Below are galleries of fantastic live shots and concert goers from Van Halen’s performance at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in St. Louis, MO, on July 26th, 2015.
The following Van Halen concert review is by Brody, pictured here with his father, uncle, and grandfather. It was the first VH show for all of them!
- My dad, me, my uncle, and my grandfather
As I write this, it’s roughly eleven hours since Van Halen left the stage at Hollywood Casino Amphitheater in St. Louis after an absolutely monstrous set. It’s roughly ten hours since my life was changed forever.
We bought tickets for this concert the minute they went on sale. After waiting months for the concert, the infamous Billboard interview came out. I was worried the tour would get canceled and I’d miss this band again (I was going to see them in Memphis on the ADKOT tour). More importantly, it left me with a bad impression of Eddie, one of my heroes.
Over time, the effects of that interview wore off, and I just got more and more excited. As I learned about the set list, and how well the band was performing, I became anxious to see this for myself.
Then a week before the show, my mom and sister decide they aren’t going anymore (Probably for the best. My sister is epileptic, and the light show and loud noise could’ve triggered a seizure). So, my mother tells me to invite her father and brother (aka my grandfather and uncle). They both accepted the moment I asked.
The morning of the concert, we drove together from our house. The four and a half hour drive was full of music, jokes, and expressing our excitement at what we were to see.
Three hours before the opening act was to take the stage, we were parked in a line of cars, waiting for the gates to the parking lot to open. We were treated to instrumental versions of “Outta Love Again,” “Light Up The Sky,” “Runnin’ With The Devil,” “Drop Dead Legs,” and “I’ll Wait.” Hearing these from a quarter mile away was just fun; it was a tease for what were to see.
After sweating in a line for an hour, we were in. I purchased the obligatory tour shirt and guitar pick necklace before taking our seats.
The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band was an absolutely phenomenal opening act. I had never been blown away by any artist as much as I was by KWS. My grandfather, a big fan of Jimi Hendrix, was in awe at the cover of “Voodoo Child” (and the rest of the set, of course). Then we waited for the Mighty Van Halen to take the stage.
I grew more anxious by the minute waiting for the band. I was shaking. I was excited. Then the Alex walked on stage, followed the loudest noise I’d ever heard.
The first three songs of the set were perfect. The only thing that would have made”Light Up The Sky” an even better opener is if I wouldn’t have known it was the first.”Runnin’ With The Devil” and “Romeo Delight” floored me, as well as the audience.
“Everybody Wants Some!!” was perfect, haunting, and fun, like it is the on the record. “Drop Dead Legs” was vicious and powerful. “Feel Your Love Tonight” was fun and got the crowd singing.
“Somebody Get Me A Doctor,” “She’s the Woman,” and “China Town” rocked the house. I actually heard a sizable group of people singing along to the latter two. “I’ll Wait” was much better live than on the album, thanks to Eddie’s playing with the keyboard.
Alex’s solo was great, great fun, and great, great music. “Little Guitars” had a little bit of audience participation and was well received.
“Dance The Night Away” was also a great crowd song. I actually liked the way Dave sang the first verse, and enjoyed his little rap in the middle. Eddie had an issue playing the song’s “solo,” I’m not sure if he was having equipment problems or just accidentally played the tapped harmonics wrong, but the little mistake made me realize that even he can have trouble playing something that easy (much like I do haha).
“Beautiful Girls” and “Women In Love” were both excellent. “Hot For Teacher” really got the crowd going again. “In A Simple Rhyme/Growth” was definitely the odd one out, seeing as it’s rather unknown, but was powerful nonetheless.
“Dirty Movies” went over better with the majority, and was another song that just blew me away. “Ice Cream Man” lasted forever, but it was fun. Dave talked, sang a verse, takes more, sang a verse, talked again, and segued into the second half of the song. To me, it really worked like that.
“Unchained” and “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” were GREAT. I was there screaming my head off during the “Hey Hey Hey!” chant. Then, the part I’d been waiting for the most happened.
Eddie’s solo was awesome, in the proper sense of the word. I was truly filled with awe as he blazed through the “Little Guitars” and “Mean Street” intros, parts of “Eruption,” “Spanish Fly,” and “Cathedral” The fact that “You Really Got Me” followed the solo was a nice touch.
“Panama” was brilliant as ever, and a great closer to the main set. I laughed out loud when Dave said “It’s too hot, it’s too humid to walk off the stage and pretend, do you want an encoooooorre?!?” “Jump” was really great as well, and a powerful ending.
The four of us left that concert changed men. My father finally got to see Van Halen with David Lee Roth (something he’d wanted since 1978), and declared it “THE best show I’ve ever seen.” My uncle and I were both in awe at what we’d witnessed. My grandfather, somewhat impartial when he walked in, left a superfan, and spent the whole ride home researching everything he could about the band.
What I said last night immediately after the concert is still true. I’m still in a state of shock, and still can’t quite hear everything, haha. If anyone in the band reads this, I just want to say thank you for what you gave me last night. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.
ST. LOUIS LIVE SHOTS (click for larger size):
ST LOUIS FAN GALLERY (click for larger size):
