[SPOILER ALERT] Van Halen 2012 tour discussion

[Zint]

I loooooved the show last night! I loved that they played my two favourite VH songs: Hear About It Later and Girl Gone Bad. Even if Dave forgot the lyrics to the latter haha. I'll Wait was a great performance. One of the highlights of the night also.

The band sounded extremely tight, and my section was fairly lively for the most part. Security caught four guys getting high and they were kicked out in the middle of the show haha.

All in all, an awesome night and one I won't forget

Yeah guys in the section next to ours got turfed for toking too.

There was a Nazi-guard-chick who wouldn't let up all night.Constantly scanning the crowd...while the drunk fucktards staggered past her all night,just obliterated!

It was like that at Tool...the guy guards didn't seem to give much of a shit...the chick-guards were like pitbulls.

[Powerage5]

Coulda done without Dave's home movies of his dogs!

Yea, his acoustic speaking bit in '07 was a lot better...

[Zint]

Did you do any audio recording last night?

[Zeppelin]

I loooooved the show last night! I loved that they played my two favourite VH songs: Hear About It Later and Girl Gone Bad. Even if Dave forgot the lyrics to the latter haha. I'll Wait was a great performance. One of the highlights of the night also.

The band sounded extremely tight, and my section was fairly lively for the most part. Security caught four guys getting high and they were kicked out in the middle of the show haha.

All in all, an awesome night and one I won't forget

Yeah guys in the section next to ours got turfed for toking too.

There was a Nazi-guard-chick who wouldn't let up all night.Constantly scanning the crowd...while the drunk fucktards staggered past her all night,just obliterated!

It was like that at Tool...the guy guards didn't seem to give much of a shit...the chick-guards were like pitbulls.

Tool was just as bad for sure. I remember the security people actually leaning over my line of sight just to tap a guy's shoulder who wouldn't respond. It's funny but annoying at the same time.

Did you do any audio recording last night?

Also wondering about this.

[James Bond]

Well we got Unchained for the opener..that was cool!

Surprinsgly..Pretty Woman worked for me,they did a good job on it.

The one that didn't work for me...at all...was Women In Love.

Funny, I really enjoy Women In Love, but Girl Gone Bad completely kills the momentum for me.

I think I enjoyed Buffalo more than Toronto. We were up in the 300's, towards the back of the arena...we can never seem to get good seats for VH. The sound at the ACC in the nosebleeds absolutely sucks. They've got that fucking wall in front of the section that comes down to about eye level and blocks a lot of the sound. All we could hear all night was the lower frequencies, and I really couldn't hear Dave at all. Even during Eddie's solo when it's unaccompanied, his playing was almost inaudible. I've been in some bad sounding venues before, but last night absolutely took the cake as the worst. I'm actually going to call tomorrow and complain, because it's just not fair to be charging $70 for nosebleed tickets in a place that sounds that bad.

On the setlist topic, I did like Unchained as the opener, but I didn't like YRGM mid-set. The Full Bug was cool too, but not at the expense of Romeo Delight (One of my favorites live).

Agreed about Girl Gone Bad, I've never particularly cared for the song.

That's too bad about the sound! Where I was it seemed clearer than it had been in Buffalo but that might just be because I was farther back.

I know what you mean with You Really Got Me being later in the set. It feels awkward or something. It was pretty much meant to be an opener, but since I love Unchained as an opener, I'd gladly drop You Really Got Me to get Romeo Delight back in there if they keep up with The Full Bug (which I thought was great live).

Did you manage to get any pictures at all, even though you were far back? I forgot my camera since I left in such a rush so I didn't get any snapshots at all. My cell phone is useless for pictures.

Edit: And I love Dave's dog video. Reminds me of my dogs.

Edited March 19, 2012 by Paul Stanley

[Powerage5]

Well we got Unchained for the opener..that was cool!

Surprinsgly..Pretty Woman worked for me,they did a good job on it.

The one that didn't work for me...at all...was Women In Love.

Funny, I really enjoy Women In Love, but Girl Gone Bad completely kills the momentum for me.

I think I enjoyed Buffalo more than Toronto. We were up in the 300's, towards the back of the arena...we can never seem to get good seats for VH. The sound at the ACC in the nosebleeds absolutely sucks. They've got that fucking wall in front of the section that comes down to about eye level and blocks a lot of the sound. All we could hear all night was the lower frequencies, and I really couldn't hear Dave at all. Even during Eddie's solo when it's unaccompanied, his playing was almost inaudible. I've been in some bad sounding venues before, but last night absolutely took the cake as the worst. I'm actually going to call tomorrow and complain, because it's just not fair to be charging $70 for nosebleed tickets in a place that sounds that bad.

On the setlist topic, I did like Unchained as the opener, but I didn't like YRGM mid-set. The Full Bug was cool too, but not at the expense of Romeo Delight (One of my favorites live).

Agreed about Girl Gone Bad, I've never particularly cared for the song.

That's too bad about the sound! Where I was it seemed clearer than it had been in Buffalo but that might just be because I was farther back.

I know what you mean with You Really Got Me being later in the set. It feels awkward or something. It was pretty much meant to be an opener, but since I love Unchained as an opener, I'd gladly drop You Really Got Me to get Romeo Delight back in there if they keep up with The Full Bug (which I thought was great live).

Did you manage to get any pictures at all, even though you were far back? I forgot my camera since I left in such a rush so I didn't get any snapshots at all. My cell phone is useless for pictures.

Edit: And I love Dave's dog video. Reminds me of my dogs.

Dropping YRGM altogether and keeping Unchained as the opener, and playing The Full Bug and Romeo Delight...I could live with that! B)

I did get pictures, yea. Took my D-SLR with my 250mm lens, no issues there at all. Last night was actually my first time using this camera at all at a concert (I just switched over to Canon from Olympus for my D-SLR because of Olympus' poor customer service), and I was more than pleased with it's performance. At full zoom, the 250mm lens is just about as long a focal length as you can get and still use the human hand to stabilize, so my pictures aren't incredible, but I do think they look pretty damn good given the distance I was shooting across (Probably about 150 feet from our seats to center stage...might be a poor estimate because of the elevation). My frame with the 250mm lens at full zoom and focused on center-stage, Dave's dance floor took up roughly 75% of the frame, so they do still look a bit distant, but it's the best I could do. I'll be posting pics later in the week (Not nearly as many as following a GN'R gig though! ). There's one I know of off-hand I'm particularly fond of; Eddie in mid-jump at the end of his solo, and with the lowered lighting rig above his mic it cast a shadow over Dave's dance floor.

[James Bond]

Awesome! Looking forward to seeing them.

Security going in was definitely the most relaxed I've ever seen at the Air Canada Centre. I went in the entrance from Union Station and they were hardly searching anybody. I had cargo shorts on and they didn't search me but they asked the guy in front of me to lift up his baseball cap.

[Zint]

Awesome! Looking forward to seeing them.

Security going in was definitely the most relaxed I've ever seen at the Air Canada Centre. I went in the entrance from Union Station and they were hardly searching anybody. I had cargo shorts on and they didn't search me but they asked the guy in front of me to lift up his baseball cap.

I had a guy on a power trip.

"Stand over here sir"...starts the pat down.Half way through the pat down he starts yelling at people..

"form a line over here"..."YOU...stop right there,I TOLD you to form a line over here"."Do NOT rush me".

Me:" so we cool here?"

"I'm not done with you sir".

[Zint]

Here's one of my video clips..

[Zint]

Another..

[Powerage5]

Looks like you were just bout below us. Cool videos, thanks for sharing!

By the way, I thought someone might find this interesting. Being the setlist collector I am, one of the first things I noticed being so elevated...their setlists are printed on black paper with white ink

Edited March 19, 2012 by Powerage5

[Turn_It_Up]

Glad you guys had a great time(despite the drunken douchebags). Sounds like a killer show:

================

Van Halen rolls into the ACC

BY JANE STEVENSON ,QMI AGENCY

FIRST POSTED: SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2012 11:56 PM EDT | UPDATED: SUNDAY, MARCH 18, 2012 12:03 AM EDT

Legendary rockers Van Halen, touring with David Lee Roth, perform at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, March 17, 2012 in support of a brand new record, A Different Kind of Truth. (Ernest Doroszuk/QMI Agency)

If you were wondering who’s holding down Van Halen’s current incarnation on the road, which pulled into the Air Canada Centre on Saturday night - on St. Patrick’s Day no less - the first hint was the opening song, Unchained.

Guitarist Eddie Van Halen, his brother and drummer Alex, and Eddie’s son and bassist Wolfgang first appeared on the massive, minimalist stage - dominated by a wall of speakers and an enormous video screen - before flashy singer David Lee Roth followed.

The veteran hard rock outfit is touring with Diamond Dave in support of a new album, A Different Kind of Truth, their first studio effort in 14 years, and their first with Roth in 28 years since the album (and the year) 1984.

And even if the band kept the new songs to a minimum, playing only four - the new standouts were Tattoo and The Trouble With Never - in their loud and fast-paced hour-and-50-minute set, the Van Halen magic was clearly back after a good but not great trek with Roth in 2007 that also visited the ACC.

At that time the foursome hadn’t had the time to really gel given it was Wolfang’s first tour with his dad and uncle, Roth hadn’t been in the fold in 22 years and Eddie wasn’t looking so good and that tour later postponed some dates while he was rumored to be in rehab.

By comparison Van Halen now comes across like a happy, well-oiled machine, led by the plane engine-like guitar sound and virtuoso playing of a much healthier-looking Eddie.

Highlights were numerous: Runnin’ With The Devil, Everybody Wants Some - which the band stopped mid-song just to lap up the sound of 14,500 people roaring - Dance The Night Away, I’ll Wait, Hot For Teacher, Beautiful Girls, Panama, Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love, Jump, and their covers of Oh, Pretty Woman and You Really Got Me.

It all became apparent just content how Eddie, now 57 years old, was and is during his astonishing guitar solo late in the show as he sat alone on the stage and smiled like a little kid while he played.

Wolfgang - who turned 21 on March 16 - is also a much more confident bass player, interacting nicely with both his dad and uncle throughout the night, while Alex (in shades the entire show) made a massive racket behind his kit and Diamond Dave was up to his usual flamboyant stage antics.

Sure, the high kicks and high vocal register aren’t what they were back in the late ‘70s and ‘80s, but Roth - decked out in a shiny silver shirt, vest, and sparkly pants and occasionally a newsboy cap - knew how to work the room, whether it was sitting on Alex’s drum kit, or dancing in a soft shoe fashion on a wooden stage that enabled him to slide around in between Eddie and Wolfgang.

“How we doing so far, Canada?” asked Diamond Dave to huge cheers.

And when he changed into a blue satin jacket with red trim during Hot For Teacher you hoped the wardrobe changes would just keep coming. They did.

We also got some amusing stage banter as Roth took the stage solo with an acoustic guitar leading up to his cover of Ice Cream Man while showing footage of his herding dogs on the large screen behind him.

“Cattle dogs are a lot more aggressive,” explained Roth. “They’re a lot like Canadian hockey fans.”

In an odd but intriguing pairing, funk pioneers Kool and The Gang opened for Van Halen.

Apparently, Roth saw their set at Glastonbury last year and thought they’d be a perfect opening act.

Tragically, the 10-member Kool and the Gang - including bassist Robert “Kool” Bell - didn’t have much of an audience intitially as they kicked off their 45-minute set with Fresh.

But the crowd grew in size and spirit as the group continued along with such funk classics as Too Hot, Jungle Boogie, Ladies Night, Get Down On It, and the mother of all wedding songs, Celebration, the latter finally inspiring the audience to sing along.

SET LIST:

Unchained

Runnin’ With the Devil

She’s The Woman

The Full Bug

Tattoo

Everybody Wants Some!!

Somebody Get Me A Doctor

China Town

Hear About It Later

Oh, Pretty Woman

Drum solo

You Really Got Me

The Trouble with Never

Dance The Night Away

I’ll Wait

Hot For Teacher

Women In Love

Girl Gone Bad

Beautiful Girls

Ice Cream Man

Panama

Guitar Solo

Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love

Jump

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/03/18/van-halen-rolls-into-the-acc

Edited March 19, 2012 by Turn_It_Up

[Turn_It_Up]

How was China Town live? Really looking forward to that beast.

Rate how the new tracks came across.

Edited March 19, 2012 by Turn_It_Up

[Zint]

This one's a little shakier.

[Zint]

Looks like you were just bout below us.

This camera throws perspective off,I was close enough to see the whites of their eyes.I just didn't use zoom too much because it made the shakiness even worse...but yeah,pretty close to your section.

I looked up at your section a few times to see if I could spot you,but the upper view was mostly blocked where I was (row 8).

Cool videos, thanks for sharing!

No prob...more to come.Might not bother with the really shakey ones...but the audio is ok on them.

By the way, I thought someone might find this interesting. Being the setlist collector I am, one of the first things I noticed being so elevated...their setlists are printed on black paper with white ink

Wow,that's different...very logical though I guess.

[Zint]

How was China Town live? Really looking forward to that beast.

It was siiiick!

Excellent visual presentation during it too!

I'll post my video of it today.

Rate how the new tracks came across.

They all came across great!

China Town worked the best for me,just fired on all cylinders.

Tattoo worked.I like the tune so I thought it sounded great.Despite all the online bullshit about it,it did come across as recognized.The audience reception was solid.

The Trouble With Never,I liked it live,but Dave's "rant" was boring.It extended it longer than need be and just kinda killed the song's momentum.

She's The Woman kinda gave me the same reaction as to when I heard it on that N.Y.C. club show.Wolf sounded fuckin awesome and the track just came across as killer.The audio assault in a full arena was impressive...totally dug it.

I would have no prob with Trouble With Never being replaced with another new song though.

[Powerage5]

Looks like you were just bout below us.

This camera throws perspective off,I was close enough to see the whites of their eyes.I just didn't use zoom too much because it made the shakiness even worse...but yeah,pretty close to your section.

I looked up at your section a few times to see if I could spot you,but the upper view was mostly blocked where I was (row 8).

Cool videos, thanks for sharing!

No prob...more to come.Might not bother with the really shakey ones...but the audio is ok on them.

By the way, I thought someone might find this interesting. Being the setlist collector I am, one of the first things I noticed being so elevated...their setlists are printed on black paper with white ink

Wow,that's different...very logical though I guess.

There was no way you would've been able to spot us, we were the very top row of our section. We could only actually see about a third of the venue because that fucking wall blocked so much from view.

How was China Town live? Really looking forward to that beast.

It was siiiick!

Excellent visual presentation during it too!

I'll post my video of it today.

Rate how the new tracks came across.

They all came across great!

China Town worked the best for me,just fired on all cylinders.

Tattoo worked.I like the tune so I thought it sounded great.Despite all the online bullshit about it,it did come across as recognized.The audience reception was solid.

The Trouble With Never,I liked it live,but Dave's "rant" was boring.It extended it longer than need be and just kinda killed the song's momentum.

She's The Woman kinda gave me the same reaction as to when I heard it on that N.Y.C. club show.Wolf sounded fuckin awesome and the track just came across as killer.The audio assault in a full arena was impressive...totally dug it.

I would have no prob with Trouble With Never being replaced with another new song though.

If I had to rank them best to worst, it'd be like this:

She's The Woman

Tattoo

China Town

The Trouble With Never

She's The Woman is just naturally a killer live song. I ranked Tattoo second because, to me, it's much better live, it has a lot more energy. China Town is good live, but it's a little looser feeling than the studio version. I feel like Dave struggles keeping up with the tempo just a bit on that one...all in all it's pretty comparable to any other blistering fast song they've done live. I'd like to see The Trouble With Never dropped. I think it's one of the more bland ones on the album to begin with, but as Zint said, Dave's speech in the breakdown just kills any sort of momentum the show has going. I'd love to see it replaced with You And Your Blues or Blood And Fire.

[Zint]

My clip of China Town.

[Powerage5]

My clip of China Town.

Nice!

Also, Toronto audio is up on Dime:

http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=398150

[Zint]

Oh cool!

Thanks for the heads up!

[James Bond]

Awesome! Looking forward to seeing them.

Security going in was definitely the most relaxed I've ever seen at the Air Canada Centre. I went in the entrance from Union Station and they were hardly searching anybody. I had cargo shorts on and they didn't search me but they asked the guy in front of me to lift up his baseball cap.

I had a guy on a power trip.

"Stand over here sir"...starts the pat down.Half way through the pat down he starts yelling at people..

"form a line over here"..."YOU...stop right there,I TOLD you to form a line over here"."Do NOT rush me".

Me:" so we cool here?"

"I'm not done with you sir".

You've got to love the guys on power trips! That's what I'm used to at the ACC so that's why I was really surprised how easy they were at the Union entrance.

Thanks for the videos! I'll watch them as soon as I get in from school.

My ranking of the new songs live:

1) She's The Woman

It just fits flawlessly into the set list as if it was always there. Works well after Runnin' With The Devil too.

2) Tattoo

Far more energy live and the crowd seems to like it. My only problem with it is Dave keeps fumbling the second verse by repeating the "talk to me, talk to me" a la the first verse instead of "show me you, I'll show you me" from the studio version. Not really a big deal and most probably didn't even notice, but that's probably my favorite line in the song so naturally I want to hear it.

3) China Town

I'm with Powerage. Dave struggles to keep up with it but otherwise it turned out quite well live. Wolfgang and Eddie are perfectly in sync during the intro tapping. Awesome stuff!

4) The Trouble With Never

I do like the song a lot and it's really grown on me, but like Zint said, the break is boring. I also find it boring on the studio version. Otherwise, it's a fun song.

[Turn_It_Up]

How was China Town live? Really looking forward to that beast.

It was siiiick!

Excellent visual presentation during it too!

I'll post my video of it today.

Rate how the new tracks came across.

They all came across great!

China Town worked the best for me,just fired on all cylinders.

Tattoo worked.I like the tune so I thought it sounded great.Despite all the online bullshit about it,it did come across as recognized.The audience reception was solid.

The Trouble With Never,I liked it live,but Dave's "rant" was boring.It extended it longer than need be and just kinda killed the song's momentum.

She's The Woman kinda gave me the same reaction as to when I heard it on that N.Y.C. club show.Wolf sounded fuckin awesome and the track just came across as killer.The audio assault in a full arena was impressive...totally dug it.

I would have no prob with Trouble With Never being replaced with another new song though.

Yeah, the vids I've seen of the big video screen showing the streets and stuff in China Town look VERY trippy and cool.

Everyone says Tattoo getting strong recognition at the shows and sounds heavier than the album version. Looking forward to that.

I really like TTWN but funny you say that about Dave's rant being boring as I was thinking this morning while watching your vid, "Why doesn't he just do his same lyrics and in that creepy cool dirty old man voice he works on the record?" One of my fav parts of the whole album and he totally goes away from that at the shows. Bummer!

She's The Woman has to rock hard live. I just listen to that opening riff over and over and over. Can't get enough of that.

They kicked ass at the 07 Chicago show, so seems like the most noticeable improvement has to be Wolfie who clearly was out of place back then, still a little bit now, but in a good way bringing a different dynamic. Makes the band younger and he can really PLAY.

Edited March 19, 2012 by Turn_It_Up

[Zint]

Just watched the China Town clip again.I just realized how much time I spent concentrating on Wolf.

The guy is fucking good!

[Zint]

[Zint]

Really getting hard to keep that little device steady at this point...lol