The Van Halen Concert Synopsis:
Ted Stocke and I went to see the Van Halen "Best of Both Worlds" concert at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul on Thursday night. We had Club Level seating, which turned out to be very nice. Drinks were expensive, but we didn't go overboard.

Kick-ass show, with the Van Halen brothers looking at the top of their game even at 49 and 51 years of age. Michael Anthony still looks and acts like he is 30 years old, and really kept the energy level going. Sammy Hagar belted out the notes like he is always great at doing, however the higher frequencies were a little rough on the ears, especially if Edward was hitting a high note at the same time.

Edward even brought his 14-year-old son Wolfgang out to play guitar. Wolffie played the song 316 from Van Halen's For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge album, a song that was released when Wolffie was only 13 months old. The kid can play guitar! He has an excellent instructor, though, so I am not surprised.

I thought the show was a little short of "Dave-era" Van Halen songs, but then again, who wants Sammy to sing Dave's songs?

I give the show a 4.5 stars out of 5 on music quality, and a full 5 out of 5 on showmanship and entertainment value. It is always cool to see a personal hero perform live, and Edward Van Halen is one of personal heroes.

Review: Van Halen makes the jump into classic rockdom
Chris Riemenschneider
Star Tribune
Published July 23, 2004

Turns out, an eight-year hiatus was the best thing that ever happened to the Sammy Hagar-fronted Van Halen. It made them a little bit dumber.

Thursday's two-hour concert by the '80s guitar-god band at St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center was such a macho, fist-pumping, nostalgia-riding affair, it mooted all the endless debate over how Hagar compares to original VH singer David Lee Roth. The 14,722 fans on hand were excited enough -- and in many cases, intoxicated enough -- to be happy with either version of the California-reared group. What they got was something a little more in-between.

Before their hiatus in 1996, Van Halen was only sort of a classic-rock act. Hagar would always sing several of the dimmer-witted, innuendo-laden songs that Roth sang, but the concerts often concentrated more on newer, touchier-feelier songs about soaring eagles, world problems and unrequited love. Can you imagine Diamond Dave singing about unrequited love?

The band members, looking fitter than most their ages (49 to 56), still played several of those mushy songs, including "Right Now" and "When It's Love" during the two encores, as well as "Where Eagles Fly," which came during a solo Hagar set (clearly the bathroom-break moment).

However, from the show-openers "Jump" and "Runaround" to the encore versions of "You Really Got Me" and "Panama," this concert was more about that manly band of old, and about having a good time. Hard-rockers such as the Roth-era "Somebody Give Me a Doctor," the newer "Poundcake" and the totally new "Humans Being" all fit the old Van Halen mold. So did another new tune, the cheeky "Up For Breakfast," which Hagar coyly introduced by saying, "I wanted to sleep in, but my wife wanted me [insert song title here]."

The fun almost seemed forced in parts. Once feuding, the band mates did so many bear-hugs, hiney-kicks and hand-holding gestures, their beefier, ball cap-wearing fans could've feared something less than manly was going on.

Of course, nothing pumps up the testosterone and brings back heavy-metal nostalgia like a guitar, bass and drum solo. Yep, drummer Alex Van Halen played one. So did bassist Michael Anthony. And yep, Anthony brought a bottle of Jack Daniels out with him.

Thursday's 15-minute solo guitar jam by Eddie Van Halen was the climax of the night. The moment was sweetened by the fact that Eddie had defeated cancer in the band's off time. It got all the more sentimental when his 13-year-old son, Wolfgang, joined him on a second guitar.

That's when it became clear this was classic Van Halen. At what other concert could a guitar solo mean so much?

Some Ed golf fashions...

(Below) - Edward and Son Wolfgang golfing at the 2001 LAPD Charity Golf Tournament.

(Below) - Edward posing in his 5150 Recording Studio before the 2001 Bob Hope Desert Classic Pro-Am.

(Below) - Edward showing how to properly express golf angst at the 2001 Bob Hope Desert Classic Pro-Am.

(Below) - Edward doing Jim Flick balance routines. Jim Flick taught me this exact thing as a warm-up on the range when I got 1 hour of his services for an insanely inexpensive dollar amount in July of 2000.