entertainment

Van Halen opens first tour of Japan in 15 years

27 Comments

American rock band Van Halen opened their first tour of Japan in 15 years on Tuesday night at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya.

The band had originally been scheduled to tour Japan last November but the tour was postponed after guitarist Eddie Van Halen underwent emergency surgery to treat a digestive disorder.

The band, one of the biggest rock acts of the late 1970s and early 1980s with hits such as "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" and "Jump", has endured feuds and lineup changes over the years. Its current members are lead singer David Lee Roth, Van Halen brothers Eddie and Alex (drums) and Eddie's son Wolfgang Van Halen on bass guitar.

The band will play at Tokyo Dome on Friday night, followed by gigs in Osaka on June 24, 26.

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27 Comments
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You Really Got Me interested in attending one of these shows, but given the size of the venues the instruments will look like Little Guitars and I'm not sure that's Good Enough for the ticket price. Plus, I'm so busy it will be hard to get Unchained from my work desk; my boss told me "Finish What Ya Started." A friend is going so I guess I'll just Hear About It Later.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Love VH, too bad, they won't be playing in in Fukuoka. Wolfgang looks like he's proving to be a decent formidable bass player. I still miss Michael Anthony, he's from my home down, I remember when he wasn't touring he would give guitar lessons and he is fanatic about Japanese cuisine, he'd regularly visit my girlfriends restaurant with his wife at the time (this was the early 90's) and order a ton of food. Nicest funniest guy you'd ever want to tal to.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Thumbs up, bass.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Had the great fortune to see the original lineup back in 1981 and with Sammy as well in 1987. Too bad they didn't include Sendai like they used to in the past. Guess I'll just have to reminisce.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Tickets are way overpriced. I'm not going.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Got my tix!18,000 each but I reckon it'll be worth it. Unlikely to see Diamond Dave & the boys again - I'm stoked!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Combinibento, The time to go is Right Now and you should plan to stay the entire show - don't just make it an In 'n' Out kind of thing. Just think of all the Beautiful Girls that will be there! It could become your own Pleasure Dome where you get Spanked until you're Black And Blue (It Feels So Good!). Watch out, though, because some of the girls are a Source Of Infection. Just give your spouse/girlfriend the Runaround, go to the concert, and you'll feel On Top Of The World. If it were me, I'd Jump at the chance to go. Sadly I have as much chance of seeing them on this tour as I'd have if they were playing in Panama. I can think of 316 reasons to go and no reasons not to.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@Fadamor

ROFL

You got some serious skillz!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Watching groups like Van Halen perform today is kind of like watching an overweight, 50-year-old, former gymnast trying to negotiate a balanced beam.

I won't deny some of the skills they exhibited in their prime. Unfortunately for me, I got into the music of artists like Frank Zappa, real musicians, who made groups like this one sound like rank amateurs and sell-outs.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Sell outs? Yeah, I guess "Valley Girl" by Frank Zappa and featuring his daughter Moon Unit doesn't count as a "sell-out". (rolls eyes)

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@yabits

"Frank Zappa?" Ok, "Bobby Brown" was interesting. Yeah, he wrote a few good songs, like Iggy Pop, but if you like that more abstract kind of music fine, but don't say VH is a generic band. Pound for pound VH wrote some incredible music, not to mention Eddie was a pioneer of varies playing style techniques. You can actually hear it in many musicians today that they have copied some of Eddies licks. Tapping, hammer-ons, heavy distortions, classic Eddie sounds. I don't think Zappa could pull off what Eddie did for Michael Jackson's "Beat it." He has his own monitors "EV" one of my schools use them in their gymnasium. Eddie is no joke, also, he's not fat, he could actually gain a few pounds.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Van Halen is great but I've always enjoyed Guns N' Roses sound more. They're both great performers, but they don't compare to Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and the Led Zepplin.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I liked the Sammy Hagar era best. He is not only a singer, he's a complete musician.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

There's no disputing that Eddie Van Halen was a terrific guitar player. But whatever they pushed as a group, they stopped pushing the envelope decades ago. And now they charge big bucks for a trip down memory lane.

With over 65 vastly different recordings released during his lifetime, and at least a dozen more since his death in 1993, Zappa never stopped innovating. He surrounded himself with some of the greatest musicians around, and many considered it the highest compliment to be asked to play with him. To come back with Valley Girl as a counter to the "strictly commercial" rock that Van Halen played is rather ludicrous.

Great story about the two musicians. The first call to the family when Frank passed away was from Eddie Van Halen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzWi3dKis2c

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

@yabits...yes, Zappa may be a great rocker. But his music is also boring to death. And that counts a lot in show business.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@lost

I agree.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

David Lee Roth has an apartment in Tokyo. In an interview last month he said that he spends the majority of his time there, taking martial arts and Japanese language classes.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Suzu1, yes David Lee Roth does have an apartment in Tokyo and his girlfriend is Japanese. I ran into him at a Starbucks in Ginza one day.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Zappa may be a great rocker. But his music is also boring to death. And that counts a lot in show business.

"Boring" is a subjective term. Using the Beavis and Butthead scale, Van Halen would score very high. But we're talking Beavis and Butthead -- adolescents with the attention span of a Kardashian marriage. What seems to count a lot in rock show business is appealing to the 12 to 15 year-old mind.

But what counts even more is whether the music made an impression on other artists, and whether the music will last. And I'm talking about the final package and not one terrific guitarist's piece within it. Van Halen's music was great for its time and place, but I really don't believe it has much of a shelf life left to it.

When I use the term "sell out," I refer to the tendency of artists and music producers to worry about the "show business." As if they are producing music solely for an audience. A genuine creative person doesn't concern himself with that. And it doesn't mean that some really great music can't be produced as a result -- just that it's not very likely to have mass appeal for a long time. Take a piece like 1975's Inca Roads. It's a masterpiece of jazz and rock, and part of the reason why Eddie Van Halen wanted to show up and hang around the man's home.

Inca Roads is still incredibly fresh-sounding today, and never ceases to be interesting. (And it has one of the most hilarious endings of any song ever.) It was just too ahead of its time. But the artist didn't care one bit about that.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

@yabits

"Boring" is a subjective term. Using the Beavis and Butthead scale, Van Halen would score very high. But we're talking Beavis and Butthead -- adolescents with the attention span of a Kardashian marriage. What seems to count a lot in rock show business is appealing to the 12 to 15 year-old mind.

Well, for you that may be, but VH has brought a lot of attention to the music world and contributed to it in many other ways as an innovator of pickups, sound applications. As a bass player, the guy is a genius. Eddie is NOT my favorite musician, but he is on a higher pedestal for what he has done to the music world, just like Leo Fender and the great Les Paul as well as guitar builders. You see his guitars everywhere all over the world. I don't quite get your correlation with the Kardashian chick, but as usual with you, whatever.

But what counts even more is whether the music made an impression on other artists, and whether the music will last. And I'm talking about the final package and not one terrific guitarist's piece within it. Van Halen's music was great for its time and place, but I really don't believe it has much of a shelf life left to it.

Even if YOU don't believe that, that is your own personal opinion, but here are the facts.

http://youtu.be/LToFccqnWZY

So I think, they will be in people's minds for a very, very, very long time.

When I use the term "sell out," I refer to the tendency of artists and music producers to worry about the "show business."

If you are talking about Mariah Carey or Justin Bieber or Vanilla Ice and Milli Vanilli, then you can say that without a doubt.

As if they are producing music solely for an audience. A genuine creative person doesn't concern himself with that. And it doesn't mean that some really great music can't be produced as a result -- just that it's not very likely to have mass appeal for a long time. Take a piece like 1975's Inca Roads. It's a masterpiece of jazz and rock, and part of the reason why Eddie Van Halen wanted to show up and hang around the man's home.

You are describing a big chunk of the newer generation of artists.

Inca Roads is still incredibly fresh-sounding today, and never ceases to be interesting. (And it has one of the most hilarious endings of any song ever.) It was just too ahead of its time. But the artist didn't care one bit about that.

What nonsense as an artist, if I listen and try to interpret a style or want to convey previous masterpieces and incorporate into my style, I can reshape it, modify it to my specifications as to how I see fit. Music is subjective, to you EVH might not be so great, but again, that is how you feel about him and that is ok, that doesn't mean that the man is any less talented or just because Zappa commands more of an eccentric crowd that he is a better musician, it just depends what makes you feel good inside. There are many, many artists that I can't stand and I would say as a musician, I have extremely impeccable tailored taste and I prefer quality over quantity, but I do realize, not everyone likes my selection in music and that is Ok, when I play or when I do DJ gigs, I get enough props and that's all that matters.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I don't quite get your correlation with the Kardashian chick,

It was Kardashian marriage, not chick, and the simile referred to a short attention span. Point made.

Van Halen deserves to be in the Hall, no doubt about it. But the Hall gets its stature from those who have been inducted before. Twelve years before. And so back at you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_McaUor0G0

So I think, they will be in people's minds for a very, very, very long time.

When a nation makes EVH or David Lee Roth their cultural minister, let me know. His music was extremely important to many behind the Iron Curtain, because it represented freedom to them unlike few others.

Music is subjective, to you EVH might not be so great, but again, that is how you feel about him and that is ok...or just because Zappa commands more of an eccentric crowd that he is a better musician,

For the third time -- at least -- Eddie Van Halen is a terrific guitarist. But Eddie would be among the first to admit that Frank was the much greater musician. That carries more weight than just your or my opinion.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

@yabits

It was Kardashian marriage, not chick, and the simile referred to a short attention span. Point made.

Still don't quite get it, but whatever....

Van Halen deserves to be in the Hall, no doubt about it. But the Hall gets its stature from those who have been inducted before. Twelve years before. And so back at you:

I know that, but what's your point?

For the third time -- at least -- Eddie Van Halen is a terrific guitarist. But Eddie would be among the first to admit that Frank was the much greater musician. That carries more weight than just your or my opinion.

But again, that is your opinion, I don't think so, I will flip it back at you that Frank is a great musician, but NOT for my taste buds. I like EVH for many reasons as I told you in the last posts. There are many things I wouldn't be able to do without him being musically innovative. Again, music is subjective. It depends on what makes you feel good. Many people love the Rolling Stones and think that they are one of the greatest musicians ever, but I don't think so, not in my book. It just all depends what makes you feel good.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Again, music is subjective. It depends on what makes you feel good.

Music is subjective in that there is no way to determine, within a specific genre, that one popular song or group is "better" than another, and have everyone agree on it. This is why all the arguments over the top 100 songs or top 20 guitarists of all time.

However, there is a difference between "music" and musicianship that is not subjective at all, except to those who have no real idea what musicianship is. If, for example, it could be said that a person who proved mastery at four or five instruments was somehow better in some way than a person who mastered only one instrument, the point is made. Likewise the composer who could compose for different genres and have his/her music highly regarded in all of them, as opposed to the person who composed for one niche only.

Back to the topic, just as wouldn't pay $50 per ticket to see an Old-Timers baseball game, I would refuse to vastly overpay -- 18,000 yen?!! -- someone for a performance in which they were way past their prime. Especially if they were going to sing about "Suckers...." I would actually pay not to have to be in the same auditorium with David Lee Roth.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Music is subjective in that there is no way to determine, within a specific genre, that one popular song or group is "better" than another, and have everyone agree on it. This is why all the arguments over the top 100 songs or top 20 guitarists of all time.

You just made my point for me.

Back to the topic, just as wouldn't pay $50 per ticket to see an Old-Timers baseball game, I would refuse to vastly overpay -- 18,000 yen?!! -- someone for a performance in which they were way past their prime. Especially if they were going to sing about "Suckers...." I would actually pay not to have to be in the same auditorium with David Lee Roth.

And that's your choice, you don't have to go fork out the cash and NO one is forcing you to. Me, personally, I would go in a heartbeat.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Me, personally, I would go in a heartbeat.

Oh, I'm sure you would.

Me, personally, I'll spread my bread to newer acts on the scene who actually create some art, rather than has-beens trying to gouge the fans who brought them everything they have. Way to say, "Thanks," Van Halen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab0Cw38AbWo

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Oh, I'm sure you would.

Yup, that's right.

Me, personally, I'll spread my bread to newer acts on the scene who actually create some art, rather than has-beens trying to gouge the fans who brought them everything they have. Way to say, "Thanks," Van Halen.

Well, that is your own personal opinion and you may think that way, if you so choose, no harm in that. I don't have to agree with that, but you may think anyway you like. For me, Eddie has contributed a lot to the music scene, in particular the guitar field and playing techniques that so many try and to innovate entice guitar builders and designers everywhere.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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