Even my 10 year old son said this was the best he's ever heard Eddie live, we have watched this video many times since we got back from the concert. Be prepared to be blown away... [video=youtube;bfampBTTTso]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfampBTTTso[/video]
He still does an awesome solo, the one I saw last month in Jax was great. My favorite solo by EVH is from the '83 US Festival.
Always loved Eddie's playing...but thanks to his popularity at the time possibly the best rock guitarist ever went unheard of. His name was Shawn Lane, and he got his start playing with Black Oak Arkansas (ironic because David Lee Roth COMPLETELY ripped off BOA's singer Jim Dandy's entire shtick.) at the age of 16 and went on to become the fastest, tastiest, and most talented player I've ever heard before tragically dying in 2003. Not diminishing Eddie's accomplishments, but check out Shawn when you can. Here he in 1979 at 16 with Black Oak: [video=youtube;ZcRHVkjLub4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcRHVkjLub4[/video] And here he is with Paul Gilbert. At about the 3:55 mark prepare to be stunned. [video=youtube;1RxxjbzR5LQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RxxjbzR5LQ[/video]
That guy is incredible, so much talent at 16. It's a shame he had health problems. In the first video at the end you would swear that was DLR talking.
Yeah I've seen the comparisons in several documentaries. Saw a recent pic of Jim Dandy, he has not held up well at all, lol.
:- ) Say what you want, Dave has taken a lot better care of himself than Jim Dandy, and whether or not his audition for American Idol was a joke or not, Van Halen will always be remembered as one of the greatest rock bands of all time. I love how the respect for Eddie's playing diminishes with time too, because more and more people say it. Shawn Lane is INCREDIBLE and he did so many awesome things with his guitar. He played a Charvel, and it sounds like the tone and heaviness in the riffs were lost in future years. Damn, he could play though, RIP...... I guarantee if Eddie would have died in 1982 from a tragic accident, he'd be seen different. Dave is well, Dave. He does his own thing, borrowed from somebody else, with his own touch of extroverted personality. Not the first time that's happened. Alex Van Halen is one of the best drummers of all time, and I will say that I really miss Michael Anthony. I mean, I really miss him. He was the straw that stirred the drink. Wolfgang is doing a great job, though. They'll always be my favorite band, the perfect chemistry of rock guitar and entertainment. There will always be newer players that are faster or do different things, but I bet if you ask them for an influence, Eddie VH will be included somewhere. Guys/gals can reach for the perfect 'brown sound' that Eddie displays, but unless you know how he does it, you're just really fast, with not enough ballsy crunch. They can boil their strings all they want like he does......I respect everybody's opinion, just had to say mine as well. :- ) Peace......
I like the solo, but it's the same one he's been rockin' for the last 30 years (although this version was missing the Mean Streets intro I think?). I'm a little disappointed that he hasn't really evolved into anything other than what he has always been as a player. I would love for him to do an instrumental solo album or G3 tour with Satch to force himself out of his comfort zone and create something fresh and new.