antiMusic Logo
Jealous Haters Since 1998!
Home | News | Reviews | Day In Rock | RockNewsWire | Singled Out | Feeds
spacer
Van Halen
Cleveland 2004
By Chuck G.

Right Now Sammy-Fronted Van Halen Rock Cleveland Arena
But fans of David Lee Roth left wondering where have all the good times gone.

Not many people know this, but in 1984 Eddie Van Halen was tabbed to contribute to the soundtrack for a sort of follow-up to the mega-hit movie "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" called, "The Wild Life." It starred clean-cut Eric Stoltz and Sean Penn's slovenly brother, Chris, as sort of an 'Odd Couple' for the 80s generation. In that same year that made radio staples out of "Jump" and "Panama," Eddie's contribution to the aforementioned soundtrack is the laughably-titled song, "Donut City."

Even more surprising is what "Donut City" became...which was "Right Now" released on "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" seven years later in 1991. The keyboard riff fills out atmosphere in many scenes of the movie and is unmistakable as the future Hagar-fronted hit song/video.

Because of that amazing foresight, the balance of this review will be written in the spirit of "Donut City"...er, I mean, "Right Now." 

� Right Now Van Halen opened with "Jump"

� Right Now Eddie Van Halen looks cut and in the best shape of his cancer-free, hip-replaced life

� Right Now Michael Anthony's vocals (especially lead vocals on "Somebody Get Me A Doctor") is the straw that stirs the Van Halen drink

� Right Now, despite what is being circulated in the press, Sammy's enthusiasm for performing Roth-era VH is sour

� Right Now, Alex Van Halen lives in the shadows of his younger brother, but is a tremendous drummer himself

� Right Now Alex did rip-off Tommy Lee's 'Theater of Pain' drum solo for his own on this tour (chops only, not the 90-degree thing)

� Right Now Van Halen did 5 songs from "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" including "Judgement Day" 

� Right Now Van Halen didn't perform songs from the following albums: "Diver Down", "Women And Children First", "Balance" and "Van Halen III"

� Right Now Eddie still maintains complete mastery over his guitar...how could Rolling Stone rate Jack White ahead of him!?! 

� Right Now I'm still outraged about that 

� Right Now Van Halen had a cool depth-charge looking video screen in the back of their stage set-up

� Right Now Eddie never once touched a piano or keyboard live

� Right Now "Humans Being," a great Sammy-era song from the Twister Soundtrack doesn't come across well live

� Right Now the concept of the bass solo should be outlawed; sorry Michael

� Right Now Eddie only played his vintage red Kramer with black-and-white tape for one song

� Right Now Sammy is struggling with the high notes; but still performed great

� Right Now seeing Eddie do the whole hammer-on/pull-off thing is like watching Jordan play basketball

� Right Now Wolfgang Van Halen did NOT perform during Eddie's guitar solo; he has at other tour stops

� Right Now Eddie, a tongue cancer survivor, did smoke during his guitar solo

� Right Now "Unchained" is the finest Van Halen song known to mankind

� Right Now Eddie did perform bits of "Eruption," "Cathedrals" "Mean Streets" and "Spanish Fly" during his solo portion

� Right Now crowd excitement was, and probably always will be, stronger for the Roth-era material

� Right Now only 6 DLR songs were performed out of a 20-song setlist

� Right Now the 18,000+ seat arena was filled almost to capacity

� Right Now Van Halen performed all three new tracks set to be included the new "Best Of Both Worlds" collection

� Right Now none can hold a candle to either Roth-era or Pre-VHIII Hagar-era Van Halen, though "It's About Time" comes the closest

� Right Now and interesting stage note: Barely any light show during Roth-era songs; everything and the kitchen sink lighting-wise for the new stuff

� Right Now the song "Right Now" with it's message-driven video in the background was even more poignant in this post-9/11 world

� Right Now set-ender "When It's Love" is a poor choice for that position; Why not "What Love Can Do" if you gotta go with Sammy stuff?

� Right Now a pretty safe show from a band that was really never thought of as safe
 

Purchase Van Halen's music and listen to samples.

Visit the official site for Van Halen



advertisement

.
News Reports
.
Day in Rock:
Three Days Grace Share First Adam Gontier Reunion Song 'Mayday'- Twenty On Pilots Share 'The Line' From Arcane League of Legends: Season 2 Soundtrack- more

Page Too

Journey Icon Steve Perry Shares Video For Duet With His Late Father- Green Day, Post Malone and Lady Gaga Lead Coachella Lineup- more

 Subscribe To Day in Rock

advertisement
.
 
Reviews
.

• Savoy Brown - Ain't Done Yet

• Quick Flicks: The Center of Nowhere (The Spirit and Sounds of Springfield, Missouri)

• Travel News, Trips and Tips: 100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama

• RockPile: Neal Smith, Shadow & the Thrill, Limousine Beach and Vicious Rooster

• The Georgia Thunderbolts - The Georgia Thunderbolts EP

• Ozzy Osborne Was The Monster Under My Bed

• Sites and Sounds: Slaughterhouse 5 Opera Set For September Premiere

• MorleyView: Deep Purple's Roger Glover

• Laura Wilde - Charmed + Dangerous

• RSC - Shadow Lady

• On The Record: Hall & Oates, Triumph, Daniel Johnston, and Social Distortion

• Sonic Fuel - I Will Rise

• Sites and Sounds: Texas Country At Sea

• The Blues: Albert Castiglia - Wild and Free

• Daddy1 - 1 Bro Gad

• RockPile: Gang of Four- Half Past Two - Venus Furs

• Travel News, Trips and Tips: Road Trip Gear Edition, Part 2

• Travel News, Trips and Tips: Road Trip Gear Part 1

• Static-X - Project Regeneration Volume 1

• Rock Reads: 'Run-Out Groove: Inside Capitol's 1980s Hits & Stiffs' by Dave Morrell

• Psycle - Kill The Machine

• RockPile: Southern Rock Edition - Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Bros, Molly Hatchet, Marshall Tucker Band

• RockPile: Danielia Cotton, the Jackets And More

• Root 66: Chicago Farmer - Flyover Country

• Reggae Party

• Sundogs - The Code

• Root 66: Nate Lee - Wings of a Jetliner

• Mallavora - The Paradise EP

• The Burrito Brothers - The Notorious Burrito Brothers

• David Cross & Peter Banks - Crossover

• Dennis DeYoung - 26 East: Volume 1


. .
.
Today's Rock News
. Iron Maiden Legend Paul Di'Anno Laid To Rest

Watch Duran Duran Rock ELO's 'Evil Woman' At Madison Square Garden

The Amity Affliction Announce North American Tour

Jason Charles Miller Shares Video For Accidental Deep Purple Tribute

Lainey Wilson Wins CMA Female Vocalist Of The Year For 3rd Consecutive Year

Mac McAnally Sells Out His Ryman Auditorium Headline Debut

Dan Wilson Wins First CMA Award for Song of the Year For Chris Stapleton's 'White Horse'

Danjo Release 'Girls on the Dance Floor' Video

Watch Kacey Musgraves Perform 'The Architect' At The CMAs

Rodeo Mouth Take Fans To 'Fanny's Farmhouse'

KISS Army Marks 49th Anniversary

Yes Fire Back About Lawsuit Over Alleged Song Theft

Snoop Dogg To Headline Season Finale Of Amazon Music Live

BTS Star Jin Makes U.S. Solo TV Debut On The Tonight Show

Kesha Goes On 'JOYRIDE' With New Video

Nicki Minaj Adds Extended Verse To Juice WRLD's 'All Girls Are The Same 2 (Insecure)'

Travis Scott To Make Historical Return To Headline Coachella

Bear McCreary Announces First European Tour

George Porter Jr. (The Meters) Announces New Instrumental Album 'Porter's Pocket'

Paul Adams and Elizabeth Geyer Release the Album 'A Journey of Dreams'

Journey Icon Steve Perry Shares Video For Duet With His Late Father

George Harrison Early Beatles-Era Futurama Guitar Fetches $1.27 Million

Green Day, Post Malone and Lady Gaga Lead Coachella Lineup

Pistols At Dawn Rock Cover Of Wham's 'Last Christmas'

Lucero Stars Unplug For New Double Album Of Their Catalog Tracks

Sven Gali Give Red Rider's 'Lunatic Fringe' A Heavy Makeover

Drew & Ellie Holcomb Take 'High Seas' With New Song

Crazy Lixx Give Fans First Bite of New Album With 'Midnight Rebels' Video

Coliseum Remix and Remaster Debut Album For 20th Anniversary

Singled Out: Carolyn Broussard's Without You


Subscribe to Day in Rock Report by Email

.
.
Today's Page Too News
.

More News
.
.
.
  .
.
 

Tell a Friend about this page - Contact Us - Privacy - antiMusic Email - Why we are antiMusic

Copyright© 1998 - 2016 Iconoclast Entertainment Group All rights reserved. antiMusic works on a free link policy for reprinting of our original articles, click here for details. Please click here for legal restrictions and terms of use applicable to this site. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the terms of use.