Van Halen

[Molly]

This past Christmas, Santa Claus put Van Halen concert tickets in everyone's stockings, and the show was last night. Finally!!

Hubby, boys and I are all fans. I was a little nervous about what shape the band may be in since I've heard things about Eddie's health (our show was, in fact, postponed by 3 weeks because of his health).

The show was much better than I had expected. Eddie looked fit and tan and had that "Eddie grin" on his face throughout the evening. And he is incredible! During a 20 minutes solo playing off of "Eruption" (the intro to "You Really Got Me"), he was breathtaking to watch, a bona fide "guitar god". He doesn't jump around like he used to (sort of does this bunny hop thing with his prosthetic hip), but he still spins and twirls and, ah, that smile!

Alex always was, and still is a frenetic drummer. His solo also left us grinning and shaking our heads in disbelief.

Wolfgang (son of Eddie and Valerie Bertinelli) was very competent on bass and did a wonderful job (along with his dad on backing vocals).

David Lee Roth. Ah yes, Diamond Dave! I wondered how his voice had held up, and was pleasantly surprised that he can still hit those notes! And yes, he was dressed in spandex pants. Not as tight or low slung as back in the day, but just as sequined! He wore a sequined military type coat which he shed a few songs in. He had a tight silky shirt underneath which he announced, at one point, he was opening so we could see his bare chest (OMG! I pinched my eyes shut. He's 52 years old, do I want to see this? I just had supper!) Hey, the old guy is still buff, even had six pack abs. He shaves his chest now which is weird. He still tries to do the scissor kick/jumps but he's lost all his vertical. I think my mom can do kicks like he was doing last night.

But, he's Diamond Dave, half rock and roll frontman, half Vegas showman and he's one of a kind!

They did sing-a-long song after sing-a-long song: Runnin' With the Devil, You Really Got Me, Oh, Pretty Woman, Jamie's Crying, Jump, Panama, Ice Cream Man, etc. etc. It was great!

[Perfect Little Sister]

Wow Molly. It sounds like you had a wonderful time. It's great to know that they've still got it.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Glad you finally got to the concert, Molly. It's also nice to hear that the guys are still in good form. And Eddie Van Halen is indeed a true 'guitar god'.

[Brooke]

Very cool, Molly! Glad you had such a good time!

[Glennsallnighter]

Thats great Molly! I'm delighted that you all had such a good night. Hopefully Santa will be putting ILAA tickets into our stockings ...... for Eagles gigs next year!!

[rickmullen]

Looks like Van Halen (with David Lee Roth) will tour in 2012.
A YouTube video posted on Dec. 26th said tickets for the first
round of shows will go on sale January 10th. A new CD will also be
released in the new year. I saw them on the last tour about 5 years
ago and it was great.

I love Eddie Van Halen's guitar work and I will put this on my
"to do" list for 2012!

Rick

[TimothyBFan]

I hope it goes better than the last reunion. Is Wolfgang still doing the bass playing?

[WalshFan88]

I hope it goes better than the last reunion.

Agreed. The last one sucked according to a friend who went and saw them. He said Ed could barely play.

[TimothyBFan]

Agreed. The last one sucked according to a friend who went and saw them. He said Ed could barely play.

Ed could barely stand up, David Lee Roth was pretty much a joke, a facsimile of himself, and Wolfgang is a mediocre bass player, at best, and wouldn't have been playing if not for his Dad. It was all very upsetting for a fan who had so looked forward to the reunion.

On a similar note.... Sammy Hagar has been very vocal saying he doubted very much that it would happen or that there would even be a new album. I guess time will tell.

[WalshFan88]

Ed could barely stand up, David Lee Roth was pretty much a joke, a facsimile of himself, and Wolfgang is a mediocre bass player, at best, and wouldn't have been playing if not for his Dad. It was all very upsetting for a fan who had so looked forward to the reunion.

On a similar note.... Sammy Hagar has been very vocal saying he doubted very much that it would happen or that there would even be a new album. I guess time will tell.

Yeah that's what my friend basically said.