Charlie Gets The Hook Today!! (Come back tomorrow, for your weekly dose of that foul fowl!)

So that we can bring you:

The (Late) Saturday Morning “Nobody-Asked-Me-To, But-Here-I-Go-Anyway” Concert Review – VAN HALEN (Whoo-hoo!!)

(or, Why I Will Never Be A Professional Concert Reviewer…)

Some sons go fishing with their dad. Others help them out with chores around the house, for allowance money.

If you happen to be Wolfgang Van Halen, you’re going to be joining your dad Eddie on his current world tour, kickin’ out bass licks in arenas filled with crazy, screaming fans.

Yessir, with the exception of the original bass player, Van Halen circa 1980’s was in town last night. I had hoped to find my old pair of black and white parachute pants, but alas, it was not meant to be. Mrs. That Dan Guy must have slipped them out to a needy family while I wasn’t paying attention.

As it was, I was driving her nuts by “Jump”ing around while we were getting ready yesterday.

This was the first time we’ve both ever seen the lads, and what a show! They erupted onto the stage with their cover of The Kinks “You Really Got Me”, and it was a roller-coaster of hits following that opener. Well, there were a few dull spots where they did songs that weren’t so big, but the hits brought the crowd back to life every time.

When they did “Running With The Devil”, the whole crowd started pumping their hands out, with the pinkie and index finger sticking out like devil horns. I had a malfunction, and only my pinkie finger stuck out. It was like I was having a British cup of tea!!

It was pretty dark, so I think I avoided enormous embarrassment…

I can also see why the group decided to reunite, and hit the road again. The divorce for Eddie and Valerie Bertinelli must have hit him pretty hard – he couldn’t even afford a shirt of any kind – he performed the entire show shirtless! For the love of God, if these guys are coming to your town, buy some tickets. If I find my parachute pants, I’ll send them along to him…

They covered songs from the first five albums (David Lee Roth’s era), and for the most part, it was amazing. Some songs kind-of sounded the same, but reworkings of others were a real treat (Hey, I’m not going to list the whole dang show. If you want to know what they played, surf The Google like I did yesterday afternoon, for Van Halen set list…)

A real highlight was Mr. Roth coming out solo with an acoustic guitar, and telling a lengthy story about how “Ice Cream Man” became part of their routine, before the band rejoined him, and sizzled the side bacon out of the song. Frickin’ stellar, dude.

We hadn’t heard a single word about who was opening the show. When the lights went down, a reggae band started playing “Jammin”. Great, I thought, a flippin’ cover band. Well, the cover artist was Ky-Mani Marley, Bob’s son!! Who went on to roll out a terrific set of his own, along with a few more of “his old man’s” hits, like “No Woman No Cry”, and “I Shot The Sheriff”. What a bonus!

Actually, he was a pretty appropriate warm-up act, considering the odour that wafted throughout the Saddledome all night long. Mary Jane was definitely in the house!

Finally (my fingers are getting really, really tired), the stage was like a giant “S”, which arguably could be suggested to symbolize infinity, or the 8 PM start time of the show.

Or “Sammy”, as in Hagar, if the Van Halens were playing a cruel prank on Diamond Dave…

Chow for now!!

Charlie returns tomorrow!!