Twas the summer of' '79. In the World of rock, there was a new guard, a new wave of young hungry rockers swarming over the old. Leading the charge, as the fabled NWOBHM was finding its' feet and gaining credibility and momentum, were Pasadena's Van Halen.
On the back of a stunning eponymous debut, lauded as the best since Montrose in 1973 (also produced by Ted Templeman) they toured the World and beyond, cementing their place in the hierarchy of the time. And on March 23rd '79 Van Halen II was unleashed on us all. For some not as powerful as their debut, it carried on the tradition and gave us another 8 original tunes, a guitar solo and a cover version. All in under 32 minutes.
They hit the road near home in Fresno, CA on March 25th, hitting 51 shows by June 10th in New Orleans. Then they came to Europe. A small in comparison run if shows (12) culminated with 5 straight UK shows finishing with two SRO nights at London's Rainbow Theatre. Seeing them then was frankly a revelation. Young, hungry and full of themselves, the hard road work had honed their set into a tight professional show.
Each night their set was:-
Light Up The Sky
Somebody Get Me A Doctor/Drum Solo
Running With The Devil
Dance The Night Away
Beautiful Girls
On Fire/Bass Solo/You're No Good
Jamie's Cryin'
Feel Your Love Tonight
Outta Love Again
Ice Cream Man
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
Guitar Solo/You Really Got Me
Bottoms Up
Atomic Punk
90 minutes or thereabouts. Support for both shows was St Paradise, promoting their eponymous debut. A spin off almost Supergroup, St. Paradise were led by Derek St Holmes, formed Ted Nugent sideman, who added Rob Grange from Ted's band and former Montrose drummer Denny Carmassi among the line up. The elpee includes a cover of 'Live It Up', a track Derek wrote with Ted and that featured on 'Cat Scratch Fever'. My own memories are they were good, powerful and loud, but a little stilted and safe, especially compared to the band they were warming the crowd up for.
And unleashed for the first time, the 'mighty' Van Halen did not disappoint. I have great memories of these shows. Loud. Very loud. Not quite Ted Nugent, certainly not Motorhead or Blue Oyster Cult. But loud. My earliest set recollection is the moment they hit the opening chords of Somebody Get Me A Doctor. After the initial blather and widdly scree, the sound settled and they did what ALL great bands do. Forget the crowd, look at each other and lock in. Sheer power. Wow.
As the set progressed, David Lee Roth grew into his role as ringmaster, complete with white Mickey Mouse gloves and maroon loon pants. The drum solo was perfunctory, but Michael Anthony excelled with his bass showcase, leaping in and out of the waist high dry ice like Jaws on steroids, conjuring Godzilla like sound slabs with an ear to ear grin all the while.
There were several live only moments, like the extended feedback snarl to Outta Love Again as Eddie coaxed ear splitting tones from his $60 hybrid geetar. By the time he strapped himself in for his extended solo, the place was bedlam. Always adding something new, we got the best of Eruption, Spanish Fly and some of the inventive licks that would appear before Fools on the next Women And Children First elpee.
Then the dash for the end and two high energy encores. What a rush. 1979 was the year Hard Rock/Heavy Metal came back to the mainstream, with multiple nights from the best of both British and American artists. UFO, Lizzy, Judas Priest, Sammy Hagar, Boston, Rush, Ted Nugent, Blue Oyster Cult, AC/DC, Bad Company.... They all came. We saw. And more than most Van Halen conquered.
And unleashed for the first time, the 'mighty' Van Halen did not disappoint. I have great memories of these shows. Loud. Very loud. Not quite Ted Nugent, certainly not Motorhead or Blue Oyster Cult. But loud. My earliest set recollection is the moment they hit the opening chords of Somebody Get Me A Doctor. After the initial blather and widdly scree, the sound settled and they did what ALL great bands do. Forget the crowd, look at each other and lock in. Sheer power. Wow.
As the set progressed, David Lee Roth grew into his role as ringmaster, complete with white Mickey Mouse gloves and maroon loon pants. The drum solo was perfunctory, but Michael Anthony excelled with his bass showcase, leaping in and out of the waist high dry ice like Jaws on steroids, conjuring Godzilla like sound slabs with an ear to ear grin all the while.
There were several live only moments, like the extended feedback snarl to Outta Love Again as Eddie coaxed ear splitting tones from his $60 hybrid geetar. By the time he strapped himself in for his extended solo, the place was bedlam. Always adding something new, we got the best of Eruption, Spanish Fly and some of the inventive licks that would appear before Fools on the next Women And Children First elpee.
Then the dash for the end and two high energy encores. What a rush. 1979 was the year Hard Rock/Heavy Metal came back to the mainstream, with multiple nights from the best of both British and American artists. UFO, Lizzy, Judas Priest, Sammy Hagar, Boston, Rush, Ted Nugent, Blue Oyster Cult, AC/DC, Bad Company.... They all came. We saw. And more than most Van Halen conquered.
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