Van Halen - Des Moines IA 2/6/08

Van Halen - Des Moines IA 2/8/08

Let me preface my following remarks saying that I am a "Van Hagar" fan as much as (or maybe slightly more than) a Roth fan. But I have liked both eras over the years.

Much has been written about Van Halen over the years and this past turn of the calendar has brought us the much hyped return of original frontman David Lee Roth as well as the unceremonious exit of original bassist Michael Anthony (replaced by Eddie's teenaged son Wolfgang).

This reunion/resumption stopped in Des Moines IA on February 6th 2008. The nearly sold out crowd of close to 15,000 greeted the band with thunderous applause. After a half-hour set by reggae artist Ky-Mani Marley (yes..he's a son of Bob...), Van took to the stage. What followed was more than 2 hours of some of the best rock tunes to hit the airwaves in the last 30 years. Song after song after song of classic tune-age.

Roth was in very fine form vocally. He did not shy away from the high notes (although he missed a few), and he was the showman that we all remember him as, complete with that permanent smile on his face. He did not attempt many acrobatics, but seemed to concentrate more on the music and actually singing the songs. I always appreciated Roth's vocals and lyrics to "I'll Wait" and "Mean Streets" and it was great to hear those songs again.

Wolfgang was the surprise of the night. While he can't match the energy and showmanship of Michael Anthony nor the vocals of his predecessor, young Wolfie was very solid on the bass guitar. He has a small solo part and was able to add some energy and style to the overall sound mix (which was both excellent and LOUD).

Eddie was in fine form. His hands flew all over the neck of his guitar. At times all the hammer-ons and whammy bar noises bordered on overkill, but I have to remember that Edward essentially invented that style of playing in the first place. It seemed like Ed might have lost half a step over the years, but he can still play circles around 95% of everyone else. (I also noticed how old and gnarly his hands looked when they were magnified on the Jumbotron screen...)