More VH talk from Eddie Trunk

[Terry]

Garth Brooks had a Hell of a lot more than one hit. He was the biggest performer of the 1990s in any musical genre, and he's somehow sold more records than Elvis Presley - though admittedly there's some cheating involved with those numbers, since he re-released his first 6 albums in a box set, with one track added to each disc (but the price was only $30, so it was a big seller). He later did the same thing with the second half of his career, and then a third box set which was all cover songs, again for a cheap price.

And "Friends In Low Places" ain't even his best song. Hard to narrow it down to one, but I'd probably go with "We Shall Be Free".

I still haven't seen the video of that Notre Dame show, but I'm hoping if he did lip sync that (or added canned vocals in post production, or whatever it was) that it was an isolated event for the TV network, and that his actual live performances are still, in fact, LIVE.

I would definitely see him in concert again, if he can still bring it like he did in 1997. Especially if the tickets are still cheap, compared to the standard arena prices of the day.

I'm not huge on the guy. The Missus LOVES him. I don't hate his stuff, but I've always been sort of baffled by the level of his success. Particularly the Low Places tune, which has always come across to me as a half-assed Jimmy Buffettesque rip-off, and is one of those seemingly universally loved "country" tunes like Achy Breaky Heart...both of which I despise. Then again, I'm not huge on most new country, new being defined as pretty much anything released post-1980s.

But, yeah, people fuckin' LOVE Garth Brooks. Fuck me as to why.

[Nickdfresh]

If Van Halen reunited in 1996 and put out new music, I think they'd have a shot at stadiums...

[Vinnie Velvet]

I agree that even in the blazing trail (that ultimately hit the wall) of 1984, Van Halen couldn't fill a stadium on their own. I think two more big albums with Roth, then maybe...

Sad thing is that they were well on their way.

After the monster success of 1984, the sky was the limit for VH. Even Noel Monk in his book mentioned that he was prepping stadium shows for VH in ‘85.

Sadly of course the band fell apart.

[twonabomber]

Local paper mentioned that Brooks was a marketing major, and it shows.

[Seshmeister]

Hmmm appears the consensus is that none of the major bands from the CVH era can support a stadium tour on their own... Sad affair... but Rock just hasn't had the draw that pop and country can pull in.

Guns N Roses?

If this happens I think it would be kind of like the Van Hagar thing in 1988 with 4 or 5 bands including at least one other arena headliner.

[twonabomber]

Checked Metallica's site, they are in the states until the end of March and then Europe from the beginning of May until the end of August. Not much time for a US show there.

Foo Fighters are also touring overseas June and August but playing the Sonic Temple festival in Columbus in May.

Guns N Roses?

I think GNR maybe could have done stadiums when they first reunited. After a year plus back together, I doubt it. Demand has been met.

Slash ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators are touring just about everywhere but the states through the first week of July. Would have been a suitable opener.

[twonabomber]

And as for Yankee Stadium...how long to set up and tear down a concert setup? Five days? A week?

The Yankees will be on the road for a week toward the end of May, another week around the second week of June, and five days just after that. Late June through the All-Star break is 15 days away with another week on the road at the end of the month. Seven days away the first full week of August and then 11 on the road at the end of the month. Plenty of time.

I can't see this going into September or Dave will be griping about the cool nights and not "that fucking blower."

[ZahZoo]

Well, well... this is turning out to be a classic Diamond Dave/Van Halen chain yank via cryptic references to something that may or may not be happening... but we can't say right now... Sound familiar..?

The more energy it stirs up, the more hopeful the fan base gets and media who still feed on this shit are happy to play along. There could be money to be made...

But wait... check in with Mikey... he hadn't talked to the Dutch Pricks™ since 2004. uh oh... Wolfgang... he's back-pedaling a sarcastic, fuck you fans episode on twitter...

Ed and Al... they ain't talkin to anyone... Hagar's talkin to anyone who will listen...

Dave's selling tramp-stamp cream and playing dress-up again...

Here we go again... roll-eyes... SMH...

[Nickdfresh]

Guns N Roses?

If this happens I think it would be kind of like the Van Hagar thing in 1988 with 4 or 5 bands including at least one other arena headliner.

There were some heavy hitters there, including: Metallica, The Scorpions, Dokken, and a few others...

[So this is love]

Checked Metallica's site, they are in the states until the end of March and then Europe from the beginning of May until the end of August. Not much time for a US show there.

Foo Fighters are also touring overseas June and August but playing the Sonic Temple festival in Columbus in May.



I think GNR maybe could have done stadiums when they first reunited. After a year plus back together, I doubt it. Demand has been met.

Slash ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators are touring just about everywhere but the states through the first week of July. Would have been a suitable opener.

Not a suitable opener for Van Halen. Slash ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators would kick VH asses therefore this will never happen.

[So this is love]

IMO, there is not enough demand for Van Halen right now in terms of $$, they will wait out another year or two or three before their grand finale... Why go out and do state fairs at this point in their career, they are not the Goo Goo Dolls they are Van fucking Halen.

[Terry]

If Van Halen reunited in 1996 and put out new music, I think they'd have a shot at stadiums...

I think they could have in 1996, or in 1997.

The Van Halens wasted ten good years with misfires and fucking around. By the time 2007 rolled around and they were finally able to work with Roth, it was still only about 3/4ths of what people were psyched to see a decade earlier.

[Terry]

Well, well... this is turning out to be a classic Diamond Dave/Van Halen chain yank via cryptic references to something that may or may not be happening... but we can't say right now... Sound familiar..?

The more energy it stirs up, the more hopeful the fan base gets and media who still feed on this shit are happy to play along. There could be money to be made...

But wait... check in with Mikey... he hadn't talked to the Dutch Pricks™ since 2004. uh oh... Wolfgang... he's back-pedaling a sarcastic, fuck you fans episode on twitter...

Ed and Al... they ain't talkin to anyone... Hagar's talkin to anyone who will listen...

Dave's selling tramp-stamp cream and playing dress-up again...

Here we go again... roll-eyes... SMH...

Had to laugh reading this post, partly because it was funny, mostly because all it's all true.

[ZahZoo]

Had to laugh reading this post, partly because it was funny, mostly because all it's all true.

There is one key value element to this crap... even if all the rumors stirred up by Dave's Snake Oil venture and vague commentary turn out to be nothing other than a marketing move... it does get the fans fired up and promoters/business folks take note of the noise. It does get their greedy little minds going and guaranteed some will attempt to push the band into doing something just based on the interest... and earning potential.

Will it be enough to get Ed & Al off the couch..?

[Terry]

There is one key value element to this crap... even if all the rumors stirred up by Dave's Snake Oil venture and vague commentary turn out to be nothing other than a marketing move... it does get the fans fired up and promoters/business folks take note of the noise. It does get their greedy little minds going and guaranteed some will attempt to push the band into doing something just based on the interest... and earning potential.

Will it be enough to get Ed & Al off the couch..?

I suppose from my perspective it's hard now to imagine even the most loyal, ardent, die-hard Van Halen fans getting TOO excited about the prospect of another Van Halen tour, particularly if it ends up being another Van Wolfgang Greatest Hits tour.

It's not to say that (Dave's voice being what it is now) the Van Halens themselves, particularly over the last two tours, haven't been consistently performing a well-rehearsed, professionally executed series of shows far as the musicianship goes. They have. It's all just a bit lather, rinse, repeat at this point. Particularly if you've been a fan of the band since the late 1970s/early 1980s; nobody's gonna tell me the band is playing better than they ever have, or the best they ever have...

I dunno. It's like, for me, the memory of CVH and what that was looms much larger in my mind than anything the band has done since Roth left in 1985...and that even includes the last three tours with Roth fronting them. For me, the Van Halen of the last ten years just can't match up to the heyday. Maybe it's because I can still remember the heyday, but the stuff they've done with Roth the last ten years still comes up wanting, even though for the most part I think the band are doing about as well as they could be considering the years wasted.