Official 1/5 NYC Cafe Wha? Review Thread

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Welcome to the Official 1/5 NYC Cafe Wha? Meetup/Review thread. This thread to discuss anything leading up to the show, as well as all reviews.

Let's hear it !!

Well, won't be any "meetups". This won't be very big, but I know of two members going tonight, so here we go....

[DLR Bridge]

Uhh...1/5?

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Just keeping you guys on your toes...

[VHscraps]

OK, I am a liar. I'm not really going. Damn, why can't I be there. I am in goddam England ...

But, leading up to the show ... I've been on my virtual armchair travels. Looking at the google maps interior of the club at VHND, I am insanely jealous of anyone getting to see the band there. Talk about close-up and personal ... and a look at the historical photo section on the Cafe Wha? website threw up this photo below, which suggests that Uncle Manny also owned the Cock 'n ' Bull, a bar / club next door to the Wha?



It's only Roth'n 'Roll ... but I love it.

[chefcraig]

Closing until the show actually happens. You can't really review something that hasn't occurred, ya know?

[POJO_Risin]

Yeah...WARF's review really needs to be th first post anyways...we'll reboot it it tonight...

[WARF]

Does anyone know who's playing at this dive?

[POJO_Risin]

Rumor has it that Ralph Saenz is set to showcase his new band...

Bat Palade...

[GreenEyedMurder]

Set list:

You Really Got Me
Runnin' With The Devil
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
Everybody Wants Some!!
She's The Woman <-- NEW SONG (I should have video up tonight or tomorrow - can't remember if I sent it to Va, since this was in the basement and I had no cell signal much of the time and just kept randomly trying to send stuff)
Dance The Night Away
Panama
Hot For Teacher
Ice Cream Man
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
Encore:
Jump


They were tight, enthusiastic and just sounded great. The show lasted over an hour.

[Roth & Roll]

Must have been surreal - is this the same "She's the Woman" that was on the 1977 demos, or is this totally different?

Thanks for keeping us updated, and looking forward to the video!

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Just waiting for the two reviews now...

[Full Bug]

Did they ever play She's The Women live, even in the club days? Besides the demo's I honestly cannot remember hearing them do it....

[Polk High]

i thought she's the woman was on Zero (or whatever that disc was w/ simmons) Question is does MA get a songwriting credit?

[GreenEyedMurder]

Must have been surreal - is this the same "She's the Woman" that was on the 1977 demos, or is this totally different?

Thanks for keeping us updated, and looking forward to the video!

It seems to be the same. I'll have to fire up iTunes (while I write my articles) and listen, but I think it is.
I am in the process of sending a video of almost the entire song to Va, but it's taking forever to upload it into the email (I'm also sending a bunch of pics, which are also taking a long time to upload). In the meantime, I made a *private* link on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4pJ8ZVxZus Please don't post this elsewhere or pass it around too much. Thanks!

Also, a bit of trivia: In the promo video for the tour (the one which shows the band in a new video, but plays clips of "1984" hits), the woman with the camera is Dana, their official photographer. I stood right next to her (directly in front of the stage) the entire time. Incredibly sweet, fun, great sense of humor. I met someone else who works for/with them, and I have to say that they surround themselves with awesome people.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

First media review is up...

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/van-halen-new-york-concert-review/

VAN HALEN DEBUTS NEW SONG ‘SHE’S THE WOMAN’ AT INTIMATE NEW YORK CITY CONCERT
by: Matthew Wilkening 11 minutes ago

Ultimate Classic Rock

Van Halen re-emerged from a long hiatus with a short, sweaty and generally fantastic concert at a small club in New York City tonight (Jan. 5). They also premiered a brand-new and extremely catchy song, ‘She’s the Woman,’ halfway through their set.

Frontman David Lee Roth was charmingly nervous and excited throughout the show at the tiny Cafe Wha?, which used to be owned by his now 92-year-old Uncle Manny. After blistering set-opening performances of ‘You Really Got Me’ and ‘Runnin’ with the Devil,’ he launched into a winding, directionless story about being a paramedic in New York and sharing half a cupcake with some family on New Year’s Eve. This eventually prompted both Wolfgang and Eddie Van Halen to musically nudge him into the next song, ‘Somebody Get Me a Doctor.’ Which smoked.

After a typically but never boringly dynamic ‘Everybody Wants Some’ came the real moment of truth for the evening – Van Halen debuted a previously unreleased song. It was called ‘She’s the Woman,’ it apparently dates back to the band’s ’70s demos, and.. it was really good at the very least. We’ll reserve judgement because the proximity to our childhood heroes and the open bar and the excitement of the moment probably left us biased. But there’s no way on earth it sucked and while it was playing we could not possibly have been happier.

After that, things got even more up close and personal, with Roth mashing up classic rock heroes by performing a bit of ‘Stairway to Heaven’ as he imagined Jim Morrison would sing it during ‘Dance the Night Away,’ recounting his own personal history with the venue during the opening of ‘Ice Cream Man,’ and urging the crowd to pretend the band left and returned from the confined, tiny stage before the inevitable set closer ‘Jump.’

If you’re looking for someone to say this was anything less than the best place on the entire planet Earth to be this evening, you might wanna fish in some other pond.