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starting, the end is near my friends!!!
Posted on Sat, Jul. 03, 2004
Van Halen looks bit rusty
Band does play songs of Roth era, but Hagar doesn't seem happy
``Are we having fun yet?!''
That was the question Sammy Hagar, once again the lead singer of Van Halen, asked the large and loud crowd Friday night at Gund Arena.
The answer seemed to be yes as fans -- a mix of mullets, yuppies, longtime fans and a few youngsters -- welcomed Van Halen back to active duty.
Appropriately, the show began with a classic squeal from Eddie Van Halen's guitar, followed by a huge drum roll from brother Alex and another squeal from the Hagar voice box. The band has been inactive since the failure of the Gary Cherone experiment in 1998, Eddie's bout with tongue cancer (which apparently didn't scare him enough to quit smoking), and Eddie's divorce from actress Valerie Bertinelli. Hagar, meanwhile, returned to his solo career and embarked on an ill-fated tour with original VH singer David Lee Roth.
Since the re-formation and tour announcement, VH members have talked about the happy vibes, and Hagar promised that his long-standing aversion to playing material from the Roth era was over. That claim appeared true, as the band opened its two-hour set with a version of Jump that was marred by the terrible mix that made the drums and guitar sound as if the amps were in a high school bathroom stall. By the third song, Human Being, from the Twister soundtrack, the sound was better, just in time for one of the band's new songs, Up For Breakfast, an unexciting midtempo grinder.
Hagar soldiered through an otherwise blazing Unchained, but bassist Michael Anthony sang Van Halen II's Somebody Get Me A Doctor, and Hagar didn't appear to particularly enjoy singing Ain't Talkin' Bout Love or Panama, repeatedly shoving the mic into Anthony's face, forcing him to sing the verses of the latter.
Eddie Van Halen, who has been relatively incognito since the turn of the century, pulled out all the usual tricks. His 15-minute solo spot consisted of bursts of guitar acrobatics that included bits from his guitar manifesto Eruption as well as Cathedral, the intro to Mean Streets.
The band members, all older than 50 except for Eddie (49), play with energy and drive, but seemed a bit rusty, occasionally missing cues and flubbing some of the trickier parts of songs such as the sing-along Why Can't This Be Love and Poundcake.
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starting, the end is near my friends!!!
Posted on Sat, Jul. 03, 2004
Van Halen looks bit rusty
Band does play songs of Roth era, but Hagar doesn't seem happy
``Are we having fun yet?!''
That was the question Sammy Hagar, once again the lead singer of Van Halen, asked the large and loud crowd Friday night at Gund Arena.
The answer seemed to be yes as fans -- a mix of mullets, yuppies, longtime fans and a few youngsters -- welcomed Van Halen back to active duty.
Appropriately, the show began with a classic squeal from Eddie Van Halen's guitar, followed by a huge drum roll from brother Alex and another squeal from the Hagar voice box. The band has been inactive since the failure of the Gary Cherone experiment in 1998, Eddie's bout with tongue cancer (which apparently didn't scare him enough to quit smoking), and Eddie's divorce from actress Valerie Bertinelli. Hagar, meanwhile, returned to his solo career and embarked on an ill-fated tour with original VH singer David Lee Roth.
Since the re-formation and tour announcement, VH members have talked about the happy vibes, and Hagar promised that his long-standing aversion to playing material from the Roth era was over. That claim appeared true, as the band opened its two-hour set with a version of Jump that was marred by the terrible mix that made the drums and guitar sound as if the amps were in a high school bathroom stall. By the third song, Human Being, from the Twister soundtrack, the sound was better, just in time for one of the band's new songs, Up For Breakfast, an unexciting midtempo grinder.
Hagar soldiered through an otherwise blazing Unchained, but bassist Michael Anthony sang Van Halen II's Somebody Get Me A Doctor, and Hagar didn't appear to particularly enjoy singing Ain't Talkin' Bout Love or Panama, repeatedly shoving the mic into Anthony's face, forcing him to sing the verses of the latter.
Eddie Van Halen, who has been relatively incognito since the turn of the century, pulled out all the usual tricks. His 15-minute solo spot consisted of bursts of guitar acrobatics that included bits from his guitar manifesto Eruption as well as Cathedral, the intro to Mean Streets.
The band members, all older than 50 except for Eddie (49), play with energy and drive, but seemed a bit rusty, occasionally missing cues and flubbing some of the trickier parts of songs such as the sing-along Why Can't This Be Love and Poundcake.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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