Van Halen/Live At The Tokyo Dome (Part Two)

 

So Monday’s post I talked about the first half of Halens Live From The Tokyo Dome!

Today i will focus on the other 13 tracks that Dave,Ed,Alex And Wolfman Jacked slammed out ….

BOTTOMS UUUUUUUP!

DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY-gottta love Alex playing that cowbell and before you know it Dave and company are Dancing The Night Away! Man Eddies guitar is just jacked and can you not dig it! He plays with such ease I mean how do you not fuckin airband to this guy! Anyhoo the band takes a breather so Dave can chirp the crowd about wearing his Dance Shoes and that Mr ..well his Japanese friend is present and  it’s Dave being Dave! But guess what this is the portion of the show where Dave totally shows up and sings da songs! Seriously he does!

I’LL WAIT- man one of those Gems from the 1984 album and VH meld drums,guitars and a mountain of keys into a grand slam Gemmer! Frigg man somewhere Micheal McDonald is smiling knowing he is the only dude ever to get a uncredited co write on a VH album! Alex Slams some real good beats and doesn’t comform to the keep it simple analogy! Dave steps up and the Ed And Wolf sing some good backing vocals…yeah seriously they do! See the pattern emerging here?

AND THE CRADLE WILL ROCK- man the opening song on my all time fav album (Women And Childern First) sets the course! Love that opening riff with Ed on his guitar it’s so frigging bad ass! The band Rock it forward and Dave leads the parade and too be honest at first the backing vocals sounded different almost off like but over time Ol Cynical Guy(Moi) digs it! Of course Roth pleases us by telling us “have you seen Jrs grades!?” Ed rips Into the solo and Dave cusses out the F Bomb and Ed,Wolf and Alex blast off a few bars of Smoke On The Water! Wowzers man….this cooks not in a Walter White way either!

HOT FOR TEACHER-Alex slams that real cool double bass at the start and the Ol buggers clocking over 100 mphs  behind that kit! I mean how cool is that as a single,back in tha day when  the drummer guy smashes the complete shit out of his drums to lead off a single! Ed steps up and does his hammer ons and we’re off! Wolfies bass is just a runaway rig on a highway and man the kid can play especially when he locks it in tight with dad! Dave of course on this version keeps up whereas I have heard versions where he’s been gassed by the first chorus! This tune just  flat out rocks and we’re all for the  better !

WOMEN IN LOVE- Wowzers this is a great version! Dave keeps his shit together and compliments(????) Ed and Wolf on there backing vocals and I gotta agree! They sound reaaaaal good! Of course Ed takes it to the next level with his guitaring in the solo and the sonics and chops of Wolf and Uncle Al are locked n loaded!

ROMEO DELIGHT-whoah Nelly! This is one of my faves from these guys! Ed sets the bar to super speed and brother Alex obliges while Wolfie plays some Wah pedal at certain junctions and this song Kicks Ass! Ed hammers home the solo! Dave actually doesn’t forget the fuckin words for the most part and man this is Heavy Halen! I can’t believe they steamroll this song at a quick pace but after the solo Dave goes into speaking Japanese once again while you hear some chuckling in the background and before to long HALEN crashes and burns this song down! Love the ending Dave even tosses in a WOW and its In tune! Ha…..seriously this is Halen when the Blow and Jack are pumping at full throttle! (Back in 1980 that is……)

MEAN STREET- Ed does that crazy good opening solo and than Theres the riff and brother Alex and the Wolfman join in the circus and Dave you know what he sings this tune real good! He dials in the chorus and keeps the song moving with jibber jabber banter slash vocal delivery like only he can do! Dig the middle part right before the solo! I kinda wished Dave would done the OL “There’s Babeeee” line right before Eds solo along with the “turned to from hunterd into Hunter” spiel but Dave probably doesn’t remember much from 1981 so be it…but he’s doing fine……

BEAUTIFUL GIRLS- well truth be told Dave kinda comes unglued vocally a little during the verses and during the chorus Ed And Wolf do the heavy lifting vocally. This track is a classic and that’s the great thing about this live album! It’s basically a compilation of mine and many others high school years(1981-1986)! Take a bow Tbone! Except for the Different Kind Of Truth stuff of course! The song just takes off at the end it’s just plain out awsome….’ Aaaah Yeah ….Beautifuuuuuuul Giiiirls!”

ICE CREAM MAN-Dave plays acoustic man and the dude is a decent picker….and the boys ramp this song up as in Ed just blasts the solo into another stratosphere as he does all the time!

PANAMA-see the pre hype Tokyo Dome album release I wrote here in regards to Panama….https://superdekes.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/cool-lil-numbers-van-halenpanama-live-2015/

ERUPTION-9 plus minutes of one of the greats on guitar! Need I say more……

AINT TALKIN BOUT LOVE-the Tour de Force from the debut album and Dave wrote like he’s the King and it’s his strutting number “like I told you before….Ah Before!” Ok boss! Also thanks to Ed this is one of those all great opening riffs it hooks in straight away and not before too long there’s Brother  Alex locked n sync with Ed and they drive this baby home! Love the singalong ending at the end….” Hey Hey Hey,” All time great!

JUMP-so the Tokyo Dome is about to blow its top when the biggest single of the HALEN  catalogue is played. Of course Go ahead and Juuuuuuump! Funny thing is of all the live versions I have heard Halen playing Jump live the keys sound weak! The studio single there at the forefront and as much as I hate bands drowning in the layers of keyboards this is the one song where I think the keys should be cranked live, give it some Oooomph! Sonic gripe aside Dave man he’s cooked vocally on this tune. That’s ok man you delivered Romeo Delight and Meanstreet at about the 3/4 mark of the show and kept your shit vocally together! So for that! I saluuuuuute You! Of course when your live at the show towards the end of Jump Halen is pumping out confetti all over the place so it’s like no ones paying attention to what Dave is jibbering on about anyways!

IN CONCLUSION- of course if you have been a Halen fan for as long as myself and Tbone have  (34 years and counting!) we all want the Oakland Fair Warning Tour 81 show in our hands and pummelled into our ears! For sure, but it’s not happening well maybe some day it will and i can eat Crow!

I love this live album and why not…the production is live, no tweaks as in this day and age of everyone filming shows with there phones Halen would have been called out for fixing up the tracks but I never read anything about that sooooo Live it is!

Right Here Right Now the Sam I Am fronted live Halen from 1993 was aweful! Not the songs or the performances mind you but the production was so sterile I cannot listen to it and the live video to accommodate it was edited with so many shots from 3 different shows it was aweful! Man they hosed me on that debacle ….haha….yet I still subscribe !

Dave for all the hammering he gets on YouTube and from people is pretty good here! I have no qualms even though he shows off his Japanese speaking and I have no idea WTF he’s saying  but its humour to me and good for him as he doesn’t take his shit too seriously at the age of 60! ha! Vocal wise he unravels but kinda keeps it in check somewhat!

Ed plays like he always does and that’s with ferocity and he knows when to lay back and knows when to rip it up! He’s simply the greatest guitar player in my time..NUFF said!

Alex man is always laying down the law with the drums! He drives Ed and Wolf while Dave is driving off somewhere out in space haha..thats Allright though it works….

Wolfie man is the MVP on this album for many a reason! One being the fella can play! Check out Everybody Wants Some and Romeo Delight for points of reference or the dual bass/guitar in Chinatown! That shit is real! Second he can hold his own vocally in the background dept! Plus he has his ear on the ground in regards to the song selection of those first 6 Halen albums! For that Wolfie …thanks a million dude!

So if you want a real Live album check the Tokyo Dome show out……