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- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
- Personal attacks on other community members are unacceptable, practice the good manners your mama taught you when engaging with fellow Dawg fans
- Use common sense and respect personal differences in the community: sexual and other inappropriate language or imagery, political rants and belittling the opinions of others will get your posts deleted and result in warnings and/ or banning from the forum
- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
Comments
2020 sucks. On another note, EVH fought cancer for 10 years. Helluva fight.
Saw VH in early 80s, Diamond Dave butchered the lyrics but Eddie was amazing and more than made up for it. Caught them years later with Sammy, **** good show but was way to short.
I lived in London during the rise of the Punk Rock movement where squads of drunk spike haired punks would walk the streets looking for fights. They did not like Americans, so we had to always keep an eye out. When we weren't staying clear of them we had to dodge insanely drunk soccer fans. It was always fun when Scotland played England at Wembley stadium. Hundreds of drunk Scots is a sight and a sound.
You're right about the older generation liking Americans. Everyday on the bus an old woman would ask me if I was American and then proceed to tell me a story about WWII. In the 70's it was still very fresh in their minds. That was a great era to live in London, because all the old traditions were still in place and the architecture was pretty much the way it had been for centuries.
I saw VH in Atlanta at Lakewood in 1991 (For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge tour). I enjoyed the show, but looking back, had one regret about it.
I showed up late and missed most of the opening act...a band I wasn't familiar with at the time named Alice in Chains!
Getting some off-topic clicks. I was there in the mid-80s. The punks were generally pretty cool. It was the skinheads who would pick a fight just to have something to do. You didn't even want to make eye-contact with those guys.
My favorite memories of that time was hopping on the Tube in our neighborhood and heading into London for the day. Saw a ton of concerts at Hammersmith Odeon...Def Lepard, Ozzy, Iron Maiden, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Accept, Dio...but for some reason never saw VH.
On my bucket list is seeing a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Hammersmith Odeon was a good place to see a show, as well as the Rainbow Theatre.
Again, as the thread starter, I'm finding the off topic clicks pretty annoying - particularly since the conversation between you, @pgjackson and @Casanova_Flatulence is a good one - the tangents are what make these kinds of posts more interesting, informative. I mean, it's posted in "General/Off topic," so why the guard rails here - the whole thing is off topic by intent! Maybe I should've titled it "Barbershop Deux!"
Agree @GradyDawg85.
It would have been epic to see VH open for Sabbath at the Hammersmith Odeon and I'm glad I eventually got to see the original band live. FWIW, I'm not sure why Sabbath objected to VH, because they more than held their own on stage. Ozzie is without a doubt one of the most captivating performers I've ever seen. He owned the audience. I've never seen so much leather, spikes and crosses in my life. I thought I was at a Hounds of Hell concert.
I just figured out why I didn't see VH in London...they didn't come to London on the 1984 tour. Their European shows were with the Monsters of Rock. Their only show in England was at Castle Donington. I had to look it up. No way were my parents letting me go to Donington. That was the last DLR album and I was SOOOO not into 5150 and Van Hagar.
I did get to see Ozzy's Ultimate Sin show at Hammersmith. Ratt was the opener. Ozzy is simply the best...and the guy can actually sing.
Played music for years. Quit the drugs and drinking early on. Two good friends didn’t - 1 gone at 49 and the other dying now at 64, both of cancer.
Drugs and alcoholism su.ck
Eruption changed everything. Not sure anyone had ever done a guitar solo as a featured song on an album before, but it is certainly THE most famous solo of all time. It became, and still is, the gold standard of rock guitar and practically mandatory learning for all aspiring musicians. You really can't say enough about his influence on rock music.
If you were a guitarist in the late 70s and 80s, EVH was likely your top 2 or 3 most influential guitarist. It was almost cliche to claim EVH was your idol. I was a bass player, but had posters of EVH on my wall. There isn't a comparison to anyone today. Guitar wizardry has largely disappeared in today music scene, but the stuff EVH was doing 30-40 years ago is still considered genius and technically elite.
I lost one just a few weeks ago to the bottle. Only 37 too! The last time I heard from him he sent me a text back in July asking to come and check on him while he was in my hospital. But I happened to be on vacation. I don't think a visit from me would of changed his fate.... but it still kind of haunts me. We always think we have more time until suddenly we don't.
@pgjackson Guitar wizardry is still around, it's focus has just shifted. Blues rock, bluegrass, and there's actually still plenty of metal and rock to go around. I've even heard some country with some very impressive guitar work. One major difference is back in the 80s VH was all over the radio and TV. These days that kind of music isn't front and center, so you have to dig a little more.
That is true. I still primarily listen to classic rock stations. Seems like the music charts are full of vülgar rap, mopey desperation songs and techno-club music. The 80's were the glory days of guitar-based music. My brother is a music producer and master guitarist. A child prodigy in the 80's. But even his stuff is mostly club-techno. He just got a double platinum song, but I am not really a fan. I asked him why he doesn't use more guitar in his songs...he says people aren't into blistering guitar right now. Like you said, I think you have to dig deep to find guitar heroes today.
I think it was the smoking that took EVH. Dude always had a cigarette going.