Van Halen Live 1981 May 24
Van Halen Live 1981 May 24 - Wings Stadium Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA.
Eddie Van Halen guitar solo: [ "Eruption", "Spanish Fly", "Women in Love (Intro)" and "Cathedral" ]
SkyOverSky personal story about my first rock concert.
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(Eddie) Edward Lodewijk Van Halen (January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) Dutch-born American musician, songwriter, producer, and inventor. Founder of the American rock band Van Halen. Guitar World magazine reader's poll for "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
In Memory of Eddie and the wonder expressed and shared through his Life, I am sharing my personal story about my first rock concert (Van Halen) on May 24th 1981. I was one of only two Mattawan Middle School students to attend the concert, thanks to older brothers ;-) Arriving early to be in front of the line to rush thru the doors and run down to stage right (General Admission Floor tickets). My older brother had drilled me on the plan... get inside, and run to to stage right. By the time, the Australian punk rock band finished opening I was a much less innocent fellow - ha !
Van Halen roared with "On Fire" to open the concert. Eddie appeared at the top of the huge stack of staging and speaker cabinets,... not missing a note while run jumping down to his stage right mic stand and foot pedal switches. The lights... the crazy loud noise... floor crowd swelling and pushing... somewhere between fright and laughter the notes rang out... utterly unimaginable... took me totally off guard -- the crowd ebbed and flowed and I was 4 people to 10 people back from stage right the whole concert. What a crazy cool thing to have experienced -- Thanks big bro !!! Truly 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
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"
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Halen_World_Invasion_Tour
July 10, 1980
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