Did you go to the Van Halen 3 tour?

[BernieTaupson]

And if so, did you yell out, “Gary Cherone sucks more than words!”

[Love_Industry]

Nobody did.

[TexAzHair]

I went to the Phoenix show.

July 1, 1998

First show of the 2nd leg of the tour I believe.

A few seats down from us was Valerie Bertinelli... who had an offensive lineman looking guy on each side of her.

I remember at the time that the Van Halen PR machine was making out like everything was going great with Gary as the singer and that would be the future.
I didnt buy it. "One and done". And of course I was right.

[Brainy Lane]

Saw them twice. Once at MSG with Creed opening. Maybe 2/3rds full. I was a big Extreme fan so I really enjoyed it, no one I went with liked Gary. The prancing was really a turn off. I ran into an older buddy after the show, I remember him saying that it was “sad” watching this.

Saw them again a few months later, same result.

[TBONESBURDEN]

Yep, St. Louis. I did not care for the album but, I thought the concert was great. I had only seen them with Sammy before so, it was cool for me to hear the Dave stuff. Gary did it justice.

[daveg]

Saw it near the end of the tour, when it was clear the album was a complete dud. We got tickets early and Monster Magnet was supposed to open. They were eventually replaced with a blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Sheppard.

We really debated not going. In the end we did, and perhaps it was cause of low expectations, but it was a fantastic show. From what I remember, was a really cool mixture of both eras and Gary sang them great.

[VinnieStJohn]

Saw them at a shed near Cleveland. Place was pretty full. As mentioned, the set list was great - a good mix of Sammy and Dave era songs, including Dave songs Hagar rarely played (and no solo Sam). Gary had a lot of energy and the Band sounded great.

That being said, he was an odd fit, and the crowd took piss breaks during the couple new songs they played

[aznsquirt]

I saw either the Shoreline or Concord Pavillion show, not sure which.

Only time I ever saw VH, and the first time I ever did the "get in line for tickets" thing. I remember sitting in the parking lot waiting for a half hour or so and some dude was blasting diver down while tailgating.

I actually was a big fan of VHIII at the time. The guy who went with me kept going off about how trash Gary was, I don't remember having much opinion either way.

[Hellsinkey]

Disappointingly it was the only time they played here, but no.

[HueyRamone]

Yes. It was the ony time I saw VH (until once in 2007)

Im not a big VH person, but a girl i was dating had free tix for Glen Helen. I wanted to see monster Magnet, but dont remember it being all that from the distance and in daytime. Kenny Wayne was ok.

VH was pretty good, cause Gary was able to sound a lot like Roth and did a bunch of Roth songs. Eddie on the piano singing the one song from VHIII was a crime against nature. I guess I liked it more than I would have liked a Van Hagar show, due to that I hear Hagar the Horrible did almost no Roth material.

6/10 would not repeat.

[tooth]

I did, Boston Ma, hometown show for Gary. I remember liking the concert & feeling meh on the record. They probably did Without You & Fire in the Hole from it.
Then they came back for 2 nights during the summer of that year, but it was at the shed south of the city so I didn't go.

[BernieTaupson]

They always did

Without You
One I Want
Fire in the Hole
Year to the Day

And sometimes did

Dirty Water Dog
Josephina (usually)
How Many Say I (very rarely)

[crowes74]

I seen the St Louis show. Thought it was great. Gary was/is a great frontman. But I’m a biased Extreme fan.
He did both old singers songs justice that night.

Crowd was pretty good, no clue as to the attendance. Be hard to judge by crowd response regardless, Sammy follows only the Cardinals in St. Louis’s hierarchy of summers to do list. So between that and the at best average record he was going to have a mighty big hill to climb to get that crowd going.

Van Hagar shows always rocked in St. Louis. So I wouldn’t say the “3” show was equal to those shows. I never caught the original VH. But as a stand alone show it was a blast, and I’d gladly went to another had they came back around.

[LAglamrocker]

I went to Devore show for the Extreme guy
Bought scalper front row ticket
Most fun I ever had Van Halen show
Van Halen isn’t a good band any era..blah blah blah

Van Halen had to pick Metal Edge band singer to try to stay relevant..best career highlight
Van Halen fans still can’t get over Van Halen III era ha ha ha ha

* Van Halen has always been garbage..thank God for Firehouse generation bands

[SterileEyes1]

Yes, Del Mar, July 1998. I was 14. It was my first time seeing Van Halen. My dad took me.

The show blew my mind but afterward my dad was pretty much apologizing, he said “that wasn’t Van Halen”.

Several months later, after a Fear Factory concert at the Hollywood House of Blues, I went to The Rainbow with my older friends. Gary was at a table with a bunch of women. My goober ass approached him and got his autograph. I asked how the new VH album was going. He said good. He was fired a few weeks later.

[BernieTaupson]

You should send him your drunk Eddie Van Halen tribute video where you do Beautiful Girls and do the kiss at the end.

[Velvis]

Yes, Del Mar, July 1998. I was 14. It was my first time seeing Van Halen. My dad took me.

The show blew my mind but afterward my dad was pretty much apologizing, he said “that wasn’t Van Halen”.

Several months later, after a Fear Factory concert at the Hollywood House of Blues, I went to The Rainbow with my older friends. Gary was at a table with a bunch of women. My goober ass approached him and got his autograph. I asked how the new VH album was going. He said good. He was fired a few weeks later.

"a bunch of women"
Hmmm.

[BernieTaupson]

That story reminds me of when VH went on Stern to announce the new singer and some woman called in and said that she had met Gary after an Extreme show and intimated they had fucked. I’m sure it was a plant from management to try to subvert the impression that the new fruity prancing VH singer was gay.

[woblinweebles]

That story reminds me of when VH went on Stern to announce the new singer and some woman called in and said that she had met Gary after an Extreme show and intimated they had fucked. I’m sure it was a plant from management to try to subvert the impression that the new fruity prancing VH singer was gay.

I saw the opening date of the US tour in Houston and had a good time and the place seemed pretty full. We got the live debut of "How Many Say I" as the first song of the encore and Eddie started it out by himself. The guy behind me was kind of a loud talker and when Gary came out to sing backups, the guy said something like "oh, the fruit is back up there" to his friend.

[skinni]

I saw several shows and thought they were great.

[BernieTaupson]

the guy said something like "oh, the fruit is back up there" to his friend.

Was one of them dressed all in red and the other one saying “shoobedy bop” all through the show?

[SterileEyes1]

Yes, Del Mar, July 1998. I was 14. It was my first time seeing Van Halen. My dad took me.

The show blew my mind but afterward my dad was pretty much apologizing, he said “that wasn’t Van Halen”.

Several months later, after a Fear Factory concert at the Hollywood House of Blues, I went to The Rainbow with my older friends. Gary was at a table with a bunch of women. My goober ass approached him and got his autograph. I asked how the new VH album was going. He said good. He was fired a few weeks later.

"a bunch of women"
Hmmm.

…following your innuendo here, women often have gay friends. Either way, yeah, a bunch of women.

[Tyketto Meniketti]

Looks pretty damn good to me

https://youtu.be/Zwjew6q2hYM?si=XEDJtc0vqrEzB4Sa

https://youtu.be/RKvLaBIUatE?si=o5_bwQJrRThGwrxn

[Tyketto Meniketti]

Looks pretty damn good to me

https://youtu.be/Zwjew6q2hYM?si=XEDJtc0vqrEzB4Sa

https://youtu.be/RKvLaBIUatE?si=o5_bwQJrRThGwrxn

I'd take concerts like this any day of the week.

[VicStelly]

3 shows. 2 of the spring preview tour and then a shed show later that summer.

Never saw Eddie play better. Before or after.

[BernieTaupson]

Yeah he played well.

[Shredderpete]

I did. It was the only time they ever toured Australia (that one-off festival to promote some biker film doesn't count) so that was my only chance to see them. They really couldn't give a fuck about touring the world, those guys.

[Shredderpete]

That story reminds me of when VH went on Stern to announce the new singer and some woman called in and said that she had met Gary after an Extreme show and intimated they had fucked. I’m sure it was a plant from management to try to subvert the impression that the new fruity prancing VH singer was gay.

You mean you weren't convinced by the lyric "I'm just a red-blooded heterosexual" which is definitely how people speak?

[BootyDaddy69]

I was at the Sydney show that was filmed for MTV

[BernieTaupson]

I was at the Sydney show that was filmed for MTV

What did you think when Cherone laid down on that circus platform thing in front of Eddie with his ass pointing up at him and then seductively turned and smiled at him?