Sammy, Joe, Mike and Jason play Van Halen on Howard Stern's show

I'm in the same camp as most of you.
I mean, I'm happy for them and they are better musicians that I.
I hope those that go to the shows have a great time and it 'synchs' for everyone.

For me, this is actually hard to watch/listen to. Joe is great but no swing and is more like a computer as someone else said. Drums were just OK, and Jason is a monster drummer, may sound better behind a real kit. Love Mikey but he sounds like Micky Mouse now days. And as much as I liked old Sammy stuff I'm with @jabps. I just can't gel with the dude anymore. He can sing well though for 70 something. Some of that may have been how they (he primarily) would prance around the stage with home made sheets saying things like "Fuck David" and "David Who?". Not classy.

Oh well....for those that are going to enjoy this ....please do :yes:
 
Like Pantera - this is more of a cover band. I also feel it is somewhat disrespectful to Edward's legacy (I try not to call him Eddie because I read he didn't like that name.) I fell in love with Van Halen, and continued to be a fan post Dave, because of EVH. Not the singer. Not the lyrics. Not the flash.

It was Edward.
 
311splawndude said:
I'm in the same camp as most of you.
I mean, I'm happy for them and they are better musicians that I.
I hope those that go to the shows have a great time and it 'synchs' for everyone.

For me, this is actually hard to watch/listen to. Joe is great but no swing and is more like a computer as someone else said. Drums were just OK, and Jason is a monster drummer, may sound better behind a real kit. Love Mikey but he sounds like Micky Mouse now days. And as much as I liked old Sammy stuff I'm with @jabps. I just can't gel with the dude anymore. He can sing well though for 70 something. Some of that may have been how they (he primarily) would prance around the stage with home made sheets saying things like "Fuck David" and "David Who?". Not classy.

Oh well....for those that are going to enjoy this ....please do :yes:
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Sammy strikes me as the kind of guy who plays his part in blowing shit up (as small as it may be) but is so oblivious, years later he talks about reunions and get together like there’s no grief from him, it’s all love. But the folks he’s inviting who don’t answer or show is because they have a decent memory …😂
 
the rossness said:
I like Joe and I'll probably catch the show when it comes around, but IMO, Joe is the wrong guitarist for an Eddie gig. Liquid Charlie, Caleb Rappoport, Satchel, Al Estrada, Nuno- would be names that come to mind for EVH. Joe is like a guitar computer. He can play the tunes, but that swing style boogie isn't there. I'm not knocking Joe, but I am pointing out the obvious.
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Agreed, I'd throw Phil X on that list too.
 
the rossness said:
I like Joe and I'll probably catch the show when it comes around, but IMO, Joe is the wrong guitarist for an Eddie gig. Liquid Charlie, Caleb Rappoport, Satchel, Al Estrada, Nuno- would be names that come to mind for EVH. Joe is like a guitar computer. He can play the tunes, but that swing style boogie isn't there. I'm not knocking Joe, but I am pointing out the obvious.
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I’m going to guess that for a bunch of guys worth this much money it wasn’t about finding the guitarist with the perfect technique to mimic EVH, it was about finding the guitarist they wanted to hang with the most.

They probably aren’t interested at all in perfectly executing the songs. I can’t blame ‘em—there are 4 tribute bands here in the notheast that mimic the original stuff flawlessly.

I wan’t to see Joe playing EVH songs not Joe trying to be EVH. Hopefully we can hear some Zep as well
 
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skoora said:
Sammy strikes me as the kind of guy who plays his part in blowing shit up (as small as it may be) but is so oblivious, years later he talks about reunions and get together like there’s no grief from him, it’s all love. But the folks he’s inviting who don’t answer or show is because they have a decent memory …😂
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100% agree with you. Sammy talked all kinds of shit about Eddie, bashed him in his book, and also David Lee Roth. I never once heard any quote or story from Eddie saying anything bad about Sammy. I would be really surprised if Alex, Dave or even Wolfgang would have anything to do with this tour of his. Also, Satriani is a killer player but he just seems really out of place trying to play Eddies stuff. Just not his style.
 
I don’t get why anyone has an issue with Sammy. In his day he was almost peerless as a hard rock vocalist - his tone and range were absolutely nuts, great phrasing and he was also a pretty good player and wrote some great songs.

When I listen through the VH discography DLR as a vocalist wears on me pretty quickly. If you just listen to the hits from his period it’s cool but at length and across the “deeper cuts” his schtick is corny as fuck and he’s very repetitive due to his plain lack of talent and skill as a singer.

When you listen to what they started doing on 5150, songwriting wise, it’s like a quantum leap from 1984. You may prefer the more straightforward style they had up until then, but I think it’s clear Eddie got to the point where he was held back from stuff he wanted to do by DLR’s lack of ability.

Both periods have their share of stuff I love and stuff I don’t care for, but 5150 and FUCK both have some of my favorite VH songs. Sammy is the man.
 
tallcoolone said:
I’m going to guess that for a bunch of guys worth this much money it wasn’t about finding the guitarist with the perfect technique to mimic EVH, it was about finding the guitarist they wanted to hang with the most.

They probably aren’t interested at all in perfectly executing the songs. I can’t blame ‘em—there are 4 tribute bands here in the notheast that mimic the original stuff flawlessly.

I wan’t to see Joe playing EVH songs not Joe trying to be EVH. Hopefully we can hear some Zep as well
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The Pantera REUNION that’s a really real reunion has already showed that the general guitar playing public doesn’t give a shit about friendships in these situations. It’s like everyone who has played in bands for years forgets that the only awesome band situations are when everyone gets along and there’s no bullshit.

Why would Sammy, at age 76, having the experience he has touring and a group of friends he already knows can handle the material, start taking strangers out on tour?
 
It's tough to dupe someones feel though, getting the notes, etc, right sure, but the personality/flair/vibe is difficult to replicate and I have a feeling Joe is not even bothering with that here but simply jamming out the tunes in the name of fun (and $$$). I have to wonder, if Edward himself was given what, a couple days like Satch was here to learn and reproduce a few of his tunes, exactly the same way Joe played them, could he do that? Or would he say "fuck, that's a tricky one, I'll have to do it my way and hope it's close enough"?
 
Bardagh said:
I don’t get why anyone has an issue with Sammy. In his day he was almost peerless as a hard rock vocalist - his tone and range were absolutely nuts, great phrasing and he was also a pretty good player and wrote some great songs.

When I listen through the VH discography DLR as a vocalist wears on me pretty quickly. If you just listen to the hits from his period it’s cool but at length and across the “deeper cuts” his schtick is corny as fuck and he’s very repetitive due to his plain lack of talent and skill as a singer.

When you listen to what they started doing on 5150, songwriting wise, it’s like a quantum leap from 1984. You may prefer the more straightforward style they had up until then, but I think it’s clear Eddie got to the point where he was held back from stuff he wanted to do by DLR’s lack of ability.

Both periods have their share of stuff I love and stuff I don’t care for, but 5150 and FUCK both have some of my favorite VH songs. Sammy is the man.
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For me it has nothing to do with his vocals. Pretty amazing the dude is his age and has kept his voice. Agree Dave in 2023 trying to be Dave of yesteryear is corny, not to mention what voice he had is completely gone. Although I'll give some props to Dave, that run he did opening for Kiss was pretty good. However Dave was essential to selling the VH package, without him it would not have worked, regardless of EVH's greatness.

For a VH fan as myself the band is obviously split into to two - Van Halen and Van Hagar. The Dave stuff which still amazes me, from boogie to swing, they could do it all. And lyrically, Dave is just on another planet vs Sam's paint by numbers lyrics. With Sam, some of it I love. Some tunes off 5150, FUCK - some of that is fantastic but IMO the band "on the whole" became more corporate or tame for lack of a better terms.

As for moving forward, I agree to an extent that there is no way EVH could have gone in the overtly commercial direction with Dave as they did with Sam. However, there is no way Sam could have ever pulled off radio friendly type tunes like "Dance the Night Away", "Panama", "Jump", hell nobody could.

That said, back to my issue with Sam - again, hard to put the finger on it but he's always bugged me. I think some of it may be he's never shown any respect for Van Halen the band pre himself. He still spews rhetoric that his version was more successful when the sales numbers don't lie, Roth's version overwhelmingly outsold Van Hagar over two to one.

However glad they are getting out there and getting Ed's music to the masses again. And I hope everyone enjoys it. Maybe had I discovered VH with Sam I'd not feel this way but thankfully, I took the whole journey with Van Halen when they started back in '78 and watched them become the biggest band in the US, just always going to have an affinity to that.

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Vs.

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Its a weird thing playing someone else's stuff. You're instantly compared to them and if you don't nail it your no good.. But that's no true because it's a 2-way street.
Reality is that this is a high profile gig for JS.. Why wouldn't he take the gig?
 
How close did VH cop the styles of the many covers they played? Zero%. He put his own spin on it.
Satch did a decent job filling in in Deep Purple and the Montrose Tribute.
Satch looked nervous, like he had a full diaper. They are nowhere near fully rehearsed, they used junk gear, and they should have never played on the Stern show. An interview would have sufficed, announcing the tour.
 
jabps said:
For me it has nothing to do with his vocals. Pretty amazing the dude is his age and has kept his voice. Agree Dave in 2023 trying to be Dave of yesteryear is corny, not to mention what voice he had is completely gone. Although I'll give some props to Dave, that run he did opening for Kiss was pretty good. However Dave was essential to selling the VH package, without him it would not have worked, regardless of EVH's greatness.

For a VH fan as myself the band is obviously split into to two - Van Halen and Van Hagar. The Dave stuff which still amazes me, from boogie to swing, they could do it all. And lyrically, Dave is just on another planet vs Sam's paint by numbers lyrics. With Sam, some of it I love. Some tunes off 5150, FUCK - some of that is fantastic but IMO the band "on the whole" became more corporate or tame for lack of a better terms.

As for moving forward, I agree to an extent that there is no way EVH could have gone in the overtly commercial direction with Dave as they did with Sam. However, there is no way Sam could have ever pulled off radio friendly type tunes like "Dance the Night Away", "Panama", "Jump", hell nobody could.

That said, back to my issue with Sam - again, hard to put the finger on it but he's always bugged me. I think some of it may be he's never shown any respect for Van Halen the band pre himself. He still spews rhetoric that his version was more successful when the sales numbers don't lie, Roth's version overwhelmingly outsold Van Hagar almost two to one.

However glad they are getting out there and getting Ed's music to the masses again. And I hope everyone enjoys it. Maybe had I discovered VH with Sam I'd not feel this way but thankfully, I took the whole journey with Van Halen when they started back in '78 and watched them become the biggest band in the US, just always going to have an affinity to that.

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Vs.

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I don’t really hear 5150 as being “corporate” rock at all. The only reason I can think anyone would say that is how much more melodic it is, and that is really just because they got a guy who could actually sing. At the same time the songs are more complex, which is usually not what you think of when you think of trying to increase mainstream appeal, and the stuff like Dreams and Why Can’t this Be Love is outnumbered by far by the harder stuff.

OU812 though I have always disliked and thought it was too soft. They pulled it back together for FUCK which I really think is a great album although there are a couple tracks that don’t really live up to the better ones. Didn’t love Balance although Eddie shows off some very impressive playing, the songwriting is just not there. Everything after that is, well, you know…
 
CarlF said:
How close did VH cop the styles of the many covers they played? Zero%. He put his own spin on it.
Satch did a decent job filling in in Deep Purple and the Montrose Tribute.
Satch looked nervous, like he had a full diaper. They are nowhere near fully rehearsed, they used junk gear, and they should have never played on the Stern show. An interview would have sufficed, announcing the tour.
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That’s the point about doing his own style on covers. In VH that’s to be expected. The issue I have is, if this is about VH then people go to hear VH, not a tribute act. Even a non official tribute act probably gets closer.

Fully agree Satch looked super nervous and about to shit his pants, if he hadn’t already.
 
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