Official 4/14 Tampa Meetup/Review Thread

[vandeleur]

[neuralfraud]

Here you go! Unchained!

[So this is love]

it means you need glasses...they had it from the first show...

ooops!!

[DavidLeeNatra]

ooops!!

[VAiN]

[DavidLeeNatra]

Dave's getting back in shape again!

[SNIPER]

Dave's getting back in shape again!

Was he not in shape already ?

[Terry]

Well, the 2012 Tampa show has come and gone.

Overall, a much better experience than the 2008 show, and the difference between the shows can be summed up in three words:

Eddie Van Halen.

The four new songs played at the Tampa date were Tattoo, She's The Woman, Chinatown and The Trouble With Never. The deep classic cuts were Hear About It Later, Women In Love, Outta Love Again and Somebody Get Me A Doctor. The rest of the tunes were the same standards/CVH greatest hits played at every other date on the tour so far.

Kool and the Gang sounded like an odd choice for an opener, but I must admit they did a fine job (turns out I knew quite a few more K & the G songs than I realized). I couldn't tell you the name of a single member of the band back in the day and how many original members were playing last night. Nevertheless, the Kool Entity had a substantial portion of the crowd on their feet.

Much like the last time around, Alex Van Halen did an excellent job.

As for the rest of the group, there were differences between these past two tours...for the most part, the differences were for the better.

Wolfgang's bass was actually audible at this show (the St. Pete Times Forum, located in Tampa - don't ask - has definitely been a mixed bag for me in terms of gigs and sound quality. Thankfully, the VH show this time around sounded good). The kid has become more than a novelty and is getting the job done, both on bass and backing vocals. In point of fact, the Van Halens onstage now were positively fucking COOKING last night. They turned in a well-rehearsed display of high energy rock...to the point where during Hot For Teacher I caught myself mumbling aloud...something along the lines of "holy FUCK this sounds as good as it ever did"...

Eddie Van Halen has got his mojo working for him again. His performance last night was pretty much everything his performance last time around wasn't. The guy was just nailing it all night long. Gone were the drunken wanking noodlings during the tunes that made 2008 a mildly unpleasurable experience to listen to. His coordination, timing and precision were on-fucking-point.

As for Dave...well...it was a different kind of truth. Fact remains that he is still the only frontman for Van Halen that ever mattered. Yes, he isn't as physically capable onstage as he once was. And I really don't have a problem with that. He's still as enthusiastic as he ever was. There were more than a few asides inbetween tunes that either fell flat or didn't make much in the way of humor or sense. Not such a big deal. Roth seemed content to slide around on his center-stage dance floor and say "wooo!" a lot...that's fine (although Uncle Dave DID visibly lose his footing once while sliding around to the point where he stumbled). One trait of his that kinda got a little annoying was a frequent tendency to use his mid-range yell (think of the voice used to bark out the verses in Outta Space) and shout out lyrics, doing so in tunes that really didn't benefit from this approach. Like, Pretty Woman isn't a tune that really requires this...and was far from the only one where this vocal strategy was applied. The real shame being when Roth simply SANG the tunes (Women In Love springs to mind), he sounded just fine. In addition, Roth slipped backward into a longtime trait of mush-mouthing lyrics, skipping verses, not singing choruses; things that seemed a part of the past when considering his highly disciplined, start-to-finish excellent performances of 2007/2008.

In short, great show. Small step forward for Wolf, leaps and fucking bounds for Eddie, a slight step backward for Dave (just needs to sing the tunes rather than yell them- not trying to be a dick, but it just sounded better when he did). Overall, a vast improvement over the previous tour, particularly in keeping the solo spots brief and focused.

Worth the money. Glad I went.

[SNIPER]

This review kinda sums up the whole tour to me so far. Spot on from what I have seen so far and I am pretty sure I have seen every video from every show if it is on You Tube.

[So this is love]

Well, the 2012 Tampa show has come and gone.

Overall, a much better experience than the 2008 show, and the difference between the shows can be summed up in three words:

Eddie Van Halen.

The four new songs played at the Tampa date were Tattoo, She's The Woman, Chinatown and The Trouble With Never. The deep classic cuts were Hear About It Later, Women In Love, Outta Love Again and Somebody Get Me A Doctor. The rest of the tunes were the same standards/CVH greatest hits played at every other date on the tour so far.

Kool and the Gang sounded like an odd choice for an opener, but I must admit they did a fine job (turns out I knew quite a few more K & the G songs than I realized). I couldn't tell you the name of a single member of the band back in the day and how many original members were playing last night. Nevertheless, the Kool Entity had a substantial portion of the crowd on their feet.

Much like the last time around, Alex Van Halen did an excellent job.

As for the rest of the group, there were differences between these past two tours...for the most part, the differences were for the better.

Wolfgang's bass was actually audible at this show (the St. Pete Times Forum, located in Tampa - don't ask - has definitely been a mixed bag for me in terms of gigs and sound quality. Thankfully, the VH show this time around sounded good). The kid has become more than a novelty and is getting the job done, both on bass and backing vocals. In point of fact, the Van Halens onstage now were positively fucking COOKING last night. They turned in a well-rehearsed display of high energy rock...to the point where during Hot For Teacher I caught myself mumbling aloud...something along the lines of "holy FUCK this sounds as good as it ever did"...

Eddie Van Halen has got his mojo working for him again. His performance last night was pretty much everything his performance last time around wasn't. The guy was just nailing it all night long. Gone were the drunken wanking noodlings during the tunes that made 2008 a mildly unpleasurable experience to listen to. His coordination, timing and precision were on-fucking-point.

As for Dave...well...it was a different kind of truth. Fact remains that he is still the only frontman for Van Halen that ever mattered. Yes, he isn't as physically capable onstage as he once was. And I really don't have a problem with that. He's still as enthusiastic as he ever was. There were more than a few asides inbetween tunes that either fell flat or didn't make much in the way of humor or sense. Not such a big deal. Roth seemed content to slide around on his center-stage dance floor and say "wooo!" a lot...that's fine (although Uncle Dave DID visibly lose his footing once while sliding around to the point where he stumbled). One trait of his that kinda got a little annoying was a frequent tendency to use his mid-range yell (think of the voice used to bark out the verses in Outta Space) and shout out lyrics, doing so in tunes that really didn't benefit from this approach. Like, Pretty Woman isn't a tune that really requires this...and was far from the only one where this vocal strategy was applied. The real shame being when Roth simply SANG the tunes (Women In Love springs to mind), he sounded just fine. In addition, Roth slipped backward into a longtime trait of mush-mouthing lyrics, skipping verses, not singing choruses; things that seemed a part of the past when considering his highly disciplined, start-to-finish excellent performances of 2007/2008.

In short, great show. Small step forward for Wolf, leaps and fucking bounds for Eddie, a slight step backward for Dave (just needs to sing the tunes rather than yell them- not trying to be a dick, but it just sounded better when he did). Overall, a vast improvement over the previous tour, particularly in keeping the solo spots brief and focused.

Worth the money. Glad I went.

Eugene, I wish I could be as detailed as you are in a review the day after the show, good work.

[TJMKID]

As for Dave...well...it was a different kind of truth. Fact remains that he is still the only frontman for Van Halen that ever mattered. Yes, he isn't as physically capable onstage as he once was. And I really don't have a problem with that. He's still as enthusiastic as he ever was. There were more than a few asides inbetween tunes that either fell flat or didn't make much in the way of humor or sense. Not such a big deal. Roth seemed content to slide around on his center-stage dance floor and say "wooo!" a lot...that's fine (although Uncle Dave DID visibly lose his footing once while sliding around to the point where he stumbled). One trait of his that kinda got a little annoying was a frequent tendency to use his mid-range yell (think of the voice used to bark out the verses in Outta Space) and shout out lyrics, doing so in tunes that really didn't benefit from this approach. Like, Pretty Woman isn't a tune that really requires this...and was far from the only one where this vocal strategy was applied. The real shame being when Roth simply SANG the tunes (Women In Love springs to mind), he sounded just fine. In addition, Roth slipped backward into a longtime trait of mush-mouthing lyrics, skipping verses, not singing choruses; things that seemed a part of the past when considering his highly disciplined, start-to-finish excellent performances of 2007/2008.

I'm still perplexed what Dave is trying to accomplish vocally on some of these songs. Who is suggesting he sing in the higher register? Just makes no sense.

If he stays in his normal range ---- he fucking NAILS it ---- just like this:

[hambon4lif]

I'm still perplexed what Dave is trying to accomplish vocally on some of these songs. Who is suggesting he sing in the higher register? Just makes no sense.

If he stays in his normal range ---- he fucking NAILS it

I'm convinced that's the general opinion.
When he stays in the lower register, his voice not only has a drop-dead-cool to it, but it actually accelerates, and he's in total command. Lately, this whole thing of screaming the lyrics like he has his dick caught in a vice is really starting to irritate even his most die-hard fans. I'm lost as to what he's trying to prove...
The second I heard the intro to "Dance The Night Away" that's when I figured I'd go get a beer, 'cause I just couldn't bear to listen to the way he was going to 'sing' it.

Being one of his biggest fans....that's not an easy thing to have to admit.
Let's all hope this is just a temporary situation and he figures this out....like the headset.

[TJMKID]

I'm convinced that's the general opinion.
When he stays in the lower register, his voice not only has a drop-dead-cool to it, but it actually accelerates, and he's in total command. Lately, this whole thing of screaming the lyrics like he has his dick caught in a vice is really starting to irritate even his most die-hard fans. I'm lost as to what he's trying to prove...
The second I heard the intro to "Dance The Night Away" that's when I figured I'd go get a beer, 'cause I just couldn't bear to listen to the way he was going to 'sing' it.

Being one of his biggest fans....that's not an easy thing to have to admit.
Let's all hope this is just a temporary situation and he figures this out....like the headset.

I'm starting to think Dave is "over-analyzing" some footage from the 2007-08 tour and trying to compensate. I thought he sounded great on the 2007-08 tour, but perhaps he got a vocal coach in the last couple years who suggested "Try the higher register" and Dave is being the eager student?

Someone with some real influence (like Eddie) needs to sit Dave down and have a chat. This tour could be totally smokin' if he just stays in his comfort zone and be the frontman we all know.

[ODShowtime]

Man it's Monday morning and I'm STILL hungover.
I agree with Terry like usual. The difference tonight was Eddie. Much better than last time here in Tampa. Nice and focused. The show was quick and well paced and just kept punching you until it was over. The crowd was awesome and I only sat down twice for a quick breather during Pretty Woman and I'll Wait. No one else sat down all night except for this fat bitch in front of me that got tired and left half-way through.

Hi-lights for me were Unchained when they just appear in front of you and start the destruction. So bad-ass. So glad they opened with that instead of YRGM. Night and day difference there.

Women in Love and Outta Love were also high points for me. They both sound pretty basic but when done right they are very effective. Glad I didn't miss this because it was worth the price. Not too many more parties like this for the humans.

[fourthcoming]

I know I'm running the risk of sounding dicky, but God willing, there will be a second leg of the tour. And if there is a second leg....Van Halen....can we please lose Pretty woman, I'll Wait, China Town, Trouble With Never, and Tattoo? I have no problem with any of these tunes.....and absolutely love the new stuff also....but....Can we mix it up a little more on the second leg hopefully? Bullethead, Stay Frosty, As Is, Sinners Swing, D.O.A., In A Simple Rhyme, anything really cuz the whole catalog is brilliant......just please mix it up a little bit more. I'll shut up now.