Rock News
REVIEW, PHOTOS: Van Halen Kick Off US Tour At Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center in Kentucky Post by: Steve Mascord 20 February, 2012 - 2:35 PM
(Photo: Getty Images)
In the 1970s and eighties, rock and roll singers had two props – the microphone stand and their hair.
Few were better at utilising both than David Lee Roth, who used the former as a baton-cum-samurai sword and peered out cheekily from behind the latter, safe in the knowledge that paternity insurance would save him from any of the hassles caused by those who could not resist.
But when Diamond Dave returned to active service with Van Halen at the weekend – in the first show of the Different Kind Of Truth World Tour at Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center – the 58-year-old was without both these important diversions. The hair was shorn short and the stand was replaced by a telemarketer’s headset.
The effect as Alex Van Halen started banging on his skins without warning in front of a sold-out and souped-up crowd was unusual. Still stunningly fit, Roth was less like a preening rock god and more like a flamboyant ballet teacher, reprising dance steps from the "Just A Gigolo" video as VH played songs they have not aired live since, in one case, 1979 and, in another, 1980.
"You Really Got Me" kicked things off but it wasn’t long before new tracks like "Tattoo", "China Town" and "The Trouble With Never" got sent around, all to deafeningly positive reactions. Drunk on beer, bourbon and surprisingly uplifting openers Kool And The Gang, the full house didn’t notice that for the first half hour, the sound was about as thin and gutless as that of a casino cabaret band.
That’s why big arena tours don’t open in New York or Los Angeles.
Roth took regular costume changes from a minion at the lip of the stage, who passed PVC jackets, a big game hunter hat and a giant chequered flag. Eddie Van Halen grinned as if it was his job to – and he was enjoying it – while 21-year-old Wolfgang Van Halen locked in with his old man brilliantly when the mix finally including his bass in the show. Alex’s solo was infused with what sounded a bit like funk and was short, fading into “Unchained”.
Staging-wise, there were a couple of striking aspects. Six lighting technicians, three on each side of the stage, were hoisted in rigs that looked like they were about to attack a death star, 15 metres above the floor. Pity if the call of nature arrived.
And the wide-angle black and white camera lens that has been used to capture the rebirth of Van Halen in videos and stills over the past couple of months was dominant on the three-storey video screen behind the band. Roth even played to the camera like it was an old friend at one stage. Van Halen have not settled by awe-inspiring visuals – these towering images behind them are arty as well.
Roth’s solo spot, when he talked about his sheepdogs as they chased cattle around on the screen before segueing into "Ice Cream Man", was plain weird. Diamond Dave also forgot the lyrics at one stage, joking "onward to the chorus, onward to the chorus" as he beckoned Wolfie across stage with him.
Tour openers are good for journalists and generally bad for music purists. Tonight, Van Halen were accomplished and entertaining but the secret ingredient of their music that gets into your DNA, gives you goosebumps and enriches the rest of your day, week and month appeared only fleetingly.
Kentucky was happy, though. Who needs more secret ingredients down here?
Setlist
You Really Got Me (The Kinks cover)
Runnin' With the Devil
She's The Woman
Romeo Delight
Tattoo
Everybody Wants Some!!
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
China Town
Mean Street
Oh, Pretty Woman (Roy Orbison cover)
Drum Solo
Unchained
The Trouble with Never
Dance The Night Away
I'll Wait
Hot For Teacher
Women In Love
Outta Love Again
Beautiful Girls
Ice Cream Man (John Brim cover)
Panama
Guitar Solo
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
Jump
How pumped are you to see Van Halen come to Australia?
