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And this one:
East Rutherford 11-3-07 Review (sorry this is pretty long)
Nov 4th, 3am: Just got back from East Rutherford, a three hour drive, and I'm still completely wired. Having seen the show in October in Philly, I can honestly say that the Boys just keep gettin' better. Another great show tonight--same set list naturally--some interesting happenings....
We had seats on the side of the stage again, only this time on Edward's side. A little further back behind--we couldn't see Alex because of the top of the ramp, but they thoughtfully had a large screen TV set into the side of the ramp that mirrored everything on the jumbo-tron at the back of the stage, and that was a treat, yes indeed...I'd say we were probably 60 yards or so, as the crow flies, from where Edward was playing most of the night. And we could see the sound technicians' board at the side of the stage in the pit as well (this becomes important later....)
Musically they were tighter than ever---Edward was/is amazing as usual (truth disclaimer: You'd be hard pressed to get me to say much negative about Edward--I'm kinda biased about him...sue me... ) That being said, I am also a musician, and there's nobody out there that impresses me more than he. His melodic lines are unique and beautiful, and his keen sense of rhythm and where a song is going give him the ability to weave in and out of the melody in a way that I've never heard anyone else accomplish. Dave is really stepping it up--his voice was in top notch shape tonight, there wasn't any of that pitchy-ness I heard in Philly--he's listening to his bandmates a lot better and it shows. They hit their 3 part harmony perfectly in 'Dance the Night Away' (where they've been doing a chorus a capella and getting the crowd to sing along?)--and I mean Perfectly. It's my fave Van Halen tune, and I was listening for it tonight, and it...well, it brought tears to my eyes it was so balanced and blended and beautiful. Nicely done, gentlemen...Some have talked about "voice enhancements" on the tour, and I have to say that if there are any, other than the weird but cool tech effects they've been using periodically on Dave's voice (like on his fade out at the end of 'Little Dreamer'), I could not detect any such thing tonight. Alex, again, rocked the roof off the place! He is simply the best drummer I've ever heard. His speed, his creative cadences, his more than obvious "I LOVE my job" attitude...He has no match. His solo kicked ass and then some. Wolfgang, however, is the real star of the evening---he is SO much more comfortable on stage, in just a month's time. His skill level has increased by leaps and bounds. He played what I'd call two "mini solos" tonight, starting off two different tunes (and sadly, my sleep deprived brain cannot recall which), and I say again, if anyone has any doubts after this evening if the boy can bring it, they need their head examined. Tap harmonics are difficult to pull off clearly on a guitar, let alone a bass, and he's got it down!! Way too cool....I couldn't be prouder if he were my own son. And this now brings me to the really interesting part of the evening....
There were some pretty major equipment problems tonight, from both Dave and Edward's standpoints. I noticed Dave motioning to the sound guys in the pit to turn it up kind of early in the show, and when it didn't happen he actually walked over, called one of them up the stairs and had a pretty animated discussion with him during one of Edward's bridges, somewhere around "Somebody Get Me a Doctor' or 'Beautiful Girls.' The next three songs went off without a hitch, including Dave and Edward hiding from each other on either side of the drum riser during 'Everybody Wants Some' and doing that "can you top this weird noise I'm making?" game I so love to watch them play. I'm trying my best to remember, but I think it was during 'So This is Love' that Edward started having problems hearing through his monitor. He looked over at the guys in the pit and motioned for them to turn it up, and motioned at the monitor. More than once during the song. 'Mean Street' sounded ok, but Edward still looked like he was having some sort of problem hearing. And then during 'Pretty Woman,' it was hard to hear Edward's guitar above the rest of the band. Again, he was communicating with the pit that something was wrong, but seemed to be getting no response. After Alex's solo, 'Unchained' sounded really good, a good balance of everything, but right in the middle Edward got a blast of Horrible feedback from his mike, so much that he actually recoiled from it, and it looked like it hurt...Then stuff really started to go awry... 'I'll Wait' started, and again Edward was obviously having trouble hearing through the monitor--he actually got down on his knees and put his ear up to it, motioning to the sound guys the whole time like, "See? I can't hear anything!!!" Through the next 4 songs he became increasingly frustrated---there were times again when it was hard to hear his guitar above the rest of the band, not because they were louder, but because it just wasn't loud enough. It almost seemed to be fading in and out of the correct volume...He was literally begging the sound guys to help him, and I mean on his knees, gesturing "I can't hear", BANGING his guitar on the stage, repeatedly telling them to cut something off; I thought he was going to cry at one point he looked so frustrated--and he made it so INFINITELY clear to all of us in our section that he couldn't hear, I don't know how the techs weren't getting it. And he was doing this all the while maintaining a level of performance that astounded me, given the problems he was having. By the end of 'Little Guitars,' the guy had just had enough. When 'Jaime's Cryin' started and he couldn't hear out of the monitor again, he kicked it off the drum riser in utter frustration. Then he turned and said (it was the first time I've ever been able to clearly read someone's lips) "Fix this!" and pointed to the monitor and went back to playing. Several seconds later, when he STILL couldn't hear, he dragged it over almost to the top of the stairs (tho' still facing him) and again clearly said, "Fix this!"and went back to playing and singing. After several more moments of what looked like non-action from the techs, he leaned over and yelled, "FIX IT! NOW!"--I know these were his words because they got picked up by the pa system, very clearly. I was a little afraid of him by then, to tell the truth--he was pretty darn pissed off. But I will say again, he kept playing and kept singing--he never missed a vocal cue. (I will stipulate here that I am NOT a sound technician, so I don't know what exactly was happening. I will say, however, if there is a problem you're working on, and whatever you're doing isn't solving the problem, TRY SOMETHING ELSE!) At the end of the song, he walked over, handed off his guitar, and then picked up the offending monitor and literally threw it down the stairs into the pit. (At this point, I felt so bad for him that I started chanting, "Eddie! Eddie!" and got the entire crowd in my section to chant it along with me--I wanted him to know that we'd seen it all and were on his side...I hope it helped...) Luckily he had some moments to cool off, since Dave was starting 'Ice Cream Man' next...And where does Wolfie fit into this whole shebang?? Well, he never missed a beat---he stepped up his playing when Edward's guitar inexplicably kept fading in and out and he carried the tunes like a seasoned professional, filling in the missing tones to keep the sound rich and familiar. He was calm, he kicked ass and took names---he really did an impressive job tonight. I can't wait for them to make a new album to hear what else he can do! Things seemed to go fine the rest of the night, although at one point I caught Edward glaring at the guys in the pit. His solo went off great---loved loved LOVED it when he played with the feedback at the stacks. That just kills me....
Now some might say that Edward's actions tonight were the actions of a prima donna jerk who's ruled only by his ego. I have to disagree strongly. When Edward entered rehab earlier this year, he posted a note on the VH webpage explaining that he didn't feel he could give his fans the 110% they deserved from him until he had gotten himself back on track and healthy. And at the press conference announcing the tour, again he spoke of giving the fans the utmost that Van Halen can give, of making sure they were at the top of their game before they came out to play with us all. Given those sentiments, I see Edward's actions tonight as those of a man who has great committment to giving his fans the best performance he has in him. And because of the problems he was having, he was frustrated that he wasn't able to live up to his own standards. Frankly, I think that'd piss anybody off. And you know what? That kind of committment only makes me love him more.
So again--another amazing show. If you get the chance, go see it. You'll be happy you did.
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burn down the wall, not the bridge
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