The band Van Halen

I first heard VH in Feb. of 1978, when I was 22 years old. I had already heard and seen all of the great hard rock bands of the 70's by the time VH had come along, but I was blown away the guitar playing of EVH.

The first time I got to see VH was at the very first Texxas Jam, in the Cotton Bowl, in July of 1978. There were 80,000 fans in the stadium that day.

I then saw VH every time they came through the DFW area, at the arenas, through 1984. That was it for me. I never bought any VanHagar albums or went to any other VH shows. DLR's singing had morphed into "speaking" the words, and that is the words he chose to speak at all.

VH for me was first and foremost about the music. The music I heard on the LPs. The live antics were never why I was a VH fan. The previous hard rock bands that I saw and loved, did not require a "ring master" (with the exception of the Alice Cooper band. And they were were very good at that, and still delivering ALL of the words to the music, every time).
 
Eddie married Valerie Bertinelli originally from Shreveport Louisiana. They would open their concerts here at the Hirsh Memorial Colosseum. They said if they could sound good here, they could sound good anywhere. They threatened to stop performing here if David Duke, a known white supremist, was elected Governor. He wasn't elected and they continued to start tours here.
 
triplets_93 said:
I first heard VH in Feb. of 1978, when I was 22 years old. I had already heard and seen all of the great hard rock bands of the 70's by the time VH had come along, but I was blown away the guitar playing of EVH.

The first time I got to see VH was at the very first Texxas Jam, in the Cotton Bowl, in July of 1978. There were 80,000 fans in the stadium that day.

I then saw VH every time they came through the DFW area, at the arenas, through 1984. That was it for me. I never bought any VanHagar albums or went to any other VH shows. DLR's singing had morphed into "speaking" the words, and that is the words he chose to speak at all.

VH for me was first and foremost about the music. The music I heard on the LPs. The live antics were never why I was a VH fan. The previous hard rock bands that I saw and loved, did not require a "ring master" (with the exception of the Alice Cooper band. And they were were very good at that, and still delivering ALL of the words to the music, every time).
Click to expand...

Sounds like me^^, caught VH every time they came to OKC from 79-84. They came twice to OKC in 78 but i was only 14 and wasn't allowed to go to concerts. I would have given my left arm to see Alice Cooper's original band.
 
JohnnyTheFox said:
Sounds like me^^, caught VH every time they came to OKC from 79-84. They came twice to OKC in 78 but i was only 14 and wasn't allowed to go to concerts. I would have given my left arm to see Alice Cooper's original band.
Click to expand...

VH was in the DFW area 4 times in 1978. I saw 2 of those shows.

The Alice Cooper show that I saw in 1972, on their "Killer" Tour, is in my Top 5 ---- of ALL concerts, from all bands, that I have ever experienced. It was that good!

At 14, I convinced my Father to give me a ride to Ft. Worth to see Led Zeppelin. After I informed my parents that I was going to see Led Zeppelin, they asked, how are you going to get there. And I said, very frankly, "I Don't know, I guess I'll hitch-hike." My parents discussed it among themselves, and the next day my Father informed me that he would be taking me, and he would watch a movie downtown, and then pick me up at the arena after the show.
 
I like the camera angle this fan filmed this from. You get to see Eddie's playing.

Van Halen Japan Tour 2013, 6.26 Osaka FULL SHOW Movie shooting, Front row 　 HD high definition

 
big dog cowboy said:
Mid-80's show in the local arena. Valerie was spotted sitting in the front row during rehearsals. The local rock radio station immediately cut to a live break in reporting this news.

:laugh:
Click to expand...

Sports radio, like The Ticket in Dallas, did more talking about concerts, than any of the local "Rock" radio stations ever did. They were Total Fluff. 100%
 
triplets_93 said:
VH was in the DFW area 4 times in 1978. I saw 2 of those shows.

The Alice Cooper show that I saw in 1972, on their "Killer" Tour, is in my Top 5 ---- of ALL concerts, from all bands, that I have ever experienced. It was that good!

At 14, I convinced my Father to give me a ride to Ft. Worth to see Led Zeppelin. After I informed my parents that I was going to see Led Zeppelin, they asked, how are you going to get there. And I said, very frankly, "I Don't know, I guess I'll hitch-hike." My parents discussed it among themselves, and the next day my Father informed me that he would be taking me, and he would watch a movie downtown, and then pick me up at the arena after the show.
Click to expand...

That is insane, and VH wasn't even headlining then. They were either opening for Sabbath, Montrose, Journey or one of lower slots at a festival. Pretty sure they came to Oklahoma 4x in 78. They put in a tremendous amount of roadwork especially on those early tours.
That is so cool you got to see the Killers tour. That original band was so awesome and doesn't get the credit they deserve. Killer, Billion $$ Babies, School Out, Love it to Death and Muscle of Love are all great albums.
Awesome you got to see Zeppelin as well, what year was that 75, 77, or 71?
 
big dog cowboy said:
Mid-80's show in the local arena. Valerie was spotted sitting in the front row during rehearsals. The local rock radio station immediately cut to a live break in reporting this news.

:laugh:
Click to expand...

I saw them in Norman Oklahoma, September 1980. Edward and Valerie had just met a few weeks earlier in Shreveport and she was at the side of the stage watching the action.
 
cowboyec said:

my favorite.
just something about how this tune comes together.
just a damn good song.
Click to expand...



Tell ya a quick story about the song...
It was originally going to be entitled Dance Lolita Dance. They changed it to be more radio friendly.
The song was inspired by this,
One night playing beer bars the band was out back taking a smoke break, they found a young couple in the back of a truck getting romantical. Roth invited them into the club to catch the last set, the gal was so excited she danced all night with her jeans on backwards right in front of the stage which the band thought was very amusing. That is what inspired the lyrics.
 
triplets_93 said:
Rolling Stone: Inside a Superfan's Secret Friendship with Eddie Van Halen

Over the last five years of his life, the rock icon had a clandestine correspondence with a former music journalist, spilling gossip, gripes, hopes, fears — and revealing himself like never before.

By BLAIR R. FISCHER

JULY 3, 2022

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/eddie-van-halen-secret-friendship-emails-1367678/
Click to expand...


Read the whole article a couple days ago, it was pretty insightful.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Staff online

Members online

... and 86 more.
Total: 1,813 (members: 186, guests: 1,627)

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
465,307
Messages
13,864,983
Members
23,788
Latest member
mattyice
Back
Top