Van Halen - Cincinnati Concert Review
Van Halen’s reunion tour came to Cincinnati Tuesday night. This show has been long awaited by myself and many of the fans in the area, especially since this rescheduled show was originally supposed to take place on March 5th. This show was postponed so Eddie Van Halen could take care of an undisclosed medical condition. ( Turf Toe?, Male Pattern Baldness?, Erectile disfunction? the world may never know.)
I never had the chance to see David Lee Roth with Van Halen, back in the early 80’s and I have always regretted it. I wouldn’t dare miss this reunion show, especially with how volatile the bands’ relationship has been over the years.
The questions I had going into this show were the following:
Will Michael Anthony be missed? Can David Lee Roth still sing?
Can Eddie Van Halen still get it done live? Is Van Halen worth the over inflated ticket price?
I have heard and read a lot of good and bad things about this tour, from the cities where it took place prior to Tuesday Night’s Show.
I opted for the cheaper seats for this show, and by cheap, I mean the $49.50 ticket before Ticketmaster added their extortion rates to the ticket price. With the huge video screen behind the stage, there truly wasn’t a bad seat to be had for this show. U.S. Bank Arena was at near capacity. If this wasn’t a sell out, it was damn close.
The Stage set up for Van Halen was quite cool. The stage was set up in a Giant S configuration. The bottom part of the S reached out into the stands, and circled the people in the pit close to the main stage. The lighting, and monsterous video screen were pretty cool, in fact the video screen greatly enhanced my view from my nosebleed seats.
So as far the Answers to my questions…….
Michael Anthony was definitely missed. At times I thought they may have used his recorded back up vocals. Michael always was one to run around the stage and get the crowd going. Wolfgang Van Halen is not. The kid can certainly play bass, and his Frankenstein paint scheme was pretty cool. The bad thing is, the kid doesn’t have any stage presence. None, zero, zilch. This will come in due time, but it isn’t there in 2008.
David Lee Roth was the surprise of the night for me. Diamond Dave sounds great. He can’t hit all of those
high notes he used to, but his vocal performance was spot on.
Eddie Van Halen was pretty impressive and boring all at the same time. While his fretwork was second to none, he didn’t move from his position on stage. I don’t know if his legs were chained down to a certain area, but Eddie was center stage for 99% of the show. He moved very little, and certainly did not make use of the cool ramps they had on stage. His playing and solos were awesome, especially when he played Eruption, but his lack of energy was extremely disappointing.
Aside from David Lee Roth, Alex Van Halen had the most energy. His drumming was excellent all night, and his drum solo was very cool.
As a whole, Van Halen sounded awesome all night, they just didn’t have any energy on stage. Maybe I have been spoiled by seeing Airbourne’s high energy live show recently. Van Halen had about a tenth of the energy in their show that Airbourne had.
The energy from the crowd at U.S. Bank Arena was quite a different story. Tons of people were singing along and dancing. As a whole most people seemed to leave happy, and quite a few were hooting and hollering as they exited the arena.
So the Bottomline…..was Van Halen worth the ticket price. In my estimation, yes they were. I wouldn’t have paid the mega bucks required to sit on the floor ($150.00), but I was glad that I went. David Lee Roth called the band three quarters original, one quarter inevitable.
Maybe it was inevitable that Van Halen’s live performance would not quite live up to my expectations. The band is certainly past their prime. Van Halen is still one of the biggest hard rock bands to ever come from the United States. Past their prime or not, I am glad I got to see them with Roth as the singer for the first time. Even though they were not at their best, they still sounded great. The live music is what matters the most!
It’s nice to see a balanced review of this. I think most people are so blind with happiness about the tour that they love it or so disgusted by all these reunions that they hate it. Admittedly, I’m in that latter camp and would have to think about even if tickets were free, but it’s good to see something that isn’t colored by either love or hate of the VH reunion.
Great show. I was impressed by the energy of the 50+ year old performers. Certainly worht the ticket price. Eddie was “right on target.” Alex blew me away with his drum solo as well. One of hte best concerts I have been to in my 40+ years. Especially when you have seen other “reunion tours” with old bags. EVH…keep up the good work
Looks like you and Allyson from Bring Back Glam attended the same show.
I’ll be very honest, I have always wanted to see Van Halen with Diamond Dave but I’m still not going. The band is coming to Providence May 25 (a rescheduled date) and I just pulled up a floor seat on Ticketmaster for $120 with all the fees. At that price, I won’t go.
Maybe I’ll change my mind the week of the show and grab a cheap seat but I’m not really up for it. I’d rather spend the money on the Maiden tour, Priest tour, Cruefest, & the Rockstar Mayhem tour.
Steve
Heavy Metal Addiction
http://hardrockheavymetal.wordpress.com/
Don,
I am not sure if you were at the same show I was at. The band did sound great, but Energy? There wasn’t much of it. Aside from Roth, the band was fairly boring to watch.
Glad you had a good time though. I was glad that I went too.
I was at one of the early shows in Chicago. I have been a Van Halen fan for a long time - except for the Van Hagar years. And I was pretty stoaked about the chance to finally see them Live with DLR. I guess the early shows before Eddies “illness” were a bit better as he was jumping and running around the stage almost a much a DLR was. Unfortunately for me I saw them a The Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL which is not the best place to see any concert, let alone a Van Halen concert, as the acoustics in this “Arena” are far from optimal. DLR did forget the words to some of the songs during the performance, which I found amusing. Wolfgang I believe took about 2 steps away from the mic stand during the entire performance, so yes, Michael was sorely missed. But all in all I am glad I got to see them play live, I just wish I had seen them about 20 years ago.
i am close with some “tour crew” from the tour, guys that have been around them for years. i think everyone should know that eddie has been completely sober the entire tour..his body is just not handling being clean very well and thats what the “medical stuff “is all about. the reason he is not moving very much is because of his hearing.. that is the best spot for him to hear well. these problems will heal.. but they will take time
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I was there too…in the cheap seats (of course). Section 214, on Eddie’s side of the stage. Couldn’t see the jumbotron, but it’s ok because I was still close enough to see most of the action. Great show. I got chills when the lights went dark and had to fight back tears when the started “You Really Got Me.” Amazing.
[...] * Read Hard Rock Hideout’s review of the same show. [...]
Am glad that most folks are enjoying this reunion.
But we will never go to see VH at those prices…period.
We should of went to see them “back in the day”……sigh
& DE Barnes….stop spamming our favorite Rock site!
There’s a messageboard for posting stuff like what you have listed above….go there please!
I’m sorry but how on Earth can anybody dare to even mention Airbourne in the same breath as Van Halen?!? You lose all cred in my eyes right there. This reviewer can not be right in the head. To whine about the energy level of VH versus Airbourne is pathetic. VH are rock vets well into their 50s. The Airbourne guys are like half their age. If you put VH in their prime vs Airbourne now it wouldnt even be a contest. VH was the most brutal energetic live band around back in their heyday. To this reviewer I say grow the hell up. Please. Besides energy or not Airbourne is NOTHING compared to VH. Not far as talent, impact, etc. They shouldnt even be mentioned in the same breath for cryin out loud!!!
Maybe, maybe not, but I went to the Airbourne show on April 8th, and they put on an incredible live show. This was the closest show that I used as a frame of reference.
Eddie Van Halen just stood there on stage, and did nothing. Wolfgang was boring to watch with no stage presence.
Sure Van Halen may have been better in their prime, but they are not today. I still love them, and they sound great live, but they aren’t very much fun to watch.
Go see an Airbourne show, and you will see what I mean.
If the age comparison of the two bands bothers you. I also saw Heaven and Hell (or Black Sabbath if you prefer) with Ronnie James Dio. These guys are the elder statesmen of rock, and THEY had more energy than Van Halen.
Was at the Boston show in October,,, I though I died and went to Van Halen Heaven!! Saw VH several times “way” back in the day. They were great then and they are great now. Remember, we must all grow old…..
I was at the St. Louis Show on April 26th. I loved every minute. Eddie just rocked and I thought Wolfgang hung in there just fine for only a teenager. DLR was cool but I was there mainly to hear Eddie. I am 46 and I keep an eye on the music scene and play in a bar band. But I must confess that I have never heard of Airborne so I wouldn’t even consider paying to see them.
I’m others that say Ed’s not moving because of his hearing. Stage sound is complicated, and will suck ass at best sometimes. If you find a sweet spot, you generally try to stick to it, especially if you have any hearing loss. You know Ed’s hearing can’t be what it once was. Standing center stage in front of the drums is pretty much a dead giveaway that he has problems hearing. You can usually “feel” the drums better directly in front of them.
Just went to the Columbus show. Make no mistake, I am a die hard VH fan. Even have a ball of fire tattoo with the VH wrapped around it. Here’s what I saw: Dave is done. He couldn’t sing, just yelled. He didn’t know the lyrics. I’ve termed it to be “Ozzy like”. Almost like he was in a trance or something. No spontenaity (sp) during the show, virtually everything choreographed, including Dave’s few trips out on the runway. All this after I dropped $1K for two 5-star VIP tickets. And, although Eddie didn’t move much, he still jammed like always. He looked healthy and sober, so at least the night wasn’t a total waste. BRING BACK SAMMY!!! He’s a much better showman.
Still have not seen the new tour!
Looks like the show is going good despite some minor setbacks…
But for guys you rock like they do at there age… Hats Off!!!
Still trying to get ERUPTION down 30 years later!
Check it out….
http://www.johndenner.wordpress.com