On the bucket list is Van Halen and we got to see them at the Scotiabank Place.
We started off the night over at Vero and Martin’s place for a great supper and then we ran off to the other end of town to pick up Claude. Aaron and Trish met up with us later and we took seat in our Section B (Center), Row 23 which is an excellent row placement for future readers of this post.
Kool and the Gang opened and I recognized a few songs and was able to appreciate what they had to offer the crowd that night! Two thumbs up for and the Gang!
A word of Van Halen…I can’t consider myself a huge Van Halen fan. I got into Van Halen with the Balance album which was VERY late into their career, and then I had their greatest hits album as well as 1984. That’s it. That’s all I knew. Personally, I think I was more of a Van Hagar fan, but hey, not a big deal.
However, it was sort of a big deal for me at the concert. This was the original lineup of Van Halen which is a privilege to see, but as a semi-fan, it just didn’t blow me away as a concert. However, I’m glad I brought Martin along because he says he has all the albums and is a huge fan and he was super impressed. So I can say that it was a great show for the fans.
The interesting thing is that they don’t bother with their songs that they recorded with Sammy Hagar. So…Claude said if he would have known that, he probably wouldn’t have paid what he paid for the show. It was quite pricey. I have to say that it is strange to see a band who literally plays half of their back catalogue.
That being said, they were in top shape. They played a good selection of their early albums as well as some cuts from their latest album ‘A Different Kind of Truth’. I was entertained musically…I really enjoyed Wolfgang on the bass guitar and of course, the guitar God himself, Eddie Van Halen was pretty impressive! David Lee Roth had this weird timing with some of the words which threw me off, but all in all, it was entertaining to see them.
So, that’s that. Wasn’t blown away by the concert but that was due to me not being the hugest fan to begin with. I think if they introduced their entire back catalogue, everyone in the stadium would be hopping. But I can’t fault them for that…the fans of early Halen were in for a treat that they haven’t seen since the early 1980s.
Setlist:
Unchained [Fair Warning]
Running With the Devil [VH]
She’s the Woman [Different Kind of Truth]
Romeo’s Delight [And the Cradle Will Rock]
Tattoo [Different Kind of Truth]
Everybody Wants Some [Fair Warning]
Somebody Get Me a Doctor [VH II]
Chinatown [Different Kind of Truth]
Hear About it Later [Fair Warning]
Oh, Pretty Woman [Diver Down]
You Really Got Me [VH]
The Trouble With Never [Different Kind of Truth]
Dance the Night Away [VH II]
I’ll Wait [1984]
Hot for Teacher [1984]
Women in Love [VH II]
Girl Gone Bad [1984]
Beautiful Girls [VH II]
Ice Cream Man [VH]
Panama [1984]
Eruption [VH]
Ain’t Talkin’ About Love [VH]
Jump [1984]