Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Van Halen

Hi all:

If any of you old (and young) rockers out there want to catch a great concert: go see Van Halen! My buddies and I saw them last Saturday in Vancouver, and they kicked some serious "A$$"! We saw them about eight years ago during the "Balance Tour" however they were definitely better this time around. The concert was on par with Metallica's show earlier this year. You can't beat these old band's. Musicians are not like atheletes: they get better with age!
My Axiom M60's didn't sound right until late yesterday afternoon (after my hearing came back).
Cheers!
Shaun

You mean "Van Hagar"...right?

WhatFurrer

The last time I saw them was on the "1984" tour. But you're right - some of the old rockers beat the hell out of a lot of shows that I've seen recently. My girlfriend and I drove to Indiana two weekends ago to see Blue Oyster Cult, and they were unbelievable. A couple of years will pass and then I get the chance to see them again, and each time I think "Jeez, I hope they don't suck. I hope they're not sleepwalking through their set and just trying to grab whatever money they can."

...And each time I walk away wondering why on earth they're not still packing much larger venues. They're just a devastating live band, and I don't think I'll ever apologize for liking them as much as I do. I saw Rush back in April, and they'll just never suck. And then I saw Prince a month or two later, and that was amazing. There's a lot of good live music out there, and it's refreshing to find that some of the old stuff still holds up really well.

And how funny was the whole Ashley Simpson/SNL thing? Anyone else catch that?

On that "old rocker" note, I saw Paul McCartney play at the annual Bridge School Benefit last night here in the SF Bay Area. He was impressive. There's something to be said for listening to Beatles songs done by one of the originals.

In reply to:

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Ashley Simpson/SNL thing? Anyone else catch that

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YES... how funny.. i was at the hotel room, and just started laughing.. i woke my wife up, and she was not amused.. but the whole thing just goes to show.. she is a fabricated star, working off her sisters name. she gets a TV show purely off the success of her sisters show, and it flops. then, she tries to make an image of half britney spears, half avril lavigne..

obviously, she chose to immitate the worst half of each. i sure hope she enjoyed her 15 minutes, cause it is coming to a screeching hault.

bigjohn

I suppose you could call it Van Hagar, because without Sammy and Michael Anthony the Van Halen brothers don't have much to work with! David Lee Roth was entertaining for a while then his past due date caught up with him. If they brought him back he would have to talk his way through the songs as his voice is shot to hell. Roth never was much of a singer but was sure funny to watch. BTW, Eddie looked like he was half in bag at this concert. We were very close to his side of the stage. Rumour has it he's fallen off the wagon again. Was smoking as well. You would think that after a bout of throat cancer he would be a little more careful?

Mike,

All I can say is there sure is gonna be one hell of a big void in the music industry when some of these older bands call it quits. Glad to hear you got to see Rush. They didn't come thru Vancouver this past summer. I bought the "Rush in Rio" DVD and I can't stop watching it. Amazing performance!!!!! I saw John Mayer earlier this year and he puts on a very good show.
The Ashley Simpson fiasco was hilarious!!!
Cheers

Rock_Head,

You like the "Rush in Rio" DVD...I have read conflicting reviews on it re: the audio mix. I have heard that the vocals seem low, washed out; the crownd noise is a bit too much and takes away from the vocals. What's your opinion on the audio mix...are the vocals, instruments on par with what you would expect from Rush?

Thanks,
Joe

This was covered with some enthusiasm here.

My view on the Rush in Rio DVD is that it is definitely poorly recorded and mixed, but that it's an entire live Rush concert with a great set list and great energy, so I can live with the sound problems.

On top of reading some of the complaints about the sound quality/mix in the forums, I knew there was a problem when the first track, Tom Sawyer, had very boomy bass. Compared to a well mixed DVD like Clapton One More Car One More Rider, where the bass drum is tight, Neal Pert's bass drum sounded very loose and boomy.

The crowd noise is way too high, Geddy's voice is too low, and there are some other problems, so this is definitely far from a reference concert DVD. However, if you are a big Rush fan, I'd say it's still worth owning. The DVD is definitely a disappointment though, for what it could have been if done properly.

Here is the Ashlee Simpson/SNL thing (.wmv format).

Hilarious. I like how she tries to play it cool, then walks off stage.

Thanks,

Well, that's too bad about the sound problems; a complete Rush concert does make up for it somewhat. I don't know, I'm still on the fence for this one. I was thinking of getting it to watch with my son...he's starting to like some of the older rock. I figured he'd like the guitar and drum work, especially when you can hear and see it at the same time.

Joe

My "access was denied" for the Ashlee Simpson thing. I only saw part of it on the news, but wy wife hadn't even heard about it and I was hoping to show her.

Anyone know of other links?

Yep...me too...and I tried all the standard IT accounts...and some hacker accounts too!!!! LOL

Oops. Go here first, then click the ashlee link.

well...at least the band was entertaining!!!!
For those of us who are not into the latest musical/teen idol types...who is she anyway?

...nice pics and collection of software too!!!!

What a freakin' riot! Thanks for the link!

Ashlee is Jessica Simpson's little sister. I will say, I think Jessica has quite a good voice (and, ummm, very nice, ummm "stage presence") but I think her sister will now see HER career either go down in flames or, possibly and sadly, do better!

What the HELL happened there? Did the lipsync track break, or did she sing the wrong thing and then give up? That's pretty pathetic. Stupid record execs.

Joe,

Forget about all the pros and cons of this DVD and just go buy it! It's only about $20.00+/-. After you watch it you'll wonder why you waited so long to buy the damn thing! I was sitting on the fence for along time contemplating this purchase after reading all the negative reviews etc. Upon purchasing this DVD about 6 weeks ago I felt rather silly for not buying it sooner. Some people have complained about the sound but what do you expect when you have 40,000 bodies in a outdoor soccer stadium? No background noise and pristine sound can be found listening to a studio cd and imagining what the performance would look like!
I don't have a problem with the sound quality. My M60's make this concert sound very good!!! Your son will really enjoy the bass, drums and guitar work. Why turn down an opportunity to see the best drummer in the world (with a 8-10 minute solo)? Buy it. You won't be sorry.
Cheers,
Shaun

I wish I hadn't read anything about it. I have the DVD, but haven't watched it (due to an overdose of Rush on the iPod). I hate reading negative reviews before I watch something. Totally skews my perceptions.