MA Reveals When He First 'Came To The Conclusion' That DLR Was 'Bipolar'

[Nitro Express]

Well I got pummeled by the VH steam roller when it was a shockwave of sonic glory. Dave could scream his ass off in those days.

[Nickdfresh]

VH was the best live in 1980. They were still hungry and had been doing it long enough to really have it down.

A poster on a Roth video on YT claimed he's seen a proshot WACF (husbands and boyfriends last) video from Largo that exists....

[Von Halen]

A poster on a Roth video on YT claimed he's seen a proshot WACF (husbands and boyfriends last) video from Largo that exists....

You don't have the Largo bootleg? It's the same as the US Festival and the South America shows. Obviously "Pro Shot", but not first generation copies.

[Von Halen]

VH was the best live in 1980.

This is a tough one for me. The 1980 Invasion tour was a KILLER fucking show. It very well could have been their best. 1984 was my least favorite. Too much pomp and circumstance. The flow seemed interrupted too much by costume changes and other stuff. It doesn't come off as bad watching the Montreal bootleg, as it did in person though. Maybe the security guy fucking with me about taking my pictures had something to do with it too.

[Von Halen]

WTF, I don't remember anticipating any Van Halen concerts saying, hey, I can't wait to hear MA's back vocals, MA was an important part of VH but if he were that important than his band with Hagar would have sold arenas and stadiums. So fuck him, bass players are replaceable anyways.

Van Halen has always been DLR and EVH... the rest the band were cosmetics.

I remember anticipating Van Halen concerts for the background vocals. To me, they were all 4 an integral part of the sound and the show. The magic. The chemistry. The fury. The visual. The sound. It was all very important to me at that time.

One must remember, in 2007 Mike's background vocals were piped in on that "reunion" tour. As some around here may remember, I was a guest of Doug's, the sound guy, at a soundcheck in 2007. I asked the question directly. They actually used tapes in the early stages and then dialed them back as the tour went on. I think Wolfgang eventually did stellar job on the background vocals, but it still wasn't MA. Wolf sang lead on every song at the soundcheck and they soundchecked every song on the setlist in its entirety. I actually saw two full VH shows that day. One at 50% VH and one at 75% VH. Or maybe it was 125% since Mike was piped in!

[Terry]

You don't have the Largo bootleg? It's the same as the US Festival and the South America shows. Obviously "Pro Shot", but not first generation copies.

There's a well circulated Largo bootleg from the Diver Down/Hide Your Sheep 1982 tour which was pro-shot and has basically the same setlist as the 1983 South American shows and US Fest. Hadn't heard of a pro-shot show from the WACF tour.

[So this is love]

Let me put it another way, MA has to be one of the luckiest men to walk this earth, riding the coattails of EVH and DLR from the beginning of VH... I am certainly not saying that he did not have a little talent but the guy was at the right place at the right time.

[Nickdfresh]

You don't have the Largo bootleg? It's the same as the US Festival and the South America shows. Obviously "Pro Shot", but not first generation copies.

I do, but that was Diver Down. This has to be 80' or so, IDK if they hockey cameraman just turned on the cams and operated them for VH or if this was a meant to be a release of some sort but that's too early for a VHS...

[Nickdfresh]

There's a well circulated Largo bootleg from the Diver Down/Hide Your Sheep 1982 tour which was pro-shot and has basically the same setlist as the 1983 South American shows and US Fest. Hadn't heard of a pro-shot show from the WACF tour.

I'll see if I can hunt down the comment...

There was also a rumor that they shot the 1984 show at the Aud in Buffalo using Sabres camera equipment and staff, but never found or heard anything more. I used to know one of the old directors who also directed Hockey Night in Canada telecasts. He didn't know anything about it...

[Nickdfresh]

Is there video footage to this?

[Nitro Express]

This is a tough one for me. The 1980 Invasion tour was a KILLER fucking show. It very well could have been their best. 1984 was my least favorite. Too much pomp and circumstance. The flow seemed interrupted too much by costume changes and other stuff. It doesn't come off as bad watching the Montreal bootleg, as it did in person though. Maybe the security guy fucking with me about taking my pictures had something to do with it too.

The 84 shows which I saw three of them did not have the band cohesion. Everyone was off in their own little world. Eddie didn’t have the excitement he had in 80. In the Boise show Dave came over to Ed and Ed went up on the catwalk to avoid Dave. Now it still was great, but there was some bad energy that wasn’t there in 80. VH was a team in 80.

[Nitro Express]

I agree. 84 was not as good but then I saw a OU812 show with Sam and saw a whole lower level of suck. I walked out feeling I needed a long shower to get the gay mojo off of me.

[Heater]

I agree. 84 was not as good but then I saw a OU812 show with Sam and saw a whole lower level of suck. I walked out feeling I needed a long shower to get the gay mojo off of me.

I saw them on their final tour in Camden, the “Philly” area show. I got 2nd row seats day of show, was cool being 5 feet away from them. But I gotta tell you, they were all in their own worlds, very little interaction between them went on. Just dialed in and going thru the motions, they played well, Ed was killing it but half the night he was staring off and looked disengaged, his autopilot was locked in though. Dave had a couple of tantrums that felt scripted. All in all a good night, a bit perfunctory, but a good night.

[Nitro Express]

I saw them on their final tour in Camden, the “Philly” area show. I got 2nd row seats day of show, was cool being 5 feet away from them. But I gotta tell you, they were all in their own worlds, very little interaction between them went on. Just dialed in and going thru the motions, they played well, Ed was killing it but half the night he was staring off and looked disengaged, his autopilot was locked in though. Dave had a couple of tantrums that felt scripted. All in all a good night, a bit perfunctory, but a good night.

Yup. Eddie basically strolled around and played in 84. In 80 he had the excitement of a kid on Christmas morning seeing what Santa brought. That excitement was gone in 84. Ed would go up the riser and play by Al a lot.

[ZahZoo]

Y'all minimize Michael Anthony's contributions to Van Halen's musical greatness, both from a compositional and performance perspective. But you are overlooking a key point... Van Halen was a power trio with a singer added. Without the bass and to a similar degree in backing vocals Van Halen wouldn't work... at all.

Look at some of the most notable power trio's in the history of rock... Hendrix with Noel Redding and later, even better, Billy Cox. SRV with Tommy Shannon. Cream era Clapton with Ginger Baker. Robin Trower with James Dewar. Toni Iommi with Geezer Butler. Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee.

None of those guitar greats and their famous bands would have achieved their success without the great bass players holding down the rhythm section. Three legged stools fall down without all 3 legs... Van Halen without Mike is NO different...