THE VERDICT IS IN. AND.........

It seems they're not so bad. The Charlotte Observer reports that it was a full house and the band put on a pretty good show. Early comments by readers seem to report the same thing. You can read that review here.
As it turns out, the rehearsal set list that leaked was the actual song list for the night. Scattered reports around the internet are saying that the sound was "muddy" and hard to listen to. The almost-everyone-is-over-50 band put on a great show, but without all the leaps and jumps of the old days. One fan reported that Dave reminded her of Liberace in costume strutting about the stage. Dave does love to strut his game show host poses and those porcelain veneers!
And a special note about Wofie's debut: There is not one report of any mistakes. Not that we expected him to tank, but he is only 16 and has never played a full show at a venue of this size (he did play select songs during the 2004 tour when he was 13). Even though the rehearsal reports were saying his vocals were "off" and/or too loud in the mix, the fans at last nights show say he was fabulous. Way to go Wolf!


Overall, even with some sound issues, it sounds like the fans are happy to see this reunion. Who wouldn't be? After 22 years, no one ever thought this would happen. If they can keep their egos, anger and addictions in check it may turn out to be a good run.

I'm sure more reports will filter in today....stay tuned.

COUNTDOWN TO MELTDOWN
DAY: ZERO

Somebody get me a doctor! In just two hours Van Halen kicks off their 2007 fall tour with David Lee Roth in the driver's seat. Last chance to place your bets: Will this tour implode...or not? Hard to say. The reviews will be out soon...stay tuned!

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:



It's actually pretty good! Might even make you think about buying tickets to this tour. Let's not forget that just one year ago Dave was doing this:



And I repeat: Vegas oddsmakers predict this tour will implode before the 5th show.

Who knows? Wait and see. Wait and see.

COUNTDOWN TO MELTDOWN

DAYS: 2

You thought it was a rumour. You never thought this would happen again. Love him or hate him, David Lee Roth is back! After a couple of false starts, the original Van Halen lineup is set to tour starting this Thursday, September 27. Here's a video from a rehearsal this fall:







What works for them:
1-Roth had a lot of loyal fans that will undoubtably be back for this show.
2-Eddie & Alex are sounding good and they know their material. Say what you want, they are great at what they do.
3- Eddie is out of rehab and hopefully in control of his issues. It also sounds like he is clear of his physical ailments as well.
4-People are curious about Wolfgang (taking over bass for Michael Anthony).
5-With Roth in the lineup, VH is bound to bring back some deep cuts from the Roth years.

What will work against them:
1-VH just lost 1/2 of their band; Sammy & Michael. This might be hard to recover from, not only technically, but in marketing & public realtions.
2-Wolfie may come from rock & roll royalty, but he's green. He's just 16 with and this is a big project to dive into. Good luck, Wolfie.
3-Hagar has fans that are fiercely loyal and VH may see themselves missing some revenue if Hagar's fans don't buy back into Roth.
4-Roth has been out of the game for a while. Can he recover and rebuild the VH dynasty? Only if his ego doesn't get in the way.

Here's another little peek at rehearsals:





Vegas odds have this VH tour imploding within 5 shows. Place your bets, folks!

Me? I was a BIG Roth fan back in the day and even though I loved, loved, loved Montrose & Sammy Hagar solo, I initially felt like replacing Roth was sacrilege. But Hagar went on to help fuel some powerful songwriting in that band, driving VH to their highest successes to date. Bringing Roth back now is nostalgic, but it's all bittersweet when Michael Anthony leaves at the same time.

I also wonder how they are going to handle the Hagar years. Sammy used to sing Roth's VH songs because he had the chops to do it. Can Roth do the same? Or will they just ignore a great portion of their catalog?

My guess is that VH will bring in the dollars with this tour, even if people are just showing up out of curiosity. If this tour does last, I don't think there will be any new VH music coming from this lineup.

It's kind of like a train wreck waiting to happen....Stay tuned!