Van Halen – Fresno 1978-79 films

mrmojohalen: Single-8, what was your first concert ?

Did you ever get a chance to see Led Zeppelin back in the day ?

we saw led zeppelin the day Bonham got arrested in 1977 in Oakland with Judas Priest and Derringer..saw the Who , Day on the Green too..
saw some shows at the Fillmore in 1968 Iron Butterfly/Led Zeppelin….Those were the Daze..one of my favorite shows was The Steve Miller Band with ZZ Top Opening..Tres Hombres tour..1973..I didn’t know who ZZ Top was..

mrmojohalen: What did you think of Led Zep when you saw them in 1968 ? (If you can remember)

Who was the headliner at Day on the Green ? Tough choice between Zep & The Who.

zeppelin played 2 days in 1977,the Who was a different show,the last tour with Moon…I don’t really remember the fillmore shows,I was a Data Systems Technician in the Navy at Mair Island..Iron Butterfly had a Very big record with in a gadda da vida, I dont think zeppelin even had the 1st record out,no one knew them… when I got in,people were sitting around smoking and just passing drugs around ,I had never seen anything like that before…you got loaded just from all of the second hand smoke..Contact High I think you call it

ffoner: Hi Super-8,

Did you make it into the Van Halen 1980 and 81 shows in Fresno?

1980-no..1981 a friend had a ticket and I went along ..no recording.I got busted going thru the door..(for Medication)..the next time we did VH was with the Magnificent Sammy..july 16th 1988 candlestick park..I wasn’t there but my equipment was…Ive had that recording for 26 years and still haven’t actually listened to it..

Cato: why not?

thanks for posting great stories anyway. I’m really enjoying reading them!

I dont know..Its not a bad recording,pretty good for that venue..they were in the wheelchair with the Fresno Rig…I have the whole day

ffoner: Thanks for answering so many questions!

Did you guys tape Derringer? That 1976-77 lineup with Danny Johnson and Appice is amazing. I have been on the hunt for live stuff from them for years. The only decent things around are a couple of FM broadcasts.

I shot films of derringer and foghat at selland arena,in 1977 I have the complete audio also..that was the first time for the films.(clips of that show are on my mega trailer).I also recorded derringer in oklahoma city after vanhalen’s set on august 6th 1978
they had Myron Grumbacher on drums who joined Pat Benatar for all of her albums…Derringer wasnt Fucking around having to follow EVH and they played some killer guitar…Black Oak (Jim Dandy) played that day although I skipped them..Alvin Lee was great as well..Lotta killer guitarists that day..I have a rick derringer show from the 90′s in fresno too..he was great with Johnny Winter..

mrmojohalen: What was your first reaction when you saw the great quality of your digital transfers ?

I have films of Blue Oyster Cult in 1977 and I can see a pack of cigarettes in Allen Laier’s vest pocket and it was amazing there was that kind of definition on the film..the frames are less that 1/4″ square…not to mention 35+ years old..but I own the best equipment possible and spared no expense to do the highest quality transfers ..1080i Uncompressed PNG Numbered Image Sequence

kite: Hello single-8, nice to read all stories from early the days.You must have seen lots of bands that still exist nowadays.What makes you tape and or film the concerts you’re going to?

Nothing sounds better than a recording done with a pair of mics in front of a loud rumbling stack of speakers..I recorded the allman bros band in 1993 6 feet from the speakers and just the guitar by itself was pounding me making my shirt move like there was a breeze. my buddy ran to the beer stand to get napkins to put in his ears (DJ). when that was over I went home, changed batteries and tapes, then went to record Robin Trower the same night. It’s the thrill of getting in in and pulling off a good bootleg.