Van Halen
Bank Atlantic Center, Tampa, Florida, U.S
10/04/12.
Van Halen’s U.S. tour has turned into a triumphal procession. From city to city, they are met by sold-out arenas and extatic fans. It’s not surprising. Van Halen is one of the few bands that I have not yet seen live, and I didn’t know at all what to expect. I imagined, however – that they would make a grand entrance. They didn’t. They just walked straight out on stage! Barely anyone even noticed until they started playing!
Van Halen 2012, consists of a 59-year old David Lee Roth, a 57-year-old Eddie Van Halen, a 59-year old Alex Van Halen and a 21-year Wolfgang Van Halen ….. They prove that age in rock and roll never has any significance other than that the older you get, the better you know your profession.
David Lee chooses not to jump around quite as much as most of us associate with him – the high kicks and jumps, but he shows during the concert that he is still nimble enough to do splits several times in a row and jump up again like it was a piece of cake. He does a few kicks here and there because he can, but he is concentrating on maintaining his own Roth-way: by communicating with the audience. He’s cracking jokes and has a wonderful self-distance. At one point he even pulls down a little bit of his glittery spandex pants to show the tattoo he has on one of his well-trained butt-cheeks! He sings better than ever, there is power in his voice, every note is pretty much perfect.
But he has the backing of the modern day original guitar hero – the man who inspired a whole generation of guitar players – Eddie Van Halen. He looks healthier than he has done in years, dressed in black from head to toe and looks to have been working out a lot. But it is his playing that will make jaws drop at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
He is just unbelivable, absolutely amazing. As a cool Keith Richards, he stands in his right corner of the stage and does his thing. Alex Van Halen gets his time to shine when he tears off a drum solo that also leaves thousands of fans in awe. On the whole, Van Halen is this super band consisting of the best you can find, the best front man, best guitar hero, best drummer, and then there’s the Eddie’s son Wolfgang “Wolfie” …. He handles his role as bassist in one of the world’s biggest hard rock bands well because he can play. He’s alright. But he’s also very anonymous. Maybe it’s his choice, how you get on a stage with three legends (although one of them is his father and one is his uncle) and compete with their experience and status?
The stage is simple but impressive, not a cord visible anywhere. Behind them is the one giant screen (where most tend to have 3 smaller ones) that make the stage visible for everyone in the arena and create a sense of both grandeur and intimacy. The sound is crystal clear, every nuance goes out. Van Halen live is perfection from every angle.
We hear a good mix of new and old, both from the latest album A Different Kind of Truth and the classic songs such as Panama, Hot For Teacher, Running With The Devil and closing song Jump – where glitter confetti is being dropped over the audience. If you want to be sure of getting the best for your hard earned buck, then go see Van Halen. They prove that you can never beat experience. And for me, it was definitely worth the trip to Florida, many times over.
Daniela.