Credit to a 1984 issue of Rolling Stone for the "Thud Rock's Two-Headed Monster" from when they featured Van Halen in an issue. The focus was on the two monster egos of lead singer David Lee Roth and true guitar hero Eddie Van Halen. A few months before that I missed out on seeing Van Halen in the San Diego Sports Arena and I thought it wasn't a big deal.
I was actually a late comer to Van Halen, as I didn't connect with them until around late 1982. Once I got hooked, I've stayed hooked. Of course, a year later David Lee Roth had gone solo and Sammy Hagar was the replacement, so I never got to see Roth with Van Halen. Once they finally got around to re-uniting (23 flippin' years later!) I bought tickets and decided to bring my two sons, ages 12 and 9. I'm making a habit of taking my kids to the once-in-a-lifetime shows. Some Van Halen die-hards would say it's not a real reunion without bassist Michael Anthony but I really didn't care about that. I was just glad to see the "Two-Headed Monster" back in action.
The show was scheduled for November 25 at the Cox Arena in San Diego State University, which was the Sunday after Thanksgiving. As the date for the show approached I really wasn't fired up about the concert. We went and saw the Police in June (another show I've waited forever to see) and it was just OK, so I wasn't expecting much from Van Halen. Once the date rolled around I'd gotten sick and spent most of the day on the couch sleeping. Of course, having paid over $80 per ticket we were going to go no matter how bad I felt. I'd read that the previous concerts were real loud so we brought some ear protection.
With ear plugs in and a ton of cough drops in my pocket Van Halen took the stage. Roth was grinning (he never stopped) and Eddie cranked out the beginnings to "You Really Got Me". Quite quickly I was pumped up and began to see energy from the band that was sorely missing from the Police show in June. The set list (see below) was awesome and I'd heard that bassist, Eddie Van Halen's 16 year old son, Wolfgang Van Halen had picked the songs. I wasn't expecting "I'm the One", "Romeo Delight" or a few others. It was a set list that a hard-core Van Halen fan could appreciate.
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