fraroc
31st Jan 2012, 11:15 PM
I do! I'm one of their biggest fans and I've been since I was a little boy when I heard "Jump" and "Running with the Devil" for the first time. Eddie is probably the best guitarist on the planet and still is today no matter who else says otherwise!
But the one thing I admire about VH is the fact that somehow, they can always carry on with all the trauma and drama that occured in the band's history, but there always been some very low points. The 2004 Summer Tour with Sammy Hagar was an absolute disaster and it's sad, 2004 was supposed to be a great year for VH and was supposed to be not only a comeback, but Van Halen's phoenix rising from the ashes! They did the tour and 3 new songs (yay, a whopping three) as a giant PR stunt and tried to make everything look just peachy keen. But in all reality, the reunion with Sammy reopened old wounds. Eddie and Mike could barely stand the sight of each other, Sammy just seemed to be going through the motions. Sammy Hagar used to be very energetic on stage back then but in 2004 he was all slow-mo and bored and he wasn't even singing properly! And the way he dressed was ridiculous. And to top it off Eddie crawled into a bottle of alcohol and just wouldn't come out...and it almost killed him btw...
The 2007-2008 tour with David Lee Roth was a HUGE improvment from the '04 debacle but still had some bumpy streets....For example, it was supposed to start in EARLY 2007 but instead started in October because Eddie had to go into rehab to get sober. Billboard.com actually made the stupidest decision ever and "reported" that the reunion tour was cancelled completley and all I saw was EVH get viciously attacked by pissed off fans on the Van Halen News Desk website. One of them said "You know, I don't care if you DIE in rehab, you've fucked over the fans too many times! All you do is throw your fans a bone(reunion tour with Roth) and keep yanking it back!" And to add insult to injury, fans began to verbally attack his son, Wolfgang because he was going to be the bassist instead of Michael Anthony. Many even vowed not to buy one more record and not to see them on tour. And then to twist the knife, many fans restarted the infamous "Sammy vs Dave" wars!
The tour itself, inevitibly happened and when I went to see them, I did not expect much at all. You have absolutley NO idea how impressed I was! Despite Michael Anthony not participating, the show itself was VERY good and I mean REALLY REALLY good. Eddie was at almost at his absolute best! And it was so cool seeing David Lee Roth still doing Kung-Fu moves on stage at the ripe old age of 52! But then November, they had to postpone the 2008 leg because Eddie reportadly was drinking again and got into a massive fight with Wolfie which gave him the motivation to become clean and sober. Not many fans know this but that boy saved his legendary father's LIFE because of that!
Now in 2012, Eddie recently turned 55 and is been clean since 2008, and is finally releasing a new album with David Lee Roth in about 8 days! And a U.S tour! Words cannot express how excited I am for this!
But the one thing I admire about VH is the fact that somehow, they can always carry on with all the trauma and drama that occured in the band's history, but there always been some very low points. The 2004 Summer Tour with Sammy Hagar was an absolute disaster and it's sad, 2004 was supposed to be a great year for VH and was supposed to be not only a comeback, but Van Halen's phoenix rising from the ashes! They did the tour and 3 new songs (yay, a whopping three) as a giant PR stunt and tried to make everything look just peachy keen. But in all reality, the reunion with Sammy reopened old wounds. Eddie and Mike could barely stand the sight of each other, Sammy just seemed to be going through the motions. Sammy Hagar used to be very energetic on stage back then but in 2004 he was all slow-mo and bored and he wasn't even singing properly! And the way he dressed was ridiculous. And to top it off Eddie crawled into a bottle of alcohol and just wouldn't come out...and it almost killed him btw...
The 2007-2008 tour with David Lee Roth was a HUGE improvment from the '04 debacle but still had some bumpy streets....For example, it was supposed to start in EARLY 2007 but instead started in October because Eddie had to go into rehab to get sober. Billboard.com actually made the stupidest decision ever and "reported" that the reunion tour was cancelled completley and all I saw was EVH get viciously attacked by pissed off fans on the Van Halen News Desk website. One of them said "You know, I don't care if you DIE in rehab, you've fucked over the fans too many times! All you do is throw your fans a bone(reunion tour with Roth) and keep yanking it back!" And to add insult to injury, fans began to verbally attack his son, Wolfgang because he was going to be the bassist instead of Michael Anthony. Many even vowed not to buy one more record and not to see them on tour. And then to twist the knife, many fans restarted the infamous "Sammy vs Dave" wars!
The tour itself, inevitibly happened and when I went to see them, I did not expect much at all. You have absolutley NO idea how impressed I was! Despite Michael Anthony not participating, the show itself was VERY good and I mean REALLY REALLY good. Eddie was at almost at his absolute best! And it was so cool seeing David Lee Roth still doing Kung-Fu moves on stage at the ripe old age of 52! But then November, they had to postpone the 2008 leg because Eddie reportadly was drinking again and got into a massive fight with Wolfie which gave him the motivation to become clean and sober. Not many fans know this but that boy saved his legendary father's LIFE because of that!
Now in 2012, Eddie recently turned 55 and is been clean since 2008, and is finally releasing a new album with David Lee Roth in about 8 days! And a U.S tour! Words cannot express how excited I am for this!