Van Halen World Tour 1998: Australia

OK, first off, this gig wasn't "animal style", as Val says (meaning it was reserved seating). First reserved gig of the tour. It transcended "concert" at some point in the night and became an "event". The lights were great tonight, though they're still a work-in-progress. The new P.A. cabinets were here tonight and they are (according to Scotty Ross) the "total-state-of-the-art-shit". All I know is that tonight was the first gig where I was back far enough to hear the P.A. and I can't remember the last time Edward's guitar sounded that good through the P.A. Unchained opened. Cool tune to open with. Makes me smile all over every time the lights go down. Without You was next. This tune is infectious. Who'd imagine getting anxious for the single? I heard it playing outside the Hard Rock yesterday and it was exactly what I needed. Bizarre the way a few amazing performances of a tune will make you love it.

Mean Street was next. I still can't get over this being in the set. Man, what a great tune. I hope it's in the MTV show! Man, that's exactly what I need to be able to rewind and play 1000 times next month.FITH was next with a "shoot me, Eddie!" and another full-on theatric collapse. Great red and orange lighting patterns in the chorus. Not to lessen Gary as a true individual, but there are moments when his Freddie moves transport me to an alternate world where you can see Van Halen with Freddie singing. This was one of those moments. I keep getting this vibe that I'm watching concerts that are going to be the basis of rock legend one day. "Who could have known how powerful Van Halen would be with Gary in the band?"

Why Can't This Be Love was up next and Edward again balanced on the tip of a wedge monitor while he soloed. Damn. He looks like he's having the time of his life.Romeo Delight was up next and it was smokin'! First time since Wellington and it was like bottled lightning again. Mike sang the "I know the law, friend..." line tonight. Cool. Romeo segued into Alex's solo and he extended the second part of it tonight. Man, he's such a monster. I finally said hello to him today. Very quiet guy (and why would he speak to a dweeb like me, anyway), but there just flat-out wouldn't be a Van Halen without him. Dreams was up next. Watching Ed solo in these songs and not being annoyed by Sammy's voice is a first for me. Sammy haters watch out, because the Sammy-era tunes really go down smooth now. At the end of Dreams an aboriginal with a digeridoo walked onstage and started playing along with the intro to Dirty Water Dog!!! Man, it was very cool and trippy! It was like being there when the Monks were onstage last time out!

Humans Being. Man, this song really does it for me. Every show it just screams. Mike sounds very cool doing Edward's vocals on the song... Again the segue into Somebody Get Me A Doctor was sweet. Mike belts this out like he'd done it on the album. At the end Edward said "Michael Fucking Anthony! Now it's an official rock and roll show" and the crowd went crazy.

Year to the Day was next and Howard had some kind of blue alien stasis field happening during the quiet verses! Very cool lighting. Edward's solo was incredible. He was getting waves of sound doing the overhand thing where he mashes the strings against the pole pieces. All of the cool stuff Ed normally does in his solo with an extra dash of noise-guitar to soothe the soul. "Do it, J.J." The sequenced track to Right Now began and Edward mowed us all down with all those cool harmonics things he's been doing. This tune radiates power live. MUCH better than it ever was before.

A minute into Ain't Talkin' Bout Love Gary lost his mind. The lights were totally cool. A bright neon green. Just as Edward took the solo Gary ran across seat backs out into the crowd! Jeff tells me he was skipping several rows with each step. All I could see was a man covering some serious ground. He was fully body-checking anyone who got in his way. He jumped from the seats to the fence separating the floor from the elevated seats and climbed it! I've never seen anything like it in my life. He came right at Scotty when he came back down and went over Scotty and back to the stage! It was like watching something in a movie. Gary rules. You should see him tossing the mic stand 30 feet across the stage. This band has got everything rock has been missing. And with that the set was over.

A great Josephina started the encore with yet another Edward revision that was kind of like Little Guitars. Every night he takes it somewhere else. Beautiful. Panama and Jump finished out the night and left us to wander the streets and talk about what had just happened. As it turned out we all talked all night long, but nobody knows what to say about the show we just saw.

by Rex Jackson

Brad in Oz

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
Brad tells me there is a story behind this one:

The Sydney MTV Show