Van Halen Concert Review

September 26, 2015 By Doug Van Pelt

Van Halen, Kenny Wayne Shepherd
September 21, 2015
Austin 360 Amphitheater

Rock & Roll is show business and David Lee Roth and his bandmates proved that with their dramatic entrance to their show in Austin, with a round of cymbal smashing, guitar feedback and David Lee Roth spinning Eddie Van Halen around to show from the get-go that they’re on the same team. And they were off, flying through an opener they hadn’t used often (if ever, until this leg of the tour) – “Light Up the Sky.”

Van Halen came to rock hard and they sounded tight and even a bit ferocious. This might be a nostalgic reunion tour for these old guys, but they came out swinging like they had something to prove. No sooner did “Light Up the Sky” finish did they thump right into “Runnin’ With the Devil,” complete with the car horn intro. Aggression wins out over sentimentalism and these smokin’ hot tunes are just too fast and passionate that there’s no room for lethargy. “Romeo Delight” came right up next and the band only took time to breathe during some of the ethereal moments as Eddie’s guitar swells filled the air. “Everybody Wants Some” offers up many of the same moments, allowing Diamond Dave to riff about whatever else comes to his mind besides the lines that run up the back of those Austin, Texas, stockings.

Besides the flashing lights, sonic thunder of the rhythm section and the lightning-fast riffs of our generation’s guitar pioneers, the most prominent part of the show was the visual performance of frontman David Lee Roth. He is the consummate showman and he was playing for the folks in the back row – with exaggerated movements, poses and big toothy-grin smiles. He’s a gas to watch, but I have to say he reminds me of that old man in the Six Flags commercials the way his Fred Astaire mannerisms are meant to evoke a smiling response.

His vocal performance was mighty fine, save for the frequent lapses in timing that happened midway and later on during the set. This has been a common complaint from armchair quarterback critics of Van Halen over the years, but most of us are having so much fun enjoying the tunes that we bypass judgment on the singing bits.

I’ll have to say I experienced this bit of cognitive dissonance during one of my classic Van Halen favorites, “In A Simple Rhyme,” which had me movin,’ dancin,’ singin’ and slingin’ my air guitar around. It didn’t occur to me that they were kind of butchering it a bit until midway through the first or second chorus. Minor or major criticisms aside, this was a hard rock extravaganza that didn’t slow down and fired away at full tilt for nearly two hours (1 hour and 50 minutes here in Austin, by my calculation).

The best thing about the show was the setlist. It’s hard not to enjoy yourself when they’re playing tunes like “Feel Your Love Tonight,” “Somebody Get Me A Doctor,” “Beautiful Girls,” “Women in Love,” “Hot For Teacher,” “Unchained,” “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” “Eruption” and “You Really Got Me.” There wasn’t a stinker in the set. Even a tune that I thought were mellow and lame back in high school, like the Top 40 hit “Dance the Night Away,” sounded good. Kudos to the sound crew for delivering and mixing a stellar sound. Eddie’s guitars came singing through the mix loud and clear, but without losing any of the thick, phat rhythm section. Slightly newer songs, like “Drop Dead Legs,” “She’s the Woman,” “China Town” and “I’ll Wait” flowed along well, too. A drum solo capped off the first third of the set, which was followed by “Little Guitars.”

Speaking of Eddie Van Halen, he made his fiery fretburning high notes and hammer-on’s look easy. His guitars looked like kept getting smaller and smaller as the evening wore on. Near the end it looked like he was playing an electric ukulele, for crying out loud! His best moment might’ve been in relief of Dave, who fancies himself a guitarist during “Ice Cream Man,” but then the band crashes in and Eddie takes on knee as he plays climbing notes up and down the neck of his guitar. His solo included a slight amalgamation of his recorded riffery, including the intro to “Mean Streets” the led into, of course, “Eruption.”

Other memorable highlights included seeing the band have fun with each other, like when Eddie and his song, Wolfgang Van Halen, harmonized their instruments during the fast opening riffs of “China Town,” as well as seeing them high five each other at the end of the set – a true, blue father and son moment we all got to see. Van Halen is practically a family band now, which made even more sense when David Lee Roth introduced each of them at the end – “On guitar, Edward Van Halen. On drums, Alex Van Halen. On bass guitar, Wolfgang Van Halen.” Sure, I miss Michael Anthony and his killer, soaring background vocals, but if I was a musician dad, I probably couldn’t resist playing gigs with my own son (who, by the way, certainly held his own as a professional bass player).

A couple of other odd moments included Diamond Dave doing high and spinning kicks. Even Eddie did his trademark running kick leap. But then the agile frontman sat in a chair for the tune “Unchained,” which ironically includes the phrase, ”Hit the ground running!” That’s strange. And then I noticed Eddie taking a big hit of vapor at the very end, which I guess is a healthier vice than burning a cig.

While there was plenty of easy-going playing around during the tunes, there wasn’t much time wasted between songs, but the set was over before you knew it. While the band didn’t really disappear too long before the obligatory encores of “Panama” and “Jump,” we all knew they couldn’t leave without playing those crowd pleasers. And so Van Halen came back for one more ride (and half a dozen costume changes for DLR). Fun was had by all. Very good, fellas. Thanks for putting all (or at least one-third of) the drama and feuding behind ya for one more run.

The support act, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, couldn’t have played in a more appropriate town, with his drummer being Chris Layton been a part of one of Texas’ most renowned rhythm sections, Double Trouble. His inclusion on this bill was good in the sense that it was truly a supporting act and not a competing band stylistically. Besides, most of Van Halen’s fans love guitar playing, so bringing along one of today’s leading blues players is a perfect way to warm up the crowd.

KWS mostly stood in place, as did his band on a minimal stage setup. His originals had plenty of blues noodling that featured great tone and attitude. The crowd certainly perked up for some of the cover tunes, which included the Fleetwood Mac early hit, “Oh Well” and the Hendrix hit that was revisited by the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan, “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).”

His band was fronted by an able vocalist named Noah Hunt and he was also backed by pedal steel legend Riley Osbourn. Without much movement or hoopla, they brought a rock solid wall of blues sound that was as thick as the late summer air. The crowd was obviously here to see Van Halen, partly proven by the masses slow trickling in throughout Kenny Wayne’s set, but it was close to 10,000 strong in this popular shed of an outdoor venue by set’s end. 1978’s most exciting metal band certainly could have done much worse in picking an opening act. Give ‘em the street cred they deserve for picking quality musicians to do the job.