Date: Sunday, April 1, 2012
City: Rosemont, IL
Venue: Allstate Arena
Opening act(s): Kool & The Gang
Headlining act: Van Halen
Kool & The Gang Setlist:
Fresh
Tonight
Emergency
Misled
Too Hot
Hollywood Swingin’
Jungle Boogie
Ladies’ Night
Get Down On It
Celebration
Van Halen Setlist:
Unchained
Runnin’ With The Devil
She’s The Woman
The Full Bug
Tattoo
Everybody Wants Some!!
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
China Town
Jamie’s Cryin’
(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…
Outta Love Again
Beautiful Girls
Ice Cream Man
Panama
Eddie Van Halen Guitar Solo (Feat. “Eruption” & “Cathedral”)
Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love
Jump
Notes:
- First time seeing Van Halen.
- The band featured David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, and Wolfgang Van Halen.
- Show #1 at this venue.
Videos:
Review:
Van Halen was certainly one of the bands on my ‘bucket list’ of bands I want to see before they call it a day.
Which, let’s be honest here, most of the bands that would qualify for a bucket list are at the tail end of their careers.
It’s an interest thing that has come with age for me. As I’ve grown older, I’ve gotten more of a hankering to see different bands. Of course, part of that is also the disappointment with Def Leppard causing me to want to spend less money on them and more on seeing some other bands.
10 years ago, I wouldn’t have cared about seeing bands like KISS or even Van Halen or Manzarek/Krieger or… The list goes on. But now, I’m seeing a lot more bands. Of course, part of that comes down to having Brittany, my partner in crime, being someone that wants to go these shows with me. Not to mention I’m in a much better place financially so I can do these things.
Having said that, I still have my limits.
I bought two mid-level priced tickets for this show. They were still more than $95 each. The first level price? Roughly $165. That’s too much for these guys for me. I can see that for DL or Aerosmith, being my two favorite bands, but not for a bucket list show.
Anyway… The way this played out was pretty stupid. The tour was announced with a full range of dates. The closest shows were both in the Chicago area… The first in Chicago at the United Center on February 24, and the second in Rosemont, a suburb of Chicago, at the Allstate Arena on April 1.
I decided to go for the Rosemont show to avoid having to go straight into the heart of Chicago. But by the time I got tickets, the cheaper, $65 tickets were gone. So I bought some decent $95 tickets.
Less than a week later, a show in St. Louis was announced.
Never fails.
Still, I was just happy to get to see the band.. Especially with David Lee Roth as their frontman. I had picked up their new album, A Different Kind Of Truth, and much to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
As I said, the Allstate Arena was the venue for the show. It’s kind of in a weird place, as there are places to shop all around it. Including a Target & mini mallright next door.
There was a car wash across the street offering parking for $10… And the venue itself was charging $20. Since we were basically stuck in traffic, that’s where we ended up.
And it was a goddamn clusterfuck.
Cars were driving everywhere. It was like toddlers were directing traffic. And they were parking cars three deep!
We ended up fairly close to the venue and headed in. Security was both tight and lax… Considering I got in with a brief pat down and Brittany had her entire purse combed through. Every single nook & cranny was explored. So it was a good thing that I decided not to tape the show due to the fact that nearly ever VH show this tour has been recorded. Had I tried to tape it, they surely would have found my mic in her purse.
As we made our way into the venue, I realized it’s kind of small on the outside but big inside the arena. And I couldn’t help but think of the historical significance in Leppard Land, since that’s the venue they played on New Year’s Eve 1999 when they played “21st Century Sha La La La Girl” for the first and only time. So it was appropriate that they had Def Leppard posters all over the venue, promoting their show there this summer.
We found our seats in Section 203, Row F. They were pretty good. Which they fucking should be for $95 as the cheaper option.
Opening was a band that was not on my bucket list, Kool & The Gang.
It may seem like an odd pairing, but it turned out there was a lot more crossover in the fan base than I thought. Either that or they were just so good that they won the audience over. Myself included. They put on a great 10 song setlist, including “Hollywood Swingin’,” “Jungle Boogie,” “Get Down On It,” and of course the closer “Celebration,” that lasted about 40 minutes.
They left the stage around 8:20 and the changeover began.
Slowly, the stage set up was revealed. Steps on the left, Eddie’s amps on the right. Drum riser in the center, dance floor for Dave in the middle of the front, and a huge screen behind the stage. Fairly simple, but adequate.
I was expecting a big build up type intro for the band to come on stage. But instead, they basically had house music blasting over the PA, and then Alex Van Halen appeared and sat down at his kit. Then came Eddie & Wolfgang and they started playing with the lights in the arena still on.
Finally they went down when Dave appeared on stage. Then the band launched into “Unchained” from the Fair Warning album. The band sounded amazing and I was quick to accept Wolfgang into the band. Would I have liked a full on Van Halen reunion with Michael Anthony? Of course. But Wolfgang was great, both musically and vocally. In fact, it was pretty easy for me to pick out his vocals since we were on his side of the stage and he was pretty clear in the mix from our angle.
“Runnin’ With The Devil” followed and was amazing. Then came the first new song of the night, “She’s The Woman.” Initially, it was one of my least favorite tracks on the album, but it’s really grown on me as of late and the live version was excellent.
The four spot in the setlist has been one where they’ve been rotating deep cuts, and the one we got was “The Full Bug” from the Diver Down album. I wasn’t that familiar with it, as Diver Down was the last album I bought of theirs and hadn’t had the chance to spin it enough to get to know it, but I still enjoyed the tune. It was a fast, high energy rocker, so what’s not to love?
Next up was the first single from A Different Kind Of Truth, “Tattoo.” I’ve always liked the studio version, but still ranked it near the bottom of the list of songs from the new album. But the live version was definitely a step up. Dave had a bit of a coughing fit at one point, which he elaborated on before they launched into the next song. I had to agree with him when he said that the blowers in the venue were on and making it difficult for him to sing. I was a little surprised at how cold it was in there when we first went in.
After his little rant, they played “Everybody Wants Some!!” as featured in the excellent film Zombieland, and “Somebody Get Me A Doctor.”
Then came the third new song of the night, “China Town,” which really showcased Alex’s talent on drums.
The next spot in the setlist had been being used for rotating deep cuts like “Mean Street” and more recently, “Hear About It Later,” but the last few shows have had the hit “Jamie’s Cryin'” occupying this spot… And that’s what we got. Which I was fine with. I would have taken “Hear About It Later,” but didn’t mind the switch.
Their cover of “(Oh) Pretty Woman” followed. Then Alex really got his time in the spot light with a drum solo. I’m always skeptical of drum solos outside of Neil Peart, but Alex put on a good one.
“You Really Got Me” came next. Then it was on to the final new song of the night, “The Trouble With Never.” The last few shows had the band playing “Blood And Fire,” but they switched back to “The Trouble With Never” for this show. A little surprising since that is what they played at the Chicago show back in February, but oh well.
A trifecta of hits followed with the one-two-three punch of “Dance The Night Away,” “I’ll Wait,” and “Hot For Teacher.”
Then the die hards in the audience got their eight minutes in the spotlight for the deeper cuts “Women In Love…” and “Outta Love Again, both from the Van Halen II album. I was hoping for a different deep cut, 1984‘s “Girl Gone Bad,” instead of “Outta Love Again,” but oh well. Still solid songs and I really enjoyed “Women In Love…”
“Beautiful Girls” followed before a mini encore that saw Dave on the stage by himself with an acoustic guitar while a video of his dogs played on the screen. It was a bit odd, but amusing. Eventually the band returned to the stage and they played the classic “Ice Cream Man.” Would be nice to see the sequel, “Stay Frosty,” get played live some day!
They quickly went into “Panama” after that before Eddie was left on stage by himself to play a solo. He included parts of their instrumental classics “Eruption” and “Cathedral.”
The band came back to play my personal favorite VH song, “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love.” One of the greatest riffs ever written I’d say!
I would have been happy if they’d ended the show on that note, but instead they closed with the turd that is “Jump.” But oh well. Confetti shot out and Dave had a giant checkered flag to end the show.
They played for a little under two hours. Overall, it was a great show.
Final thoughts:
Opener: Kool & The Gang. At first, my reaction was “seriously?” But there ended up being a lot more crossover appeal than I expected and much to my surprise, I really enjoyed them! I even posted on my Facebook that I’d rather have them open for Leppard than Poison this summer.
Setlist: VH has really nailed it IMO. It had a ton of hits from the Roth era, four new songs, and a few deeper cuts for the die-hards. This band could have very easily just played hits and a new song or two and filled the time slot just the same. There was no “And The Cradle Will Rock” in the set. Did I miss it? Nope! Didn’t even realize until later on. So props to them for having more of a ‘something for everyone’ set.
Music: They absolutely killed it. Every single song sounded absolutely amazing (even “Tattoo”!). Hearing Eddie play live (when he’s sober) is awe inspiring. As mentioned, Wolfgang was great and I’ve never fully realized how great of a drummer Alex is.
Backing Vocals: I can’t say I really missed Michael Anthony. While I do think it would have been nice to have a 100% original lineup show/album, I think Wolfgang does a fantastic job on both bass and vocals. And clearly Eddie loves having him there.
Lead Vocals: This is where my one complaint would come in. Roth, while a great frontman, has never been a great live singer as far as I know. He’s got all the charisma and personality in the world, and apparently that’s enough to get him through live shows. He did say the venue was cold and was giving him difficulties (and I can side with him in that the venue was quite cold when we first got to our seats), but he still does a lot of talking through songs rather than singing them. Sometimes it wasn’t that distracting, but at other times, he would completely miss parts or be so off tempo with the song that it became distracting.
Visuals: They have a pretty basic stage set up with a stairway, a small dance floor for Dave in the center, and a huge video screen behind the stage. I would say the video screen was wasted, as most of the time it had black & white live footage of the band (with the occasional slow motion replay of Dave jumping…) and a handful of picutres (mostly of Eddie & Dave) that they showed over and over again. Not to mention the one time they showed the “A Different Kind Of Truth” artwork, it was during “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love.” I think a lot more could have been done with it. But it isn’t all that important to me and probably wasn’t to a lot of people that weren’t on the floor due to the lighting rig blocking the screen.
Overall I’d give the show a solid B+. The only reason it isn’t an A is Dave’s vocals. In fact, after the show, I popped in Mirror Ball on the drive home to hear a singer that is dedicated to the song. Certainly makes me appreciate that aspect more.
It was still a great time. Van Halen was one of my ‘bucket list’ shows, being right near the top of the list of bands I want to see before they call it quits. For the most part, they delivered.
Media Review:
An Imperfectly Satisfying Performance By Van Halen In Rosemont
It might sound foolish or far too fawning, given how far removed Van Halen is from their original David Lee Roth era heyday, but I entered the Allstate Arena on April Fools’ Night expecting nothing less than a @@@@ (out of 5) show.
Sufficiently satisfying but at the same time somewhat disappointingly, that’s what I got.
Certainly, there was an overt air of nostalgia for me and presumably many among the assembled mass of paunchy middle-aged men in black t-shirts (a well-faded “The Loop” shirt brought a grin of recognition to my lips). Van Halen was one of the great bands of my youth, with Eddie Van Halen’s extraordinary guitar playing and David Lee Roth’s rakish charm & flamboyant fashions making the So. Cal foursome–especially in my early teenage years–even cooler than AC/DC, Aerosmith & Rush and eminently more badass (in every way) than Journey, Styx & REO Speedwagon.
Although the current tour, ostensibly supporting Van Halen’s surprisingly stellar new album A Different Kind of Truth, already played the United Center in February, seeing them at the pre-naming rights Rosemont Horizon–where I’ve attended more concerts than anywhere, dating back the longest–also added a sense of sentimentality to the evening (although when I first saw Van Halen, there, back in 1986, Sammy Hagar had already replaced Roth as the lead singer).
But having seen the band’s first “reunification with Roth” tour twice in 2007-08 and awarding both shows the equivalent of @@@@1/2–in my own database; I wasn’t blogging much then–I didn’t head to the Horizon Sunday night hoping to catch merely a watered down oldies act.
And thanks primarily to Eddie–who looked healthy, sober and happy while routinely wreaking both thunder and lightning from his guitar–the show was better than that. In addition to his astonishing solos–though more so the briefer ones–I will never tire of hearing his magnificent riffs on songs like “Unchained,” “Dance The Night Away,” “Panama” and “Ain’t Talking ‘Bout Love.”
Though Eddie’s brother, Alex, is likewise in his late 50s, he remains a propulsive drummer and while I still have a problem with Eddie’s choice to excise original bassist Michael Anthony from the reunion in favor of his son Wolfgang Van Halen, it was clear that Wolfie has clearly grown since the last tour as both a bassist and vocal harmonizer.
I’ve long had a love/hate opinion of David Lee Roth, who even as one of rock’s best and most unique frontmen oft seemed to let his goofiness stand in the way of being even better as a singer and lyricist. Like seemingly most Van Halenites, I always preferred Roth to Hagar, but I also appreciate that Sammy–while himself often opting to dumb things down–wrote and sang songs that Roth never could.
Last night it was clear that Roth’s vocals have continued to devolve. Though he always tended to frequently speak his lyrics rather than really sing them, here his phrasing was way off from the originals and at times he seemed off-pitch. In still exuding his uniquely caddish charm as a frontman, Roth’s subpar singing wasn’t enough to ruin the classic songs in a live setting, but it did occur to me why a live DVD was never issued after the last tour.
To their credit, the band seamlessly incorporated a few new songs into the setlist (see it here on setlist.fm), though I actually could have taken a couple more off A Different Kind of Truth, such as “As If” and “Outta Space.” At the same time they went a bit beyond the most obvious back catalog choices by including “Everybody Wants Some,” “Jamie’s Cryin,'” “I’ll Wait,” “Women in Love” and “Beautiful Girls.”
So while I would have liked to have heard “And The Cradle Will Rock,” it really wasn’t the setlist nor Roth’s singing that failed to lift this show from one I couldn’t help but enjoy to one I truly loved.
This is hard to enunciate, especially as the smiles on the faces of DLR and EVH suggested that they truly were enjoying themselves, yet somehow the concert felt methodically joyless. Yes there were a few setlist tweaks from earlier shows on the tour, and Roth offered some offbeat anecdotes, but the whole thing felt just a bit too perfunctory and scripted. Given their musical talents and the relatively simple lighting/video accompaniments, there’s no reason Van Halen couldn’t shake things up a bit more. Why not pull out “Fools”–from 1980’s Women & Children First–for April Fools’ Day?
On any given classic song, Van Halen still sounded great–especially when the music and our memories drowned out Dave–and they played several of them. But whatever the bridge between a concert filled with great songs and a truly exceptional concert–in my mind, a bit of surprise and spontaneity is a big factor–Van Halen didn’t cross it. Even Eddie’s 8-minute guitar solo (video below) was pretty much what I expected, and Alex’s drum solo was especially so.
In fact, or at least opinion, the freshest thing about this Van Halen show was their choice to have Kool & The Gang open for them on the current tour.
Though one might not have expected much of a fan-base crossover, the near capacity crowd was generally seated early and seemed to show sincere appreciation for originating bassist Robert “Kool” Bell and his band, even if James “JT” Taylor, the singer from their days of peak popularity, was missing.
From set opener “Fresh,” to the closing four-pack of “Jungle Boogie,” “Ladies Night,” “Get Down On It” and “Celebration,” the crowd seemed to eat it up and heartily sang along as they got ready to be rocked by Van Halen.
And from the opening chords of “Unchained,” I had a fist-pumping good time for enough of Van Halen’s set to suggest that any other acolyte catch them while they can. They don’t make rock bands like this anymore and even at their baseline standard, they were still fantastic compared to many bands one might see. (As I’m writing this, I’m listening to a band called “fun.” that I’d read some decent things about. Yecch, do they sound saccharine and nowhere near as fun as the most mundane song VH played.)
Still, in trying to offer a fair analysis, the band that basically defined “Arena Rock” kind of did so last night to both the upside and downside of the connotation. Though they can still make the joint “Jump,” one doesn’t quite sense that Van Halen is “Runnin’ With the Devil” anymore. (Hmm, Eddie’s prodigious guitar gifts, a rather soulless show; could it be a deal was made at the Crossroads?)
By Seth Saith or SethSaith.blogspot.com, 2012
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