Van Halen at US Bank Arena

Saturday September 19th US Bank Arena Van Halen Live

Wow. It was not really the BEST of both worlds at the recent VH concert. I say this because the opening act, a band called Laidlaw or something started the show with possibly the most embarrising set of rock music I have ever seen. And I've seen Jackyl live. I mean these guys would have been bad in 1988, so today this kind of rock is not only irrelevant, but it was embarrassing. I'll put it this way one song was called "Catfish Stew" which we were informed was off thier first record, a fact I refuse to believe because NOONE would allow this band to make more than one album. Another tune was called "Nascar Superstar" and apperently they were serious about it. They made my ears cry.

Anyway once that nonsense was over we prepared ourselves for Van Halen. We Noticed some open seats 2 sections over from where we were and moved over. At this point we are very close to the stage. Around 8:30 people start cheering and going nuts and the house lights had not even dimmed. I soon found the cause of the uproar. Eddie Van Halen was standing on the side of the stage, lighting a smoke (didnt he just 'survive' mouth cancer?) and talking with his roadie. A few minutes later the house lights went down and the show started with a brief solo by Ed. The stage lights hit with the pre-recorded (uggg) keyboards of Jump.

The crowd was into it and the first half of the show was good, but nothing prepared me for the second half of the show. I've seen VH 12 times now and never have I seen a show as good as the second half of this show. It started after Al's drum solo which was awesome. As RMD commented, Al is every bit as good a drummer as Ed is on guitar. After the drum solo, Al got a tremendous ovation and the floodgates opened. The rest of the show was high on energy. Sam's acoustic solo was great and allowed a breather, but every song during the second half of the show rocked and rocked hard. Sam played my favorite solo Hagar tune, Tropic of Capricorn for his solo which was a great surprise as I thought I'd never see that tune live.

Ed's solo was the best I have ever seen. He reclaimed his spot from Buckethead as my favorite guitar player. His 15 minute solo was heavy on "Cathedral" "Eruption" and "Mean Streets", but also had tons of experemental stuff that I'd love to have him record. The crowd went nuts and Ed actually wept at the admiration.

The best songs of the evening were "Why Cant This Be Love?" "Right Now" "Best of Both Worlds" and "Ain't talkin' Bout Love" Super high energy and amazing rendetions of these tunes.

The setlist went as follows:
Jump
Runaround
Human's Being with new intro
Up For Breakfast
Michael Anthony's Bass Solo
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
Poundcake
It's About Time
Alex Van Halen's Drum Solo
Top of the World with new intro
Unchained
Why Can't This Be Love
Sammy Hagar's solo: Eagle's Fly/Tropic of Capricorn
Seventh Seal
Best of Both Worlds with new intro
Eddie Van Halen's Solo
Dreams
Aint Talkin' Bout Love with new intro
Right Now

Encore 1:
You Really Got Me with new intro
Panama

Encore 2:
When It's Love

Again, the second half was amazing. While I hate pre-recorded keyboards, "Right Now" and "Why Cant This Be Love" allowed Ed to really rock and add new elements to these tunes.

Sammy sounded great, though he left a lot of singing to Mike. Mike sang "Somebody Get me A Doctor" most of "Runaround" and "Why cant this be love" which Ed even took a verse of.

Awesome show. I hope they stick together.