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Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2008 > January > 25 > Entry
Review: Van Halen!
The mullets were minimal and the spandex was scarce when Van Halen returned to “1984” Thursday night at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.
Reunited with singer David Lee Roth and shirtless when they should be saggy, the middle-age men of Van Halen rocked the cradle off the hinges with a greatest hits list laced with nuclear guitar solos and plenty of strut.
Playing to a rowdy crowd that reached to the rafters, Van Halen was lacking the Farrah Fawcett locks of yesteryear but still had loads of licks, high kicks and mike stand tricks while running like the devil through such classics as “You Really Got Me,” “Everybody Wants Some,” “I’ll Wait,” “Somebody Get Me a Doctor,” “Panama,” and “Jump.” Like a barroom brawl at Mardi Gras, the hits just kept on coming.
Fueled by the guitar of Eddie Van Halen and his drummer brother, Alex Van Halen, the family franchise now includes Eddie’s teen son, Wolfgang Van Halen on bass and backup vocals. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members worked the “S” shaped stage like Barnum & Bailey backed by amplifiers while the overhead video screen captured every goofy grin. It also brought the audience up-close and personal to the guitar god’s gnarled, Yoda-like fingers.
Ringmaster Roth, of course, still brings a contact high. When he wasn’t balancing a top hat on his crotch or doing his Bruce Lee moves, he was strumming acoustic guitar and telling childhood make-out tales while introducing “Ice Cream Man.” By the time he asked if everyone was having a “reasonable time,” the eruption was deafening.
All told, Van Halen unchained a thriller.
The set list:
• “You Really Got Me”
• “I’m the One”
• “Runnin’ With the Devil”
• “Romeo Delight”
• “Magic Bus”
• “Somebody Get Me a Doctor”
• “Beautiful Girls”
• “Dance the Night Away”
• “Atomic Punk”
• “Everybody Wants Some!!”
• “So This Is Love?”
• “Mean Street”
• “Oh, Pretty Woman”
• “Unchained”
• “I’ll Wait”
• “And the Cradle Will Rock …”
• “Hot For Teacher”
• “Little Dreamer”
• “Little Guitars”
• “Jamie’s Cryin’”
• “Ice Cream Man”
• “Panama”
• “Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love”
• “Jump”
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment Categories: Reviews
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By Sam
January 25, 2008 3:52 PM | Link to this
I was there, and I would easily put this in the top 3 shows I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen a lot of them). So much so, that at $130 a ticket, I would still go see them AGAIN if they came to Austin. If you are even a passing Van Halen fan and skip out on this, you are doing yourself a disservice. 2 solid hours of songs you know by heart, played like you’ve never heard this band play them before.
By eric
January 25, 2008 7:03 PM | Link to this
I am a huge VH fan, I try to read show reviews at vhnd.com as often as possible(cool web site check it out), so I get to read a lot of different columnists across the country, and get their opinions on the show. Some are very well written and very articulate, you on the other hand think working in song titles to a sentence is clever……. Well it’s not, it’s quite painful to read. How did this review make it to print?
By Cris
January 26, 2008 9:00 AM | Link to this
A dream come true. Unbelievable, remarkable, simply AWESOME! Diamond Dave is still the showman, Eddie is THE guitar hero, Wolfgang’s remarkable bass playing brought plenty of new life and energy to those great songs, and Alex, one the best all time himself.
By John
January 28, 2008 12:08 PM | Link to this
Great review! Anyone with half a brain would find this review exciting to read and regret missing the show. I think Eric has been gargling with bong water.
By Zard
January 28, 2008 1:21 PM | Link to this
Great review. One of the more entertaining reviews I’ve read since the tour started. Hey, eric….next time you decide to criticize someone else’s writing IN WRITING, take a minute to proofread your own. Your punctuation is atrocious.
By bobcat
January 29, 2008 3:37 AM | Link to this
all i got to say is the show was pure energy, even with mike not there the songs were awsome and the venue was great. dave still has the pipes and eddie’s got the riffs and alex is a true drum master. wolfgang is pretty good i still miss mike. but i cant say enough. i think its funny how peple are like why did VH get a regge band to open well think about it alot of VH fans hang out with mary before the show it makes perfect sense to me….. the only thing that sucked was siting in balcony 223 row 2 seat 6 next to 5 and 7 lame a*s’s i had to stand up cuz i was jammin out and my elbow kept hitting them in the head, too funny but sorry it was just to kick a*s of a show and you all should of been standin’ and jammin too….. laterz