Lemme tell you, Van Halen was pretty amazing. We got in partway through the tragically hip's set but got to see Gord Downie break more than couple mic stands while performing such tracks as "yer not the ocean," "bobcaygen," "fully completely" and the extenda-version (again) of "Hundredth Meridian."
after a break and a delicious $10 beer we were back in the fairly full Air Canada Centre where the elaborate stage (including walkout) was unveiled as van halen broke into their opening song "You Really Got Me", with Eddie shirtless from the get-go. They roared through a bunch of songs with David Lee Roth busting out high-kicks in his gaudy getups, including top-hat and microphone tricks too. "Runnin' with the Devil" was taken care of earlier on in the set and was brilliant. Eddie's solos dominated most songs, as they rightfully should have, though Alex's drumming was phenomenal as well. It was showcased in a mid-set drum solo that lasted a solid four or five minutes, before the band returned and he continued to play for another hour unphased. Some other favourites were played including "Dance the Night Away" and "Janie's Crying", and a quick cover of the Who's "Magic Bus" was tossed in, as well as a full rendition of "Oh, Pretty Woman." The drum intro we were all waiting for came quick and was then masked by Eddie's guitar (painted in the signature Van Halen way), but "Hot For Teacher" was still no disappointment. It could have closed the set with it's intensity, however these aging rockers brought it for nearly another hour still. Nearing the end of the show they broke into "Panama" which was fantastic. Then Eddie was left to his own devices. I sat in awe of this man's unorthodox, eclectic and outstanding guitar work - utilizing all devices at his disposal, including the whammy bar and the volume dial- he made the guitar do things I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't been watching it live. At the end of ten minutes of this I closed my gaping mouth and wiped the drool from my chin. Van Halen had already blown me away so I figured I might as well "Jump."
A spectacle indeed, brought to me by my good friend Jon (brought to him by his good friend Bhalla, brought to him by his pal RIM-Jim aka Jim Balsillie). Easily the best free concert I've ever taken in, and it could rival the $80 tickets as well.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Halen is Still Hip
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Live Hip in London
Fittingly the song to open the night in a hockey arena venue was the new "At the Lonely End of the Rink" before getting into "little bones" and then "dire wolf". The show was actually moving fairly slowing until "fireworks" amped it up a bit with an altered line that sounded like "As well "..loosening my grip on ..." Joe Thornton. This was followed by "100th Meridian" which had a long interlude where Gord mixed in the beginning lyrics of the Eagles "Stairway" but he quickly cut himself off and returned to bash a mic stand and then trade it to a girl in the crowd for her sweater. the rest of the set had better flow with some more phantom power "poets" and "bobcagen" mixed in with other new World Container songs (kids don't get it, family band). They did a solid job of including songs from all eras.(Locked in the trunk of a car, long time running, giftshop, ahead by a century)
The title track of "World Container" was a good new inclusion as was the third last song of the set "yer not the ocean". The last two tracks were actually started as "new orleans is sinking" then switched off to the entire "nautical disaster" before returning to close out as new orleans with a switch to ""..looked up to" London "above, and said - hey man thanks".
After a rather long wait for the encore they eventually did hit the stage again. Another world container track before breaking into Iggy Pop's "Lust for life". It was a rather straight up rendition which didn't waver too much from the original but was fairly representative of Gord's dancing throughout the night - a lil wild, tap-dance affair with a lot of movement. Interesting to say the least. I was worried I wasn't going to hear it but the closer was "Blow at High Dough" and it was excellent. As was the show in general once it got rolling. Another mic smash handed to the crowd and a heartfelt thank-you to music fans (including a mock-painting of us) and they were gone.
