On February 24th, the excellent Van Halen tribute band Fan Halen rolled into town and played a brilliant Roth-era show in full 1984 regalia. As I’ve said in the past, I used to have a funny feeling about tribute bands but as the years have rolled on, I’ve come to see these things as a celebration. This show was exactly that, with great renderings of classics songs along with many nuances of a legendary band that had a huge and unique personality.
The foursome did a good job of capturing the look of the mighty Van Halen with Roth (Ernie Berru) wearing a sparkling robe and EVH (Derek Fuller) sporting the red/white overalls with a red bandana around the neck. Michael Anthony (Andy Catt) had the same odd-looking shirt the Mikey wore in the “Jump” video and Alex (Michael Thompson) had the trademark shades.
The song selection was all A-list stuff. “Unchained,” “Panama,” “Jamie’s Cryin’,” “Hot For Teacher,” and “Ice Cream Man” were all included as well as many other huge songs from the catalog. The Jack Daniels bottle made an appearance and DLR and EVH surveyed the crowd prior to “Pretty Woman.” A lot of the VH schtick was delivered spot-on, including Dave’s strut and the familiar posture of Edward.
The songs alone made for a wonderful night out, but the presentation made it bigger than life. Not like the original band, of course. You can’t get that stuff no more. But faithfully and skillfully executed, bringing the fun, party-time atmosphere that Van Halen was known for.
The finale couldn’t have been any better. The played the “Jump” video on the big screen while the band played the song. It was a festive feeling like you would get a big arena show. The nearly-full house reveled in the song, the band and the era.
I saw VanHalen on the 1984 tour in Orlando, Florida and that is almost certainly the best show I have ever been to. Van Halen was a live act like no other and on that tour they were absolutely monstrous. I don’t go to a tribute band show expecting to get the exact same thing, it’s not possible. But this was a fantastic ride through the good times. The last several months I’ve seen quite a few tribute bands and I’m sure I have plenty more in my future. The originals aren’t in the best of shape these days and a lot of them are gone for good. I’ll take one of these when I can get it. Fan Halen exceeded all expectations.