{"id":24423,"date":"2015-09-26T23:49:29","date_gmt":"2015-09-27T04:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/?p=24423"},"modified":"2015-09-27T20:45:45","modified_gmt":"2015-09-28T01:45:45","slug":"van-halen-concert-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/van-halen-concert-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Van Halen Concert Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Van Halen, Kenny Wayne Shepherd<\/strong>
\nSeptember 21, 2015
\nAustin 360 Amphitheater<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\u2019re on the same team. And they were off, flying through an opener they hadn\u2019t used often (if ever, until this leg of the tour) \u2013 \u201cLight Up the Sky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"David<\/a><\/p>\n

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 \u201cLight Up the Sky\u201d finish did they thump right into \u201cRunnin\u2019 With the Devil,\u201d complete with the car horn intro. Aggression wins out over sentimentalism and these smokin\u2019 hot tunes are just too fast and passionate that there\u2019s no room for lethargy. \u201cRomeo Delight\u201d came right up next and the band only took time to breathe during some of the ethereal moments as Eddie\u2019s guitar swells filled the air. \u201cEverybody Wants Some\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Besides the flashing lights, sonic thunder of the rhythm section and the lightning-fast riffs of our generation\u2019s 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 \u2013 with exaggerated movements, poses and big toothy-grin smiles. He\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019ll have to say I experienced this bit of cognitive dissonance during one of my classic Van Halen favorites, \u201cIn A Simple Rhyme,\u201d which had me movin,\u2019 dancin,\u2019 singin\u2019 and slingin\u2019 my air guitar around. It didn\u2019t 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\u2019t slow down and fired away at full tilt for nearly two hours (1 hour and 50 minutes here in Austin, by my calculation).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The best thing about the show was the setlist. It\u2019s hard not to enjoy yourself when they\u2019re playing tunes like \u201cFeel Your Love Tonight,\u201d \u201cSomebody Get Me A Doctor,\u201d \u201cBeautiful Girls,\u201d \u201cWomen in Love,\u201d \u201cHot For Teacher,\u201d \u201cUnchained,\u201d \u201cAin\u2019t Talkin\u2019 \u2018Bout Love,\u201d \u201cEruption\u201d and \u201cYou Really Got Me.\u201d There wasn\u2019t a stinker in the set. Even a tune that I thought were mellow and lame back in high school, like the Top 40 hit \u201cDance the Night Away,\u201d sounded good. Kudos to the sound crew for delivering and mixing a stellar sound. Eddie\u2019s guitars came singing through the mix loud and clear, but without losing any of the thick, phat rhythm section. Slightly newer songs, like \u201cDrop Dead Legs,\u201d \u201cShe\u2019s the Woman,\u201d \u201cChina Town\u201d and \u201cI\u2019ll Wait\u201d flowed along well, too. A drum solo capped off the first third of the set, which was followed by \u201cLittle Guitars.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Speaking of Eddie Van Halen, he made his fiery fretburning high notes and hammer-on\u2019s 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\u2019ve been in relief of Dave, who fancies himself a guitarist during \u201cIce Cream Man,\u201d 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 \u201cMean Streets\u201d the led into, of course, \u201cEruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 \u201cChina Town,\u201d as well as seeing them high five each other at the end of the set \u2013 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 \u2013 \u201cOn guitar, Edward Van Halen. On drums, Alex Van Halen. On bass guitar, Wolfgang Van Halen.\u201d Sure, I miss Michael Anthony and his killer, soaring background vocals, but if I was a musician dad, I probably couldn\u2019t resist playing gigs with my own son (who, by the way, certainly held his own as a professional bass player).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 \u201cUnchained,\u201d which ironically includes the phrase, \u201dHit the ground running!\u201d That\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While there was plenty of easy-going playing around during the tunes, there wasn\u2019t much time wasted between songs, but the set was over before you knew it. While the band didn\u2019t really disappear too long before the obligatory encores of \u201cPanama\u201d and \u201cJump,\u201d we all knew they couldn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The support act, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, couldn\u2019t have played in a more appropriate town, with his drummer being Chris Layton been a part of one of Texas\u2019 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\u2019s fans love guitar playing, so bringing along one of today\u2019s leading blues players is a perfect way to warm up the crowd.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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, \u201cOh Well\u201d and the Hendrix hit that was revisited by the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan, \u201cVoodoo Child (Slight Return).\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\u2019s set, but it was close to 10,000 strong in this popular shed of an outdoor venue by set\u2019s end. 1978\u2019s most exciting metal band certainly could have done much worse in picking an opening act. Give \u2018em the street cred they deserve for picking quality musicians to do the job.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"DSC_0498\"<\/a>

Here is the legendary Diamond David Lee Roth, looking at me with a bandaid on my nose. I wonder what he’s thinking…<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_0323\"<\/a> \"DSC_0588\"<\/a> \"DSC_0396\"<\/a> \"DSC_0415\"<\/a> \"DSC_0497\"<\/a> \"DSC_0311\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0097\"<\/a>

Perhaps Eddie is looking over and thinking, “I can’t believe that photographer wore a bandaid on his nose. I hope he’s okay.”<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC_0071\"<\/a> \"DSC_0187\"<\/a> \"DSC_0345\"<\/a> \"DSC_0535\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0160\"<\/a> \"DSC_0593\"<\/a> \"DSC_0712\"<\/a> \"DSC_0115\"<\/a> \"DSC_0070\"<\/a> \"DSC_0067\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

[Photo by Teresa Turnage-Simon]<\/p><\/div>\"DSC_0039\"<\/a> \"DSC_0041\" <\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0603\"<\/a> \"DSC_0126\"<\/a>\u00a0 \"DSC_0129\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0341\"<\/a> \"DSC_0208\"<\/a> \"DSC_0015\"<\/a> \"DSC_0650\"<\/a> \"DSC_0645\"<\/a> \"DSC_0503\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0380\"<\/a> \"DSC_0383\"<\/a> \"DSC_0391\"<\/a> \"DSC_0394\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Review and photography by Doug Van Pelt. Photo editing by Teresa Turnage-Simon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":24424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[287,3907,938,3908,1995,2567,2650,3850,3381],"class_list":["post-24423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-austin","tag-austin-360-amphitheater","tag-doug-van-pelt","tag-kenny-wayne-shepherd","tag-metal","tag-rock","tag-sammy-hagar","tag-teresa-turnage-simon","tag-van-halen","cat-17-id"],"yoast_head":"\nVan Halen Concert Review - The Original Heaven's Metal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/van-halen-concert-review\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Doug Van Pelt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/van-halen-concert-review\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/van-halen-concert-review\/\",\"name\":\"Van Halen Concert Review - The Original Heaven's Metal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/van-halen-concert-review\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/van-halen-concert-review\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/DSC_0089.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-27T04:49:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-09-28T01:45:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/#\/schema\/person\/b155afeb7086c8182b3bb3b435e68c4b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/van-halen-concert-review\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/van-halen-concert-review\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/van-halen-concert-review\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/DSC_0089.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/DSC_0089.jpg\",\"width\":521,\"height\":689},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/van-halen-concert-review\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Van Halen Concert Review\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hmmagazine.com\/dvanpelt\/\",\"name\":\"The Original Heaven's Metal\",\"description\":\"Former Editor-in-Chief. 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