Grateful Dead

Ice cream cone kid, I have to disagree about David Lee Roth - the man can't sing anymore. He no longer seems to have the ability to carry a tune in concert. The last show I saw was embarrassing - they seem to know there is a problem. He gets up there, huffing and puffing, and blurts out the lyrics in this choppy, tiresome monotone with no rhythm or melody whatsoever. The rest of the band sounds great, and it's those backing vocals that keep the shows from being a complete train wreck. I was so disappointed, and I'm not alone. I gave him a few chances since they're reunion, but to no avail - he wasn't just having "off" nights. Here are the reviews from ticketmaster's site, in order, over the course of several shows. Everyone gave them a 1 out of 5, and everyone cited Deteriorated Dave as the weak link. Really, don't waste your money. It's a shame, these guys used to be great, but it really demonstrates what an anomaly Dave was. 1 / 5 van halen sucked Hollywood Bowl - Hollywood, CA - Fri, Oct 2, 2015 eddie superb everyone else was tired and uninspired i've seen van halen, yes, steely dan and toto in the last five months i'm a 58 year old gtr playing 40 year member of LA musicians union TOTO was far and away the best of the four oh well 1 / 5 HORRIBLE! Disappointed big time! Hollywood Bowl - Hollywood, CA - Fri, Oct 2, 2015Posted 10/05/2015by TagBert David Roth ruined the show. He sounded awful-talked through the lyrics instead of singing. He made up/replaced words in songs and his voice is gone! He made the concert all about him, and not the music. If it were not for the band, and back up singing, you would not have recognized any of the songs. Was soooo disappointed. Favorite moment: When it was over. 1 / 5 Van Halen Ak-Chin Pavilion - Phoenix, AZ - Mon, Sep 28, 2015Posted 10/01/2015by WLDHRTBKR Band sounded great, but Dave was pathetic!!! Would have been a much better show if Van Halen had opened up for Kenny Wayne Sheppard....now there's some talent!! 1 / 5 DLR was so far off, it made it unbearable. Gexa Energy Pavilion - Dallas, TX - Wed, Sep 23, 2015Posted 09/27/2015by HijoDelSol1 If you want to hear all your favorite Van Halen songs, I would suggest loading up your MP3 player and hitting play. David Lee Roth was so far off from the rest of the band that it painful. The rest of the band sounded great, would have rather had them run in a tribute band singer then to listen to that. Favorite moment: Guitar Solo 1 / 5 Diamond Dave is Done Oak Mountain Amphitheater - Pelham, AL - 09/17/2015Posted 09/23/2015by LeeTB I cringed the whole way through the Van Halen show. Seriously, if you know anything about vocals, music, singing in key, singing at all, you would have no other choice but to agree that David Lee Roth is done. Sure, he still can entertain the crowd with his antics, but when you don't sing 80% of the lyrics, and the lyrics you do sing are our of key, just hang it up. If they had just advertised it as an instrumental show, featuring the rest of the band, it would have been 100% better. Don't be fooled. Unless you're just going to see Eddie, or the Kenny Wayne Shepherd band is opening, you WILL be disappointed. Favorite moment: Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band set - great gig!!!! Saved the night - seeing Eddie for the 2nd time live. 1 / 5 Kenny Wayne OK but VH sucked. Bethel Woods Center for the Arts - Bethel, NY - Sun, Sep 6, 2015Posted 09/22/2015by PMW1960 Kenny Wayne Shepard was sounding great but only played 35 minutes. WTF, he could have played an hour or so. VH was terrible. The band sounded OK but the vocals and backup singing was terrible. The volume on the vocals was turned down so it was hard to hear David but that was probably a good thing. Favorite moment: The end. Opening act(s): KWS band. Good but way to short. 1 / 5 DLR stole my money Oak Mountain Amphitheatre - Birmingham, AL - Thu, Sep 17, 2015 Posted 09/21/2015by jbix613 David lee Roth needs to quit today! He talked thru most lyrics. When he did try he couldn't hit the high notes at all. He even tried to do 15 minutes of terrible stand up.This is the first concert I ever left early and I wasn't alone, I was joined with hundreds. 1 / 5 Van Halen / David Lee Roth MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds - Tampa, FL - Sun, Sep 13, 2015Posted 09/16/2015by notoriousscottyb I've been to see other older bands with not much expectations of a great show . I was not disappointed. That being said ... As you would think it was mostly the Dave show. His voice, key and timing are way off. It would seem as though they didn't rehearse. I really expected more from a Van Halen Show. Eddie Is usually full of energy and excited to please the crowd but not this show. I'm extremely sorry I spend the eighty bucks per ticket. It was a twenty dollar show at best. I was NOT alone walking out at ten thirty. I couldn't withstand any more of the abuse of Van Halen music. Favorite moment: Leaving early..Priceless 1 / 5 Very Disapointed PNC - Charlotte, NC - 09/11/2015Posted 09/15/2015by ChrisDaddy This was the fourth time I have seen Van Halen in my lifetime, and I realize they have gotten older as I have. I have adjusted my expectations accordingly. Eddie and family were spot on, but DLR was all over the place. I know you get some variation with live music, but he was constantly off on the lyrics, out of sync wih the band, and did a lot of just plain odd movements on stage. It sounded terrible and he was difficult to watch. As much as I love Van Halen, DLR is done..... Favorite moment: Eddie's solo 1 / 5 See Van Halen in a corner Bar SOON !!!! PNC Music Pavilion - Charlotte, NC - Fri, Sep 11, 2015Posted 09/14/2015by Furiousnight The worst Van Halen show I have ever been too. And I have been to at least 15 of Van Halen shows. Davids voice is gone. He acted to crazy and talked to much. He even stopped the middle of songs and talked. Does David have dementia. I think Wolfgang has a better voice then David. Favorite moment: Eddies guitar solo 1 / 5 VAN HALEN PNC Music Pavilion - Charlotte, NC - Fri, Sep 11, 2015Posted 09/14/2015by Anonymous I HAVE BEEN A VAN HALEN FAN SINCE 1977, SEEN THEM MANY TIMES . LOVE D THEM WITH DAVE AND SAMMY. THIS WAS ONE OF THE WORST SHOWS I'VE EVER SEEN. DIAMOND DAVE CAN NOT SING , COULD NOT SING. A ENTIRE SONG, NOT THAT I WANTED TO HEAR THAT VOICE .MAYBE SHOULD TRY OUT FOR DANCING WITH THE HAS BEENS. Favorite moment: WHEN I LEFT HALF WAY THREW SHOW 1 / 5 Tour experience is a waste! Walnut Creek Amphitheatre - Raleigh, NC - Wed, Sep 9, 2015Posted 09/14/2015by Skieder We got to the sound check about 15 minutes after the time listed in the email. The check-in took long and our "escort" (a young girl) took forever to greet us at the gate. It wasn't until I questioned the check-in person how long the sound check lasted that they had a sense of urgency about actually letting us in. We had to walk all the way around the park (5 minutes at least) and got to the stage just as the band finished up. There was no exception made at all. We were not compensated whatsoever. After the sound check ended, a person who said she was in charge of the group told us where to hang out and what was available (drinks, food and t-shirt stand). We sat around for nearly 3 hours because we weren't allowed to leave the park, waiting for the opening act. For the amount of money I paid they could have done a little more. I will never purchase this product again...COMPLETE WASTE of MONEY! Favorite moment: Good seats 1 / 5 Total Disappointment Bethel Woods Center for the Arts - Bethel, NY - Sun, Sep 6, 2015Posted 09/10/2015by EMAS My husband had wanted to see Van Halen for years. He was looking very forward to this show, particularly at Bethel Woods, which is an awesome venue. This show was a complete disappointment. The opener, Kenny Wayne Shepard, was good. When VH took the stage the crowd was excited but then it ended. David Lee Roth really can't sing any longer. He was out of sync with the band, off key, off pitch - overall not good. The band didn't seem together either. The sound was too loud, the guitar overrode everything else, they just didn't seem like a professional band. We have seen bar bands that were better. It sounded like bad karaoke. When we decided to leave early - we have never left a concert early ever before - many others were streaming out as well. All were saying the same thing. This was painful! Favorite moment: The decision to leave the concert.

3.28.69 - Student Center, Modesto Jr. College 7.7.69 - PIGPEN !!!!! I say please Mamma turn on your light.. "Some of your love some of your light... "That's All you folks need now, just a little light, thats all you folks need, a little more love, yes you do, I ask my baby let it shine on me...

pig was a biker first, then a singer and then a harp player then an organist, oh wait, but foremost he was a man, who liked sex, good thing, without it, no human race. David lee was a promoter, a rocker, a singer and a front man, who liked sex, good thing.... Alvin lee was a rocker, a guitarist and a great guy, way underappreciated and his contributions to ten years after will never be equaled, no one was a fast as him except maybe darma buck who is the lead guitarist for blue oyster cult, now that is one fast fingering. Most girls I know like fast fingering. Shake your money maker.

9/19/70-I don't know about the Lovelight, but its got an incredible Dark Star on it. Horses for courses. Its music like that that has always made me ignore the advice of people like that angry jackstraw bloke, to stop listening to The Dead.

I agree, that Lovelight played on 5/24/72 is one of my favourite versions. At the 12 minute mark, it doesn't overstay its welcome, either. I think there was a tendency towards excess in rock music around that time. If anyone had any particular talent, they seemed to overdo do it. Pigpen was a great vocalist-he wasn't a poet. Ginger Baker was a great drummer with Cream...but his 16 minute+ solo on The Wheels of Fire version of Toad is very hard going. There was a great pop/rock band in England in the early 1970s called T.Rex-I don't know if they were well known in America. Anyway, they made great singles. But live they were a disaster. I saw them in 1972, and they played long versions of their songs, totally destroying the impact they could have had if they had been a bit more concise.Sometimes, of course, a bands strength lay in its ability to jam. On most of their songs, this applies to The Dead. A 15 minute version of Dark Star from 1971 always seems too short to me. They could be concise to good effect, too, though. I have just finished listening to the 7/5/78 show from the box set. The encore of Promised land is as good a version of a Chuck Berry song as I think I have ever heard. Its only 4 mins 13 secs long, but nothing more needs to be said.

Go see VH if they tour again. Last September when I saw them they were great.For anyone who is a so-so fan or is not familiar, go if you get the chance. They are getting older, but toured last year. Eddie is an amazing guitarist, you need to witness it live. Dave is the ultimate show man. The whole band rocks. Also, look up on YouTube Van Halen "Live At Largo", another good show.

and all the raps he brings with him! maybe we could get a release of, i think it's 9/19/70, i could be wrong about that, but it's a particularly hot show where they storm through lovelight (as if they ever did a version that era where they didn't), and where the rap gets to the point where bobby steps up to the mic to inquire: "Pigpen, did you just say fuck?" if not that show, i hear the ones from the ARK in Boston in 4/21-23/69 are pretty good - ahem, uh dave, next box set, sure, why not? Thanks. I've also heard done tell from a few of the folks that the NYE show from '69, also in beantown, is quite bad-ass, with one hell of an Alligator jam to it's name. everyone, well except for that one guy (who is entitled to his opinion, and the right to express it freely), would be quite happy with many more pig heavy releases.

....now THAT video brings me back. Halen put on a fantastic show....saw them once. Alas, not with Roth. 5150 Tour....that, alas again, was during my transition to the Dead. Metal/Hard Rock took a back seat for a decade or so.....

Your VH introduction: https://youtu.be/frwlZswvS5I Watch the whole thing. It's a 3-day weekend, you've got the time.

I missed the Van Halen days, other than Jump as a basketball warm-up.. (that was at some tournament, at home of course we ran out to Jesus Christ Superstar intro > Rock You Like A Hurricane orchestral version > Still Fly by the Big Tymers. Huh..no wonder I like the Dead's incongruent weirdness..) Anyways, don't know much Van Halen, but in on the Blondie! Only know the hits I suppose, but my favorite is Heart of Glass. But One Way or Another, Rapture, Call Me, Atomic...all great. Love that Rapture video. Sometimes I just go around downtown like that dude. Then I heard boom from the amplifiers.