I saw Van Halen Tonight!!!

[halen795]

I saw Van Halen tonight at their dress rehearsal/friends and family show at the Forum. Let me start by saying it was amazing; I was about 40 feet from the stage. There were tons of famous people like Valarie Bertinelli of course. But rock stars from Guns n Roses to Foo Fighters and everyone in between. But, the coolest people I got to see were Pete Thorn and Craig Parker Adams…!!!
Got there about 7:30 and Kool and the Gang were on-stage; they played and sounded great but was a bit odd seeing them open for VH?!?! Van Halen took the stage at 8:50 and opened with you really got me; they played a couple older songs and then went into Tattoo where Eddie played the Frankenstein; that was the only song he changed guitars for. From the new album they also played China Town and Blood and Fire. First thing I noticed and was surprised to see was the Ed is using a wireless. Also, Dave was using a headset mic for the whole show (except one part where his mic had a few problems and he grabbed a corded mic).

Let me say, I am a big Van Halen fan like all of us, but have the same complaint as most of us such as they don't promote much or wish he used the old Marshall, etc, etc. Likewise, the clips from the Café Wha? show are somewhat deceiving as they obviously played well and had a good time, but seemed a little stiff so to speak. And, it's obviously hard to hear the sound through camera phones and get a good sense of the real tone. However, I am here to say Ed's sound was absolutely amazing and his playing was spot on. He was jumping around and smiling so much his face has to be sore from grinning ear to ear the whole time! I have played guitar for a long time and do a decent job at Eruption and all that stuff; but to watch Ed a few feet from the stage; it is mind blowing. He plays so effortlessly; it is hard to convey what I mean, but as I was standing there, I was awe-struck to say the least. And the cool thing, he played Eruption and a full on guitar solo. Equally, Dave sounded great; he danced like his normal self, but his vocals were just spot on; a 100 times better than in the Café Wha? videos. Wolfgang plays so well you hardly even notice him; he is just right in the mix and does great with the back-up vocals. And, Alex played perfectly like he always does! After the show Valerie was hanging out with us common folk along with a ton of other stars, and then Wolfgang came down and took pictures with everyone and hung out for a while; I gotta say, being Eddie Van Halen's kid is not a bad gig at all… I miss Michael Anthony just like the rest of us, but the kid can play, and he's real cool to the fans which I can certainly respect. I could ramble on-and-on, but I just had a great time! Got to see the greatest rock band in the world, and they far exceeded any expectations!!!

NOTE: I downloaded two videos from the show tonight but they are not showing up when I try to look for them; I can see them on my channel but cannot find them when simply looking through youtube. However,I shared them on my facebook page. You can see them there; I believe my page is open for anyone to see without becoming my friend (anyone is welcome to become my friend but you don't have too) I just want my friends here at Metro Amp to see what I got to see tonight!!! My name is Scott Duda; there are multiple Scott Duda's but mine is a picture of me holding a dark gold guitar and the top two postings will be of the concert. I have five or six more videos and will post tomorrow, but I gots to go to bed now!

[dirtycooter]

Sounds like you got a great show and it was more close up than what alot of us get to see. Hope you said hi to CPA and Thorn, bet they were having a great time. This is a great report to hear. I was really let down last time they were out. Sounds very promising

[cary chilton]

Cool Duda, who are u man? Why did you get a celeb invite?

[allenc5150]

Here are some stills:

http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Searc ... Type=image" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[halen795]

I uploaded all the videos (I think 7 of them) to youtube; when I am on my page I can view them but when I try to look at a specific url, I cant find the videos.... Also, I have somehow created a channel on youtube; I have only uploaded two videos of myself in the last couple years so not sure how or why I have a channel, but I do! If you go to "halen795" and click on the first video (which looks like a camera), it will take you to a channel that has all the vids from last night. Hope this helps; I'm not that computer savvy so have to wait till my nine year old gets home from school to show me what I'm doing wrong!!!

[zeeb]

....here you go guys, via Johnny Beanes' blog - again! all the LA Forum vids on one page;

http://bit.ly/wTjObC" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

thnx Johnny!


J.

[motrock]

I uploaded all the videos (I think 7 of them) to youtube; when I am on my page I can view them but when I try to look at a specific url, I cant find the videos.... Also, I have somehow created a channel on youtube; I have only uploaded two videos of myself in the last couple years so not sure how or why I have a channel, but I do! If you go to "halen795" and click on the first video (which looks like a camera), it will take you to a channel that has all the vids from last night. Hope this helps; I'm not that computer savvy so have to wait till my nine year old gets home from school to show me what I'm doing wrong!!!

Did anyone get China Town?

[MrBeasty]

I uploaded all the videos (I think 7 of them) to youtube; when I am on my page I can view them but when I try to look at a specific url, I cant find the videos.... Also, I have somehow created a channel on youtube; I have only uploaded two videos of myself in the last couple years so not sure how or why I have a channel, but I do! If you go to "halen795" and click on the first video (which looks like a camera), it will take you to a channel that has all the vids from last night. Hope this helps; I'm not that computer savvy so have to wait till my nine year old gets home from school to show me what I'm doing wrong!!!

I recall that you have to "publish" the videos. Once the upload is complete there is a questionnaire where you decide what access the videos get: unpublished, private, viewable to friend and public (or some selections of the sort).

[halen795]

I recall that you have to "publish" the videos. Once the upload is complete there is a questionnaire where you decide what access the videos get: unpublished, private, viewable to friend and public (or some selections of the sort).[/quote]

Thnx for the suggestion; I thought I did publish them and the videos show as public. When I go to youtube and sign in, all the videos are there; but if I highlight the URL and paste it; it shows no videos
Here is one of the URL's; if it doesn't work, just check the channel at "halen795" but, the videos that zeeb posted are a lot better than mine anyways!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwz10dtE ... xX5AEd4zuN" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[halen795]

Oh shit, sorry guys, when I pasted the URL to my last post and clicked on it, it worked. so here they are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43jQO4XA ... aUybMSMA_V" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FKwW9JR ... EChV1FQZak" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwz10dtE ... xX5AEd4zuN" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcdlrelK ... Deb26rmVj8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyCsm2pK ... bQE0LoRqqn" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIGlCsD3 ... xd_hm4XG5S" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvXsC-w4 ... -VZ_f-IQ1K" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[garbeaj]

A friend of mine posted this clip on my Facebook...I think Eddie's hand surgery was a complete success and I think he is playing better than he has in many, many years. He has simplified some passages and he is making it easier on himself by sitting down for some of the more difficult passages, but this really, really impressed me...especially given that the last time I saw him in New Orleans on the last tour he could barely play at all and had lost all of his tremolo picking capability. This is really a triumphant return to form for Ed and I'm overjoyed by it. This clip was more exciting than the entire new album for me...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me61Qlgqj5o[/youtube]

[garbeaj]

By the way...looks like Wolfie has been working on his singing and the backing tracks used on the last tour appear to be gone! If this is true I'm REALLY happy!

[halen795]

Cary, just saw your post; I'm a nobody; I just have a friend that is a somebody!!!

[halen795]

Hey allenc5150,
Thanks for posting the still shots. Its cool to see photos or videos of Van Halen anytime; but when your actually there like i was at this show, it makes seeing the photos a little more special!!! On a side note, one thing I have noticed is that Eddie's stealth guitar has a chrome bridge while the headstock tuners are black. I played a stealth at the Fender factory in Corona a few weeks ago; the bridge on it was black. This is kinda silly, but it makes me think of how Ed always said that once people caught on-to what he was doing, he would change it-up a bit like putting a pick-up in the neck position after all the kids went out and got single pick-up bodies.... Now all the kids are gonna have run out and get a chrome bridge for their stealth Wolfgang...!!!

[zeeb]

hey halen795 ------ just saw this version of E.bodyWantsSome via one of yr links above.

check it out in 1080p/720p HD fullscreen. the middle section is way coool.

http://youtu.be/dh-RFYsZ7e0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

cheers J.