Favorite Van Halen Moment

[thismusicsux]

There are some great moments 1st hearing VH ...for me 1980.

But one I'm thinking about now (hearing early bootlegs).. in the 90's getting my first few Club bootlegs and 1978 shows even. I was blown away that I could hear my favorite band in their infancy (so to speak). Those club bootlegs have such a raw vibe and sound to them. Dave still perfecting his frontman skills, etc.. Ed's amp sounds like it's cranked on 10 and begging for mercy on some of 'em.. haha

[PrideofPasadena]

Taking the first record, a few months after released, to school. I was walking to school with the record under my arm. Everyone asking what's that? "Something that's gonna blow you away, I repeated often"
It was library class. The system were everyone could listen thru the headphones. Old school 70's hardware. That was fun. Until the teacher shut me down.

'81 was a fun year. Hearing Mean Street on the radio for the first time. Going out and buying the record. The start of MTV.... and then the Oakland vids airing...

As thismusic said, getting boots in the early '90's was a treat. Then the computer stuff later on.

Seeing VH with Dave in '07 was great, too.

[PrideofPasadena]

In the late 70's i have distant memories of hearing a few songs on the radio:
Jamie's Cryin, You really got me & Dance the night away.

I was just a child, but i distinctly recall not liking it, due to the high pitched
vocals in the chorus of Jamie's Cryin.

It wasn't until 1980, when it hit me like a ton of bricks:

Even then, i must have been a budding metal-head, because that intro to "...and the cradle
will rock," just blew my mind!
I had never heard anything that mean & heavy sounding in my life.
And then it leads right into this amazing song.

I just loved the way it was written, with the intro part coming back right before the chorus.
I also really recall feeling Dave's vocal.
I was kind of afraid of him, but also drawn to him.
He just sounded so "street" and like a punk (Fake it boy, fake it boy...)
Then those yelps and just his overall delivery.
Then those menacing "Rock on's" at the end.

I also remember the guitar solo, though i was too young to realize what he was doing.
I just remember the guitar sound/tone was unlike anything i'd ever heard.
I always think "Jet plane" when i hear classic VH/Eddie.

My next huge moment was the same year at an amusement park on the beach in Salisbury, MA.
I was watching one of those "rock & roll" themed rides zip by, and they had a DJ and played the
hot sounds of the day.

The guy played "Eruption" straight into "Aint talkin' bout love."
This was over a decade before the first VH Best of, which did that sequence as well.

I just remember my head being blown off by Eruption, then that intro to "Ain't talkin' bout love!"
That intro was about the coolest thing i'd ever heard, again, into a great song.

So both these moments happened close together, and it dawned on me both were the same band.
I was hooked!

Another big moment was when i finally got VHII on vinyl.
"Dance the night away" comes on, and i remembered the song from the radio, a year or two before.
I remember thinking, "This song is so good! Why did i not like it, when i used to hear it played on
the radio?"

Every CVH release was great, but I agree.....1980 was a special one. Completely different from II , but amazing in every way. Every week I was spotlighting a different song. One week Fools, one week Rhyme, one week, Whiskey....fun times.

That was also the year I turned a childhood friend of mine (three years older than me) onto them. He so busy with Zepp and all the other classics he had neglected VH. He got the VH bug bad. He ended up seeing them that year. I was, and am still jealous. He still rubs it in till this day. But, he also gives me praise for showing him the light.

[RyFi]

It might be tomorrow...8th row!!!

[RyFi]

Yep that was an epic show! They brought it to Mansfield and I was so close a Barbara Streisand show would've been entertaining, but VH was in top form. Mid-tour, all the kinks ironed out and they're really sounding great and really seemed to enjoy themselves. Boston crowds love VH and it really seems like VH loves Boston crowds as well. The fans were really treated to something special that show and the band delivered.

Kudos to KWS as well...he was on fire and his band played really really well...he closed w/ Voodoo Child (Slight Return) and it brought down the house

[Simon Ribeiro]

...

Another big moment was when i finally got VHII on vinyl.
"Dance the night away" comes on, and i remembered the song from the radio, a year or two before.
I remember thinking, "This song is so good! Why did i not like it, when i used to hear it played on
the radio?"

The 1st time I heard Van Halen it was in 1980 and DTNA was that 1st tune. Man, what a day! Other favourite moments would be getting along the years lots of magazines with Edward on it, seeing my daughter singing a Van Halen tune when she was 05 years old, the release of ADKOT that was a dream for most of us CVH fans and stuff like that.