Oct 28 2007
Rock ‘N’ Roll Road Trip
Road trip.
What was the first thing that popped into your head when you read those two words up there? Excited anticipation? Abject fear? Convenience store restrooms to rival the loo in Trainspotting?
What if you are driving eight hours to see a rock band comprised (mostly) of 50-something men attempting to recapture something they last shared 23 years ago? Or, depending on your outlook, hoping to score some cash one last time before they’re completely washed up?
Does that change your outlook?
Our tickets secured by my brother about 10 days prior, Alvis and I left Thursday evening for a stop on the latest Van Halen tour, which puts David Lee Roth back at the lead vocal post. We overnighted in Tulsa and then made the rest of the trip Friday.
Charles (aforementioned brother) and his friend met us at an Olathe, Kansas motel, where we quickly lugged our things to our rooms and then headed out to find food before the show. I left behind my point-and-shoot digital camera, figuring I’d never get in the concert with it. I never considered the miniature Swiss Army knife on my key ring.
At the bar/restaurant, I realized I had left my earplugs back at the motel. As we sat within about 15 feet of the bar’s stage, I thought maybe the staff would have some earplugs I could use. The manager said they might and led me to a man standing at the end of the bar, near the soundboard.
He pointed to two cone-shaped pieces of yellow foam lying between volume level knobs on the board. “Well, we have these, but they’ve been in someone else’s ears.”
“Oh, no thanks,” I said.
“They’ll probably sell you some at the Sprint Center,” the manager said. That was the venue, opened only a week prior.
We walked the few blocks to the Sprint Center, its gleaming glass in stark contrast to the dirty, old buildings of Kansas City surrounding it. We filed in with the folks waiting to walk through an airport-style metal detector.
A sign outside declared, “No professional cameras allowed.” So, I could have brought my point-and-shoot. Crap.
When my turn at the detector came, I nonchalantly set my mobile phone and my key chain in a plastic tray. “Sir, that can’t go in with you,” said a young woman pointing at my miniature Swiss Army knife.
Too far from the car to warrant saving a knife Shannon bought on sale for $6, I handed the knife over to the lady. Two frustrating facts ran through my mind: 1) I didn’t even need my keys that night once we decided to ride in Charles’ vehicle, and 2) I finally put that knife back on my key ring only about two weeks ago, after so proudly remembering to remove it before an early October flight.
The cheapest concert shirt was $35, and it was ugly. The only one I would have worn was a $45 t-shirt, and maybe the $75 hoody. I passed up the souvenirs. This was my fifth time to see the band (all with my brother), and I had bought shirts at only the first two.
Recalling again how loud Van Halen was in 2004, I asked an usher if he could get me a couple pairs of earplugs. He said, “Watch this,” as if I was about to see something amazing, and led me to a sliding window where another arena employee handed him the goods. I thanked him and headed back.
Grammy-nominated reggae/pop/R&B singer Ky-Mani Marley (one of Bob’s many sons) opened the show. It was a strange fit for a Van Halen concert, and a group of seven guys behind us voiced their opposition.
I won’t go into details of each track Van Halen played. I’ll just say that they had some sound problems that night — things that I hadn’t heard mentioned in reviews of previous shows on this tour. I didn’t feel a need to wear the earplugs, but I did for a couple of stretches to see if it helped compensate for the mediocre acoustics. Mostly they just prevented me from hearing Eddie and Dave on the songs where they had volume problems.
They never stopped to banter between songs, which is very unusual for David Lee Roth (even on this tour, from what I’ve heard). Their playing, including Eddie’s son Wolfgang on bass, was solid except for a few spots where Eddie played a few measures in the wrong key. With so many sound problems, I often heard flashes of Eddie’s brilliance, but couldn’t sustain it long enough to be awed by it.
At one point during his 10-minute solo, Eddie’s lead cord came unplugged. He licked the plug a few times and stuck it back in. As a former bass guitarist, I found that an odd way to ensure a good connection.
At the start of several songs, my brother and I leaned out around Alvis with wide eyes and an affirmative nod. Words were lost in the din, but even unspoken they rang through loud and clear: Hell yeah!
We had a great time and got back to the motel at about 11:30. Next morning, Alvis and I made the trip back non-stop. Just outside Coffeyville, I chewed and almost swallowed a substantial piece of clear plastic from my Arby’s sandwich.
Despite that last detail, it was yet another adventure that makes me look forward to the next time I can utter the words, “Road trip!”
Wow, I’m sorry you didn’t have a better time…. It’s awful that they didn’t live up to your expectations, or even what you had heard before.
Some times, road trips are just road trips… male bonding things. Doesn’t matter where you go, as long as you have a good time.
Sounds like you had a great time to me, despite a few glitches. Glad you guys were able to make the trip and make some more fun memories! I sure had a blast at my concert this weekend, too - I’m not telling who it was, though, because someone might blast it like they did my white creme. (whine)
Dave - Definitely a lot of it was about the intangibles of just hanging out in the car with Alvis. But it was also about tradition — my brother and I have seen VH together five times now.
Your reaction, though, sounds almost like you skipped the last three paragraphs, one of which begins, “We had a great time…”
I guess sometimes the negative is accentuated because it’s more interesting to write about the exceptions. Example: “I ate five meals without finding any foreign objects,” would be even more boring than anything already in this post, because everybody has eaten meals like that.
Shan - We both got to see great shows! What a weekend!
Mark - Glad you had a good time, but i’m sorry the sound was bad. Usually the sound is pretty good at that ampitheater. Shame. Bu tlike you said…the trip was really about the company.
I’ve got lots of kin out in Olathe. Actually, I owe a visit to some of them. Shame we didn’t plan ahead, could have met up for a meal or something.
Shan - Sorry to have bashed your white donut filling. My favorite donut is the sour cream batter ones so you can feel free to insult them. I promise to cry convincingly.
And I’m very glad you got to see a good concert…even if you won’t let me mock it. :(
Moksha - It was a brand new venue. I think there was another Sprint Center there before, but this one opened on October 10 this year.
Yes, had we planned ahead we could have had breakfast or lunch the day we left. Oh well.
Although white creme filling is my favorite filling, my favorite donut is the sour cream donut. So, we think alike on that front.
Funny how going on a road trip and/or to a concert when you’re young contrasts that same experience when you’re old. Oops, I meant older. Maybe it’s just because the musicians are old/er??? ;-)
Yep…there were some nitpicky things. But…there were some real positives.
1. Although I dreaded seeing our seats, I was thrilled with where we were. With that HUMONGOUS video screen behind the stage, you could see the band better than you could from anywhere behind the 20th row. In fact…maybe better, because the close-ups on the screen were crystal clear, and from too close you probably wouldn’t have been able to see it clearly.
2. We were 30 steps from the restroom, and 50 from beer, and didn’t have to step over anyone. No way it gets any better than that. Oh, and no one sat down for the entire concert either, which made it easy for people to pass by.
3. Parking, getting in, and getting out were a 10. Free, 3 blocks walk, and we never waited for a single car on the way out.
What I found myself the most intrigued with was Eddie’s son Wolfgang’s involvement. Here’s a kid who is 16 years old, and is playing bass guitar for one of the world’s most famous rock and roll bands to sold out arenas across the country. WOW. I bet the rush for Eddie has got to be amazing when he looks over and sees his son holding his own out there. There were a few times during the concert where they had a moment of playfulness, and laughed at each other. That was cool to see, and it reminded me that even though they seem larger than life, they’re just human beings with normal everyday emotions that are felt between a father and son. Pretty good stuff.
Mark, you and I are in direct agreement. It was great to get to see them play the old stuff, and just being able to hear the songs live was great. However, if I had to rate it with regard to overall sound quality vs. many other concerts I’ve been to, I would rank it pretty low. There were times when the backing vocals were great, and times when it seemed like they were borderline terrible.
I tried to keep it in perspective. I’ve been to Van Halen before when it was MUCH worse, and DLR could barely sing. At least this time, despite not even attempting his signature screams, he at least sang the right lyrics and mostly on pitch.
I’m not sure what was up with the sound board, but it all sounded a little muddy. I could tell early on, but it was VERY apparent at the end when they played “Jump” and the keyboard was played from a recording. It was MUCH clearer than the instruments. I would expect some difference in sound quality, but not that much. It made me wonder a little about Eddie’s “Old school” approach to recording, and his ideas about sound. I couldn’t BELIEVE he didn’t have a wireless in today’s day and age. I also thought it was strange that he had such a big guitar effect board, when most concerts of that size have sound engineers who can manage those, leaving one less thing to worry about for the performers.
It was HILARIOUS to me when Eddie pulled out his guitar cable during his solo section, licked it, and stuck it back in. I really hadn’t noticed any issues with the sound, and I thought it was more grandstanding than anything else. He was obviously trying to be funny when he did it…and it worked.
Although being critical is tough when it’s Eddie Van Halen, his solo left me with many of the same feelings I had the last time I saw them 4 years ago. He plays just enough of the melodies from the different solos to tease the audience, but not enough to really enjoy them. I’m sure he’s tired of playing them over and over, and consequently he changes them up. What it does for me is annoy me a little bit, because I like to hear at least enough of a representation to appreciate the high points. Instead, he just plays segments of the high points from many different solos.
I would MUCH rather hear him play “Cathedral” and “Eruption” in their entirety at different points during the show, rather than hearing snippets of 10 different solos all rammed together. But…that’s just a personal beef.
For show quality…I thought it was excellent. They played without any trivial breaks, and I thought the mix of songs was good. The lighting was nice, but not overdone. I thought “I’ll Wait” was out of character with the rest of the show, and despite being a big hit at the time, fell flat. My last nitpick is with “And the Cradle Will Rock.” I didn’t care at all for the background recording being played. Even though it might have sounded a bit thin, or required a little more ingenuity to make it sound interesting, I would have MUCH preferred them just playing it themselves.
Even with the nitpicking, I’ll go again if they fire up another tour in a few years. I just think their ability to mix hooks and melodies along with a raw punch is unmatched. They made hard rock melodic in a way that really hasn’t been duplicated, with a nod to Guns and Roses and Aerosmith for coming very close at times.
Besides…despite his popularity waning, Eddie Van Halen is a guitar innovator, and he should get more recognition for that. I still think his guitar tone is one of the best ever, and has never been effectively duplicated. He’s a legend…and every chance I have to see him is one I’ll probably take.
WOW…that was a long entry. Sorry…I got carried away. :-)
Charles - Definitely can’t argue with anything you wrote. Clearly, we were at the same concert.
Funny that you mentioned the seats’ proximity to everything. I thought the same thing. The parking was the best, too. I’d much rather walk a few more minutes than idle in the car for an hour of stop-and-go getting out of a parking lot.
Look at the reviews on this page on vhlinks.com, where you can choose concert-goers’ reviews from all the shows so far. For a very in-depth review of Van Halen in general and the KC concert (with bullet points at the end that are dead on), see this page.
Mark,
I knew you had a good time.. but when you expect a 10, and you get a 6.. you do get disappointed.
Any road trip, with your brother and your buds, is bound to be great. I know that from experience.
Shannon - I would have liked your concert more than Van Halen, but at least the guys had a good trip.
Markus…Thanks for posting the link. When I got about halfway through I noticed that the writer was from Texas, and had made the trek up for the concert at KC. How ironic huh?
The only thing that I would disagree about would be the rant about Wolfgang. At 16, I wouldn’t expect much stage presence, and it will take him awhile to be comfortable out there. He went from playing at dad’s studio, to thousands of screaming fans overnight for goodness sakes!! I’m sure he’ll get better.
There was no doubt about the “mic sharing” situations. It happened a few different times, and it sounded terrible each time. Ear monitors are nice, but good old fashioned stage monitors are about the only way to overcome that. For what they have…they should stick with their own mics. I couldn’t agree more.
I’m not sure Dave’s singing was quite as good as he indicated, but who cares? Few if any singers pull out the stops on those huge tours…there’s only so much a voice can take. For arena rock…I thought he did as well as I expected.
No more long posts on this issue, other than to say that it was a BLAST. The author didn’t mention that NO ONE sat down the entire show, and it accomplished the major goal of ROCKING OUT.