First impression: Van Halen, "Tokyo Dome: VH in Concert"

[blueturk]

Toto? Whatever happened to them? In any event, at the time, the only venue you see a band in was an old bunker called the Hollywood Sportatorium. It was basically a big old concrete rectangle with benches on the sides, and open floor in between them. The sound would blast off the stage, sail over your head as it smacked you in the chest, then continued until it bounced off the back wall of the venue and come winging back to slap you in the back of the neck.

The only time you heard the bass was during the solo. The microphones fed back and whined constantly, and the volume that Ed played at meant everything else had to be louder as well.

Well I hate that for you, but the old Charlotte Coliseum was a nice little place with damn good acoustics that could bring out the best and the worst of a band. Saw many bands there and if they sounded like shit, that was on them. I won't go into who did sound like shit. VH sounded great and put on a great show both times I saw them back then. Not to mention girls with bandanas for tops with really short shorts ......

[DONNIEP]

Well I hate that for you, but the old Charlotte Coliseum was a nice little place with damn good acoustics that could bring out the best and the worst of a band. Saw many bands there and if they sounded like shit, that was on them. I won't go into who did sound like shit. VH sounded great and put on a great show both times I saw them back then. Not to mention girls with bandanas for tops with really short shorts ......

Goddamn right! Great place to see a show.

[chefcraig]

Well I hate that for you, but the old Charlotte Coliseum was a nice little place with damn good acoustics that could bring out the best and the worst of a band. Saw many bands there and if they sounded like shit, that was on them. I won't go into who did sound like shit. VH sounded great and put on a great show both times I saw them back then. Not to mention girls with bandanas for tops with really short shorts ......

Brother, you and I are very close in age, and I envy your experience hearing the band in it's prime in good conditions.

And about them chicks...yup! (True to form, no success on my part...)

Roth On, bro. Roth On...

[big fatty]

Toto? Whatever happened to them? In any event, at the time, the only venue you see a band in was an old bunker called the Hollywood Sportatorium. It was basicallya big old concrete rectangle with benches on the sides. and open floor in between them.The sound would blast off the stage, sail over your head as it smacked you in the chest, then continued until it bounced off the back wall of the venue and come winging back to slap you in the back of the head.

The only time you heard the bass was during the solo. The microphones fed back and whined constantly, and the volume that Ed played at meant everything else had to be louder as well.

You probably already know about this FB page Remember The Sportatorium.....( but just in case not I'll post the link ).....some cool old pics in there.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Remember-the-Sportatorium/119966624751183

[chefcraig]

You probably already know about this FB page Remember The Sportatorium.....( but just in case not I'll post the link ).....some cool old pics in there...

Dude...
Totally righteous! Man, you are certainly with us...now hang out while I get us some pizza...meet me and my dudes at our van about 10:30 in the lot, OK? Good day fer hitting the beach and and taking in some crispy waves....Oh, bring your own towel dude, mine always get swiped...And I have a small bag in this cool console...if you forgot papers, I have this little Hindu pipe I found in a head shop in Fort Lauderdale.

Plus don't worry,I can fix it. My dad is a tv repairman, he has an awesome set of tools.

[BumBahDeeDah]

Uh-huh, right. I still have earaches and back pain from seeing this dufus live in the late seventies/early eighties, where the live sound was ear-bleedingly awful and loud, just about equal to listening to Lou Reed's "Metal Machine Music", only with a bit more melody.

And Ed always seemed to play too fast. 81, 82, 84, 07, 08.

[Terry]

Why now? Let's face it, this is not the live album you always wanted to hear. Contrary to not so popular belief, Dave could belt out the songs quite well live during the CVH era, and this should have been represented a long time ago. Remaster some of the old shows and let's hear Dave in his prime. "Sonic Tokyo" anyone?

And that's really the bottom line, isn't it?

This is NOT even close to the live album I always wanted to hear.

What I want ISN'T an audio-only live album of the 4th Van Halen incarnation. And CERTAINLY NOT from live dates starting with the ADKOT tour to present, if this lineup of Van Halen HAS to be the one represented live.

Frankly, I just don't buy Eddie's claim that no live CVH-era audio of decent sound quality exists. Mostly because I've got plenty of it in my own collection, and virtually all of it consists of cds that are probably 100th generation copies I got in bootleg exchanges with other traders. And some of those sound pretty fucking good. However, my not believing what Eddie has to say matters not in the least in terms of actually getting any CVH live audio/video officially released for purchase.

Was anyone really enthused when the details of this live album (where and when it was recorded) were released in advance of the album being made available? Enthused to the point where they thought "wow, I've GOTTA run out and buy this"? The clips I had already heard from that show certainly weren't anything that made me want to hear a full-length version of the concert. In point of fact, this is actually the first Van Halen audio release that had both Roth and the Van Halens in the lineup that I WASN'T interested in buying.

[chuckjitsu]

And that's really the bottom line, isn't it?

This is NOT even close to the live album I always wanted to hear.

What I want ISN'T an audio-only live album of the 4th Van Halen incarnation. And CERTAINLY NOT from live dates starting with the ADKOT tour to present, if this lineup of Van Halen HAS to be the one represented live.

Frankly, I just don't buy Eddie's claim that no live CVH-era audio of decent sound quality exists. Mostly because I've got plenty of it in my own collection, and virtually all of it consists of cds that are probably 100th generation copies I got in bootleg exchanges with other traders. And some of those sound pretty fucking good. However, my not believing what Eddie has to say matters not in the least in terms of actually getting any CVH live audio/video officially released for purchase.

Was anyone really enthused when the details of this live album (where and when it was recorded) were released in advance of the album being made available? Enthused to the point where they thought "wow, I've GOTTA run out and buy this"? The clips I had already heard from that show certainly weren't anything that made me want to hear a full-length version of the concert. In point of fact, this is actually the first Van Halen audio release that had both Roth and the Van Halens in the lineup that I WASN'T interested in buying.

Is it just me, or have you not posted in a while? Glad that you're still alive! Are you going to see them live this time around? What'd you think of the recent batch of live performances?

[PETE'S BROTHER]

Toto? Whatever happened to them?

girl at work thought it was "i surf the waves down in africa"

so i had pete make this..African Surfer.jpg

[Terry]

Is it just me, or have you not posted in a while? Glad that you're still alive! Are you going to see them live this time around? What'd you think of the recent batch of live performances?

Haven't been too active here as of late. Yeah, for the most part I'm glad I'm still alive, as well

Nah, I'm passing on them this time around.

Put it this way - in 2007, I made it a point that I was going to see them come hell or high water. Despite Anthony not being there. I felt it was more luck than anything else that the Van Halens finally reunited with Dave, and seeing them play live was something I had been hoping for since the possibility first presented itself as something that could actually happen in 1996. In addition, Ed looked like he was potentially ready to drop dead at any moment, and the 2007-2008 tour felt like it could well be the only chance to revisit live rock history on the stage. That show I saw didn't turn out well because a) Ed was too fucked up to play well and b) Wolfgang onstage looked and sounded like a mistake. Dave turned in a concise, professional performance vocally.

In 2012, the band had a solid (if not spectacular) new album out, and Ed was playing well. Gave the band another chance. Wolfgang seemed to have stepped into his role in a more convincing way, Ed sounded great, Alex played well. Dave was basically the complete antithesis of how he approached his role in 2007-2008. Vocals were yelled rather than sung, and the result was a solid instrumental performance dampened by an off-putting vocal approach.

Neither of the last two tours were really worth what I paid to see them. I've seen the recent (2015) batch of live stuff online, and it's not anything improved upon what they did on the last two tours. Sadly, Van Halen has joined the legion of aging rock bands working the concert circuit who a) are going out there without the complete/original/definitive lineup, b) playing set lists that are essentially a greatest hits revue with a sprinkling of deep cuts yet c) still charging top dollar for tickets, seemingly based on the fact that some form of the band still exists rather than the actual content of the performances.

It doesn't really boil down to just what Dave's doing, either. Ed is playing his parts fairly competently, but nobody's gonna seriously tell me he's playing as well as he ever did. Dave is just no longer singing well anymore. If this results from deteriorated ability, a flawed vocal approach or just plain not being bothered enough to try, I can't say. However, the 2012 show I saw was a case of the vocals being off-putting to listen to. And all of the subsequent clips I've seen/heard of the ADKOT tour and the current performances still reflect this. I can't be bothered to give the band my time or money if their approach is just a greatest hits lather, rinse, repeat with shitty lead vocals. Dave's goofy persona ain't worth $100 a pop for tix if the vocals are going to suck, and hearing Ed play Eruption fairly well for the millionth time isn't going to compensate for that anymore.

If you're going, I hope (and trust) you'll enjoy them. Short of a major shakeup of approach (ditching Wolfie for Anthony and getting Dave to just sing again - neither of which appear to be forthcoming), I'm done with seeing Van Halen. Thanks to the band for the memories and happy trails. No harm, no foul.

[DLR Bridge]

Eloquent as ever, Terry.

[hain23x]

Im going to see Atomic Punks in early June and that'll be my VH summer