September 18, 2019
As part of Van Halen’s first nationwide tour supporting such acts as Journey and Black Sabbath, Van Halen played an opening set in Fresno California on Sept, 22, 1978. This restored footage from Fresno Media Restoration shows just what a powerhouse Van Halen was and in particular Eddie Van Halen. Edward was an absolute demon on the guitar. Primarily running through cuts from their first album “Van Halen,” they also sneaked in a bit of the as-yet unreleased “Bottoms Up” towards the end. Eddie displayed all the things that made that first album great. Two-handed tapping, dive bombs, harmonics, licks played at lightning speed and his use of flanging and phase shifting as well as his tape echo at the end of “Eruption.” There is also a rare sighting of his original “shark” guitar – the Ibanez Destroyer he took a chain saw to and cut the back end out of it. If the guitar lost any of its tone (according to Edward after the surgery,) you’d never know it. It sounds fantastic, in my opinion. In the video you get to see how incendiary this band was. David Lee Roth was in his prime, as he matched Eddie’s pyrotechnics with his own brand of vocal fireworks. You hear Michael Anthony’s high-pitched vocals as well. In a time when disco, new-wave, punk and the mellow California sound permeated the music world, Van Halen was a wake-up call. Completely in your face, they took the Rock world by storm as the video illustrates. Watch the restored video of Van Halen’s first nationwide tour:
The set list on the video is as follows:
- “On Fire” (incomplete)
- “Show Your Love”
- “Atomic Punk”
- “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love”
- Edward Guitar Solo
- “You Really Got Me”
- ”Bottoms Up”
Be sure and check out Ed’s 1978 Guitar Rig from the “Play it Loud” exhibit at the Met Museum. You can also watch as a YouTuber builds his own Frankenstrat for under $500 here. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.