Van Halen
The Gorge
George, WA
July 11, 1998

Set List - Click here!

Review by Alison Iwata - Sonoali@aol.com

It was amazing. When Van Halen stepped on stage, the crowd went wild! Gary was unbelieveable running around the stage like a wild man, laying on the stage, being his usual "gumby-like" self. Then climbing the scaffoling and watching all the roadies chasing him making sure he didnt fall =o) That was funny.

The lighting was awsome especailly during Alex's solo. Eddie was his natural self, smoking the guitar strings! Mike with his JD guitar! What can I say? The Best Concert I have ever attended.

The show was great, the band sounded and looked great. As a matter of fact, Michael Anthony looks exactly like he did 18 years ago.

I had no doubts about Gary, he had the crowd cheering for him in my section most all the way through the show. I was a little disapointed they didn't do "I'm the One". I also thought they were going to "Everybody Wants Some", but it wound up being "Panama".

All in all a great show. However, I'm a little sad that the production was so small (the smallest stage I've ever seen them on). With their energy they need a bigger stage. The "Who the Fuck are EVH" T-Shirts were pretty cheesey. Since the band is trying to take a "higher road" lyricaly and musicaly, they could do without producing stupid stuff like that, although, the red-necks loved it.

Once again the show was great!!!

Dave and Sammy who?

Last night I saw the most unbelievable show I have ever experienced! Van Halen rocked the Gorge like no band ever has or ever will again. It's time for all the Gary skeptics to grab a fork and eat their words! This guy kicks ass! I'm convinced that he is the second coming of Freddie Mercury. I can't believe the amount of energy this guy exerts in two hours. By the way, when did he dye his hair? Anyway, the band was awesome, the venue was awesome, the sound was awesome, my seats were awesome (sixth row, center stage). WOW!

Eddie sounded like the guitar god that he is. I had seen the band once before during the Carnal Knowledge tour in '92, but he sounded nothing like he did last night. Maybe it's the new guitar, but EVERY note was right on! I don't think I ever appreciated Mike until I sat up close and saw all the little things he does, and his vocals were phenominal, especially on Somebody Get Me A Doctor. And then there's Al...The guys got a cast on one arm and is wearing a neck brace, yet he is still the best rock and roll drummer out there. I don't think I've ever seen him smiling as much as he was last night. The whole band was having a great time, as was the whole crowd.

As far as the music, what a set! My personal highlights were Romeo Delight (a favorite from way back), Humans Being (the best song they ever did with Sammy), and Year To The Day, which is a great song anyway, but live it just stole the show. The energy that this band puts out after 20 years is amazing. I am jealous of anybody living in a town where the tour is headed, because I want to see them again and again. If you don't have tickets yet, what the hell is your problem? Money is no object!

One last thing...the great thing about the Gorge is they let you bring cameras to the show, so I should have some excellent pictures that I will try to upload to the site if they'll let me!

GO SEE THIS SHOW!!!!!

There are only two words to describe this show. It Rocked. To tell you the truth I was kind of expecting to be let down. After reading all the other reviews of the other shows I thought my expectations would be so high and they wouldn't meet them.

Boy was I wrong. From the first note of Unchained to the last note of Jump I was pumped.

Michael Anthony was amazing. It sucked that he didn't have a solo but he was great signing lead vocals on Somebody Get Me A Doctor. My friend and I were stoked when we saw him bring out Jack Daniels for Humans Being and Somebody Get Me A Doctor.

Alex kicked ass on the drums. Just ask the drunk guy that was behind us during his drum solo playing air drums and yelling "Who is Alex Van Halen? He is the best damn drummer in the world!"

Gary is crazy. He has so much energy up on that stage it's amazing. He was running around and jumping off of everything. The best part was when he was climbing the scaffoldings on the right side of the stage during Panama.

There are no words to describe Eddie except for "He is a God." I have to agree with everybody else who says that his solo was too short. He too was full of energy.

This was my first and definitely not the last Van Halen concert that I will attend. The only bad thing about the whole night was a light behind Alex that kept blinding me whenever they turned it on. All in all the show kicked ass and want to say that if you still have a chance to buy tickets, do it now so you can see the greatest group around.

Van Halen still lives, it just doesn't live like it used to. The concert started with opening act "Monster Magnet." And let me just warn anybody going to a concert with them as opening act, skip it. They are exactly the type of wannabe Megadeth/Slasher type rock, that is mostly talentless garbage. So bad were they in fact, that a few people left their seats after a couple of songs, never to come back!

After the decently-filled croud was treated to that, Van Halen entered the stage with a great rendition of "Unchained". They also did great jobs with "Jump" and "Panama", as well as "Romeo Delight" and "Dance The Night Away." In fact, Gary sounded real good on all the Dave tunes. Good enough, that I wonder if even Diamond Dave could even match them anymore.

The new stuff, aside from "Without You" was not greated with the largest audience appreciation. "Fire In The Hole" was OK, but "Josephina", and especially "A Year To The Day" just didn't work. The problem is that it just didn't feel like Van Halen.

Now comes the Sammy stuff. To me, this is where the concert fell apart. Gary just can't emulate Sammy for me. He seemed to try to put too much of an edge on softer songs like "Why Can't This be Love" and "When It's Love." Personally, I think they should just leave these alone, because Gary has neither the voice nor heart to do them as they were originally intended by Sammy. Instead, it would of been nice to hear some Sammy-era songs that were more Gary-friendly, like "Get Up" or "Poundcake."

Aside from that, Alex's drum solo was spectacular, and Eddie's, while it's getting a little old, was as good as always, and Mikey? What can you say, he's always a great big ball of fun.

In conclusion, the band sounded pretty good together and they looked like they were having a good time, I just can't help wishing Sammy was there.

Anyone who has a doubt that Van Halen would not survive has not seen the concert. I too was skeptical, but when Gary opened his mouth my jaw hit the ground. I could not believe i was hearing the old tunes i grew up with!!!!

Truly a wonderful experience. I wish them the best, and can't wait for the next album (cd what ever). The only drag was that Eddie was in a bad mood after the show so I did not get my guitar signed. Oh well.

Thank you all members of the Van Halen crew. You all did a wonderful job!!!!!!!

My stomach was churning as my friends and I drove down a desolate road following a chain of cars, passing fields of corn and alfalfa. It was my first Van Halen concert and I couldn't believe I was going to see them.

The line to get in and get our gear checked was long. We didn't mind.

I was in general admission for this concert, (didn't know the venue was seating first) and sat in our grass spot for around 3 hours. At around 7 pm Monster Magnet busted on stage with little reaction from the crowd. Van Halen fans eagerly sat through it waiting...

Then the lead singer yells after there few songs were done, "Well are you ready for Van Halen!!!" and the crowd erupts. Its like no one was paying attention until he said this and it woke us up! You say Van Halen and us fans listen!

I was so pumped up. I knew it was going to be a great show and was suprised at how I had a pretty good view.

Then all the fans turn their eyes to Van Halens trailer where they come out and cheers erupt as Gary, Eddie, Mike, and Alex are in view. The come out and everyone in the chairs up front stood up and roared! The setting was perfect. Weather was great. Kinda windy but not too bad.

Not to my surprise they opened with the high energy hit "Unchained". Perfect opening song. Most of us up in general admission were on our feet! People were singing along it was great. As it went along the show just kept getting better and better.

Gary yells "Were gonna play a few songs off the new album... some old songs.. (cheers from audience) and some really old ones! (loud loud cheers!)

During a few songs chants of "Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!" were heard which then quickly turned to, "Gary! Gary! Gary!". I'm so glad Gary was well received by fans. He is the best lead singer they could have obtained.

The crowd was so full of excitement it was amazing. Everyone (including me) was singing along to all the songs. Whenever Gary asked us to sing... we did.

This was the best experience of my life. Van Halen is the best band in the world!

*Personal Highlights*

• Humans Being
• Fire in the Hole
• Jump
• Panama
• Right Now
• Josephina

Great show, and Gary is a great singer but the way he moves on stage is really dorky and strange. Come on Gary baby lighten up.

We had shown up at the Gorge really early, after all it was our first Van Halen show and we were incredibly excited! We were able to hear bits and pieces of sound check which was very exciting. The show started with the band entering the stage and greeting the crowd and then Ed broke into a ground-shaking renditin of "Unchained".

The whole crowd hopped and sang along with Gary. Ed was enegetic as usaual and Mike was not ashamed to get crazy either. Next came the pounding drum intro to "Without You". The pick scraped across the stings and Gary broke into a powerful vocal performance.

Before "One I Want", Gary spoke to the crowd to get us pumped, but we were beyond pumped. "Mean Street" was incrediblly amazing to watch...hands should not be able to do that! Cherone's version of "When Tt's Love" definetely held it's own compared to Sammy's original and the synth was just as tight as the rest of the band. Proving he could match the styles of singing and performing of both his predecessors, he jumped into "Romeo Delight," never waivering in his exuberance.

Next was the drum solo. We had never seen such an amazing display of solo drumwork. The lighting worked perfectly to the incredibly fast pace of Alex, and the combination made a sensational showpiece. "Humans Being" matched the vocals of Cherone perfectly and the harmony from Mike and Ed was excellent.

At this point, the crowd was intensely involved in the show - singing everything, clapping, and following the band. The intro to "Fire In The Hole" matched the crowd's pulse and the song blew us away. After that they went back to Roth days to play a phenomenal combination of Dance The Night Away and Feel Your Love Tonight. The vocal harmonies were perfect and they made the song. Mike took center stage next by singing lead in "Somebody Get Me A Doctor". His vocals were fine and the song turned out fantastic.

Next came one of our personal favorites, their live version of "Year To The Day" with the included guitar solo. Cherone belted out the words amazingly and Ed's solo was absolutely jaw-dropping. He controlled his feedback to the point where he was using it, in key, to compliment the rest of his solo spot. At the end of his exhibition, the band broke back into "Year To The Day" and finished it with incredible energy.

"Right Now" followed with Cherone's improv lyrics bringing the song to life. After that they claimed to be leaving, but we knew there would be encores. We were right.

The first was "Josephina," where Ed and Gary shared the spotlight. Not ready to call it a night, the crowd chanted for more and the band obliged with "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love." The flange swept over the crowd, but we still hadn't had enough. Feeling the energy, they chose Panama to close out the night, but couldn't resist taking it one further and finishing with an energetic version of their biggest single ever, "Jump."

The show ended with the same level of intensity it began with and we are speechless. We WILL see them again!

This was my third time seeing Van Halen and this tour by far surpassed the the last two tours that I have seen (Balance and F.U.C.K.) in song selection, vocals as a whole, and the overall mixture of their sound. Gary's voice sounded phenomenal along with the accompanying background vocals. Eddie and Mike have never sounded better!

Finally we get to hear songs from almost every album (something that Sammy should have done from the beginning) and hopefully Van Halen will continue to surprise us with many other lost classics in tours to follow.

The mix at "The Gorge" was absolutely perfect. Anyone who has a chance should definitely check out this outdoor venue. I will be going to the Vancouver show when the come around so I will submit another review comparing the outdoor and indoor venues. I already know I prefer the outdoor though.

In addition, this concert impressed me in other ways such as how they ended songs, Eddie and Mike singing lead on occasion (showing Gary's lack of LSD) and Eddie's reminiscent of his reckless earlier years of guitar flash with a smoother yet rawer sound than the last two tours..

This is close to a perfect Van Halen show in my opinion. However, a few more songs would have made it even better. As a whole this was a concert I'll never forget for the rest of my life. I hope Van Halen can pull out "I'm the One" and "The Full Bug" for the Vancouver show.