KG's Hideaway: VAN HALEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The pics on this post are mine, but the videos are not. So there.

OMG, last night was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!! This was, by far, my favorite VanHalen concert EVER. Craig was preparing to hate it. He won't admit that, but he will admit that he was only "looking forward to it." Austin was stoked. He'd never been to a rock concert.

Last night was Eddie's birthday so of course the entire arena sang Happy Birthday to him. (he's 53!) Most of the night, you could hear everyone around you singing OUT LOUD to every song.

Before I start into this long post, let me just tell you that the encore was Jump and it was phenomenal! Here it is... this isn't my video, but it is from last night's show!

It was so wierd to realize that I am 41 (WTF? When did that happen?) and my very first "celebrity crush" still rocks my socks!!!

When I bought the tickets I went ahead and bought a parking pass. So we were just across the street. We were able to go in, get our shirts, take them back to the car, then head back in and watch the opening act.

This had to be the strangest crowd for a concert that I have ever seen. Just in the area we were sitting in there were pre-teens and 50 year olds. But the funniest thing EVER (or the most shocking) was what went on two rows in front of us.

As I said, I've been to a shit load of concerts (close to 30) of all kinds, but mostly rock. I've seen plenty of pot smoking at concerts... back in the 80's. But I NEVER expected to see it in the American Airlines Center in 2008. And the dude HAD to be 50 years old! WTF is he thinking? The attendant kept coming down and shining her flashlight, but he'd somehow get it out and out of sight before she could catch him. And it started before VanHalen even came out. Craig had gone to get a drink so Austin and I were just sitting there talking. He was telling me some long story about he and his girlfriend and I had to interrupt him because the smell was OBVIOUS.

I kept telling him I smelled it, but he thought it was just my imagination. Finally, he said, "OMG not only are you right about the weed, but its RIGHT THERE!" Sure enough, the guy was firing it up. I started laughing and and I couldn't stop! Its really pathetic but funny. To me.

I had to take my little camera, so the pics aren't great but here they are. The best part of the night was the solos, without a doubt. Alex beat the shit out of his massive drum set and just blew us away. I started thinking that Eddie wasn't going to do his solo, but about 3/4 of the way through it he started. He ripped it to shreds... Eruption was just out of control. It was slightly modified and I loved it! I really wanted a picture of his hands on the guitar, but this is as good as they got.

(Just in case you don't know what I'm talking about, here is a youtube clip of Eddie's Solo. This isn't from the Dallas concert, its Philly, back in October)