Van Halen
Entertainment Centre
Brisbane, AU
April 24, 1998

Set List

Review by Scott Payne - SPayne@uq.net.au

All I can say is this: Un fucking believeable!!!

I was totally blown away.

After waiting thirteen years to see my heroes, they certainly did not disappoint.

I cannot believe that I was stageside, on the rail, just metres away from the greatest rock band in the world today.

The best things about the concert were the following:

1. Gary was brilliant. He has so much energy, and you could tell that he was getting off on the crowd energy. He has a fantastic voice, and I never thought I'd say this, but I truly believe that he sings all the Roth-Hagar era songs better than they ever did. Van Halen have finally found the perfect balance. He certainly won my vote!
2. Edward, Alex and Mike. What can I say about these guys. They are pure talent, and yet, they looked like they were having a ball. Is Edward supposed to be having hip-replacement surgery? That didn't seem to stop him from bouncing all over the stage in his usual fashion. And his guitar solo in the middle of "A Year To The Day" was what we in Australia have been waiting so long to see! To hear Mike sing "Somebody Get Me A Doctor, with Gary dancing around in the background and doing backing vocals was incredible. And king Alex, this guy is a drum god. If Edward was the inspiration for a generation of guitarists, then surely Alex is the inspiration for a generation of drummers.
3. The Playlist. It was excellent to hear a well balanced mix of current and Roth-Hagar era Van Halen tunes. To open up with a classic like "Unchained" was just the crunch the crowd needed to get them going. It was also cool to hear classics like "Jump", "Panama", "Why Can't This Be Love?", "Right Now", "Mean Street", "Humans Being", and "When It's Love".
4. The overall show. Up until now, the best concert I had ever seen Australia was Kiss in Feb 1997. Van Halen are now, without a doubt, the best show on Earth. The lighting, the crowd atmosphere (12,000 of us), and the kick-arse in your face music made this a night I will never forget.

Thank you Gary, Mike, Edward and Alex for the best show I have ever seen, and thank you for fulfilling a lifelong dream of being stageside at a Van Halen concert.

I have to ask one question though. Will we in Australia have to wait another 20 years before we see Van Halen again? Judging by the huge success that this tour has had so far, I would hope not!!

Please come back next year!!

Absolutely superior. The greatest night of my life. Mike nodded at me three times, Gary once and Edward once when my friend and I were the first to raise our hands up in the Van Halen sign. Having Ed nod at me is like being acknowledged by God, and his performance only re-inforced my overblown opinion of him. Awesome.

Gary was stunning - better than I ever could have imagined. I never thought I'd say this, but seeing them on the stage with Gary, it seemed like they'd finally come home or something: like he should have been there all along. I love Dave and Sammy, but Gary was something else. Awesome!!!

The highlight was Right Now, which was spot on. Ed's solo on this song was mind-blowing, as was Gary's per- formance. I couldn't find ONE flaw in Gary's vocals at all!!!

The best show in Brisbane, EVER, full stop. Mind-blowing.

I have been a Van Halen fan ever since I started listening to music and have always been pissed off that they never came to Australia, so when a concert was announced I was grateful I could actually see this super band, tonight I was disappointed.

The new singer deserves the cannon ball through his head. He would be better as a dancer for Michael Jackson than a singer. They concentrated too much on the new material which let's face it isn't what made the group. For the first hour of a puny 110 minute show the great hits were seriously missing. The clown on stage was just acting like spiderman instead of giving us true power rock. They didn't even talk to the audience, just went through the motions.

The encore had great songs Panama and Jump, but 2 songs was it. It is the first time I have seen a band booed after their own concert. The crowd was the most subdued I have seen at a concert, except of course when the great hits were played when they went off. The saving grace of the concert was the Exceptional Eddie and Alex, with Michael adding a notable contribution.

First, let me introduce myself.....my name is Maryann. I'm a guitarist/singer/songwriter & a big Extreme AND Van Halen fan. When I heard that Gary got the gig for VH, I almost fell off my seat. Who knows this would've happened??? Anyway......it was a dream come true for me to see the VH guys in Brisbane - especially with Gary :)

Man, that guy has class and he can really move ;) I love his style and grace!!! Eddie was absolutely phenomenal, and it was great to finally see him perform live, after watching all these videos over the years......Mike.....HA! What can I say but he's still the craziest 'bourbon drinking' bass player in the universe!!!!!!! He rocked!!!!!!

Alex wowed the crowd with his drum solo, with at one stage, a guy at the front 'bowing' before him, in an 'I'm not worthy pose'!!! I also have to mention the lighting was spectacular and now I can see why they've been getting rave reviews. All in all, it was THE best concert I've been to in a long time.

It would've been great to meet them afterwards, cause I had a demo to give to them, and I tell you, they would've LOVED it.....My last words to Gary, Eddie, Mike and Alex.....COME BACK AGAIN NEXT YEAR!!!!!!!!

Sensational. My highlights were pretty much everything but especially the fact that - WE GOT TO MEET THE BAND BEFORE THE SHOW!!!!!!

I just called the promotions manager of Warner Music a couple of days before the show and told him of my brother's story (came all the way down from Townsville from hospital in wheelchair - suffered severe stoke 11 months ago). They agreed to let me and him backstage.

On the night of the concert my brother, his best friend and I turned up to meet the promotions manager. My brother's friend wasn't meant to get backstage, but the guy form Warners gave him a pass to the backstage bar. We went to the bar and had some drinks and food with about 50 other people. My brother and I were then given another ticket to meet the band in another room. My brother's friend approached the Warners staff and said that he made a canoo to paddle down from Townsville for this and to shut him up they gave him a pass to meet the band as well.

Well, we met the band with about 15 others. - strictly no autographs which was a bit of a bummer, but got to talk with the guys for a couple of minutes, shake hands and have a photo taken by the photogragher which I should be getting this week. I also took about four or five shots of the band with other people as they were getting their photos taken.

Eddie is such a little guy. He could see that I was shaking and came up, put his arm around me and said "take it easy big guy, nothing to worry about" Gary is even smaller. Mike was great and looked liked he was ready to settle is for a good drinking session with the fans. Alex was very quiet but a nice guy also. My brother's friend asked him for his drumsticks but I don't think he heard him.

They paid a lot of attention to my brother in the wheelchair, kneeling down to shake his hand and say hello. Great guys.

As for the show, fuck me dead. I loved it. Gary was great and Alex and Eddie's solos were incredible. Eddie's sound at one stage early on went a bit funny and he just start goofing around with his guitar and playing with the crowd until the techos fixed the problem. He also lost the cord out of his guitar during a song (can't remember which one) and again he handled it in his stride.

A real highlight for me was Mean Street, Why Can't This Be Love - where each member (except Alex) sang a verse - the crowd loved this, Eddie's solo in the middle of Year to the Day and Gary's vocals at the end of Right Now - he just made Sammy look plain silly!

Some of my friends didn't like how he danced around but I thought it was great. He just took over Dave era stuff and made it better. I loved Somebody Get Me A Doctor, Feel Your Love Tonight and Romeo Delight. I must make a correction however to everyones set list. The band did not play "Dreams" in Brisbane. But thats OK.

After waiting 12 years my dreams had finally come true and Van Halen had decided to tour Australia. After meeting the band at the Hard Rock Cafe in Melbourne, (shaking hands with the man himself and getting my photo taken with him displaying our VH tattoos, unbelievable) and attending the Melbourne concert, I was pumped for this show.

Eddie burst onto the stage emmitting growls from his purple Wolfgang guitar and he launched into Unchained. The band had ripped through Unchained, Without You, One I Want and Mean Street before we had time to catch our breath. Eddie had a great sound and the mix was spot on after about the fourth or fifth song.

Al played a great solo which everyone enjoyed and the sequenced part included a snippet of Outta Love Again. Humans Being rocked and it really showcased Ed's melodic lead playing.

Two differences from previous tours are the absence of Mike's solo and the shortening of Ed's solo. But Mike got to showcase his singing talents when he took the lead vocal on Somebody Get Me A Doctor. Ed's solo in this song was spot on.

Romeo Delight was the highlight of the night for me, but the majority of the crowd didn't realize what a gem they were hearing. Ed was sporting his boyish grin throughout the night as the band was obviously getting off from playing together. Gary is definitely a different frontman from Dave and Sammy, but a great replacement as he put on a energetic and heartfelt performance. You can definitely see the Freddie Mercury influences in some of his stage moves.

As Gary and Ed arrived back onstage to begin the encore with Josephina, the crowd began chanting Eddie! Eddie! Eddie! with which he replied by chanting Adelaide! Adelaide! Adelaide! They finished with Panama and Jump which induced some excitement out of the MMM crowd.

To sum it up, what a show! We can only hope now that Van Halen includes Australia in their every "World Tour" from now on.

I've been playing guitar for about 20 years and been a Van Halen fan for all of them. Friday the 24th April at Brisbane Entertainment Centre gave me one of the biggest buzz's of my life and a smile that I still wear.

I took my son Luke (great drummer) to see the Legends explode and implode to perfection. Sometimes you go to a concert to see your idols and are so disappointed that you never play another of their song's again. Not a chance with Van Halen. Gary Cherone's addition to the greatest rock sound in the world has ensured Van Halen's permanant position in my 'Hall of Fame'. I hadn't bought their new CD before the concert, not knowing how the new recipe would cook, but guess what I'm doing today.

To Van Halen, thanks for doing what you do.

p.s. Panama & Jump as encores topped it off.

All doubts I had about Gary Cherone being able to lead Van Halen into the new millenium were unfounded. This guy kicks ass and can really sing! Unchained opened the set, and from there things continued to get better and better. The set list was perfect, although for some reason I had arrived at the concert wanting to hear Gary sing 'Dreams' (listed in the set list but replaced by When it's Love). Each song was so good in it's own right that selecting a favourite is incredibly difficult, althought FITH and Year to The Day were outstanding.

These guys are unreal, EVH was understandably, yet still amazingly, awesome. This guy is unbelieveably talented, as a guitarist, a musician, and above all as a performer. It took about 2-3 songs for the mix to sound perfect, but was it worth it. Van Halen should release a live video of this tour to show all those fans who may not have attended just how brilliant the band is in it's current lineup.

Gary sang songs from both the Roth and Hagar eras with equal brilliance. Possibly the only negative comment about the entire performance was my inability to completely adapt to Gary's dancing and 'showmanship'. Fantastic in it's own right, I felt it detracted from the performance at times, particularly during solos.

Mike and Eddie continually brought a smile with their fun 'antics' on stage, and with Alex, these guys form one of the best honed rock acts in the world. If you do not see them, you can only feel sorry for; and blame; yourself........