I Saw Van Halen at the Garden and All I Got Was This $35 T-Shirt
Just about 20 years ago, I saw Van Halen with front man Sammy Hagar at the Providence Civic Center in Rhode Island, which is now the Dunkin Donuts Center. A few days ago, I saw them again at the TD BankNorth Garden, which used to be the Boston Garden before advertising took over the world...only this time, touring with the band for the first time since 1985, was original lead singer "Diamond" David Lee Roth.
I arrived at the show a bit early and ignored all of the fake t-shirt vendors...$15 for a shirt seems reasonable, but they're not REAL. Last time I saw Van Halen, I got a fake shirt...this time it was going to be official merchandise only. So I searched...and found...all of the official shirts were $35-$40...OUCH. That hurts, but it's real. Cost almost as much as the $47 ticket.
The opening act of the night was Bob Marley's son, Ky-Mani Marley, who sang all his dad's old tunes. Not sure I see how reggae and Van Halen go together, but it was music you could dance to...it was a relaxing way to start the night. I even considered buying his album...if he had one.
The lights came up and the stage was cleared. Two miniature blimps floated around the arena with the old Van Halen logo on them until showtime. "We heard you missed us...we're back", they started and went right into "Hot for Teacher" and they were off to 2 hours of all pre-Hagar music. the music was louder than loud (thanks Etymotic Research), and then it was louder than that. And if you think I'm dwelling on how loud it was...even with earplugs, I left with the muffle ear sounds of old that I tried so hard to avoid. I can't imagine not having that protection.
But Dave was Dave...he and the band (minus Michael Anthony who was unfortunately replaced with 16 year old Wolfgang Van Halen) put on a hell of show that blew away the Van Hagar show from 20 years ago. The kicks were not quite as high...the splits weren't there, but Dave, Eddie, Alex...they were full of energy. Wolfgang...well...to steal a line from a review I read...he looked like a contest winner but played his part as if he'd been around all along.
I arrived at the show a bit early and ignored all of the fake t-shirt vendors...$15 for a shirt seems reasonable, but they're not REAL. Last time I saw Van Halen, I got a fake shirt...this time it was going to be official merchandise only. So I searched...and found...all of the official shirts were $35-$40...OUCH. That hurts, but it's real. Cost almost as much as the $47 ticket.
The opening act of the night was Bob Marley's son, Ky-Mani Marley, who sang all his dad's old tunes. Not sure I see how reggae and Van Halen go together, but it was music you could dance to...it was a relaxing way to start the night. I even considered buying his album...if he had one.
The lights came up and the stage was cleared. Two miniature blimps floated around the arena with the old Van Halen logo on them until showtime. "We heard you missed us...we're back", they started and went right into "Hot for Teacher" and they were off to 2 hours of all pre-Hagar music. the music was louder than loud (thanks Etymotic Research), and then it was louder than that. And if you think I'm dwelling on how loud it was...even with earplugs, I left with the muffle ear sounds of old that I tried so hard to avoid. I can't imagine not having that protection.
But Dave was Dave...he and the band (minus Michael Anthony who was unfortunately replaced with 16 year old Wolfgang Van Halen) put on a hell of show that blew away the Van Hagar show from 20 years ago. The kicks were not quite as high...the splits weren't there, but Dave, Eddie, Alex...they were full of energy. Wolfgang...well...to steal a line from a review I read...he looked like a contest winner but played his part as if he'd been around all along.
posted by Jeff - WeinerToons at 12:03 AM
2 Comments:
Holy crap Jeff... you had nosebleed seats!! Jim and I were at the back, floor seats :) They weren't THAT loud... but that is being said by someone who goes to at least five concerts a year! And Dave and Sammy DID tour together, August of 2002, at whatever Great Woods is now called... I was at that one too! Also saw DLR solo at Hampton Beach Casino ballroom... and hung out with DLR at some bar in Boston a few years ago that Randy won some contest to. I bought him a shot of Jack :)
-Tiffany
I saw Van Halen with Sammy Hagar singing back in the early 1990's up in Canada. Even then the band members were showing their years when it came to the athletic part of the show. The venue we were in wasn't earsplitting loud; however, there were some teenaged kids smoking marijuana in front of us and I spent a majority of the performance trying to cover my nose and mouth while simultaneously fanning smoke away (It was still during my Air Force days and I lived in mortal dread of a pop-quiz of the urinary variety for several months following that concert). Anyway, I 'm glad that they're still out touring and that our generation can still enjoy the oldies.
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