REPORT: =vh = to headline australian festival april 20-21

[Northern Girl]

This guy needs to post more vids...nice up close! It says Colin Hay posted. That name sounds familiar.

[vandeleur]

Yeah he is the oz singer from men at work lol

[Northern Girl]

Bit of RWTD...

[fraroc]

You're blaming that on the audience ??

Van Halen phoned it in and the audience could feel it...

Don't blame that on the audience...

They are standing in the fucking rain after paying good money waiting to be wooed by the mighty Van Halen and that obviously didn't happen...

EVH from the get go gave the impression he'd rather be doing something else...

That combined with Wolf's droning distorted bass and Dave just getting by, it was lackluster and the audience show it...

On top of all that , it was a bad idea following Aerosmith...

[Coyote]

Listen to that fuckin' crowd...

[Poison99]

Couple more -- am flying back from Sydney tomorrow so can upload the rest then

[Girth]

Just a little bit from a review in the Sydney Morning Herald....

A roar of cheers greets the “demon of screaming” Stephen Tyler and his “toxic twin”, guitarist Joe Perry. Both wear muscle tees, capes and man-jewellery, even though musically Aerosmith are more influenced by southern rock than Sunset Strip glam. They play all the hits (bar Janie’s Got A Gun), closing with Tyler seated at a white baby grand for ballad Dream On.

Roadies swarm the stage to erect a wall of 5150s – Eddie Van Halen’s signature amps – and to paste down a dance floor for David Lee Roth.

Kicking off with Unchained, Van Halen tear through a flawless set of high-spirited, bratty, thrashy glam, with evergreen 1984 classic, Hot For Teacher, the undeniable highlight. Chewing gum and grinning widely, “Diamond Dave” personifies good times, and Eddie’s showy – yet still staggering – solos disappoint no-one.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/...#ixzz2R6cBmBbW

She seemed to like it...

Girth

[Halen High]

I’ve been waiting since 1981 to experience a David Lee Roth-fronted Van Halen show. On Saturday April 20, 2013, it finally happened.

After flying into Sydney on Friday morning, we got on the train and made our way out to Olympic Park, and checked into our room across the road from the Olympic Stadium.

About 6pm I heard a familiar sound through the window of our room on the sixth floor. “Is that Alex Van Halen?” We went downstairs, ran across the road and joined a small group of young lads standing beside one of the main stadium entrances. For the next 90 minutes in the quiet, still night air, we listened to Eddie, Alex and Wolfie going through their sound check. We heard the entire set-list for the next day and although we were standing behind the tall, thick concrete walls outside this vast stadium, unable to see the stage, they were LOUD!

After a windy and wet start to Saturday, the weather fined up again and we made our way to the cavernous stadium for the Stone Music Festival. The various support acts took their turns, with a blistering set from the impressive Kings of Chaos super group being the standout. The crowd loved their GNR, Def Lep, Skid Row and Deep Purple covers and they promised to return for a national tour. Eventually Aerosmith hit the spotlight. The ballads flowed and although they gave a solid tight performance, I had the impression that they weren’t too thrilled to be reduced to opening for Van Halen. When they finally departed the stage, it seemed like an eternal wait for the Mighty Van Halen – with a few frustrated people calling out for the roadies to “get on with it”.

The crowd in front of the stage bunched up close for the main event and as you can imagine after all these decades, there was an incredible sense of anticipation. I was standing about 4-5m from the right hand side of the stage when Dave, Eddie, Alex and Wolfie emerged wearing matching outfits of white shirts, black pants and black vests (I’m not aware of them wearing matching outfits before?) It was about 9.50pm - 40 minutes after schedule due to the previous acts - and from the start the three original members looked pumped to be back on stage. That’s not to say Wolfie wasn’t equally excited, it’s just that he appears to be understandably more reserved and focused than his legendary band mates.

The band opened with Unchained and played a set-list that was true to the 2012 North American tour – Runnin’ With The Devil, Romeo Delight, Everybody Wants Some, You Really Got Me, Dance The Night Away, Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love, Panama, Pretty Woman and Hot For Teacher, which featured many improvised lyrics. Actually, the whole band was in the mood to wing it a bit and the crowd, which sang along throughout, lapped up the loose feel of the show. I’ll Wait was an interesting addition and I was surprised at how enthusiastically it was received by the crowd. Beautiful Girls was also a crowd favourite. This was a hardcore Halen crowd – most of these songs are rarely, if ever, played on our radio yet everyone knew the words. And there were a lot of young people – 20-25 year-olds – among the crowd singing along.

People were thrilled to finally see Dave. He was so energetic; he worked the crowd and was obviously having a great time.

As for ADKOT, they played a crunchy, heavier version of Tattoo, as well as She’s The Woman and China Town. Unfortunately, Dave’s vocals were lost in the mix for much of China Town with Wolfie’s bass turned up too high. After the show, I was talking with some other fans who also thought Wolfie’s bass was too high. And I’m not sure if it was the bass or something else, but some of Eddie’s notes also seemed to go ‘missing’ a couple of times. Not a big deal - this is probably due to the fact they haven’t played for so long and they need to iron out a few technical issues.

Prior to the show, there was a lot of talk among the crowd about how awesome ADKOT is, and many people called for Stay Frosty when Dave began his acoustic solo, which was followed by Ice Cream Man.

There was a lot of interaction between Dave and Eddie in particular, but also Dave and Alex. During the breakdown in one of Eddie’s solos, Dave gave him a mischievous look and Eddie looked back at him and mouthed, “No”, with a huge smile on his face. Not sure what that meant, but they both clearly enjoyed what must have been a ‘private joke’. Later, Dave was bent over Eddie’s guitar during a solo, his right hand imitating Eddie’s. Dave then clearly gestured towards someone hidden from view to “turn Eddie’s guitar it up”. Dave didn’t look happy with whoever he was gesturing at, but it was only a brief moment and he then turned away and got on with the show.

Dave also approached Alex numerous times who responded with either a smile or laughter. Speaking of Alex, the Spanish-sounding music added to his solo was really cool. Alex also seemed to be moving more freely than what I’ve seen on recent live footage.

Chants of “Eddie, Eddie, Eddie” broke out numerous times and his solo was greeted with a loud roar. He looked and sounded like the Eddie of the CVH era – smiling yet menacing, fit, tanned, happy and ‘in the zone’.

They finished with Jump followed by a spectacular shower of confetti. The crowd called for more, but they were gone. Despite it being one of the most poorly organised gigs I’ve ever experienced, it turned out to be the most memorable. I guess that’s the unpredictable nature of rock n’ roll.

Van Halen with Dave...it felt surreal. It still does.

[Northern Girl]

Excellent review Halen High. Nice to finally get some details from someone who was there!

So happy you had such a great experience!

[jhale667]

Sounds like the real fans in attendance loved it. That's what matters in the end.

[Fairwrning]

I think the setlist is fine...yes it could be mixed up a bit, but at least its not the same as 2004!!! Dave or the Grave.

[Northern Girl]

Colin comes thru for me...LOL

[Northern Girl]

DTNA...

[Northern Girl]

HFT and Beautiful Girls!

[sadaist]

Excellent review Halen High.

So happy you had such a great experience!

Yea bro. Ditto. Rewatch the videos & those goosebumps & welling up with tears of joy.....that shit doesn't go away. Religious experience VH style! So glad you got there & enjoyed it.