Description

‘Live On Air’ with Van Halen is the first 'official' release of Van Halen's headlining set at the US Festival, which took place on May 29, 1983. This is also the first commercially available live recording of the band with David Lee Roth. I've read reviews of this show which said that the band was pretty drunk before taking the stage and this show captures the sloppy party rock of classic Van Halen. It is a fun performance as the band's set is loose and they take some chances with the material. David Lee Roth is at his peak and shows why he is one of the more entertaining frontmen in the business and the Diver Down tour marked Eddie's last hurrah as a guitar hero before he got lost in the keyboard and synths of 1984 and the pop of the Sammy-era discs. Looking at this disc from the other side of the coin (aka: the bad side) – guess what do you get when you try to fit a 120 minute concert onto a 72 minute cd? The answer is that ~40 minutes were cut out of the concert. Unfortunately, some of the songs are faded out early. ‘Cathedral’ was cut from the middle of the set and so was the encore (‘Bottoms Up’ and ‘You Really Got Me / Happy Trails’). The mix is also a bit strange as it appears to be from the soundboard (as the crowd is behind the band) but it is rather unbalanced. However as being the first ‘official’ live recording with David Lee Roth its still a must British label Plastic head has during the last ten years released a lot of re-issue under their side labels Back on black and Rock classic records. Now they have found a ‘copyright gap’ when it comes to American live radio broadcasts. Radio broadcasts that are under the public domain in the States are legally public domain in even in the Uk. They started a new side label called Southworld to release this kind of material. I have seen people saying these are bootlegs because the bands which music they release have nothing to do with them. However the gap in the copyright law seems to make these legal. The might look cheap on the cover and lacks any fancy booklets as the label cant use the bands real logo and they can only use photos that they can get the copyright too. Even thought discs looks ‘cheap’ the music in many cases are splendid and features unique live material from an era in the bands history where they might not have been released any other official live albums. If youre interested to find more of these releases then search for titles called ‘Live On Air’ or ‘Performance’. Track listing: 1. Romeo Delight 2. Unchained ~ Drum Solo 3. Full Bug 4. Runnin with the Devil 5. Jamies Cryin 6. So This is Love 7. Little Guitars 8. Dancing in the Street 9. Somebody Get Me a Doctor (includes Girl Gone Bad And Im So Glad) 10. Dance the Night Away 11. Secrets 12. Everybody Wants Some 13. Ice Cream Man 14. Pretty Woman 15. Aint Talking Bout Love