Van Halen to tour with David Lee Roth

[Jason]

What's the name of the blonde woman that ruined Van Halen?






















David Lee Roth.

[|Bunghole|]

I also never thought that 1984 was their best album. Commercially successful, yes, but..."Jump" was on it, so...no thanks.
"Panama" was OK though, as well as "Hot For teacher" and ....damn, can't remember the name of that song on side 2 of the cassette tape I liked so much. Had something to do with....ahhh yes, "Drop Dead Legs", the best tune on the album, imo.

[|Bengal Migration|]

[quote name='Bunghole' post='434044' date='Jan 29 2007, 12:16 AM']I also never thought that 1984 was their best album. Commercially successful, yes, but..."Jump" was on it, so...no thanks.
"Panama" was OK though, as well as "Hot For teacher" and ....damn, can't remember the name of that song on side 2 of the cassette tape I liked so much. Had something to do with....ahhh yes, "Drop Dead Legs", the best tune on the album, imo.[/quote]
that and I'll Wait, which i also like quite a bit.

i cannot choose a favorite between the first 4 albums. (VH I and II, Fair Warning, Women and Children First) they were simply amazing. not a bad track in the bunch.

[|Bunghole|]

[quote name='WhoDeyUK' post='434052' date='Jan 28 2007, 07:33 PM']that and I'll Wait, which i also like quite a bit.

i cannot choose a favorite between the first 4 albums. (VH I and II, Fair Warning, Women and Children First) they were simply amazing. not a bad track in the bunch.[/quote]
What's funny is, we're discussing the merits of a band that, while they rocked out with their cocks out, their subject matter always involved a woman, whiskey or a car.
I have moved on to more eloquent forms of Devil music, like Tool, Perfect Circle, Chevelle and such.
More eloquently sinister Devil Music.

[MULLY]

I met Valerie Bertinelli, Eddie's ex, way back in about 1994 or so. We kept in touch via email quite a few times over the years and I even gave her help on redcorating the billiard room in their house. For those that don't know, I played pool professionally for about 8 years. Anyway, in 1998, when VH came to Japan, she hooked me up with all access for the entire Tokyo leg of the tour. I got way more than any fan could ever expect. I saw all soundchecks, had dinner with them, attended the after show party etc... I even got to play Eddie's striped guitar on stage at the Budokan before soundcheck. It was a week I'll never forget. I've got some photos and quite a bit of video. I'll post the photos later tonight when I get home. If I don't, that means I forgot and if you're that interested PM me a reminder.

For those of you that hated Gary Cherone just let me say that he is one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. As is Michael Anthony. Eddie is in his own world and Alex is a fuckin' cocksucking rock star.

I've got a bootleg DVD and CD of the Yokohama show. During the last chorus of Jamie's Cryin' Gary changed the words to

Whoa whoa whoa....MULLY'S CRYIN'!!! He did that twice. He's aces in my book.
MULLY
still don't want to see them ruin my memory of them with this tour

[Guest steggyD]

I'm a fan of rock, from The Beatles to anything current. One rock band which does absolutely nothing for me and I can't even think of a single song that I like is Van Halen. Sorry, guys, their music just plain sucks.

[MULLY]

[quote name='steggyD' post='434131' date='Jan 29 2007, 04:15 PM']I'm a fan of rock, from The Beatles to anything current. One rock band which does absolutely nothing for me and I can't even think of a single song that I like is Van Halen. Sorry, guys, their music just plain sucks.[/quote]


Then why even get involved in the thread other than to stir shit with people?
MULLY

[|Bengal Migration|]

[quote name='Fulcher_33' post='434129' date='Jan 29 2007, 06:58 AM']I met Valerie Bertinelli, Eddie's ex, way back in about 1994 or so. We kept in touch via email quite a few times over the years and I even gave her help on redcorating the billiard room in their house. For those that don't know, I played pool professionally for about 8 years. Anyway, in 1998, when VH came to Japan, she hooked me up with all access for the entire Tokyo leg of the tour. I got way more than any fan could ever expect. I saw all soundchecks, had dinner with them, attended the after show party etc... I even got to play Eddie's striped guitar on stage at the Budokan before soundcheck. It was a week I'll never forget. I've got some photos and quite a bit of video. I'll post the photos later tonight when I get home. If I don't, that means I forgot and if you're that interested PM me a reminder.

For those of you that hated Gary Cherone just let me say that he is one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet. As is Michael Anthony. Eddie is in his own world and Alex is a fuckin' cocksucking rock star.

I've got a bootleg DVD and CD of the Yokohama show. During the last chorus of Jamie's Cryin' Gary changed the words to

Whoa whoa whoa....MULLY'S CRYIN'!!! He did that twice. He's aces in my book.
MULLY
still don't want to see them ruin my memory of them with this tour[/quote]

you had the jealousy meter pegged until i remembered who was singing. still have to believe that was cool as can be. i would have thought you'd have better luck getting permission to put your hands on Valerie than you would Eddie's guitar. i hope for your sake you landed a pic of that. (same of any potential pics of Valerie of course )

hope you get a chance to post some of those goodies. would love to take a peek.

[MULLY]

Here ya go, man. Enjoy.

Me with Eddie's striped Wolfgang Special on stage at the Budokan in Tokyo.
[img]http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/8321/jimwhite001ku1.jpg[/img]

The infamous Jack Daniels bass. Back stage at the Budokan just outside of Michael Anthony's tent. You can see the drums on the stage behind me.
[img]http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/2186/jimwhite002jp7.jpg[/img]

Gary Cherone. Say what you will but this guy was pure class one hundred percent.
[img]http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/755/jimwhite003ze9.jpg[/img]

I thought I'd let Edward Van Halen get a photo taken with me for his kids. Didn't have a chance to autograph it for him.
[img]http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/541/jimwhite004gi1.jpg[/img]

In commemoration of the VHIII tour, and my love for billiards I had them sign a 3 ball for me. Gary Cherone said he didn't remember signing any 3-balls all tour, and this was the last stop of the tour, so this is possibly the only 3 ball in existence autographed by Van Halen.
[img]http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/7648/jimwhite005er6.jpg[/img]

ALL AREA ACCESS Van Halen back stage pass signed by the band and the official "Mad Anthony's Cafe" pass. You needed that to get into Mikey's tent and party during and after the show. I've got some good video of us doing shots and dancing a Conga Line at Mad Anthony's Cafe during Alex VH's drum solo.
[img]http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/2523/jimwhite006vu9.jpg[/img]

Last but not least the Van Halen Encyclopedia.
[img]http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/699/jimwhite007tj4.jpg[/img]

"What the hell is the importance of the VH encyclopedia?" you may ask. Turn to the acknowledgements page and look......
[img]http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/1483/jimwhite008wo8.jpg[/img]

I apologize for posting all the photos here and weighing down the loading of the page. Hope you guys enjoyed them.
MULLY

[MULLY]

[quote name='WhoDeyUK' post='434140' date='Jan 29 2007, 07:38 PM']you had the jealousy meter pegged until i remembered who was singing.[/quote]

You know, I wasn't a big fan of him in Van Halen, loved him in Extreme, until I met him face to face. He is so cool. Every day after soundcheck he would jump off stage and sit with us and talk for about 45 minutes to an hour. He comes off as being extrmely intelligent and he is really down to earth. You seriously feel like you've known him for 10 years. He's tops in my book.....especially after changing Jamie's Cryin' to MULLY'S cryin' on stage at Yokohama Arena.

[quote]still have to believe that was cool as can be. i would have thought you'd have better luck getting permission to put your hands on Valerie than you would Eddie's guitar. i hope for your sake you landed a pic of that. (same of any potential pics of Valerie of course )[/quote]To be honest, I never met Valerie face to face. We got hooked up on the internet in a chat room one time and hit it off really well. I had no idea who she was and when she told me I didn't believe her. She called me one night at about 3a.m. Japan time, luckily I was up and on the computer at the time, and proved who she was by letting me talk to Eddie. I'd know his voice anywhere since he's basically been God to me since I was Jr. high school. I was still a bit skeptical but never really said anything to her about it. When the III tour came up she told me I'd be set for the tour. "Yeah right" then a few weeks before they got here I got mail from their tour manager telling me when and where to meet them.....and I could bring a few friends with me. I went there at that time and there he was, all access passes and invitation tickets in hand for all of us.

Meeting Eddie Van Halen for the first time was really odd. I was standing backstage before soundcheck, just below the steps to the stage, and he came walking through the back curtain. I always thought I'd shit if I met him but my first thought, I swear to God, was "He's so small....and he's got great hair." Go figure. Anyway, someone went over and was talking to him and they pointed to me and he came over, grabbed me in a bear hug, kissed me on the cheek and said "That's from Val." I was stunned. Just meeting him would have been enough for me but to have him know who I was was a bit overwhleming. We exhanged small talk for about 2 or 3 minutes and that was about it for the first day. Needless to say after that the concert wasn't much to get all worked up about.

Over the next 4 days I was at the Budokan at 2 in the afternoon watching them work on the lights, the sound, talking to roadies, hanging backstage etc... My ability to speak Japanese got me to a few parties that week in Tokyo with the roadies. We had a great time at the Hard Rock in Roppongi with Mike's bass tech, Kevin Dugan. Ended up back at his hotel partying until way after sunrise. Tons of stories that night. The band never joined any of these parties although I think Mike and Gary wanted to. hehe!

[quote]hope you get a chance to post some of those goodies. would love to take a peek.[/quote]

DONE!
MULLY

[esjbh2]

Way cool Mully.

[|Bengal Migration|]

i wish i had an intelligent reply to that post, Mully, but i am simply in awe...

[MULLY]

[quote name='WhoDeyUK' post='434183' date='Jan 30 2007, 01:08 AM']


i wish i had an intelligent reply to that post, Mully, but i am simply in awe...[/quote]


Yeah, it's all good, man. When I tell my Van Halen experience story not too many people believe it then I whip out the photos....and video if you're at my place. It was a totally cool experience. I didn't get a whole lot of time with Eddie though. Just bits here and there. We talked one day during soundcheck when one of the mics went out. He stopped playing and sat on the edge of the stage and gave me the pick he was using. That was cool. Then one of the other days after soundcheck Gary took us upstairs to the band's waiting room, for lack of a better term. There was a table full of food and drinks. There were sofa's and a TV. Eddie was munching out of a bag of Dorito's, Mike had this decorative plate that he bought for his wife that had Japanese writing on it so him and my Japanese friend were off talking about that, Mike wanted to know what the writing said etc... Gary was hanging around talking with us and Alex promptly got up and left the room when the "geek fans" came in. Fuckin' cock. I mean it was only me, my wife and 2 of my friends. What a douchebag. And it's not like we were screaming for autographs or anything like that. I told my friends before we went, "just be cool and we'll do the autograph thing on the final day." No one was being a starstuck fan but Mr. Rock N' Roll couldn't be bothered with gracing us with his presence. I honestly think the biggest problem between Van Halen and David Lee Roth is between him and Alex. Eddie just doesn't come off as that type of person. He's really odd and into his own little thing. Alex says jump and he asks how high. It's weird. Without that guitar in his hands Eddie is one odd little dude. Really difficult to explain. But I walked away from there thinking that Alex was the leader of the band.

One kind of cool story for any musicians that may be reading this. During soundcheck they were rehearsing one of the newer tunes and when it was finished Alex said something like "In the middle of You Really Got Me we should go into this song (don't remember which tune it was) and Eddie had this puzzled look on his face and said "I don't think we can do that, the beat doesn't match" and Alex replied with "It will tonight" They didn't run through it at all, they did it on stage that night and pulled it off like it was something they do every night. It was amazing. That really showed me the level of professionalism they posess.

Eddie's fingers are lightning fast too. I know he looks fast when you watch him on TV but right there in front of your face, unreal. And he doesn't miss a note. It was really awsone watching him play an acoustic guitar. I've never heard an acoustic guitar sound so clean. He was wailing on that fucker and you could pick out each and every note. Totally amazing.
MULLY

[Guest BengalBacker]

Mully, as you know I'm not really a big fan of VH, But that's very cool that you got to have such an experience.

[MULLY]

[quote name='BengalBacker' post='434237' date='Jan 30 2007, 03:37 AM']Mully, as you know I'm not really a big fan of VH, But that's very cool that you got to have such an experience.[/quote]

Yeah, meeting my "musical heroes" was an experience. But to be honest, if I had the chance to do it again I'd probably pass on it. Meeting Eddie Van Halen was surreal. I've been a huge fan of them since the debuted back in 1978. I was in Jr. High School at the time and Eddie has been a God to me ever since. The entire image I had of him was blown to hell and back. I mean it was cool meeting him but it was more than just an autograph session. I actually got to get a peek into his daily life on the road and I actually got to talk to him, the person. He's a little weird to say the least. That's why this latest stuff from him doesn't really surprise me any. People are saying he's lost his mind. I don't think so. I don't think he's changed one bit. Only thing is that we're seeing it now. I think DLR and Sammy kept a leash on him all those years and kept him away from speaking publicly about anything important to do with the band. Granted, I don't know him that well but you can get a pretty good gauge of someone even from a short time together. He's a geek, for lack of a better term. A true guitar geek. His life and world revolves around music. That's all he seems to know about. He was tinkering around with his amp one day and the look on his face was priceless. He was totally immersed in what he was doing.

Another cool story, at least it was to me, we were watching soundcheck and he was just wailing away smoking that guitar like the God that he is and he just stops dead in his tracks and starts complaining that he wasn't hitting what he wanted the right way. Of course we're standing there with our jaws on the floor after watching perfection. He started talking into a mic talking to the sound board saying stuff like this isn't right, I'm fucking this up etc... and I said to him "Man, I don't know what you're talking about, that was fucking awesome. You could fart through the mic and people would be thrilled" He didn't seem to like that very much. He gave me a quick look of "Go somewhere and kill yourself" and then put on his "I'm on stage and you're just a fan" look back on his face and all was good. But it was very clear that when he is working with his guitar you do not interrupt him. I made sure not to make any cute comments again.
MULLY

[MULLY]

One last story about being "On tour with Van Halen", of course saying it like that makes it sound like more than it actually was. I was only along for the ride Wednesday through Monday but it was one of the coolest weeks of my life. Anyway, when you've got an all access pass with Van Halen you literally have all access. You can go anywhere you want in the arena except for on the stage. The entire place is your playground. They gave us free tickets to each show, there were 4 shows that week, but the seats were total shit. The tour manager said to me "Seats suck, don't they?" I tried to be as grateful as possible so I said "Nah, they aren't that bad" and he said "You know, with that pass you don't have to stay there. You can go anywhere you want." So that night I gave it a shot. I walked down to the floor area and they opened the gate for me without blinking an eye. I started making my way up front and at each check point the security just stepped to the side and let us through. We couldn't block the aisle, and all the front seats were taken so we stood in the area between the barricade and the stage. Security just let us walk right in. That was cool.

Another thing is with that pass around your neck you really feel like you're in a separate world than everyone else. Of course being American in Japan and having that pass around my neck the Japanese people (fans) thought I worked for the band. I had a couple of really hot hot hot hot fuckin' babes come up to me asking me to take them backstage. They were rubbing up against me and being all slutty. It was great. No, I didn't take advantage of that. If I could do it again I'd be having a 3 way in the bathroom with them.

My friend, a guy that made the trip from America for this, was with me and we went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Roppongi, Tokyo for lunch before we headed to the Budokan. When we walked in we had our passes around our necks and the staff asked if we worked with Van Halen. "Why not?" So we said yes and we got free lunch and 50% discount on anything in the gift shop. That was cool.

Just once in my life I'd like to spend a year on tour with some major band. I'd probably end up dead by the end of it but it sure would be fun.
MULLY

[|Bengal Migration|]

[quote name='Fulcher_33' post='434339' date='Jan 30 2007, 12:04 AM']One last story about being "On tour with Van Halen", of course saying it like that makes it sound like more than it actually was. I was only along for the ride Wednesday through Monday but it was one of the coolest weeks of my life. Anyway, when you've got an all access pass with Van Halen you literally have all access. You can go anywhere you want in the arena except for on the stage. The entire place is your playground. They gave us free tickets to each show, there were 4 shows that week, but the seats were total shit. The tour manager said to me "Seats suck, don't they?" I tried to be as grateful as possible so I said "Nah, they aren't that bad" and he said "You know, with that pass you don't have to stay there. You can go anywhere you want." So that night I gave it a shot. I walked down to the floor area and they opened the gate for me without blinking an eye. I started making my way up front and at each check point the security just stepped to the side and let us through. We couldn't block the aisle, and all the front seats were taken so we stood in the area between the barricade and the stage. Security just let us walk right in. That was cool.

Another thing is with that pass around your neck you really feel like you're in a separate world than everyone else. Of course being American in Japan and having that pass around my neck the Japanese people (fans) thought I worked for the band. I had a couple of really hot hot hot hot fuckin' babes come up to me asking me to take them backstage. They were rubbing up against me and being all slutty. It was great. No, I didn't take advantage of that. If I could do it again I'd be having a 3 way in the bathroom with them.

My friend, a guy that made the trip from America for this, was with me and we went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Roppongi, Tokyo for lunch before we headed to the Budokan. When we walked in we had our passes around our necks and the staff asked if we worked with Van Halen. "Why not?" So we said yes and we got free lunch and 50% discount on anything in the gift shop. That was cool.

Just once in my life I'd like to spend a year on tour with some major band. I'd probably end up dead by the end of it but it sure would be fun.
MULLY[/quote]
i am a greatly jealous mofo. but it could not have happened to a better person...

[MULLY]

[quote name='WhoDeyUK' post='434342' date='Jan 30 2007, 09:08 AM']i am a greatly jealous mofo. but it could not have happened to a better person...

[/quote]

You would have loved it, man.
MULLY
PM me an email address and I'll hook you up with some cool VH wallpapers.

[|Bunghole|]

You look stoned as shit in those pics with the guitars. See any drug use/abuse going on during your surreal experience?

[MULLY]

[quote name='Bunghole' post='434347' date='Jan 30 2007, 09:18 AM']You look stoned as shit in those pics with the guitars. See any drug use/abuse going on during your surreal experience?[/quote]

Well to be honest I haven't touched shit since about 1990. Didn't see any drugs within the roadies. At that time I had just been diagnosed with my hypoglycemia like 3 months earlier and I was being very strict on food and drinks. I didn't drink anything other than water the entire time. I do have a stupid look on my face though. Can you imagine how exciting it was to be holding Eddie Van Halen's guitar? Not a copy, the real thing, on stage. It can almost make you want to pee in your pants.
MULLY

[The Entertainer]

We are not worthy of your Mulliness!!!



We are truly blessed!!!





Mully, that is f'ing awesome!! Those pics are great. And yes, Van Halen rocks!!

[MULLY]

[quote name='The Entertainer' post='434896' date='Jan 31 2007, 10:23 AM']We are not worthy of your Mulliness!!!



We are truly blessed!!!


Mully, that is f'ing awesome!! Those pics are great. And yes, Van Halen rocks!! [/quote]


Thanks, man, but don't make it out to be more than it really was. Just a lucky fan that got a chance to meet the band up close and personal.

To be honest, I'm more interested in finding out how his billiard room turned out. I gave Val a shit load of good ideas and introduced her to quite a few places that could take care of what she was looking for. I like to imagine that in the hills of Los Angeles there is a home billiard room laid out exactly like I would want it. hehe!!
MULLY

[|Bunghole|]

I find it curious how you describe Alex as the "unspoken" leader of the band, and a true rock-n-roll asshole. He's not a great drummer, he should realize despite Eddie's idiosyncracies that his brother is the driving force behind the band, not a bunch of sunglasses-wearing pseudo-neanderthal drum riffs.
Michael Anthony was/is far more indispensible to this band than Alex.
Talk about a Ringo Starr syndrome....

[MULLY]

[quote name='Bunghole' post='435962' date='Feb 2 2007, 02:10 PM']I find it curious how you describe Alex as the "unspoken" leader of the band, and a true rock-n-roll asshole. He's not a great drummer, he should realize despite Eddie's idiosyncracies that his brother is the driving force behind the band, not a bunch of sunglasses-wearing pseudo-neanderthal drum riffs.
Michael Anthony was/is far more indispensible to this band than Alex.
Talk about a Ringo Starr syndrome....[/quote]


Oh yeah, he thinks his shit doesn't stink. Here I am, a guest to the shows because of Eddie's wife and their tour manager, he knew why I was there, I didn't do any of that "fan" shit like begging for autographs or photos. I didn't follow them around like a puppy dog or anything and on the final day when I did finally ask for an autograph he acted like he better things to do. What a fucking cock. I was the lucky one out of our group of 4. I'm the only one that got his autograph on my backstage pass. The other 3 guys only have 3 members on there because when the pens came out he darted out like there was no tomorrow. Real fucking prick. We were sitting in the bands room after the concert having something to eat with them. I was showing Michael the tattoo I had gotten the day before and the other 3 in my group were just sitting around on the sofas talking to whoever was there. Eddie said they needed to get ready to take off so I said "Can we get out passes signed" he was real cool about it, as were Gary and Mike. But Mr. Ray-Ban jumped up and headed for the door. I said "Hey, Alex, hold up" and he stopped right as he was going through the door. I was walking towards him saying that I wanted him to sign my pass and he said "Hurry up!", scribbled his name down real quick and walked out without saying a fucking word. Real douchebag.

Ran into him once in the hallway going up to the bands "lounge" before the concert. We were with Gary. Gary stops him and introduces us and he just looked at us and kept on going. Fuck him. I even said to Gary "Wow, he's a real warm fucker" Gary didn't really say anything back about it but what could he really say about his boss?
MULLY
MULLY

[|Montana Bengal|]

[quote name='Fulcher_33' post='435957' date='Feb 1 2007, 09:57 PM']Thanks, man, but don't make it out to be more than it really was. Just a lucky fan that got a chance to meet the band up close and personal.

To be honest, I'm more interested in finding out how his billiard room turned out. I gave Val a shit load of good ideas and introduced her to quite a few places that could take care of what she was looking for. I like to imagine that in the hills of Los Angeles there is a home billiard room laid out exactly like I would want it. hehe!!
MULLY[/quote]


So I take it you haven't heard from Val via email in quite awhile?