Rock Me

COUNTDOWN TO MELTDOWN
DAYS: 1

Tomorrow night. Charlotte, North Carolina. They're back........

And it looks like it's a go. Additional shows have just been added, bringing this tour to 29 stops. Still no stop in Denver, so I'll have to rely on fellow bloggers, national reviews and of course, YouTube to find out what the VH boys are up to.

So, Dave's back but why is Michael Anthony gone? Here's a blog posting on August 23, 2007, by Mike on his blog:

Thanks For The support!!

First of all, I hope all of you are having a great Summer!! I want to thank everyone for all the support you're shown me during the past months. I'ts all been pretty crazy, and I just wanted to bring you all up to speed. Alot of you have been asking about the upcoming Van Halen tour and my response to it. It's not that I'm not touring with Van Halen because I'm going out with Sammy, I'm going out with Sammy because I was not invited to do the VH tour. Sammy told me that if I was asked to be part of the VH tour and decided to do it, it would be totally cool, and it would not tarnish our friendship in the least!! Well it's not to be, and life goes on. I'll still be out there with Sam, and I can't wait to do some partying with all of you. One last note from myself to all the Van Halen fans out there who will be attending their shows...Wolfgang is a great kid, so don't judge him too harshly. I'm sure he'll do just fine!!....See you all soon, Mike

(from http://madanthonyblog.blogspot.com )

Rumour also has it that Eddie & Alex did not want Mike on the 2004 reunion tour with Sammy. Sammy insisted that Mike be included or he would not participate. In the end, Mike agreed to a pay cut and Eddie & Alex hit the road with Mike & Sammy. I personally love Mike...and Sammy. No wonder I'm not so hyped to see the "new" old VH.

btw...You can see Michael Anthony on tour with Sammy right now. They call themselves "The Other Half" and they usually play right after Sammy finishes his set with the Waboritas.

Here's a little trivia fact: None of Roth-era albums held the #1 album spot on the Billboard charts. Zippo. Null. None. Big Zero. However, all four Van-Hagar albums did, starting with 5150. ALL FOUR. That's a lot of number one time.

I was wondering how they might handle the "Van Hagar" years on this tour. Sammy was able to do the favorites like "Jump" and "Panama" but would Roth be able to pull off a Hagar song?

**SPOILER ALERT***
Details of the show may be revealed here. If you don't want to know, stop reading now.

I have a copy of the rehearsal set list. Not a guarantee that you will hear these songs in this order, but it's a good indication.

01. You Really Got Me
02. I'm the One
03. Runnin' With the Devil
04. Romeo Delight
05. Somebody Get Me a Doctor
06. Beautiful Girls
07. Dance the Night Away
08. Atomic Punk
09. Everybody Wants Some
10. So This Is Love?
11. Mean Street
12. Pretty Woman
13. Drum Solo
14. Unchained
15. I'll Wait
16. And the Cradle Will Rock
17. Hot for Teacher
18. Little Dreamer
19. Little Guitars
20. Jamie's Cryin'
21. Ice Cream Man
22. Panama
23. Guitar Solo (incl. "Women in Love" intro, "Cathedral", "Eruption")
24. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
------------------------
25. 1984
26. Jump

Not one Sammy-era song. In fact, when I went to the official VH web site, I was surprised to see there was not one trace of Sammy left. The background graphics are made from images of all the Roth albums. The discography section is gone, so there is no mention of any albums post-Roth. Even the logo has reverted back to the orignal; the wings of VH are straight now, they were curved during the Sammy years. Interesting how they are just erasing history.

Van Halen is treading in some dangerous waters and unless they find a way to handle this transition back to Roth with some dignity and respect for the Sammy years, they are going to alienate a great portion of their fans.

Here's a video clip from the final rehearsal: