
Originally Posted by
Terry
By the time 1999 rolled around, I was cleaned up save for alcohol and even by that point I wasn't drinking much anymore. So, 1999 and on it wasn't any big deal to drive to a concert, see the show, then go home. Point of fact, I don't think I had anything alcohol-wise for either of the 2008 and 2012 Van Halen shows I saw, and I didn't think twice about it: past ten years or so, I just plain don't drink much by way of alcohol anymore. Maybe 3 or 4 times a year, and I'll usually get a good buzz on when I do. Last time I got seriously drunk was maybe a year and a half ago at a house party 2 blocks down the street from my house. Went there (actually, walked over there) just intending to stay for an hour or so, ended up leaving 5 hours later after many different types of hard liquor drinks were imbibed. Honestly, it was kind of embarrassing, because I was mixing all of these various types of booze like I was new to drinking...and I knew better. Last drink that put me over the edge was a couple of shots of Fireball - whatever the fuck that was - I have very little memory of walking home, and ended up puking (like, puking to the point where I couldn't breathe) in the bathtub and passing out on the bathroom floor. Woke up the next afternoon and determined that was the last time I was gonna power drink like that anymore. Fuck it. I don't need the headache.
In the 1980s, in my teens, I was usually mildly stoned at shows. Or slightly drunk. Or both. Van Halen 1984 I was fairly stoned AND drunk, but not falling down or fucked up to the point where I couldn't function.