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As I mentioned a few days ago, 2012 was an amazing fucking year for us here at the Roth Army, arguably the best in our 13 year history....
The release of ADKOT in February was topped off by an outstanding tour...
Who knows what 2013 will bring, but let's look back at the tour, give some well-earned praise, while also providing some constructive criticism towards the future.....
These are in no particular order, feel free to add more of your own, I'm sure I forgot some more....
THE GOOD
1. Camera/Video policy - DDE informed us right off the bat that the band had absolutely no problem with fans bringing in cameras and/or video taping the shows.... They realized that for the most part, it's very hard to stop shows being taped nowadays, and while at times it's very annoying if people in front of you constantly have their phones up, it resulted in a numerous great video clips.....
2. New Old Songs on Setlist - What a refreshing change it was to hear classic songs that hadn't been played live by the band in 30 years, such as Hear About it Later, Girl Gone Bad, Outta Love Again, Hang 'Em High, and a few more....
3. Ed - What more can you say about this guy.... EVH was simply outstanding on the tour... He was so sharp, his playing so intricate, it was great to see... The only criticism that I could give Ed is that his guitar solo, for the most part, hasn't changed in 30 years....
4. Wolf - Gotsta give this young man his props.... He's become a legitimate bass player, and more than holds his own with the background vocals.... Is he Michael Anthony with the vocals? No, but in the same respect, he's not chop liver either. It was also good to see WVH loosen up onstage, not only alongside his father, but with DLR as well...
THE NOT SO GOOD
1. No Meet & Greet - This is nothing new. The prices for some of the VIP packages exceeded $1000 and still did not include a meet & greet with the band. For some fans, the VIP experience (backstage tour, food/drink, band trinkets, etc.) is sufficient enough even without meeting the band. I can respect that. But don't include me in that group, that's why I didn't purchase a VIP package, and won't in the future without a meet & greet.
2. The Stage - Bare Bones, putting it politely... Of course, it's been said that a band as legendary as Van Halen no longer NEEDS a costly 1984'ish stage show anymore... While that is true overall, it would have been nice to spice it up just a little bit... For the first few shows of the tour, they had a hockey stick'ish looking catwalk, but the only person that used it was Dave, and even he only used maybe once a show before it was removed from the stage....
3. The Intro - Van Halen has been arguably the best band ever in terms of how they opened a show. The intro to the 1984 show in Montreal gives the best example.... Even during the '07-'08 tour, with the spotlights around the crowd with the stage dark, it was pretty damn good.... But for whatever reason, the band decided to simply walk on stage this time around... I don't want to use the word disappointing, but I guess it's the best adjective to describe it....
4. The Headset - Talk about an uproar. Evoking comparisons to Justin Bieber, Dave used a headset for the first handful of tour dates, and it didn't go over well at all with the fanbase. Not to mention that he regularly had technical issues with it, which resulted in its demise.....
5. The "Encore" - I used quotes, because it really wasn't an encore. The band remained onstage, Dave called it an encore, and that was that. Perhaps in retrospect it's merely a formality for the band to go offstage, towel off, grab a quick drink, and then go back onstage a couple minutes later for the encore, but that's how it's supposed to work....
6. The Dance Floor - With the complete understanding that Dave is no longer 28 but rather 58 years old, I also agree with many here that his showmanship onstage has morphed into a combination of Fred Astaire and Judy Garland, hence the dance floor at center stage. Those that are expecting DLR to jump off the drum risers nowadays are sadly living in the past, but at the same time, watching Dave slide around on the dance floor is, how should I put it, interesting....
7. Dave's Vocals - Saved this one for last, and I have to tread on this one respectfully and lightly. Overall, Dave did a good job with his vocals, but there were numerous times throughout the shows that he unnecessarily went up one octave on the register, and it really made it sound much worse. I watch those videos over and over, and for the life of me I just can't understand why he continued to do it... I'm no singer, but wouldn't singing at a higher octave be WORSE for your voice if you're having problems hitting the notes? Also, I wanted to mention that he had issues keeping up with the faster tempos of the new songs....
That's about it... As I said, feel free to add your own....
The release of ADKOT in February was topped off by an outstanding tour...
Who knows what 2013 will bring, but let's look back at the tour, give some well-earned praise, while also providing some constructive criticism towards the future.....
These are in no particular order, feel free to add more of your own, I'm sure I forgot some more....
THE GOOD
1. Camera/Video policy - DDE informed us right off the bat that the band had absolutely no problem with fans bringing in cameras and/or video taping the shows.... They realized that for the most part, it's very hard to stop shows being taped nowadays, and while at times it's very annoying if people in front of you constantly have their phones up, it resulted in a numerous great video clips.....
2. New Old Songs on Setlist - What a refreshing change it was to hear classic songs that hadn't been played live by the band in 30 years, such as Hear About it Later, Girl Gone Bad, Outta Love Again, Hang 'Em High, and a few more....
3. Ed - What more can you say about this guy.... EVH was simply outstanding on the tour... He was so sharp, his playing so intricate, it was great to see... The only criticism that I could give Ed is that his guitar solo, for the most part, hasn't changed in 30 years....
4. Wolf - Gotsta give this young man his props.... He's become a legitimate bass player, and more than holds his own with the background vocals.... Is he Michael Anthony with the vocals? No, but in the same respect, he's not chop liver either. It was also good to see WVH loosen up onstage, not only alongside his father, but with DLR as well...
THE NOT SO GOOD
1. No Meet & Greet - This is nothing new. The prices for some of the VIP packages exceeded $1000 and still did not include a meet & greet with the band. For some fans, the VIP experience (backstage tour, food/drink, band trinkets, etc.) is sufficient enough even without meeting the band. I can respect that. But don't include me in that group, that's why I didn't purchase a VIP package, and won't in the future without a meet & greet.
2. The Stage - Bare Bones, putting it politely... Of course, it's been said that a band as legendary as Van Halen no longer NEEDS a costly 1984'ish stage show anymore... While that is true overall, it would have been nice to spice it up just a little bit... For the first few shows of the tour, they had a hockey stick'ish looking catwalk, but the only person that used it was Dave, and even he only used maybe once a show before it was removed from the stage....
3. The Intro - Van Halen has been arguably the best band ever in terms of how they opened a show. The intro to the 1984 show in Montreal gives the best example.... Even during the '07-'08 tour, with the spotlights around the crowd with the stage dark, it was pretty damn good.... But for whatever reason, the band decided to simply walk on stage this time around... I don't want to use the word disappointing, but I guess it's the best adjective to describe it....
4. The Headset - Talk about an uproar. Evoking comparisons to Justin Bieber, Dave used a headset for the first handful of tour dates, and it didn't go over well at all with the fanbase. Not to mention that he regularly had technical issues with it, which resulted in its demise.....
5. The "Encore" - I used quotes, because it really wasn't an encore. The band remained onstage, Dave called it an encore, and that was that. Perhaps in retrospect it's merely a formality for the band to go offstage, towel off, grab a quick drink, and then go back onstage a couple minutes later for the encore, but that's how it's supposed to work....
6. The Dance Floor - With the complete understanding that Dave is no longer 28 but rather 58 years old, I also agree with many here that his showmanship onstage has morphed into a combination of Fred Astaire and Judy Garland, hence the dance floor at center stage. Those that are expecting DLR to jump off the drum risers nowadays are sadly living in the past, but at the same time, watching Dave slide around on the dance floor is, how should I put it, interesting....
7. Dave's Vocals - Saved this one for last, and I have to tread on this one respectfully and lightly. Overall, Dave did a good job with his vocals, but there were numerous times throughout the shows that he unnecessarily went up one octave on the register, and it really made it sound much worse. I watch those videos over and over, and for the life of me I just can't understand why he continued to do it... I'm no singer, but wouldn't singing at a higher octave be WORSE for your voice if you're having problems hitting the notes? Also, I wanted to mention that he had issues keeping up with the faster tempos of the new songs....
That's about it... As I said, feel free to add your own....
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