I have to say that after reading some of the reviews of recent shows (such as KC, etc.) I was worried about what form of Van Halen I was going to get at the Nassau Coliseum last night.
I shouldn't have worried, as the show was, while not perfect, fantastic...and LOUD.
Didn't detect too much deviation, if any, from the standard setlist, and the musicianship was pretty damn good. No monitor throwing by Eddie, whose playing was sharp and clean for the most part.
Props to Roth who, two months into the tour, sounded excellent and sang with a power I did NOT expect.
Wolfie seemed pretty comfortable in the role of bassist, moving around the stage ably, playing with his dad at times and it was kinda cool to see father embracing son so lovingly at a concert.
I thought the occasional scat-guitar exchange between Diamond Dave and Eddie was pretty cool, a la Zeppelin followed by a laugh and a hearty handhake with Eddie kissing Dave on the cheek...they seemed to have a genuine delight sharing the stage, and yes, that can be 'acting'...but I'd rather believe it was organic...if just to not kill the buzz.
All in all a great show, with Eddies's solo being a TAD of a drag on it, and I actually enjoyed Alex's drum solo a lot more -- the guy can play the f*king drums, people...otherwise a solid 2 hours of GREAT music!!!
