Tales From Van Halen’s Reunion Rehearsals: David Lee Roth Pals Around With Eddie Van Halen, Wolfgang Sings
In an epically long post on Blabbermouth taken from the Yahoo! Van Halen list, a fan recounts their experience at a Van Halen reunion-tour rehearsal in Los Angeles that allegedly took place this weekend. The fan didn’t cough up a location for the rehearsal, though rumors place it at the Los Angeles Forum. Who knows if this account is legit, but if it’s a hoax, it sure is one detailed piece of fan fiction. Plus: There are photos! Here are our favorite bits:
• “Eddie was the first to arrive, and very shortly after that, Wolfgang [Van Halen, bass] and Alex [Van Halen, drums]. Valerie [Bertinelli, Eddie Van Halen’s ex-wife and mother of Wolfgang] was with Wolf as were about five of his friends from school, I’m guessing. (They all looked the same age.) Alex and Ed spent about 15 minutes on stage noodling while Wolfie was showing his friends the venue. The three of them then met on stage and Eddie said into the P.A., ‘We’re not opening with it, but let’s play ‘I’m The One’ just to warm up. And that they did.”
• “When Dave did show up, right from the start, he was all smiles. He was dressed in tight, flared out leather pants and a black/striped dress shirt. Dave addressed the crowd and treated us as if we were guests in his arena sized house. He thanked us for coming and talked about how excited he was to be here and what a ‘privilege and honor’ it was to play with his ‘bruthas from another mutha.'”
• “The show started with ‘You Really Got Me’. Dave was standing on the high part of the stage above Alex waving a giant red flag as the show began. Then he threw the flag down, and for the first time in over 22 years, David Lee Roth sang on stage with Eddie Van Halen.”
• “Wolfgang did a fine job, even providing decent sounding backup vocals. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about him, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that Michael Anthony was missed. While Wolf competently filled the position, he doesn’t have the same sound, either in his playing or in his voice, as Michael. … I do have to say though, it’s obvious how much Ed loves playing with Wolfgang. He would be all smiles when he walked over to Wolfie and after one song, stepped up to the P.A. and said, ‘Great job, Wolf. Great.'”
• “The great thrill of the show was seeing Dave and Ed interact. If there’s any animosity between them, it didn’t show at all. Both were constantly smiling, and Dave often did the schtick where he holds his mic to Ed’s guitar during a solo while he looks at the crowd, open mouthed in astonishment. That’s not to say that Dave didn’t get pissed, however. He was standing out by the far tail of the ‘S’ runway when, in the middle of a song, he yelled at the soundboard crew with intense anger, ‘TURN THE FUCKING VOCALS UP! Don’t make me ask you again!’ I turned to Ed to see his reaction, thinking he would be pissed at Dave’s behavior, but incredibly, Ed just smiled even wider. As Dave walked past him returning to the stage, they did a mini-hi-five, low and behind each other’s back. I don’t know what it meant. I’m guessing it’s one of those things that only makes sense to two people who have known each other for decades.”
Songs that were performed (this list is not in order)
You Really Got Me
Romeo Delight
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
I’m The One
Mean Street
Unchained
Pretty Woman
Dance The Night Away
Ice Cream Man
Beautiful Girls
[Guitar Solo]
So This Is Love?
And The Cradle Will Rock
Everybody Wants Some
I’ll Wait
Runnin’ With The Devil
Little Guitars
Jamie’s Cryin’
Atomic Punk
Feel Your Love Tonight
Little Dreamer
Panama
Hot For Teacher
Ain’t Talkin’ ‘About Love
Encore:
1984
Jump