Van Halen
Great Woods
Mansfield, MA
August 13, 1998

Set List - Click here!

Review by Paul Murray - pjmurray@webtv.net

First four songs were pretty good. "Unchained" kicked ass. "Without You" and "One I Want" were rockin'. "Mean Street" totally blew my mind. It must have blew Gary's voice because then everything sort of stopped and the lights came up for about 20 minutes.

Next thing I know Eddie and Alex are on the stage and Eddie asks us if we can all come back tomorrow. Looks like Gary lost his voice! I thought he was joking around but he was dead serious. I kind of knew that after 20 minutes of waiting that something was seriously wrong.

I kind of felt bad for Eddie. He came out and said he was really sorry, this being a sort of homecoming for Gary and all. I hope he meant it that the show will go on tomorrow. Well, anyway, I hope Gary gets his voice back and the boys can kick ass tomorrow.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd well, he and his band including a new bassist that made his debut tonight named Keith Christopher, the band was excellent. The opening song was an instrumental. The following songs were performed by a class act. Somehow, Somewhere, Someway, Deja Voodoo - Shame, Shame, Shame. Blue On Black, Slow Ride, Voodoo Chile (Purple Haze riffs included). Kenny Wayne was keeping himself as healthy as possible. He pushed the rush of breath from the crowd that he sees as all in unision. Well, there is some nasty viruses going around. During the end of "Voodoo Chile" he was making a sound like a ignition that had no power to turn over completly. Mr. Shepherd's way of telling Van Halen to "fix themselves". During his extended solo at the end, he kneeled and his guitar sound did the same to the cheers of a very happy crowd.

I was directly in front of Michael Anthony at Great Woods in Mansfield. My seat was in Section 2, Row #B, Seat #17. Gary's voice was being stretched and misused from the first notes of "Unchained". During the second song "Without You", to Alex's left, something approx. one foot in length and five inches wide was hoisted into the lighting truss. Then, Gary began to sweat so much he was covered with it.

The band was just awful. During one song, Gary was acting as if Alex's cymbals were going to fall over. Gary was interested in what had occured next to Alex and Edward attempted to keep Gary from leaving the stage. I could hear them chatting.

The song "One I Want" was a total loss. At the end Gary feigned a collapse on top of the drum riser. At one point Gary asked Edward about a firing and Edward motioned a pistol shot in the direction I was at. During "Mean Street" Gary seemed to do o.k.. At the end, all four walked off stage. Edward came out and mentioned a quick ten minute break for he needed to use the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes went by then, Alex and Edward came out. Alex had a big red line up between his eyes and he attempted to use a microphone. Edward did all the talking. He announced that Gary lost his voice, the tickets were good for tomorrow night and that there would be a "kick ass" show tomorrow.. The end.

During the WHJY broadcast, an announcement was made about a conspiracy and that a decision will be made by 4 p.m., August 14, 1998. I will return with better news I hope. William Paulus, where are you?

It was a great night for a Van Halen Show. They came on stage and greeted them as a home crowd would. Belted out Unchained, Without You, One I Want and Mean Street. They were hyper on stage never seen so wired!! Eddie was jumping all over the stage, Gary right there with them! Alex pounding away mean drums, Mike keeping it together with the bass grooves.

I noticed and maybe other musicians in the crowd that Gary's voice was fading in and out, and first I thought it was the sound breaking, but by the time they got to the middle of "One I Want" Gary voice was very different, just fading in and out. They made through "Mean Street" as Eddie was doing the ending solo of Mean Streets, Gary disappears back stage to come out and meet the guys in front of Alex's drum set for the finale of "Mean Street".

It seemed to be a longer finale than usual and they didn't leave from Alex's drum kit, seeing that Gary was holding on to Eddie and talking to him during the finale. They stopped and crowd went nuts!! Mean Streets finally played live again, crowd was screaming for more. The stage remained dark for a while and the crowd quieted down a bit.

Eddie runs back out on stage and says "I got a problem, I have to go to the bathroom can you hold for 10 minutes while I go we'll be right back!" Crowd acknowledges politely.

10-15 minutes go by and people are getting anxious though not rude. Everyone's speculating, is Alex hurt, is Eddie okay with his hip and there didn't seem to be any technical problems. Eddie runs out and announces that "Gary's voice is gone, shot and he's being looked at. We'll have to postpone the show until tomorrow, we're honoring your stubs and we're really sorry, please bear with us, this is Gary's home town, come back tomorrow."

Needless to say people were disappointed, but no major bad attitudes from the fans, just a few. I hope Gary is okay and can indeed sing again soon. I'll be there Friday 14th. We'll all know his condition Friday morning and if indeed he can sing that night. I'm sure it'll be a Kick Butt and Then Some Show to remember! Gary Get Well!

I've got some very bad news, Gary Cherone was unable to finish the concert after 4 songs. He was apparently suffering from laryngitis (hope I spelled it correctly), and it was apparent that Cherone's vocal chords gave out in the middle of "One I Want".

Prior to the show at Great Woods fans were excited to see Eddie, but the overwhelming sentiment was one of uncertainty about Gary. My friend and I arrived early enough to hear a romping version of "Jamie's Cryin'" during soundcheck.

The crowd was somewhat asleep during the opening performance by the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band. But as more people arrived, the young guitar wizard brought the crowd to it's feet with an explosive cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic "Voodoo Chile".

As for the four songs Van Halen did complete, the band was in top form. But it was obvious during the performance of "One I Want" that Gary's vocals gave out. Though he managed to sing painfully through "Mean Street" it was obvious something was very wrong.

EVH came out on stage to announce some minor problems after Unchained announcing he had to use the restroom. I along with the 15 thousand plus fans were dumbfounded. About 15 minutes passed when Eddie, Mike and Alex returned to the stage without instruments in which Eddie humbly asked the crowd if we could come back tomorrow night.

Eddie explained Gary's vocal problems amid a flurry of boos and chants of "Sammy, Sammy". All I can say is that Eddie and the boys didnt have to stay and perform tomorrow night, and that they truly are class acts! A lot of the angry concert goers don't understand how much money VH is losing by performing a make up show the next night. I am and will always remain a VH fan, despite what has just occurred! In closing, Eddie proved to me that Van Halen is truly a band dedicated to it's fans!

Unfortunately, last night wasn't what you would call a memorable showing of the MIGHTY VAN HALEN. As soon as the lights went down, Eddie started off with some feedback. The crowd was going crazy. Then he kicked into Unchained...the place went fucking nuts.

Following Unchained came Without You, One I Want, and Mean Street...then about a ten minute pause. Nobody knew what was going on. Eddie addressed the crowd saying that he had to go the bathroom and that he'd be back in about ten minutes. 20-30 minutes later, Eddie and Alex returned to the stage....it didn't look too good.

Eddie did all the talking saying that Gary threw his voice out. It was a complete nightmare, but seeing that this is Gary's hometown, Eddie asked for everyone to come back tomorrrow night for a show that nobody would ever forget. Thumbs up to VH. They could have postponed the show and set it for a later date or cancelled the whole show in general.

This just goes to show you that VH is a band for their fans. I'm sure Gary will be even more fired up tonight too. I caught the show in Boston back in May and I can't wait to see it again tonight. Rumor has it that they're throwing Jamie's Cryin' into the set. I can't wait!!!