Van Halen - SJ Arena
Sunday, December 16, 2007
My apologies for delaying the review of such a legendary act, but I am here now to tell you (my favorite readers) what a fantastic show it turned out to be! My husband and I took my dad for his birthday. We had four tickets and couldn't deny my mom the experience of a rock and roll show, so she came with us too. We had great seats. They were facing the stage in the upper part of the arena, second row. There was an electric feeling of excitement in the air from the 40-something crowd. Concerts of back in the day were filled with fast men, scandally clad women and lighters for waving at those sentimental, rock ballads. Nowadays the audience members wear jeans, a comfortable sweatshirt and wave their cell phone to get that perfect picture. Man oh man, how times have changed.
As for the music, the SJ arena was rockin' that night. They kicked off the show with "You Really Got Me" which began with Eddie's well-known guitar solo. The night was filled with classic favorites. "Runnin' With The Devil", "Beautiful Girls", "Jamie's Cryin'", "Panama" and "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love". My top 3 favorites had to be (in random order):
-Hot For Teacher: always a favorite song, favorite video, but what a performance. Alex and Eddie were truly tested on the drums and guitar.
-Ice Cream Man: so thrilled they added this one to the mix. David Lee Roth began this song by playing the guitar and sharing a story from his younger years. The song starts with a single guitar melody and the band jumps in half way through the song.
-Everybody Wants Some: this could easily have been my favorite performance of the night. The beat of the song, the energy of David and the Eddie in-mid-air scissor kicks, which are a little lower in the air now. Rockers must hate getting old.
As for the band, there is one and only one lead singer of Van Halen... David Lee Roth. When he appeared on stage for the first time, his charisma filled the arena. He had a smile from ear to ear that glowed the entire night. You could definitely "feel the love" between David and Eddie Van Halen. I think Eddie has let bygones be bygones. It's amazing how much love is felt when you are selling out arenas and making an a** load of money. But Eddie did hold his own. Shirtless, aging and sweaty, he still knows how to pick the strings of his custom made guitar. Next, we have Wolfgang. He's no Michael Anthony, but he did hold his own. He is a spitting image of Jack Osborne, Ozzy's kid, but definitely has a better job. Finally, Alex on the drums. It's amazing how all drummers are so reserved, so quiet, but play one of the loudest, coolest and biggest instruments around.
The band played for about two hours and fifteen minutes. They ended the night with "Jump", a long time favorite whose video gave us spandex, Roth head high kicks and made long hair fun for men. Another great concert for the books and my favorite moments of the night were:
-Pumping my fist in the air, with my dad, to "You Really Got Me"
-Looking over at my husband and his ability to play a mean air guitar
-And the quote of the night by my mom after the concert had been over for five minutes... "I can still feel it in my chest."
