Friday, January 06, 2012

Van Halen Rock NYC Club - Videos Included

As predicted, Van Halen played a small club gig last night for 250 industry folks and journos. You can read all about it at RollingStone.com and I am sure a bunch of other music outlets. But here is the Cliff Notes version from what I read:

--Setlist was from the 70s Roth albums plus a 'new' song from the upcoming album, but the song is a re-working of a 70s-era tune that was never released
--They absolutely rocked and were super tight. Eddie was sober (yes!)
--Roth is still verbose
--Wolfgang is great on bass but everyone missed Michael Anthony and especially his vocals

Its great to hear that the band is tight as shit and Eddie seems together. I guess the proof in the pudding will be the new album. Does VH have any creative fire in its tank? We'll soon find out: the new album is out next month!

I am sure loads of clips from the gig last night will emerge. Here are a few already:

New song "She's A Woman" debuted:



Here is a cool one. Who knew Dave played guitar?



and this is the whole of Panama:



Sounds great guys!

By the way, here is the original Gene Simmons-produced demo of She's the Woman from 1976:



Here is the setlist according to ClassicRock.com:

1. You Really Got Me
2. Runnin’ With The Devil
3. Somebody Get Me A Doctor
4. Everybody Wants Some
5. She’s The Woman
6. Dance The Night Away
7. Panama
8. Hot For Teacher
9. Ice Cream Man
10. Ain’t Talkin Bout Love
11. Jump

According to ClassicRock:

During the show Roth namechecked some of the stars who have played the Cafe Wha? in the past – Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix among them – and told the audience: “I’m more nervous about this gig than I would ever be in Madison Square Garden”. And among the celebs in the audience was tennis legend John McEnroe, who’s always loved to throw guitar hero shapes.

The band start touring in North America on February 18 in Louisville, Kentucky. The dates so far stretch to June 26 in New Orleans, with tickets on sale from Tuesday, January 10. So far, there’s no hint of any shows outside of the States and Canada.

Check out the full list of dates here. Bizarrely, Kool And The Gang are said to be supporting on selected shows!

Also, according to the Van Halen News Desk, the band’s new single, Tattoo, will premiere on January 10, along with the official video.

6 comments:

Bar L. said...

Awesome! Would have loved to be there. Saw them front row when they were in their prime, I think it was 80 or 81.

David said...

In 1978 some of my friends went to see Black Sabbath at the legendary Glasgow Apollo but they came to school the next day raving about the support band - none other than Van Halen. (See http://www.glasgowapollo.com/index.asp?s_id=1&m_id=9&action=show&band_ID=58&searchtext= for the set list.)

I have no idea why I didn't go with them but the middle-aged me would happily slap the teenage me for failing to attend!

Donald Capone said...

The new song sounds like it rocks. I saw VH with Roth at Madison Square Garden a couple years back when they reunited. I gotta say that show was hot. They played hit after hit after hit, and the crowd sang along to every one of them. I'm really looking forward to the new album and tour.

Seano said...

I'm very curious to hear Isorski's true feelings and trepidation about this impending album and tour. BTW, whats with Conductor Dave? I want Diamond Dave....even an older, arthritic Diamond Dave will be OK.

Seano said...

Kool and the Gang? The VH mafioso bros. approved that?

Isorski said...

David and Don - jealous. Seano, the band sounds super tight. A new album gives them a reason to tour. If they just do She's The Woman (a song from 1976 anyway) on the tour and hit the rest of the Dave albums, the tour will slay. I agree with your Conductor Dave assessment but they have to be allowed to age too. My only fear is Eddie falls off the wagon. I hear he was great on the last tour so hopefully he's still doing well in that department.