This Fuckin' Kid

[Terry]

I'm thinking I should lighten up even as I'm typing this but the thing about the difficulty is it feels like it's kind of mocking the audience because after playing guitar professionally in a rock band for over 30 years if Dave Grohl can't play that tapping bit already I'm sure he could after spending an afternoon practicing it.

Ok I'm maybe overthinking a joke and a self effacing one at that...

I didn't get the feeling that it was a pisstake or tongue in cheek or whatever on the part of Grohl or the band toward Eddie Van Halen or Eruption as a hallmark of rock guitar...I mean, that's not the vibe I got from watching the clip. I'm not even a particular fan of Grohl or the Foo Fighters but even so I'd have a hard time believing Grohl would be cynical toward his concert audience...like, to me Grohl comes off like one of those rock stars who actually still believes in "the power of rock and roll, man!"

Then again, if somebody posted a clip taken surreptitiously of Grohl backstage after a show where Grohl was sincerely saying "well, there's another show played and a big pile of money scooped up from my idiot audience" I can't say it'd be all THAT surprising, either.

Maybe ALL of this stuff is being overthought on this thread.

How many times have a I read posts here where various posters point out we have probably spent more time on this site thinking about the band Van Halen than the people who were actually in the band?

[Silexxx]

Wolfie playing Loss Of Control.

[Jérôme Frenchise]

Wolfie playing Loss Of Control.

A fairly good rendition.

[Terry]

Wolfie playing Loss Of Control.

It's okay...no more, no less.

I dunno, Ed's kid jumping onstage and playing a Van Halen tune - with whoever, be it Foo Fighters or whichever band - I mean, I've seen clips from him doing it at 4 or so concerts now...it's...nice, I guess? Nice for him? Nice for whoever was there and likes it? Um... I'm guessing/supposing better that than whatever Hagar's upcoming tour will do, but that's not really saying much. I get zero sense when Ed's kid plays CVH tunes live that he's any better than thousands of youtubers I've heard doing it, or that it's more authentic by virtue of him being Ed's kid.

Ed's kid sort of rubs me the wrong way, and mostly with what has happened since Ed passed. Just all the social media posts/twitter spats/interview comments. Like, didn't Ed's kid say a couple years ago in reference supposedly to all the people who were asking him if he would that he specifically wasn't going to play Van Halen songs live? And Ed's kid with his vague comments in interviews where he infers but never flat-out names Dave as a source of friction for whatever. It's like, man up, don't be a coward by claiming you're taking the high road while simultaneously implying Dave was a problem to work with. Either call Roth out by name or don't.

But I guess it really doesn't matter. The same reaction when I saw clips of Dave opening for KISS in 2020 doing a CVH-heavy set (and that was before Ed had even passed on), in that Van Halen as a band is over. We got what we got post-1984 in terms of a reunion, and th-th-the-th-th-the- that's all, folks.

Truth be told, I find it difficult these days to even muster up enough energy to get as perturbed over what Wolfgang is saying or doing as I have, or even what Hagar is saying or doing. It'd be different if Ed were still alive and healthy. It was different when the CVH lineup were all still alive and healthy. Like, why is Anthony diddling around with Hagar when he should be playing with Dave, Ed and Al? Why is Wolfgang in the band when Anthony should be there? Why can't the CVH lineup just get together and give me the Van Halen reunion I want?

Then, a couple years ago, it wasn't the case of the realization finally hitting me so much as me finally accepting it: the Van Halen that meant so much to me ended in 1985.

[Seshmeister]

Mike Patton is 56 so only a couple of years younger than Dave was when he was recording/touring ADKOT.

[Kristy]

F A T twat loves Blink 182. Just speaks for itself

[Von Halen]

Well Terry, I can get perturbed over this fat fucking Valerie Jr! He angers me every bit as much as Clichegar, if not more. At least Clichegar would be releasing the old live shows and vault material. Hell, I bet he’d be smart enough to release both eras of that stuff. My Aunt sent me an article the other day with Mike talking about how fat boy will probably never release any of the miles of material from the vault. My response to her caused her to respond back to me with “Holy shit, I didn’t mean to send your blood pressure through the roof”!

I think the Mr Bungle version of “Loss Of Control” is fucking excellent. But I’m talking about the version from 3 years ago. Go watch that version, then watch the version with fat fuck and tell me if Valerie Jr made it any better. I’ll answer for you. He did not.

I really wish this fat fucker would fall over dead on one of those stages he has no business being on. With Al auctioning off everything these days, I have no doubt he’d get in that vault and release everything if Valerie Jr croaked.

[Terry]

Well Terry, I can get perturbed over this fat fucking Valerie Jr! He angers me every bit as much as Clichegar, if not more. At least Clichegar would be releasing the old live shows and vault material. Hell, I bet he’d be smart enough to release both eras of that stuff. My Aunt sent me an article the other day with Mike talking about how fat boy will probably never release any of the miles of material from the vault. My response to her caused her to respond back to me with “Holy shit, I didn’t mean to send your blood pressure through the roof”!

I think the Mr Bungle version of “Loss Of Control” is fucking excellent. But I’m talking about the version from 3 years ago. Go watch that version, then watch the version with fat fuck and tell me if Valerie Jr made it any better. I’ll answer for you. He did not.

I really wish this fat fucker would fall over dead on one of those stages he has no business being on. With Al auctioning off everything these days, I have no doubt he’d get in that vault and release everything if Valerie Jr croaked.

Well, I dig where you're coming from.

Not to play Devil's Advocate, but as Phil Leotardo would say: "Let me tell you a couple of three things, here."

Not a fan of Hagar musically, but at least Hagar had a career before joining Van Halen, and it wasn't a career predicated on nepotism. Wolfgang does come off like the kid born on third base who gets a walk to home plate and acts like he knocked one out of the park. And still manages to find something to complain about.

That unreleased Van Halen material...that stuff was languishing unreleased and should have been released before the kid even joined the band. I put that on Ed. That Ed's kid thinks he is doing what his father would have wanted by not getting that stuff out there - which is what I'm assuming is the case - all roads lead back to Eddie far as that is concerned. Least as far as I can tell.

Why get too riled up over what the kid is or isn't saying, or is and isn't doing? Can't control it, anyway.

I'd wholeheartedly agree that having seen the band in 2008 and 2012 and from the clips I've seen of Ed's kid onstage since Eddie passed, he doesn't bring anything to the stage that is in any way exceptional from what I've seen and heard. He's a competent musician, but no more so than thousands of other working professional musicians whose last names aren't Van Halen.

[Seshmeister]

Well, I dig where you're coming from.

Not to play Devil's Advocate, but as Phil Leotardo would say: "Let me tell you a couple of three things, here."

Ha! The only good thing about COVID was getting enough time to do a rewatch... :D

[Terry]

Ha! The only good thing about COVID was getting enough time to do a rewatch... :D

I love that fuckin' show.

[nick500]

Well, I dig where you're coming from.

Not to play Devil's Advocate, but as Phil Leotardo would say: "Let me tell you a couple of three things, here."

Not a fan of Hagar musically, but at least Hagar had a career before joining Van Halen, and it wasn't a career predicated on nepotism. Wolfgang does come off like the kid born on third base who gets a walk to home plate and acts like he knocked one out of the park. And still manages to find something to complain about.

That unreleased Van Halen material...that stuff was languishing unreleased and should have been released before the kid even joined the band. I put that on Ed. That Ed's kid thinks he is doing what his father would have wanted by not getting that stuff out there - which is what I'm assuming is the case - all roads lead back to Eddie far as that is concerned. Least as far as I can tell.

Why get too riled up over what the kid is or isn't saying, or is and isn't doing? Can't control it, anyway.

I'd wholeheartedly agree that having seen the band in 2008 and 2012 and from the clips I've seen of Ed's kid onstage since Eddie passed, he doesn't bring anything to the stage that is in any way exceptional from what I've seen and heard. He's a competent musician, but no more so than thousands of other working professional musicians whose last names aren't Van Halen.

I think the one good thing Wolf did was get them to do ADKOT, which is a better bookend than that Cherone mess, and the tours.
It should add another 2 to 3 million listens on Spotify by the end of the year.
From the interviews on the deluxe cd, Dave said it took them 8 months to do it, which is mind-boggling.
You have to wonder what some of those songs sounded like in the year 2000 with Michael Anthony there.
One thing I really didn't like was Wolf bemoaning the fact that they didn't do the kitchen sink concert because Ed passed away.
I mean, you father dies and you're thinking about a concert or tour?

[Terry]

I think the one good thing Wolf did was get them to do ADKOT, which is a better bookend than that Cherone mess, and the tours.
It should add another 2 to 3 million listens on Spotify by the end of the year.
From the interviews on the deluxe cd, Dave said it took them 8 months to do it, which is mind-boggling.
You have to wonder what some of those songs sounded like in the year 2000 with Michael Anthony there.
One thing I really didn't like was Wolf bemoaning the fact that they didn't do the kitchen sink concert because Ed passed away.
I mean, you father dies and you're thinking about a concert or tour?

Although I obviously don't know inasmuch as I don't know any of the people involved, I tend to think Ed got Roth back in the band and eventually got cleaned up in part because he enjoyed playing with his son. The general supposition is that Wolfgang was the one who pushed to get Roth back in the band and Wolfgang was the one who pushed for the CVH deep cuts to be inserted into the setlists.

Thus, if one values what the band did from 2007-2015, Wolfgang was one of the prime motivators in making all of that happen.

Would Ed have eventually come around to getting Roth back in the band and getting sober on his own without Wolfgang's influence or involvement? Maybe. Maybe not. At the beginning of 2006, from appearances Ed seemingly looked content to do fuck-all other than drink himself to death. But who knows?

I'd say the last three tours with Roth and the ADKOT album certainly were a better bookend than just leaving it with the Van Halen III stuff and the 2004 tour. At least come 2012 Ed had regained enough command of the instrument that he could essay the CVH material live in a manner that wasn't cringe to listen to. An indicator of how low he had let his lack of self-control via drink and drugs sink him that he had to apply himself to get his playing back to the level it has been 25 years previous.

[ZahZoo]

If playing with Wolfgang didn't materialize in 2006... Ed wouldn't have done anything musical and certainly would not have engaged with any venture with Roth. Let's not forget the launch party for that Sacred Sin porn bullshit was September 30th 2006 at the height of Ed's Smoking Loon, duct-tape biker boots era... That train wreck was heading to the station fast...

Without the catalyst of making music and performing with his son... Ed most likely wouldn't have sobered up in 2007/2008 to the extent he did and probably would have passed a decade or so sooner... in my opinion.

[Seshmeister]

I would also give Wolfgang credit for some of the deep cuts VH played on tour.

It's weird to think that the reunion bookend lasted about 8 years which is of course longer than the time from VH1 coming out to them splitting up.