On this day in 1978, Van Halen performed in Paris, France, for the first time. We have a funny story about their trip to Paris, a rare photo of the band posing by the Eiffel Tower, and an audio recording of their entire concert at the Theatre Mogador, where they perform “Voodoo Queen,” (an early form of “Mean Street”), Eddie Chochran’s “Summertime Blues,” (also know from covers by The Who and Blue Cheer) and a blistering instrumental of (part of) Black Sabbath’s “Symptom Of The Universe.” Great stuff!
By the time the band reached Paris on their show day (May 10th), they were in rare form. Three months on the road had done nothing to wear them out. Quite the opposite – they were just getting warmed up. Their album had been selling well in France, and on May 10th, at Le Theatre Mogador, they faced “a foaming mob of the hardest core rock fans you could dream of,” which is how David Lee Roth described their European fans to a reporter.
After the concert, the band had a rare few days off before they would head to the UK, so an idea sprung up to do a photo shoot in front of the Eiffel Tower—with each member dressed as Napoleon! View that photo above.
At one point during their mini vacation in France, Michael Anthony approached the rest of the band on the hotel’s patio after a hard night of partying. His face showed concern and confusion, and he eventually led the band up to his hotel room. The chandelier that was supposed to hang above his bed wasn’t hanging there anymore. Instead, it was neatly arranged on his floor, completely taken apart, in pieces. Michael’s artistic side showed – each piece was perfectly positioned in the exact shape of the chandelier. Mike joked about not knowing how he did it, but was obviously quite proud of his work.
This is just one little example of how the young band members would get pretty creative with all of their shenanigans in the band’s early days.
AUDIO: Van Halen’s Paris Concert!
Listen to the audio of the complete show, which is embedded below. It sounds GREAT for an audience recording. They play “Voodoo Queen,” an early form of “Mean Street.” For their first encore, they covered Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues,” including a Blue Cheer riff and with a blistering instrumental outro of (part of) Black Sabbath’s “Symptom Of The Universe” guitar solo. Great stuff!
VAN HALEN
Le Theatre Mogado, Paris, France, May 10, 1978
1) On Fire 0:00
2) I’m the One 3:24
3) Bass Solo 7:53
4) Runnin’ With The Devi 9:18
5) Feel Your Love Tonight 13:25
6) Atomic Punk 16:50
7) Little Dreamer 20:35
8) Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love 24:08
9) Voodoo Queen 28:03 (Unreleased)
10) Ice Cream Man 33:26
11) Guitar solo 38:24
12) You Really Got Me 42:22
13) D.O.A. 45:42 (Future release)
14) Summertime Blues 50:00 (The Who cover)
15) [Parts of] Blue Cheer riff & Black Sabbath solo]
16) Bottoms Up! 55:42 (Future release)
This concert was uploaded on VHND’s YouTube page. We’re loving the comments fans have posted on that page. Here’s some of our favorites:
“This sounds better than the first album recording. You can hear every instrument. This needs to be released as a live album. Pure Greatness!”
“Mike is stealing the show. When the bass is clear like this, and the voice is scratching heaven’s butt….it is pure magic.”
“Wow, this is the best I’ve heard Dave sound in concert! Wish I could’ve seen them live when they were first blowing people’s minds with this.”
“Eddie’s rhythm playing is second to none. Those fills and the groove and feel to his playing can be imitated but never duplicated.”
“I hereby say that this is one of the best live shows ever. Not just by Van Halen, but any artist. This has everything: musicianship, energy, and a killer setlist. I’ve said in another forum that this was a special show for a special night. The crowd might not have known who VH was, but by the end of it I can guarantee that new fans were made. I could give you a list of my top 4 or 5. Jimi in Monterey for sure, Who at Leeds. And yes, but this is one of them, in my opinion.”
“I’m reading Running with the Devil by Noel Monk, and it’s great actually listening to the show after reading all about it.”
“I’ve never heard this before. This might be the greatest Van Halen show I’ve ever heard and I’ve heard just about every bootleg. Incredible. This has to be the tightest show they ever did, and this is most definitely has the best ever live version of “Ice Cream Man”. Wow.”
“Van Halen ruled the world from ’78 thru ’84, bar none.”
“Anyone who doesn’t recognize these guys are hard rock music at it’s best, just doesn’t get it. They are so tight. This is incredible. I wish I had i had seen them on this tour. Damn. I was 14. They rule. I can see why Ozzy said they blew them off the stage every night. So unique & powerful. They had everything firing with swagger, musicianship & it comes out in this recording. So good.”
“This concert is written about in the book Runnin With the Devil, I believe. The band was under the impression that there was an opening act, and there was not. So to compensate on short notice, they had to add some cover songs and two unrecorded Van Halen songs after the encore to create a full show.”
“FUCKING AWESOME! Best live recording of Roth era VH I can recall hearing. Dave was and is not a “singer” in technical sense but who cares, his voice was perfectly matched to the music. Love those high pitched screams and yelps!”
“This is by far the best sounding bootleg I’ve heard from the VH1 tour, god DAMN! Listen to Ed’s guitar tone, it sounds like his Marshalls were going to explode any second!”
“Anyone who does not recognize the brilliance of Alex Van Halen is a complete ignoramus of music he is a great drummer and he really swings, and most rock drummers don’t swing.”
“Amazing!!! Dave’s voice is just like the record (opener, ‘On Fire’) perfect! EVH playing with absolute confidence and perfect precision. For only one album out at the time this show took place, they sound like a group that’s been playing together for a decade plus!”
