Van Halen
Alpine Valley Music Theater
East Troy, WI
September 5, 1998

Set List - Click here!

Review by Steve Shields - smooooveb@aol.com

Wow. Van Halen was great in Chicago earlier this year, but this show was seriously ten times better. The entire jam packed crowd at Alpine Valley was on their feet clapping and waving their arms the entire time. The set list was also better this time (no Dreams....thank God.).

I have decided that Gary Cherone is THE singer. Dave kicked ass.....Sammy was oook...... but Gary Cherone sang his ass off tonight. This had to be one of the best shows of the tour. Everyone was on "11" tonite. Jamie's Cryin, I'm The One, and Josephina were all new to me from the last time I saw them, and they were incredible.

Here are some unique highlights:

• During the last part of Alex's drum solo the road crew came out and kind of danced "mamba" style or something...you know, cha cha cha cha cha....cha! style
• Eddie either stumbled and fell off the stage, or he did it on purpose. I couldn't tell. It was funny though.
• Some fat guy ran on stage and screamed "YEAAAAAAAH!" into the mic, then was hauled off by security guards
• I snuck a camera in took 25 pictures. Hahaha! That kicked ass!
• My friends and I were hauled off by fat security guards after we were caught sneaking around in what we thought might have been back stage, but was actually the back halls and a tool room of the Alpine Valley beer deck. They made us empty our pockets. I quickly hid the camera under my friend's sweat shirt which was on the ground. Then they told me to shake it out. I shook it with the camera under it. Those dumbasses. Pretty damn sneaky! Or not

Anyway. This knocks off the VH show in Chicago from my top 3 concerts. Aerosmith '97, Page and Plant '98, and now Van Halen, Sept 5, '98. We were a rowdy ass crowd too. I wish they would've done the double encore with Dance The Night Away/Feel Your Love Tonight, but oh well. Amazing show, if you havent seen them, see them!

Damn you Gary Cherone! How can I watch my favorite guitar player, when I'm having so much fun watching you? And speaking of fun, it sure looked like the four of you were having plenty of it on stage tonight at Alpine Valley. I don't know how you guys do it. I am drained just from watching the show. I'm not going to get into each song because the set list is the same. Just wanted to thank Van Halen for a great evening of entertainment!

OK, third row in front of Eddie. Sorry folks, I just don't have the words to describe it. Third row in front of Eddie. What more needs to be said?

It rocked, they were on fire! Everyone was jummping and running all over the stage. It was crazy.

Eddie fell off the stage (Yes! I am serious) during "One I Want" but he got up and jumped back into the tune like he didn't miss a note. Great recovery! Apparently he wasn't hurt because he was doing all of the classic Eddie moves.

Gary seemed to be much more comfortable with the band since I saw them in Chicago a few months ago.

Michael sang "Somebody Get Me A Doctor" and sounded damn good doing it.

During Alex's drum solo, Kenny Wayne's band and some of the road crew came out and jived to it. Talk about hilarious!

To sum it up: Van Halen put on another killer show and their music rules!

First things first - Kenny Wayne Shepherd R-O-C-K-E-D!!! From the opening song and thru the end of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile," KWS jammed like only he knows how!!! I had a feeling that Stevie Ray Vaughan & Jimi might have even been on the side of the stage, watching this impressive and experienced guitar player - it was truly an impressive 50 minutes! This was the best opening act I have ever seen - he smoked!!!

Now, on to VAN HALEN - for me, this is how it unfolded...

I stood up...I smiled...I laughed...I almost cried...I applauded... I shouted...I cheered...I yelled...I gave thanks...I shook...I said I was sorry for any doubts I had...I gave thanks again...I sang...I nodded...I praised ...I realized that I just had one of the best concert "experiences" ever!!!

Thank you Van Halen for always making the next tour more memorable than the previous one...WOW!!! It was uplifting...It was impressive...It was colorful...It was magical...It was unreal...It was amazing!!!!!