Van Halen Las Vegas, NV 6-16-81

Van Halen
Aladdin Theater
Las Vegas, Nevada
June16, 1981

Quality: B

Previously Uncirculated – Never before heard show and tape!

1979 or 1980 JVC boombox >hand held stereo mike, brand unknown >TDK SA90 master cassette >TDK SA90 >TDK SA90> SonyTCWE435>PioneerPDR-
4>CDR>EAC>WAV>Trader'sLittleHelper>FLAC

A sincere and special thank you to the tapers djc/wfg for sharing this with the DIME community.

On Fire
Sinner's Swing
Drum Solo
Hear About It Later
Break
So This Is Love?
Jamie's Cryin'
Bass Solo
Runnin' With The Devil
Dance The Night Away
Sunday Afternoon In The Park
Romeo Delight
Everybody Wants Some!!
Ice Cream Man
Mean Street
Guitar Solo
Feel Your Love Tonight
You Really Got Me
Unchained
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

wfg’s Notes:

We were in the 16th row on Eddie's side.  The evening before we were in the same section, 15th row for Rush.  Since it was back-to-back shows, we stayed mellow for Rush.  For VH we got fucking plastered!  I took pictures as well. Those are in a photo album somewhere in the garage.  Don't even ask.

We stood on our seats the entire show (normal practice for Vegas shows in the early '80's) and passed the mic back and forth as our arms got tired. In between was a lot of pot smoking.  We were too young to drink legally, so that was all done in the parking lot pre-show.  Most likely we popped a bunch of Valiums, too.  ;)

This was VH's 1st ever Vegas show.  You'll hear DLR mention it at the start. The town had been exploding to hear them live.  The tape captures that.

 [Back in 1978] I was the 1st person to play them for anyone here [in Vegas].  I'm not making that up when I say that.  I initially heard them on Kasey Kasem's Top 40 radio show in early '78 (maybe even late '77) with You Really Got Me.  I could not understand their name and didn't know how to spell it.  Unfortunately, they fell out of the Top 40 the following week.  I was freaking out because I wanted it bad.  Luckily, they popped into the bottom the next week and I wrote the name down.  Went to the local independent record store and bought the 1st album.  I need not explain the meltdown going on in my head.

I taped it on cassette and took it to high school on my little portable mono Panosonic player. Needless to say, I was the hit of the smoking area/stoner area/band room for weeks after that.  No one could believe what they were hearing.

It's funny to tell a story like that in these times, but I miss those days of discovery.  No internet, cell phones, etc.  All word of mouth.  Today's kids just look at you like you're a caveman.  Whatever.  I was there and they were not!


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