Good show!
I'm more of a David Lee Roth fan, but Sammy Hagar's enthusiasm here is infectious. 8/10 stars from me.
shareIt was a great show! This tour was my very first concert, saw them in Niagara Falls, NY with BTO opening. I'm more of a David Lee Roth era fan myself, but 5150 was a killer album, and this concert blew me away. Their follow up albums weren't nearly as good as this one was.
shareGreat double bill for your first concert: VH and BTO! I've seen them both, but not together.
I have to say I lost a lot of interest in VH when DLR left, but I've grown to appreciate the Sammy Hagar years – especially these days, when rock 'n' roll is in such sorry shape.
I must admit, I was pissed when Dave left the band, and wasn't thrilled with Sammy joining. But then I heard the album and absolutely loved it. It's funny though, over the years, I started liking the Sammy years less and less. 5150 was a phenomenal album, OU812 was an okay album, but songs like Finish What Ya Started, Feels So Good, sounded too "adult contemporary" for me. For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge was a decent return back to a harder rocking album though. I never actually even bought Balance.
shareI've loved Van Halen since their debut in 1978, but I have to say I was pretty jolted when Sammy Hagar came on board. I just don't hear a lot of nuance in his voice, especially compared with what David Lee Roth brought to the band. In hindsight, the Hagar years weren't horrible, once I let go of the change of singers.
The albums indeed became progressively worse with the reliance on keyboards and lack of memorable guitar riffs. "Balance" is highly forgettable, and it's no surprise that would be Sammy Hagar's last album with the band. I actually think the much-maligned "Van Halen III" is not that bad, and I held out hope for the future with Gary Cherone, but that didn't long. "A Different Kind of Truth," where DLR returned, is surprisingly good, but unfortunately, the band seems to be on hiatus again for whatever reason, most of them related to Eddie, I suspect.
I couldn't get into the Cherone album at all. Not one single bit.
My only problem with A Different Kind of Truth is that most of the songs were old songs that they never released. I've had those songs for years now. I was hoping they'd put out something completely new. The future will tell us what in store with them.