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Concert Review: Van Halen In Pittsburgh

June 29, 2004: Post-Gazette Pavilion


The following review was e-mailed to ThePittsburghChannel.com by Mike Hamilton, a Channel 4 Action News viewer from Monroeville.

If you'd like to tell us about a concert you recently saw, e-mail us at
webstaff@thepittsburghchannel.com.


Sammy Hagar has rejoined the group, and they are better than ever. Van Halen was on fire from start to finish. It was just like old times, except now the T-shirts cost $40 a pop.

The mix of Van Halen and Van Hagar was about 60/40 in my opinion, with Van Hagar owning the 60 percent. Sammy was in rare form. He was wearing his customary red outfits the whole night. He switched to a red-and-yellow combo later to reflect his nickname "The Red Rocker."

The opener was "Jump." I love that song. It's hard for any band to beat the one-two punch of "Jump" and "Panama," in my opinion.

The third song was also one of my all-time favorites: "Somebody Get Me A Doctor." That is a rarity for a Van Halen show anymore, that's for sure.

After about the fourth song, Alex Van Halen went into a drum solo. It wasn't that impressive. His drums were set up so they sounded more like Caribbean drums for the solo, which was strange. When the brothers started out as kids, it was Eddie on drums and Alex on guitar, but they switched at an early age. It would be interesting to see if Eddie has kept up his drum-playing ability.

Some of the other songs that were played during the show included "Right Now," "The Seventh Seal," "Top Of The World," "Best Of Both Worlds" and a Sammy original, "Eagles Fly." That last one was a bit of a ballad, and I'd say only about 20 percent of the crowd knew the song. It's a good time to take a food/beer break.

Eddie Van Halen is a guitar genius, there can be no denying that. His solo went on for about 15 to 20 minutes, and it was OUTSTANDING. I think he is to a guitar what Mozart was to the piano. The big-screen televisions showed many close-ups of his hands during the guitar work. His hands look real old and beat up, but they work the guitar like he was in his prime. He ended the solo with a fantastic rendition of his signature piece, "Eruption." I remember in junior high, every kid with a guitar tried to learn to play it.

The encore was impressive as well. One of the three encore songs was "Panama," and it rocked the house!

When I reflect on this show, it was the best concert of the year. I am thinking of going to another city to see it again.

The only songs that I was disappointed not to hear were "Hot For Teacher" and "I Can't Drive 55."

You never know how many tours Van Halen has left, but this one ranks right alongside their best.

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