Van Halen Live 1981 May 24
Van Halen Live 1981 May 24 - Wings Stadium Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA.
May 24th 1981 - I had a great adventure !!! I was one of only two students in Mattawan Middle School to attend a Van Halen concert !!! We both have our older brothers to thank !!! We arrived early to the stadium to wait in line with our General Admission - Floor tickets. I had been drilled on the plan... get inside and run to get as close to stage right as possible. By the time, the Australian punk rock band finished opening, and the in-between hijinx (eye opener for my age ;-)
By the time, Van Halen launched with "On Fire", we were about 4 people deep stage right (Eddie's side)... Eddie started at the top of the huge stack of staging and speaker cabinets,... not missing a note he jumped and ran down to the stage right in front of us !!! The lights the crazy loud noise of a song I knew... the crowd swelling and pushing... somewhere between fright and overjoyed stimulation those notes rang out... it was utterly amazing... took me totally off guard -- it was one of the most memorable moments of my life -- easily top 10 moments !!!
Somewhere into the show, real fast, Eddie threw his iconic red and blue baseball cap right at my brother's area... it was barely any moment of pause in the song for his guitar part, so it was really unexpected... the audience collapsed into a pile leaping for the hat, but my bro is a tall basketball center kinda guy -- Eddie threw it high just like it needed to be for my bro !!! (just sayin... Eddie knew... he got that hat to my bro as he intended... ;-) I was about 6 people away by this time... as the floor crowd was really swelling and moving... I guess my bro's instincts took over, because as everyone was grabbing and falling... he shoved it down his pants... in the next moment everyone was up and watching the stage.
By the time, Van Halen launched with "On Fire", we were about 4 people deep stage right (Eddie's side)... Eddie started at the top of the huge stack of staging and speaker cabinets,... not missing a note he jumped and ran down to the stage right in front of us !!! The lights the crazy loud noise of a song I knew... the crowd swelling and pushing... somewhere between fright and overjoyed stimulation those notes rang out... it was utterly amazing... took me totally off guard -- it was one of the most memorable moments of my life -- easily top 10 moments !!!
Somewhere into the show, real fast, Eddie threw his iconic red and blue baseball cap right at my brother's area... it was barely any moment of pause in the song for his guitar part, so it was really unexpected... the audience collapsed into a pile leaping for the hat, but my bro is a tall basketball center kinda guy -- Eddie threw it high just like it needed to be for my bro !!! (just sayin... Eddie knew... he got that hat to my bro as he intended... ;-) I was about 6 people away by this time... as the floor crowd was really swelling and moving... I guess my bro's instincts took over, because as everyone was grabbing and falling... he shoved it down his pants... in the next moment everyone was up and watching the stage.
Not every 14 year old gets to experience this type of energy !!!
What song do you think he threw the hat ? (See the set list below) ;-)
~*~
Kalamazoo, Michigan - Wings Stadium 5,113-seat multi-purpose arena. As a concert venue, the stadium can seat up to 8,023 spectators
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Warning_Tour
The Mean Street tour (also dubbed the W.D.F.A. Tour) was a 1981 North American concert tour by hard rock band Van Halen in support of their Fair Warning album.
Eddie Van Halen – guitar, background vocals and lead keyboards ["Sunday Afternoon in the Park"]
David Lee Roth – lead vocals and acoustic guitar ["Ice Cream Man" (John Brim cover)]
Michael Anthony – bass, background vocals and bass keyboards ["Sunday Afternoon in the Park"]
Alex Van Halen – drums and percussion
Typical set list
"On Fire"
"Sinner's Swing!"
"Alex Van Halen drum solo"
"Hear About It Later"
"So This Is Love?"
"Jamie's Cryin'"
Michael Anthony bass solo
"Runnin' with the Devil"
"Dance the Night Away"
"Sunday Afternoon in the Park" and "Romeo Delight"
"Everybody Wants Some!!"
"Ice Cream Man" (John Brim cover)
"Mean Street"
Eddie Van Halen guitar solo ["Eruption", "Spanish Fly", "Women in Love..." (Intro) and "Cathedral"]
"Feel Your Love Tonight"
"You Really Got Me" (The Kinks cover)
Encore
"Unchained"
"Growth" and "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love"
*********
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Halen_World_Invasion_Tour
July 10, 1980
Comments
Post a Comment