Van Halen
Budokan
Tokyo, JP
October 28, 1998

Set List - Click here!

Review by Seiji Maeda - s-maeda@maruzen-chem.co.jp

Just came back from Budokan and this concert with over 15,000 spectators was just devastating. Now this is what you really call a live concert.

After the announcement "SO WILL YOU PLEASE WELCOME, THE MIGHTY VAAAAAAAAAAAN HALEN" Eddie started blasting his gear playing the intro on Unchained and instantly the crowd started screaming and roaring.

I've been to concerts of many bands quite a few times but never seen a band with all the members expressing how much they enjoy playing live in front of a crowd. Eddie was jumping around and couldn't believe that he's really the age he is. I could recognise Michael had a clear and beatiful voice from his backing vocals and through the CD`s but his solo time singing SOMEBODY GET ME A DOCTOR blew my head off. He probably has a higher tone than Mariah.

Alex`s drum solo was just perfect. Gary Cherone can sing excellent. He`s a great entertainer but he looked like a little kid running around the whole stage with some strange dancing. One of these days he`ll slip and hit his head.

I am so happy that this band chose Japan as one of the countries to play in this world tour and I`ll never miss their concerts in the future when they come again.

Thanks Van Halen. You are the best !!

Just saw the show last night, and what can I say? I had an absolutely great time! Gary has such a great stage presence--and he did justice to both the Sammy and Dave era material. Speaking of which, the older stuff, which they didn't do much of with Sammy, really seemed to bring Van Halen back into its own. "Unchained" as the opener just set the stage for a hot show. I liked the Sammy days a lot, but I think the older stuff was sometimes missing from those shows.

The set list pretty much followed what's been previously listed. Highlights for me included "I'm the One, Jamie's Cryin'," and Mike's killer vocals on "Somebody Get Me A Doctor." Eddie and Gary had fun singing "Somebody Get Mike A Doctor!" I also felt that the material from the new album sounded even better live. "Without You" (ended with a little Beatles' standard), "One I Want," and "Year To The Day" in particular.

Perhaps the best thing about the show was just the fun and easy-go-lucky time the band seemed to be having together. At one point Gary sat down at the front of the stage and proceeded to drop the mic off the stage. Eddie and Mike came over and Eddie took off his guitar and lowered it down as if to pick up the mic. There was also just a lot of pushing, shoving and chasing going on, too. I wanted to get up there! Which reminds me, I kept trying to get Mike to sign my jean jacket. But he kept giving me a "my hands are busy" look. Eddie finally saw me and motioned for me to toss the jacket up on stage. I didn't think I could get it to him so I tossed it on to the stage near Mike. Unfortunately, I didn't get it signed, but Gary, Mike, and Eddie each managed to step on it a few times--and that's enough for me.

Without rehashing what other people have already said, I'll just end with it was a fantastic show. Gary was a spectacular surprise as frontman, Eddie looks like he's 19 again, and Mike and Alex are mixing solid concrete in the rhythm department!

Hopefully, I'll catch them once more before they leave Tokyo (and maybe I'll get that jacket signed!)

No doubt it was the best show I've ever seen! It was great to see them back again. They looked they were totally enjoying playing their music and I enjoyed that very much. Gary sounded much better live. He sung the old Van Halen songs his way and they sounded just great. He even sung David Lee Roth songs better than Sammy did! Eddie was flying again and he was sober and craziest that I have ever seen. Mike was screaming and shouting like no other can do. Alex was beating the perfect rhythm with that smile.

That was what I was waiting for since the last show in Japan. It was the third time for me to see their show and I was so happy to hear Unchained, Mean Street, I'm The One, Jamie's Cryin', and Somebody Get Me A Doctor first time live. The songs they performed were the history of Van Halen. They proved that Van Halen is a category or a genre of music and I was one of the witnesses at Budokan. Their music is borderless and ageless.

There are so many Van Halen fans in Japan and there were variety of ages of audience at Budokan. Not many bands or artists have such fans of all ages. That tells us that Van Halen has made history and category in music. I also felt that they became at least 10 years younger. The show reminded me of the good days I had when I grew up listening to VH with friends. I remember Eddie said in a interview that music is his life. Van Halen is part of my life. I can't wait to see their show again with new songs and many more of their old stuff!