Van Halen- video preview!

[ZepSinger]

Here's some footage of VH practicing for the upcoming tour...

[Mile High Mania]

slide show from the show...

http://www.charlotte.com/multimedia/...296285-t3.html

[Dartgod]

Review from the site:

Seems like old times: Van Halen rocks arena

COURTNEY DEVORES

Opening night of Van Halen's long-awaited reunion with David Lee Roth literally kicked off with several of Roth's highflying kicks at Charlotte Bobcats Arena on Thursday, although Eddie Van Halen was the first to appear on stage with one of his own signature hurky-style jumps.

The last time Van Halen performed in Charlotte with Roth as its frontman, he had just turned 30, gas was $1.21 a gallon and tickets to the show at the old Charlotte Coliseum were $12.50.

Twenty-three years later, the band's original members are all over 50 and guitarist Eddie Van Halen's 16-year-old son Wolfgang has replaced original bassist Michael Anthony.

The show sold out in a matter of minutes in August, and the arena was packed when the band hit the stage around 8:30 p.m., following a short but sweet set of pop and reggae-tinged R&B by Kymani Marley.

Fans assumed after well-publicized fighting, ill will and a couple of false starts over the past 11 years that the group would never reunite. But earlier this year the Van Halen brothers announced that Roth would rejoin the fold. If the group can keep egos and tempers in check (sources say the three original members arrived on separate buses for rehearsals), the reunion could be the biggest tour of the decade.

Any animosity wasn't apparent on stage as Roth and Eddie Van Halen saddled up next to each other, smiling, during "Everybody Wants Some" and "Dance the Night Away." Roth and Wolfgang Van Halen even sang "Oh Pretty Woman" side by side.

The younger Van Halen proved to be a showy player and spot-on backing vocalist, although he didn't yet prowl the stage like a seasoned vet.

His post rehab father looked skinny, but cut, as did his brother. In fact, the original members all looked fit, though none ran around the stage like they did 25 years ago.

"You Really Got Me" started things off with the band sticking to the set list that was leaked on the internet last week. Highlights included "Beautiful Girls," "Unchained," and "Hot For Teacher." The group saved its biggest single and only #1 pop song, "Jump," for the encore.

Roth left the band in 1985, scoring several pop hits on his own. His former band outlasted his solo success, topping the mainstream rock charts 11 times without him.

But to many fans it just wasn't the same without the flamboyant, larger-than-life Roth jumping and posing out front like an uber-charismatic game show host. One fan compared him to Liberace strutting in his embroidered jackets and skintight leather striped pants.

What might be overlooked in favor of his over-the-top persona is his voice, which was in peak form Thursday. He easily met and held notes that younger singers like Jon Bon Jovi just can't reach anymore.



http://www.charlotte.com/145/story/296311.html

[Mile High Mania]

More pics: http://www.rollingstone.com/photos/g...union_tour_ope

[Fire Me Boy!]

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdail...orth-carolina/

Gods of Rock Deliver the Goods: Van Halen Kick Off Reunion Tour


“You’re going to see some tears when they hit that stage,” said Modesto, California’s Matt Caramella as he waited for Van Halen with David Lee Roth to hit the stage for the first time since 1984 in Charlotte, North Carolina, last night. Sure enough, tears streamed down his face as the lights went down and Eddie Van Halen appeared on the darkened stage, shirtless and wearing faded green Army fatigue shorts and white sneakers, cranking out the first few riffs of the band’s reconstituted Kinks cover “You Really Got Me.” By the time Roth came out, wearing tight black leather pants, a polka-dotted shirt and white sports jacket with gaudy black embroidery, Caramella was in fist-pumping ecstasy. “These guys are my heroes,” he shouted over the din, “the gods of rock & roll.”

And for more than two hours, the gods delivered. From “You Really Got Me” to “Runnin’ with the Devil,” “Dance the Night Away,” “Oh, Pretty Woman,” “Unchained,” “Hot for Teacher,” “Ice Cream Man,” “Panama,” guitar-god solo “Eruption,” “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” “Jump” and about thirteen more classic Van Halen tunes, the band was in top form for their long-overdue reunion. “I’m not going to waste time BS-ing around tonight,” Roth told the delighted, sold-out crowd of predominantly middle-aged guys in white- and blue-collar work clothes and gals who’d retrieved their Eighties bustiers for a night of original hair-metal nostalgia. But he was lying: Roth was at his BS best.

His hair may be shorter and crow’s feet longer, but Diamond Dave is every bit the Vegas showman that he was two decades ago, when he left Van Halen for an ill-fated solo career that took him from cheesy bad to train-wreck worse. He showed his gift for gab — and flamboyant duds — from the get-go, imitating Mick Jagger and martial arts moves, smiling like a clown, riding a giant microphone. And despite old wounds, his bandmates seemed charmed by their new old lead singer. Eddie Van Halen, switching from his signature Peavey “Wolfgang” guitar to his old, red- and white-striped “Frankenstein,” nuzzled up to Roth several times. And drummer Alex Van Halen, sporting his trademark white headband, pounded his kit with a constant smile. If original bassist Michael Anthony was missed at first, it wasn’t long before Eddie’s sixteen-year-old son, Wolfgang Van Halen, had the crowd in the palm of his hands. The teenaged slap-style bass player held his own with style, grace and grit, throwing out picks to the audience as he walked the catwalk into the crowd, his bass in hand, during “Atomic Punk.” There were some bumps along the way, including a few times when Roth missed his vocal cues, but the audience could not have cared less.

All four members looked healthy and fit, particularly Eddie, who has gone from drug-addict weird to middle-age handsome since the original band’s aborted reunion of 1996. Even young Wolfgang seemed to have lost some of the baby fat he showed in earlier photographs with the band. And then there was Diamond Dave, who has evolved from rock & roll cool to old-Vegas hip with style, grace and his eternally smart sense of flamboyant irony.

“Did this really happen?” Matt Caramella shouted as the house lights went up following the encore, “Jump.” By then, his tears had mingled with the sweat running down his face from his buzz cut. “Man, that was like a ****ing dream.”

[Mile High Mania]

The tour has new dates... finally, they're coming to Tejas!

http://www.van-halen.com/tour.html

[BigRedChief]

BRC's thoughts on VH and Sprint Center:

1. The seats are way too small. I could barely fit my ass into the seats. I understand trying to fit as many seats in the place but jeeezzz the average John Doe in KC is not 5"2".
2. The Sprint Center rocks(besides the point made above). Go in the "Oak Street" entrance. The main entrance gets too many people in line and takes forever. No waiting at that line.
3. When you leave go out the fire exit/stairs exit and go out the door to the outside thats right there. No battling crowds.
4. They have a frigging Quick Trip inside the Sprint Center.
5. Cupini's was an Italian pasta/panini/bakery about a block away from the Sprint Center. Great food for about $6.00 a plate.
6. Bob Marleys son proved that the DNA gene pool doesn't always flow down to the next generation. They should have just got a local band to play the opener.
7. VH set list was pretty much what was listed in previous posts. One or two songs difference but not much.
8. VH brought with them the biggest HD screen I've ever seen. We were guestimating 30 yards long and 20 yards high. Very cool.
9. David Lee Roth was still good. He didn't try to hit the high notes but he can still bring it. I was really expecting more campy schtick from him. Until the encore with jump and the blow up microphone, the red top hat and the martial art moves with the microphone stand he played it pretty straight. He really didn't do a lot of interaction with the audience.
10. Alex Van Halen's drum solo was straight out of the 80's but he can still bring it.
11. Both Eddie and David Lee Roth were in great shape and moved around a lot. They still had 1980 energy.
12. My wife said the sound quality wasn't good but I thought it was okay.
13. I've seen Motley Crue and Green Day at indoor arenas here in KC in the last few years and they were better than Van Halen was but..........
14. The price of admission was worth it to see Eddie Van Halen play a guitar live. The man is a mistro. To see Eddie Van Halen play the guitar on a 30 yard long HD screen is to appreciate how hard it is to sound that good.

[Mile High Mania]

[Mile High Mania]