Could VH rock one of those Festivals like in Germany, Rio etc??

[Carloscda]

Over the weekend watching VH-1 classic they should Metallica, Maiden, KISS (who sounded terrible by way) rocking those outdoor festivals with hundreds of thousands of people.

Was thinking why hasn't VH done these in recent years, could they?!
The only crowd that size was the US FEST.

Thoughts...

[Dave's Bitch]

I can't say for sure but I don't think so in the UK.They seem to be viewed as part of the Bon Jovi hair scene by a lot of people over here.They could certainly Rock Donnington but I am not sure they would headline.

As a side if you are talking about Kiss at donnington 88 I disagree ;)

[Terry]

I'd have doubts as to Van Halen's drawing power in terms of topping the bill at a rock festival outside of the US...certainly not in Europe, at any rate.

I mean, The US Festival was one heckuva gig, but Van Halen wasn't the sole reason 250,000 or however many people showed up, and even thinking back to the late 1980s Monsters Of Rock stadium tour there were a lot of reports of problems selling those stadiums out, and this was with Metallica and...who else...wasn't Judas Priest on the bill as well?

[DLR Bridge]

Was thinking why hasn't VH done these in recent years, could they?!
The only crowd that size was the US FEST.

Thoughts...

In '96 or '00 with Dave, absolutely. Now? I'd rather they stear clear of this sort of, chaotic mess. Just hit every arena they can and let a normal sized crowd enjoy the show, whether from the front row or back of the house.

Those festivals usually involve enduring endless hours on your feet, being drunk, starving, freezing or sweating your ass off, needing to piss or shit and fighting with yourself to not pass out and have your shit (wallet) stolen. Not my bag. Never was.

[TJMKID]

VH doesnt have much drawing power in Europe --- esp. in those large festivals that Metallica plays.

From the YouTube videoes I've seen --- Van Hagar opening for Bon Jovi in '95 produced a mild reception at best --- mostly confused faces in the crowd about who was onstage!

[sadaist]

I'd have doubts as to Van Halen's drawing power in terms of topping the bill at a rock festival outside of the US...certainly not in Europe, at any rate.

I mean, The US Festival was one heckuva gig, but Van Halen wasn't the sole reason 250,000 or however many people showed up, and even thinking back to the late 1980s Monsters Of Rock stadium tour there were a lot of reports of problems selling those stadiums out, and this was with Metallica and...who else...wasn't Judas Priest on the bill as well?


Van Halen
Scorpions
Dokken
Metallica
Kingdom Come



*Metallica killed everyone. Hands down. Scorps were decent. Everyone was too burned out to enjoy dokken after the Metallica set. We needed that hour to recuperate before the Scorps came on.

[DLR Bridge]

Guys... That wasn't Van Halen.

[Carloscda]

That "should" should've been Showed excuse the typo

Also they showed KISS from 2011 at the Fest I mentioned.

[Zing!]

Van Halen
Scorpions
Dokken
Metallica
Kingdom Come



*Metallica killed everyone. Hands down. Scorps were decent. Everyone was too burned out to enjoy dokken after the Metallica set. We needed that hour to recuperate before the Scorps came on.

Agree. Not a big Metallica fan, but they destroyed everyone at the show I saw at the Metrodome. I thought Dokken was pretty good - but Scorpions killed as well - glad I got to see them. Van Haggar was a sidenote, I don't really remember much from their show. I was tired and practically deaf by that point.

[Seshmeister]

I'd have doubts as to Van Halen's drawing power in terms of topping the bill at a rock festival outside of the US...certainly not in Europe, at any rate.



It's their own fault for never touring there for years and then going AOR with Hagar.

AOR has never been very popular in Europe compared to the US.

Roth kept touring Europe solo which is probably why you have quite a few people from here posting here.

[sadaist]

Agree. Not a big Metallica fan, but they destroyed everyone at the show I saw at the Metrodome. I thought Dokken was pretty good - but Scorpions killed as well - glad I got to see them. Van Haggar was a sidenote, I don't really remember much from their show. I was tired and practically deaf by that point.


Honestly all I remember of Van Hagar was they opened with Mine All Mine and then when Sammy played Eagles Fly acoustic/solo. Was kinda impressive seeing 1 dude all alone in front of 82,000 people. He made mention that it was the largest crowd he had ever played to. LA Coliseum. But we left before VH finished. It was well over 100 degrees that day and LA is already a 2 hour drive. A full day festival & drinking on top of that in the heat....we were wiped.

The bad thing about the LA Coliseum is its a bowl. Not like many stadiums that have tiered sections. So there are no overhangs from section to section to have any shade whatsoever.


in 1996 Van Halen could have sold out every stadium across the USA. Multiple times in the biggest cities.

[fryingdutchman]

There was a ton of anticipation for VH headlining the Soundwave Revolution festival not so long ago....before the entire thing was shitcanned.

If the situation is right, I think they could still pull off a huge showing at a festival.

Look how many people wanted them to headline the Super Bowl, and that is sort of a "festival", isn't it? When you consider about 80,000 in the stands and millions more watching on TV....

[DLR Bridge]

There was a ton of anticipation for VH headlining the Soundwave Revolution festival not so long ago....before the entire thing was shitcanned.

If the situation is right, I think they could still pull off a huge showing at a festival.

You're right, I forgot about that. I'd still hate to have to make an entire day of it in somewhat exhausting conditions to get to see them. Maybe if I could knock 20 or so years off of my life, I'd give it a shot.

[ashstralia]

in hindsight, i'm glad the soundwave thing fell over. your typical soundwave punter is 13-15 with piercings, makeup, and a wardrobe consisting of entirely black. they would've struggled. maiden did well closing it a few years ago tho.

[Seshmeister]

Judging just by t-shirts Maiden always seem to be popular with kids generation after generation.

[ashstralia]

well, they are the best live band in the world. :D

[ZahZoo]

I think it all boils down to which acts get booked supporting such a festival. I don't think VH has the draw to pull a head-liner on their own in Europe... but with the right mix of bands they could be on the bill...

[VHscraps]

I agree - on the right bill they could headline and the promoters would probably be confident of selling tickets.

I think a couple of years ago the guy that was organising Download wanted VH quite badly.

They haven't sold a shitload of records here over the years, and they have neglected Europe - but in the UK, between Dave solo and VH, they actually have more gold albums than many other hard rock kinda bands of their era that we might think could pull off such a headliner gig.

A quick look in the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) website for album certifications, shows them to rank not too bad considering how much they have neglected the UK - the order is roughly according to most certifications of Platinum, then Gold, then Silver, etc:

Led Zeppelin* - 4 multi-platinum, 4 Platinum, 2 Gold, 5 Silver
* = shock discovery: Led Zep 1 has only gone silver in the UK …

Guns N' Roses - 1 multi-platinum, 3 platinum, 2 gold

Def Leppard - 1 multi-platinum, 1 platinum, 1 Gold, 4 Silver

Iron Maiden - 3 Platinum, 12 Gold, 1 silver

Aerosmith - 2 platinum, 2 gold, 4 silver

Metallica - 1 Platinum, 5 Gold, 4 Silver

AC/DC - 6 Gold, 3 silver

Deep Purple - 3 Gold, 8 Silver

Van Halen (incl. DLR solo) - 3 Gold, 6 Silver

The Clash - 3 Gold, 3 Silver

Rush - 2 Gold, 9 Silver albums

Judas Priest - 2 Silver albums

Scorpions - 2 Silver albums

Kiss - 0 anything !

[TJMKID]

AC/DC - 6 Gold, 3 silver

Deep Purple - 3 Gold, 8 Silver

Van Halen (incl. DLR solo) - 3 Gold, 6 Silver

Kiss - 0 anything !



I realize the UK only has 1/6th the population of the U.S. --- but VH and AC/DC have never had a platinum album there?

Rather shocking. Hard to believe "1984" didnt reach platinum there since it was such a hugely popular album worldwide and VH did play some big Euro festivals in '84.

How in the hell did "Back in Black" not reach platinum status? It's the biggest-selling hard rock album of all time, for piss sake.

Nice touch on the KISS albums --- justice has been served !!!


:yo:

[VHscraps]

Yeah - Back in Black, too - sold squillions everywhere else, but only certified gold in the UK.

Albums like that, and possibly '1984', given the big hit and exposure, are probably real close to platinum (which, in the UK is 300k units - Gold is 100k units)

[Dave's Bitch]

Nice touch on the KISS albums --- justice has been served !!!


:yo:

:fufu: ;)

[vandeleur]

that's totally batshit crazy ... back in black must have sold more than that ... I have owned it enough times to get it gold :biggrin:

[vandeleur]

:fufu: ;)

Hun we both know they sell more pj's than cd's :winkglasses:

[binnie]

I think it's more likely that VH will play a festival in the UK than do an arena tour (I think they'd struggle to sell tickets for multiple dates in the capacity necessary to make it worthwhile - especially if they don't do press).

The guy who promotes Donington these days - Andy Copping - is a huge CVH fan and he's been trying to get them to headline one of the days (its a 3 day festival now) for years - the problem is that they price themselves out of the market (which means that they must ask for more than Metallica or Maiden, which is crazy management.....). If Def Leppard can headline one day at Donington, then Van Halen can. But my earlier point sticks - there's no way Def Leppard could do a full arena tour in the UK now unless they had a very, very prominent 'Special Guest' act with them....

[TJMKID]

Yeah - Back in Black, too - sold squillions everywhere else, but only certified gold in the UK.

Albums like that, and possibly '1984', given the big hit and exposure, are probably real close to platinum (which, in the UK is 300k units - Gold is 100k units)


I dunno --- something still seems fishy about the official numbers --- "Back in Black" hasn't sold at least 300K units in the UK after 32 years?

"Back in Black" is certified 22 million units sold in the U.S., for crying out loud !!

Is there a secret Napster-like network operating in UK since 1980 ?? It's the only explanation that makes sense --- didnt AC/DC become popular in UK before America?

[vandeleur]

Man its a sad state of affairs that us even talking of VH playing th uk is giving me a sneaky little semi :biggrin:

[binnie]

I dunno --- something still seems fishy about the official numbers --- "Back in Black" hasn't sold at least 300K units in the UK after 32 years?

"Back in Black" is certified 22 million units sold in the U.S., for crying out loud !!

Is there a secret Napster-like network operating in UK since 1980 ?? It's the only explanation that makes sense --- didnt AC/DC become popular in UK before America?

I'd be amazed if it hasn't done 300K. I worked in a record store here for 7 years and it ticked over very nicely......

You have to remember, however, that there has never really been much of a rock radio in the UK. A healthy gig scene, but fuck all in terms of airplay.

[TJMKID]

I'd be amazed if it hasn't done 300K. I worked in a record store here for 7 years and it ticked over very nicely......

You have to remember, however, that there has never really been much of a rock radio in the UK. A healthy gig scene, but fuck all in terms of airplay.


I tend to follow my gut feeling about this --- and my gut tells me "Back in Black" sold WAY more than 300K units in the UK since 1980 !!!

I'm starting to think some hipster prick working at the BPI website hates AC/DC and is exacting some kind of revenge. It's the only logical explanation.

"Back in Black" is one of those albums EVERYONE owns --- along with "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Van Halen I". Simple as that.


:flame:

[cadaverdog]

Over the weekend watching VH-1 classic they should Metallica, Maiden, KISS (who sounded terrible by way) rocking those outdoor festivals with hundreds of thousands of people.

Was thinking why hasn't VH done these in recent years, could they?!
The only crowd that size was the US FEST.

Thoughts...
I glanced through this thread because I'm a little short on time. The numbers might have been smaller when they played the L A Coliseum in 79 but it was a large festival. Many big bands of the day were there. Van Halen relied on their music then as opposed to a show full of props and gimmicks. And kicked ass. I think their sound then was more fitting for festival shows but I'm sure they could headline another one as good or better than any other bands out there.

[Romeo Delight]

Van Halen
Scorpions
Dokken
Metallica
Kingdom Come



*Metallica killed everyone. Hands down. Scorps were decent. Everyone was too burned out to enjoy dokken after the Metallica set. We needed that hour to recuperate before the Scorps came on.

Lynch sounded better than everyone except Edward tone wise

[jhale667]

Lynch sounded better than everyone except Edward tone wise

Actually, at that point in time (or at least the Monsters gig I saw), his tone was a smidge better than Edward's.

[moose]

well, they are the best live band in the world. :D

They are pretty decent live from what I can remember
But most of the kids buy the t-shirts cause they are cool looking
Fuck I have a few myself and I have t seen Maiden live in years

[Romeo Delight]

Actually, at that point in time (or at least the Monsters gig I saw), his tone was a smidge better than Edward's.

I know...just don't want to admit it. His sound was great and at the old kingdome no less