US Festival Lost Tapes

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Not sure where this originated, but hadn't heard this before....

[VAiN]

Wow... very cool find! The audio is definitely a different source than the video.... Hmmmm.... I'd like to get the rest of the show! Thanks for sharing that!

[Jagermeister]

Hmmm. Don't think I have ever heard it either.

[Etienne]

Funny, as always, before the gig interview with DLR...

[Satan]

Sounds like a live simulcast by KMET out of Los Angeles. First time I heard that one too.

[hambon4lif]

"There are some people I'd be happy never to see back in this county again....Van Halen, for example."- San Bernardino County Sheriff Floyd Tidwell- May 1983

"I say we give Floyd Tidwell a backstage pass!"- David Lee Roth, Yankee Rose video shoot, San Bernardino, California- May 1986

[Carloscda]

What takes me out is that people complain about Dave but the interviewers always egg him on...

[High Life Man]

Old Dave is FUCKED up....I love it!

[Unchainme]

http://books.google.com/books?id=-Pz...page&q&f=false

btw..fucking amazing now hearing that Dave was that fucked up and still was able to put on a show..

[sadaist]

What takes me out is that people complain about Dave but the interviewers always egg him on...

Not only just the interviewers.

Remember in his book when talking about the 1996 MTV awards that Alex was really egging him on. Fucking Alex...what a douche that guy can be.

[hideyoursheep]

Will we as rock n roll fans ever see shows of this magnitude again? I doubt it.

That '99 Woodstock fucked it up for good I think.

[fryingdutchman]

Sounds like a live simulcast by KMET out of Los Angeles. First time I heard that one too.

Hmmmm....what gave it away? When they bumped to a commercial and their voiceover guy said "The US Festival.....on KMET"???



But seriously.....great fuckin' find VA. You da man.

[fryingdutchman]

That must have been a great fucking day.

The kind you wish you could freeze and live over and over again...

[Jagermeister]

That must have been a great fucking day.

The kind you wish you could freeze and live over and over again...

As most of us know that remains one of the best live shows we have to date and can still watch. I'ts my favorite by far of all my bootlegs.

[Carloscda]

Exactly!! Wonder if Ed said anything Al about that because in the video you can see Al laughing right along with him.

Also everyone slams Dave from that show saying how drunks he was, yea but they pulled it all together from mid point on!

[FORD]

Thing is, it wasn't just Dave who was drunk. Anyone who has watched the US Fest performance, or even if you just heard the audio from it, it's evident that all 4 of them are very intoxicated. You can hear Ed's mistakes, Al's mistakes, Mike's mistakes (on bass and on harmonies). They were all fucked up, and yet it was a great performance despite all that.

I don't think you'll ever see an "official" release of the US Festival, because it's not what commercial interests consider a good show. But for the fans who know what Van HALEN was all about, it's a fucking classic.

[Seshmeister]

Exactly!! Wonder if Ed said anything Al about that because in the video you can see Al laughing right along with him.

Also everyone slams Dave from that show saying how drunks he was, yea but they pulled it all together from mid point on!

I think maybe some coke sobered him up a bit.

[Nitro Express]

Thing is, it wasn't just Dave who was drunk. Anyone who has watched the US Fest performance, or even if you just heard the audio from it, it's evident that all 4 of them are very intoxicated. You can hear Ed's mistakes, Al's mistakes, Mike's mistakes (on bass and on harmonies). They were all fucked up, and yet it was a great performance despite all that.

I don't think you'll ever see an "official" release of the US Festival, because it's not what commercial interests consider a good show. But for the fans who know what Van HALEN was all about, it's a fucking classic.

I was at that show. After all day in the sun it got cold and Van Halen was the last show. We were pretty worn down from being there all day and they were drunk as shit. Plus, they were these little ants on the stage. The footage makes it seem better than it was. It actually was the worst VH concert for me. But then I guess I can say I was there.

VH was better to see at smaller venues with a roof. Outside the sound just goes to hell.

[chefcraig]

As most of us know that remains one of the best live shows we have to date and can still watch. I'ts my favorite by far of all my bootlegs.

That's both good and bad. What everyone seems to have forgotten over the years is that the reason most Van Halen boots (both audio and video) sound so awful is because Van Halen the band sounded so awful. Christ, it was a full on sonic attack, equal parts white noise, howling, out of control feedback and distortion. The sound pumping out of the speakers would blast over the heads of the audience, ricochet off the back wall of the concrete barn or hockey arena they were playing in and nail you square in the back of the skull 5 seconds after it initially hit you in the front of it. The drums sounded like bowling balls being chucked down a wooden staircase, and I couldn't tell you what the bass sounded like because I only heard it once out of about a half dozen shows on "So This Is Love", and barely at that.

You also have to take into account the generally crummy technology available at the time for recording a show. Outside of a handful of professionally filmed or recorded shows, you are pretty much stuck with stuff that some guy taped by sticking a Radio Shack tape recorder under his shirt and sneaking it in the building. Given all that, we really are lucky to have anything at all from the Roth era worth watching or listening to, and the only thing making the situation even shittier is the idea that Ed Van Halen may have some quality stuff from back then sitting under his bed, but refuses to release it because of his ego or personal pique at another band member.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

the only thing making the situation even shittier is the idea that Ed Van Halen may have some quality stuff from back then sitting under his bed, but refuses to release it because of his ego or personal pique at another band member.

Post of the year.....

Face it, Ed's a perfectionist.... I admire that in life itself, but not as a Van Halen fanatic...

[hambon4lif]

That must have been a great fucking day.

The kind you wish you could freeze and live over and over again...

As awesome as the whole experience was, the funniest, most rock'n'roll moment actually happened 3 years later, and the laugh was at Sheriff Tidwells expense.

After the Us Fest, Tidwell made no secret of the fact that he hated Van Halen, and was very adamant about never allowing Van Halen to set foot in San Bernardino County ever again! If you brought up the name Van Halen in front of him, he'd go off on an angry rant.
It's hard to watch Jackie Gleasons character in Smokey And The Bandit and not think of Floyd......he was that guy! Just barely smart enough to be corrupt, but overall, a bumbling jackass. A one-bullet-Barney who always had to pull his pants up every three steps, and if you asked him who Van Halen was, he'd say "that blonde loudmouth punk".

One Saturday morning in late-May of '86, we hear the local DJ announcing that "David Lee Roth is shooting a music video today at the Orange Pavillion, it's free, so if you're not doing anything today, you might want to swing by there and check it out". Me and my friends were in shock.
It's Roth, it's free, we're there!

On the way there, my friend says "I guess that idiot Floyd had a change of heart". I said "Not quite. That idiot Floyd doesn't know who Dave is".
Turns out that Floyd made the same mistake the club owners made when Van Halen was starting out, thinking Dave was 'Mr. Halen'.
The whole thing was total Rock'N'Roll. Not only was it pure genius to make your first move as a solo artist by shooting a video dead-smack in the middle of Sammy Hagars hometown (Fontana being 10 miles away), but in doing this, Roth also managed to give a rasberry and the finger to hapless Sheriff Tidwell, who unwittingly allowed the one person he hated to set up shop right there under his nose. When he finally found out a week later, he was livid. It was fucking beautiful!!

For months afterward, we all carried magic markers in our back pockets, and whenever we saw Floyds picture hanging up somewhere, we drew a VH logo right over his face.
THAT was an awesome moment in time.

ROTH'N'ROLL MUTHAFUCKAS!!!!

[DlocRoth]

Beautiful. ^

[Terry]

Thing is, it wasn't just Dave who was drunk. Anyone who has watched the US Fest performance, or even if you just heard the audio from it, it's evident that all 4 of them are very intoxicated. You can hear Ed's mistakes, Al's mistakes, Mike's mistakes (on bass and on harmonies). They were all fucked up, and yet it was a great performance despite all that.

I don't think you'll ever see an "official" release of the US Festival, because it's not what commercial interests consider a good show. But for the fans who know what Van HALEN was all about, it's a fucking classic.

ALL of the band were half in the bag by the point showtime rolled around, agreed.

[Terry]

That's both good and bad. What everyone seems to have forgotten over the years is that the reason most Van Halen boots (both audio and video) sound so awful is because Van Halen the band sounded so awful. Christ, it was a full on sonic attack, equal parts white noise, howling, out of control feedback and distortion. The sound pumping out of the speakers would blast over the heads of the audience, ricochet off the back wall of the concrete barn or hockey arena they were playing in and nail you square in the back of the skull 5 seconds after it initially hit you in the front of it. The drums sounded like bowling balls being chucked down a wooden staircase, and I couldn't tell you what the bass sounded like because I only heard it once out of about a half dozen shows on "So This Is Love", and barely at that.

You also have to take into account the generally crummy technology available at the time for recording a show. Outside of a handful of professionally filmed or recorded shows, you are pretty much stuck with stuff that some guy taped by sticking a Radio Shack tape recorder under his shirt and sneaking it in the building. Given all that, we really are lucky to have anything at all from the Roth era worth watching or listening to, and the only thing making the situation even shittier is the idea that Ed Van Halen may have some quality stuff from back then sitting under his bed, but refuses to release it because of his ego or personal pique at another band member.

From my memories of it, the 1984 show (the only CVH tour I was lucky enough to see) wasn't the best sounding show I'd ever seen...nor even necessarily the best production I'd ever seen either...although at that point it was easily one of the biggest rock productions I've ever seen in terms of indoor arenas.

[Seshmeister]

PA's have improved hugely since the 80s plus in those days only Milli Vanilli used backing tapes.

[AJW]

As most of us know that remains one of the best live shows we have to date and can still watch. I'ts my favorite by far of all my bootlegs.

Largo '82 is far better.

[AJW]

As awesome as the whole experience was, the funniest, most rock'n'roll moment actually happened 3 years later, and the laugh was at Sheriff Tidwells expense.

After the Us Fest, Tidwell made no secret of the fact that he hated Van Halen, and was very adamant about never allowing Van Halen to set foot in San Bernardino County ever again! If you brought up the name Van Halen in front of him, he'd go off on an angry rant.
It's hard to watch Jackie Gleasons character in Smokey And The Bandit and not think of Floyd......he was that guy! Just barely smart enough to be corrupt, but overall, a bumbling jackass. A one-bullet-Barney who always had to pull his pants up every three steps, and if you asked him who Van Halen was, he'd say "that blonde loudmouth punk".

One Saturday morning in late-May of '86, we hear the local DJ announcing that "David Lee Roth is shooting a music video today at the Orange Pavillion, it's free, so if you're not doing anything today, you might want to swing by there and check it out". Me and my friends were in shock.
It's Roth, it's free, we're there!

On the way there, my friend says "I guess that idiot Floyd had a change of heart". I said "Not quite. That idiot Floyd doesn't know who Dave is".
Turns out that Floyd made the same mistake the club owners made when Van Halen was starting out, thinking Dave was 'Mr. Halen'.
The whole thing was total Rock'N'Roll. Not only was it pure genius to make your first move as a solo artist by shooting a video dead-smack in the middle of Sammy Hagars hometown (Fontana being 10 miles away), but in doing this, Roth also managed to give a rasberry and the finger to hapless Sheriff Tidwell, who unwittingly allowed the one person he hated to set up shop right there under his nose. When he finally found out a week later, he was livid. It was fucking beautiful!!

For months afterward, we all carried magic markers in our back pockets, and whenever we saw Floyds picture hanging up somewhere, we drew a VH logo right over his face.
THAT was an awesome moment in time.

ROTH'N'ROLL MUTHAFUCKAS!!!!

That is so fuckin' awesome!!!!

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Largo '82 is far better.

Two completely different scenarios though....

Of course, the Largo show was pro filmed indoors in an arena, where they obviously had much less to drink....

While VH was at Camp Van Halen on a 3-day binge.....

You know what video exemplifies CVH the most IMHO ? Obviously I could say Oakland '81, but also the Detroit '84 video with the MTV winner.... You can really see how frenetic the crowd is/was back in the day....

[CROWBAR]

Largo '82 is far better.

Damn straight it is. You could also add Buenos Aires or the Sao Paulo show to the list as they kicked ass. Far, far better shows than the US Fest. I suppose that's good for nostalgia purposes though, and to be a "completest", have it in your collection.

[VAiN]

So this got me thinking (i hate it when that happens), VH went back and polished up the US Fest tracks that appeared on Showtime - what do you figure the odds are that they polished the entire show? Weren't they considering releasing it as a video, but the angles are so shitty that they put it away? I seem to recall Ed bitching about 'union camera guys'..

[VAiN]

I suppose that's good for nostalgia purposes though, and to be a "completest", have it in your collection.

A 'completest' that has all of what - maybe all 6 or 7 pro-shot CVH shows?

[CROWBAR]

A 'completest' that has all of what - maybe all 6 or 7 pro-shot CVH shows?

You can thank your hero Ed for that, yes.

and those 6 or 7 shows aren't all Pro Shot either.

[VAiN]

You can thank your hero Ed for that, yes.

and those 6 or 7 shows aren't all Pro Shot either.

OK, so now we're splitting hairs... no, Montreal 82 & 84 as well as the Vegas 84 (incomplete) aren't pro-shot. Well done, you got me. Did you think I didn't know that??

Largo 82, The 3 or 4 SA shows and the US Fest are... so there's 6 for ya.

[Jagermeister]

Damn straight it is. You could also add Buenos Aires or the Sao Paulo show to the list as they kicked ass. Far, far better shows than the US Fest. I suppose that's good for nostalgia purposes though, and to be a "completest", have it in your collection.

I disagree. I like US better than any of the other pro-shot. It's just a better show I think. Largo and Sao Paulo are great but I never get tired of watching OldNo.7.

[CROWBAR]

OK, so now we're splitting hairs... no, Montreal 82 & 84 as well as the Vegas 84 (incomplete) aren't pro-shot. Well done, you got me. Did you think I didn't know that??

Largo 82, The 3 or 4 SA shows and the US Fest are... so there's 6 for ya.

Not wanting to split hairs either BUT, the South American shows aren't pro shot to my knowledge. Well one is, because a local tv station shot that. Montreal '82? Never seen a video for that year ever. Montreal '84 is fan shot. I have that too. The US Fest was originally shown on Showtime, but only a song or two ever played if memory serves. Pro Shot most likely, but they were in such sad shape that their performance was so so at best. Urban legend has it that Dave had to be given massive amounts of coke in order to just stand up and complete the show because he had been drinking most of that day. Pretty evident too. Somewhere near the end you see a dramatic change in him.

I disagree. I like US better than any of the other pro-shot. It's just a better show I think. Largo and Sao Paulo are great but I never get tired of watching OldNo.7.

110% disagree. See above. ^

Funny thing, when they were down in South America and had yet to do the US Fest, they were kicking ass and taking names the same year. Then, when it came time to play that, they ended up celebrating too much and really didn't shine like they should have. $0.02

[Jagermeister]

Not wanting to split hairs either BUT, the South American shows aren't pro shot to my knowledge. Well one is, because a local tv station shot that. Montreal '82? Never seen a video for that year ever. Montreal '84 is fan shot. I have that too. The US Fest was originally shown on Showtime, but only a song or two ever played if memory serves. Pro Shot most likely, but they were in such sad shape that their performance was so so at best. Urban legend has it that Dave had to be given massive amounts of coke in order to just stand up and complete the show because he had been drinking most of that day. Pretty evident too. Somewhere near the end you see a dramatic change in him.



110% disagree. See above. ^

Funny thing, when they were down in South America and had yet to do the US Fest, they were kicking ass and taking names the same year. Then, when it came time to play that, they ended up celebrating too much and really didn't shine like they should have. $0.02

Sao is Pro Shot as far as I know. It's damn sure not fan shot. I stopped collecting those after the first one. I don't know what it was but it sucked ass. I saw them back in the day and I think that's why I like US. Don't get me wrong I think Largo and Sao are both good shows. I am sure I have others but those 3 (Oldno.7 Sao and Largo )are the only ones worth watching at all IMO. And honetsly we are luck to have those.

[Hardrock69]

Not only is Sao pro-shot, but Caracas, Venezuela is as well. Then there is Largo, MD, US Festival......can't think of others off the top of my head (the complete Oakland show has never been released).

[CROWBAR]

Sao is Pro Shot as far as I know. It's damn sure not fan shot. I stopped collecting those after the first one. I don't know what it was but it sucked ass. I saw them back in the day and I think that's why I like US. Don't get me wrong I think Largo and Sao are both good shows. I am sure I have others but those 3 (Oldno.7 Sao and Largo )are the only ones worth watching at all IMO. And honetsly we are luck to have those.

Sao Paulo may be pro shot. Hell it's been so long since I actually sat down and watched a VH concert because I'm totally burned out on them and all their BS. I too have seen them in their prime, and don't get me wrong either, but the US Fest is too sloppy a performance when compared to the others. I do like it for all of its flaws though. Dave sure has some funny moments in it. The band was hammered or spun, depending on which one you're talking about. Agree to disagree on which is best, deal?

Yeah, we are lucky to have what little we do. Like I've said many times before, it's just a damn shame that Ed won't release that stuff to us. He forgot where his bread is buttered.

[Jagermeister]

Sao Paulo may be pro shot. Hell it's been so long since I actually sat down and watched a VH concert because I'm totally burned out on them and all their BS. I too have seen them in their prime, and don't get me wrong either, but the US Fest is too sloppy a performance when compared to the others. I do like it for all of its flaws though. Dave sure has some funny moments in it. The band was hammered or spun, depending on which one you're talking about. Agree to disagree on which is best, deal?Yeah, we are lucky to have what little we do. Like I've said many times before, it's just a damn shame that Ed won't release that stuff to us. He forgot where his bread is buttered.

Deal. I like them all. Largo use to be my favorite I think because it was the first one I got. I got burned out on trying to download shows a long time ago though. As far as I know I have everything thats worth having.

In fact I just rememered I have a .wmv of the US fest that use to be rare. Might be abel to see it on u tube now I dunno. Showed parts of the trade show that was there with video games and shit. I need to dig that out.

[hambon4lif]

That is so fuckin' awesome!!!!

It was really cool being in the right place at the right time, and witnessing how that all went down.
I shared this story years ago at DDLR, but I think I explained more about how they put the video together, and not the whole 'outlaw element' of it all...