least 5 splits. What more do they want? A fucking cheerleader routine???

Dave's voice - it sounded fucking great to me! There was even one scream that sounded so good I couldn't fucking believe it. Youtube clips don't do this show justice. I'm not arguing that there's some bad ones out there. But tonight was great and I got no complaints. Besides, it's Dave we're talking about and I've never seen him give a bad performance, at least not one that I've paid to go see. And tonight was no different. Dave was on from the time he hit the stage until they fucking walked off. His energy was through the fucking roof the whole time and he didn't miss a beat or slow down once. First show I've seen where he didn't say he "forgot the fucking words" and I actually missed that It's almost like hearing Jump at the end of the show - you just know it's coming.

Wolfie - last tour I was disappointed. And I've pissed and moaned over the years since about him being in the band. I was wrong. I was fucking wrong. This kid worked his ass off all night long and sounded great! Not only that, but I've gotten so used to hearing him sing back-up that I'm glad Mikey wasn't there squealing all over Dave's singing. Wolf kinda hangs back, plays his ass off and doesn't show off. The band ain't pushing him down our throats - he's just up there doing his job. And I am glad it's him. The kid must have his head screwed on right because if most of us got tapped to be up there every night we'd probably already be in Betty Ford.

Al - not much to say about Al. He's Alex Van Halen - one of the greatest rock drummers ever. Period. He's damn rock solid and the drum sound at the show was phenomenal. Don't like I'll Wait? Wait til you hear it live and hear Al pounding the shit out of his kit. I dug his solo and my daughter REALLY liked it! It's short but it's all about precision and fury, as Dave would say.

Eddie - I don't even know what to say. What's not been said about Ed? The guy is un-fucking-real and was on fire tonight! There is no way on Earth that he should sound as good as he does. There's just no explaining it. The more I think about it, I almost wonder if that was even him on the 2004 tour. I mean, how could this be the same guy??? He looks great, plays like he did 30 years ago and kicks your fucking ass every night! And before he took a bow during his solo, he was looking at the audience and the crowd was going abso-fucking-lutely apeshit and he smiled this humble kind of smile and said thank you and you could tell he meant it. Doesn't sound like much, but to see it on his face and to know that he's all there and in the moment, it's just unreal.

And if you have a kid that likes Van Halen, or likes Dave, even just a little bit, and IF they want to go to the show, if they really want to go, take 'em. Buy 'em a shirt, get 'em a drink and enjoy the moment. My daughter had the best freaking time and it was so cool to look over at her and see her smiling and singing along. I know that it's not her favorite music. But just seeing her really enjoy herself and seeing her throw her hands up and scream "DAVE!!!!!!!" was priceless. Not to get all sappy or anything, but it was really touching to share it with her. It was her first concert and damn if it wasn't a memorable one. Her only disappointment? They didn't play Stay Frosty and that's her favorite VH song right now

To wrap it up, it was a great freaking show! It was Van Fuckin' Halen!!! If you can get your ass to a show then by God you had better not miss out! You'll be sorry that you did! I was thinking about all my Roth Army brothers and sisters that haven't been to a show yet and wishing you guys didn't have to wait to see this! It was better than I ever dreamed it would be and I can't wait for the next one!!!

Roth ON motherfuckers!!!!! Time to toss out the empties...

[ashstralia]

brilliant DONNIE!

thanks for taking the time to type that; great read.

god i hope they make it down under!!!

[DONNIEP]

god i hope they make it down under!!!

Dude, I hope they do!!! If not, I hope they put out a DVD for you guys. No, it's not the same. But if you drink like 9 beers, turn down the lights and crank the home theatre system to ELEVEN then you'll see what I'm talkin' about

[ashstralia]

i know man... i got the maiden 'flight 666' dvd after being in the front row. ALMOST as good. almost.

[DONNIEP]

i know man... i got the maiden 'flight 666' dvd after being in the front row. ALMOST as good. almost.

Well next tour bring your ass over to the States! I'll put you up. Hell, I'll put up all you guys from Oz!!! But I ain't buying the beer

[Dan]

Sweet As Review,DONNIEP.

Roth On.

[Dan]

Bring On The YouTubes.

[DONNIEP]

Sweet As Review,DONNIEP.

Roth On.

Pants off?

[VAN HLN CA]

Shaven head tall guy in middle behind red shirt is about where I was opening night '07, one of the best nights of my life......"Down innnn Charlotteeee" as the Frosty Man said!

[vandeleur]

Awesome review donnie , cheers for the updates sounds like a Stella time had by all

[Dan]

Pants off?

Pants And Socks Off.

[Dan]

Van Halen Charlotte 4/25/12

[DONNIEP]

HOLY SHIT!!! Thanks Dan!!! It's like dejavu all over again!!

[Dan]

@45 Second Mark,Some Fucker Throws A Tennis Ball On Stage.

[DONNIEP]

Who brings a fucking tennis ball to a Van Halen concert and throws it up on stage??? If I thought I could have gotten close enough to the stage I would have tossed up a Roth Army shirt to Dave!

[vandeleur]

That would be fucking crazy Dave holding an army shirt up

[DONNIEP]

They didn't play this one tonite, but I know the Roth Army ladies will appreciate the video...

[Momshell]

Who brings a fucking tennis ball to a Van Halen concert and throws it up on stage??? If I thought I could have gotten close enough to the stage I would have tossed up a Roth Army shirt to Dave!

That's it - if I get seats close to the stage for the next shows I go to I'm buying an extra shirt and throwing it up there. Ya never know - and how awesome would that be?!

[Momshell]

This one has no label but pretty sure based on her other vids it's from this show......HFT

[Momshell]

I guess 28 seconds of ICM is better than none at all...

[Momshell]

clip of EVH

[Momshell]

another clip of EVH

[Momshell]

and the last clip of Eddie's solo

[ashstralia]

thanks momshell... fantastic. DONNIE, if only i could just drop everything for a fortnight... aah well.

[Zing!]

Her only disappointment? They didn't play Stay Frosty and that's her favorite VH song right now

Your daughter's not alone on that score. Just about everyone here wishes they'd play 'Stay Frosty!'

Thanks for the great review, D - glad you had a kick ass time!

[private parts]

FYI

"Van Halen featuring guest Ky-Mani Marley at Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tn"
Looks like Kool and the Gang aren't on the added shows.

[private parts]

Anybody having trouble getting a camera in the venues? My phone is for shit, but I have a decent camera that takes HD vid.

[Angel]

FYI

"Van Halen featuring guest Ky-Mani Marley at Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tn"
Looks like Kool and the Gang aren't on the added shows.

Kool's overseas. Got a tweet inviting me to their show in Lebanon.

[vanshipman]

What a killer show in Charlotte last night!!! Thanks to Donnie for the updates, my phone was getting the service for some reason, but Van Halen were absolutely killer. Dave put on a killer show and sounded fantastic, and the band was like a freight train. Eddie is just unbelievable!!! Comparing Eddie now to 2007 is laughable, the man is just deadly great...the Van Halen express is taking no prisoners on this tour!!! Dave announced at the end of Eddies solo, winner by knockout and still champ, Edward Van Halen!!! Well said Dave, and so are you.