Neworld Tour: Hometown

Van Halen World Tour 1998

After leaving Australasia (and most of the travelling fans) behind, VH were back to the States.
Rise N Shine caught up with the tour again at Gary’s hometown gig, with reports by
RnS contributors Jan and Valerie.

Jan's Report | Valerie's Report | Boston Globe

You Will Be Converted!

by Jan Clark

This is Jan reporting from Boston, where we're all still trying to recover from the most electrifying show ever delivered on this planet! If there was any way I could convey to you how ROCKIN' this show was, I would, but there are no words for this experience, just none... I am certain that I have just witnessed the concert of the century!

Our man Gary took control of that stage from the moment he stepped onto it, and he never, ever let go. He took Dave and Sammy's songs, stepped them up about fifty notches, and made them ALL, ALL HIS. The new stuff was delivered with power and clarity, and I think his voice is at the best it has ever been. He never missed a beat or a note, his voice was so clear and powerful and controlling, oh God, I was totally mesmerized. He was absolutely on fire, jumping on amps, hanging from the incredible light configuration (more on this later!), hanging and swinging from electrical cables, running around the stage like a wild man, chasing Ed around the drum kit like a bad little brother, writhing all over the stage, moving and dancing and shaking it like a man possessed, and we were all possessed too! The crowd was singing along to every single song, I have never seen such an amazing connection between the crowd and the artists... it was positively electric, magical, unexplainable. The chemistry between Ed and Gary must be seen and heard to be believed, these guys CONNECT on some really deep level.... it is so obvious when you see them perform live. I have never screamed so long, so hard, so loud in all my life. I have NO voice today, but I could not care less! The home town crowd received Gary just like they should have, like a local boy made good (not that he was ever bad) - people were chanting "Gary, Gary, Gary...", it was phenomenal!

At one point, when they came out for the first encore, Gary said: "You guys make me proud that I'm from Boston", and the crowd went ballistic. Then he said: "By the way, how do you like my new band?", and I thought the roof would come down. Gary looked truly happy, and I couldn't be happier for him. These guys ROCK, and they rock hard, and they BELONG TOGETHER! I truly believe that this is the incarnation of Van Halen that every true fan of music has been waiting for.... if there are any Gary naysayers left out there, they need to get their butts to a show... I GUARANTEE YOU, YOU WILL BE CONVERTED! There is no way you can see these guys live and not love them. It's just not possible.

The light show was phenomenal in and of itself - they had this massive, black set-up, looked to be about 30 or 40 feet in diameter, with arms or legs like a spider, they moved all around and went up and down, and sometimes Gary would grab onto one of the arms and let it carry him about 20 feet into the air and then jump... when Ed hit the solo to Fire In The Hole, the arms levelled and straightened out and started to whirl like helicopter blades, oh, it was absolutely amazing! I can't describe!! Too cool!

I'm leaving out so much, but I'm still overwhelmed... they did two encores, and they had that house rockin', believe me! Nobody left there unsatisfied, every one of us was exhausted.... it was not only an incredible musical experience, it was an incredible physical and emotional experience. I just can't explain it people, it was one of those magical moments in time when it all just comes together in cosmic perfection... and I'm not trying to be some new age wierdo, it really was that great. I have never witnessed a crowd so melded to performer... I hope somebody asks the band if they felt it too! Ed does this fabulous ten minute guitar solo right smack in the middle of Year to the Day which includes Cathedral, Eruption, and more... he is an incredible genius and Gary has restored something elemental in him, I am convinced... He was amazing.

Message to the band: "THANK YOU FOR THE MOST INCREDIBLY AMAZING MUSICAL, PHYSICAL, AND EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE OF MY ENTIRE LIFE".

Psyched!

by Valerie Shiavone

I finally saw Van Halen last night. Oh my head, they were phenomenal! Eddie hasn't lost his touch, Alex did a ten minute drum solo, Mike Anthony sang, and Gary - well, Gary was Gary, need I say more (he's way too skinny though). They did three encores. As it's Gary's home town, they had no choice. AND they announced that they would be coming back to Great Woods, which is an outdoor concert facility here in Massachusetts, in August. I'm so psyched!

Boston Globe review
Saturday, May 23 1998

By Steve Morse. Contributed by Jan Clark

Let the critics carp. Let the cynics moan. Let those hopeless souls pining away for David Lee Roth slug down some more tequila and drown their sorrows. But, guess what? It's not too late to still believe in Van Halen, which now sports guitar whiz Eddie Van Halen splashing his riffs behind new frontman Gary Cherone, a Bostonian who may lack name recognition, but is one excellent lead singer, as he proved Thursday night to 13,000-plus fans at the Fleet Center.
     "You guys make me proud to be from Boston. By the way, what do you think about my new band?" Cherone said with a big grin on his face. "I've been waiting for a year and a half to say that", he added.
     The "new" Van Halen is no longer as goofy as in the clownish days of Roth or the boyish, beach-bum days of subsequent shouter Sammy Hagar. The new incarnation still has fun (witness the humorous, mini-skirted nurse who came out during "Somebody Get Me a Doctor" to cavort with bassist Michael Anthony), but for the most part, the presentation is more serious and musical.
     In short, if you liked the antics of the old Van Halen, you might be disappointed by the new chemistry. But if you love the songs and the sheer virtuosity of theis band, then you would have been very pleasantly surprised Thursday night. This Van Halen cooked on all cylinders and not only brought out the best in Eddie Van Halen (whose playing remains light years ahead of that of his hard-rock peers), but showed a sincere camaraderie that bodes well for the future. (As for the near future, Van Halen will swing back to play Great Woods August 13; tickets on sale June 6).
     Van Halen "hit the ground running", as the verse declared in the band's first tune Thursday night, "Unchained". Eddie did his riffmeister thing, Cherone unleashed a torrent of wails, and the two-hour show was launched in grand style.
     Frankly, like many VH fans, I was nervous about how Cherone might fit in onstage. But that anxiety dissolved quickly, as Cherone made believers of me and many fist-waving fans who loved the way he took command and helped energize Eddie, along with brother Alex Van Halen on drums and bassist Michael Anthony, who often shared a microphone to harmonize ecstatically with Cherone.
     The band played a batch of new tunes from the "Van Halen 3" album (an album that sounds better the more you listen to it), including the rampaging "One I Want", cathartic love song "Without You", the Ok-but-not-great "Fire in the Hole" (with cliched flames shown on a rear video screen), and the ultra-pretty ballad "Josephina".
     The group didn't ram the new songs down anyone's throat, however, and still dipped liberally into the VH catalog. In fact, the beauty of this show was hearing a number of Roth-era songs that Hagar simply refusedto do (Hagar had only agreed to sing three Roth songs per show). Instead, Cherone did at least seven Thursday night, from the soaring "Dance The Night Away" and "Mean Streets" to "Unchained", "Romeo Delight", and a killer encore of biker anthem "Panama" (one of the few Roth songs that Hagar also did).
     Cherone looked natty in a suitcoat to start the show, but by the end, he and Eddie were in T-shirts, like a pair of working-class brothers ready to hit the trenches. The show's momentum kept building and was aided by live video and sensuously programmed computer lighting by Howard Ungerleiden, who normally works with Rush. And this new Van Halen was a rush unto itself.