This topic has 14 voices, contains 68 replies, and was last updated by 
 mrmojohalen |
I think you will be smiling for the next month or so. |
 King Edward | |
| mrmojohalen | |
| mrmojohalen | |
 jabbo5150 | |
 VOODOO | |
 steecoe | |
 guitard | |
| mrmojohalen | There was someone blasting “5150″ in the parking lot before the show. |
| VOODOO |
I heard a lot of people playing Hagar era stuff in the parking lot on my way in and we didn’t hang out there too long. I agree about the ticket prices. I think the fact that it didn’t sell out and they were obviously giving tickets away the day of and a couple days before the show speaks volumes. Not to mention that the $450 and $750 VIP package tickets were release BELOW the original face value price. I bought my original ticket when they went on sale and it was $164 + fees and I was in the same row as the $450 VIP packages. When I “upgraded” about 5 days before the show, I was three rows closer and the face value price of the ticket was $125. I think the Dave solo spot shows his lack of musical talent, really. His open tuned, three note plucking of the same notes over and over and laying the guitar on his lap and strumming open strings reminds me of when I was a kid learning to play and I saw female country singers on TV playing with one finger barred across the neck. My guitar teacher at the time told me it was because the women had long nails and couldn’t fret the notes. Seeing Dave to this schtick for so many years, it’s obvious it’s a shortcut for him. The harmonica deal is like nails on a chalkboard as he just (no pun intended) sucks and blows on the damn thing repeatedly, mostly on the same notes, and when he does try to venture off and actually play something meaningful, it falls short, just like when he trying to venture off from the melodies of the songs and sing out of his vocal range. He’s doing more damage to himself, image wise, than anything else. The more shows they do, the more negative criticism you hear and I’m talking from fans. I could care less what is written in the press. I don’t recall any Van Halen show in the passed seven years since they’ve been back out with Dave that I have heard so much negativity about Dave, including myself. I love these songs, but, for me, a lot of the time Dave is just not enjoyable to listen to anymore. For those that are casual fans, I can see how they are so disappointed when they drop over $100 on a ticket to hear him sing like that. As far as his story, like I said before, I noticed a LOT of people in the sections in front of me left during that spot and I was about 14 rows back, dead center. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I always wanted to see them at Red Rocks or the experience at the time, but I really enjoyed Dave’s ad libs and stories at the Red Rocks show. I don’t recall him talking too much over intros and he seemed to keep his raps to the break down portions of songs like “EWS”, “Panama” and the like in Colorado. Even I found myself muttering, “Fuck, shut up, Dave!” at some points of the DTE show. I never want to see Sam back in this band, but I’m starting to think my days of seeing multiple Van Halen shows are done. With the guys being in their 60s there probably won’t be too many tours left to catch anyway and if they don’t release anything new, I can’t imagine spending too much time and money to go see multiple “Greatest Hits” tours again. I saw guys selling bootleg shirts before the show for $15. After the show, while I was waiting in the parking lot, I heard a couple guys bartering on the prices. One guy bought three shirts (looked like for himself, his wife/GF and another friend who was with them) for a total of $20. I wanted to buy a tour shirt, but I thought $45 was a little steep and I didn’t really see anything that jumped out at me. |
 sickman | |
| mrmojohalen | |
 ron | [post 8,000] My story…. Alarm went off around 4am, and I was out of the house shortly past 5:30, on my way to see Van Halen at Pine Knob that night. Living close to Alpine Valley in Wisconsin, I had always heard how similar Pine Knob was, and wanted to experience the similarities for myself. Front row tickets had been acquired through OTLP, and was looking forward to the show. About 400 miles, one time zone, and 7 hours later I was at the hotel with less than an hour to turn around and be at the venue. Pine Knob (now DTE Energy Music Theatre) is easy to get to right off I-75 well north of Detroit. After checking in and running swag back to the vehicle, we waited for everyone else getting checked in. There was some rumor about Dave being outside the gate, but I never confirmed that story. After a short wait, we were given the standard Soundcheck instructions, and led into the venue. We came in along the left side, and I ended up right in front of Wolfgang. It was really humid that day, and once down by the stage, there was no breeze. The smell was interesting, a combination of leftover pot smoke, and what could only be described as rotting wood. The soundcheck was short and standard, but the audio was all Bass. I could hardly hear Eddie at all. This worried me for the show later. I had checked the seating map and saw that my seats should be on Wolfie’s side, and once I saw the numbers on the seats, it looked like I’d be to the left of him for the show. Soundcheck songs: LUTS, RWTD, DDL, and I’ll Wait. I’ll Wait was played by Eddie on an all-black, shiny Wolfgang, which I expected to see later that night during the show (otherwise, why play it?). After soundcheck, we were led over to the Blue Room (?) Which was a food and drink area, where we could hang out until the door opened. (I didn’t participate in the crowd-free merch shopping) Aside from hot dogs and chips, there was pulled pork sliders and a mac-and-cheese item available for purchase. I tried the mac-and-cheese, which was good. Once the doors opened, we were allowed to explore the venue at will. I grabbed a raspberry lemonade and chatted with people, and walked around the venue getting a feel for the place. I also grabbed a fruit cup to nosh on along the way. Around 7pm, headed over to where mrmojohalen (Pat) said he’d be. Steecoe ran into me right about then, and we exchanged greetings. Didn’t hang out though, as he and his son were headed into the seating to catch KWS. At some point Voodoo (Scott), and his woman friend showed up, and Pat appeared as well. We spent the most of the rest KWS set chatting about various things. Near the end of the KWS set, it was time to head in and get settled. Knowing where my seats were supposed to be, I headed for the correct aisle. Multiple ticket checkpoints later I was told to head across the section, as my seats were on the other side. I was also told to get a wristband. A bit confused, I followed the instructions. A wristband was secured to my arm, and I was shown my seat, right in front of Edward!!! I had no idea. The map I had consulted before leaving showed me on the other side, and I thought for sure the seats I had seen during soundcheck were on the other side as well. I was all smiles, and settled in to watch the end of KWS’s last song. During the break, I engaged the security guy who was stationed (with a chair) right in front of the seat to my right. I asked about the camera policy, and was informed what I already knew. Small point-n-shoot cameras are okay, but no video. Because of the position of the security guy, I knew taking any video would be difficult. He also informed me/us that there were going to be XX (I forget the number) of photographers in the pit (which was very small) to shoot the first 6 songs. This surprised me a bit, as photographers aren’t usually allowed more than 3 songs to shoot. I wasn’t too concerned, as my height allows me to see over most people. At some point, the photographers were led in and we chatted with the one in front of us. It turns out that because of the limited room in the pit, some kind of lottery system was used to draw for spots, with some getting spots in front of Dave, and others in front of Eddie. Once the show started it was all a blur. I remember the photogs in front of me to start, but at some point they were just gone without me being aware they were leaving. The biggest change was that after they had gone, I felt totally exposed with no chance to shoot video at all. There were some guys in row 2 that the security people kept after the whole night. The seats down front aren’t secured to the floor, and in their excited state, the guys kept pushing the chairs forward, with security continuing to either push them back, or scold the guys. At one point I thought they might throw one of them out. Eddie gave out one pick to someone near the center of the row, and threw one to a woman over on the right, but otherwise didn’t see any others go out. At the end of the show, the guys took a bow and headed off. Wolfie grabbed one of Eddie’s picks off his mic stand and threw it at me. I grabbed for it with my left hand (right hand was holding the camera), and it bounced off my hand and landed in the pit. The security guy reached for it right away, and I held my hand out hoping he wasn’t going to pocket it. Score! He gave it to me, and I was pleased. The crew came along seconds later to tear down the stage and a bunch of Wolfie picks were tossed out. I nabbed one of these on the fly as it bounced off my buddies shoulder. After the show, we caught up with Voodoo and slowly made our way to the exit. Not in any hurry, as we had heard it would be an hour till our lot would clear enough to not be stuck in traffic. All in all, it was a long day, but it was really good. I thought the venue at Pine Knob was indeed similar to Alpine Valley, but AP has a much larger lawn section. However, PK is much nicer in the concourse areas. Well worth the journey. If you read this far, you have way too much free time. |
| VOODOO | |
 frankm |
Well, I guess I have way too much free time 1. Sounds like a great time. |
I think the price of tickets kept many away. There were other shows to see this summer, (Rolling Stones, AC/DC). DTE is one big beer garden for a lot of attendees. I don’t really care for the harmonica that Dave has added to Ice Cream Man. It doesn’t really serve a musical purpose, along with his guitar strumming,which is very different than the last tour. His James Brown story went on waay too long. After the show, someone was selling parking lot shirts for $10 each.
Congrats on hitting 8k!
A couple thoughts …
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