Moments of Clarity

Van Halen at Wells Fargo Arena: Summary

Last Wednesday, I saw the only concert that I've wanted to see for all of my musical life.  Honestly.  Besides smaller shows, I've only seen Van Halen in concert.  Of course those concerts were with Sammy Hagar.  Sammy is great and puts on a great show.  However, I always wanted to capture the raw edge VH had with Diamond Dave.  I began dreaming of this in the 80's and though various reunion rumors surfaced through the years, I've been denied. 

Until now.

The show was great. David Lee Roth is not able to do his polyphonic screaming anymore...but hasn't since the 90's so I knew what to expect.  Eddie is still unreal.  Wolfgang, Eddie's 16 year old legacy plays incredibly well but mostly just stands around on stage.  Alex is still an uber drummer.

My wife commented that Dave really never talked to the audience or said, "Howz it goin' Des Moines?" when Sammy Hagar made his concerts very personal like a party in your living room.  I countered that Dave is simply a showman that likes to get in, do his thing, and get out, letting the show rest on its merits.

If I read too deeply into this reunion of a lifetime for me, I'll probably find holes in it.  So I won't.  Rather, I'll simply say that my concert going career is over and it ended on the crescendo of a lifetime.

I waited for over 20 years to see what I saw Wednesday and I'll probably never see it again. 

Somebody Gimme A Doctorrrrrrrrr!

A dream of mine has fully been realized.  Van Halen is coming to Des Monies (Yes I'm only excited enough to go locally).  Thanks to Tom for the link (no blog to link to slacker).

Diamond Dave, original hits, spandex...it's got all the makings of an incredible evening.  See you there.

My Dream Come True - Redux

Van Halen has re-announced their tour with David Lee Roth. Remember I gave the last one a few weeks and I was right...most all of the group entered re-hab, etc.
It's been relaunched so I will finally get to save Diamond Dave in action.  The group looked quite nicely put together at the press conference.  Dave cut his hair and must have had some plugs.  All in all, I hope I don't have to go far to see it.

That's What Dreams Are Made Of

It's official.  Diamond Dave is reuniting with Van Halen for a 40 city tour.  I'm guessing they'll skip Des Moines :) But they'll probably hit Omaha, Kansas City, or Chicago.  In any case, I'm there.  I've dreamed of seeing them live with Dave since I first heard "Jump" in 1984.  Of course I was 12 then and not really allowed to go to rock concerts.  After that, it was Van Hagar (which I love too but have seen them about 5 times). 

Here's the official announcement. Anyone want to take bets on how many shows happen before the group remembers why they hate each other and quit?

Van Halen

OK.  I don't talk about music much on my blog since not many people want to hear about my 80's hair band ballad memories.  However, my buddy Jeff just shot this piece of news over that Van Halen is back this summer! Apparently, Wolfgang, Eddie Van Halen's son is now the bass player in the group, Michael Anthony is out, and they can neither confirm nor deny that Diamond Dave is going to be the lead singer.  Will my ultimate concert dream come true?  Can you imagine what a Van Halen concert audience looks like these days? 

Sure this is probably a "Hey, let's make another quick couple of mil to buy that new (fill in the blank with 7 figure item here) but whatever man...it's Van Halen.      

I Didn't Know Bono Was a VC

Wow.  Found this on the B2DAY blog.  Apparently, Bono is a partner in Elevation Partners, a private equity firm.  Now, Elevation has bought a stake in Forbes (as in the magazine/web properties).  As a rabid U2 fan, I'm intrigued.

      

Meet my new friend...EDGE

as i sit on this embraer jet on the way to the middle of nowhere (midland texas), i felt compelled to write about U2.  I must admit, I'm a recent devotee having only used the Joshua Tree hits to gauge U2's position in my life.  since i'm such a digital music slacker, i have only U2's newest effort on my laptop hard drive.  How to dismantle an atomic bomb is a compendium of great lyrics, sounds, beats, and awesome guitar riffs provided by one of the coolest dudes around...the edge (if you can get away with having people call you "THE (fill in the blank single word)...you've to to be pretty cool. 

I have diverse music tastes but am NOT an iPod toting mp3 downloading audiophile.  In fact, I'm completely content with Yahoo Messenger's Launch Cast internet radio firmly planted on either the FUNK or 80's.  At home, I turn on my Satellite TV's SIRIUS radio DISCO and LATIN stations and rock the night away with my family...doing our best white family imitation of Tito Puente and Wild Cherry. 

Rock on.