A Night to Remember

2012.

The year of the cross things off of my bucket list.

Not the catchiest of slogans.

But in a matter of weeks I've managed to take care of two biggies.

First a trip to New Orleans.

And now Van Halen in concert.

WITH David Lee Roth.

About 25 years ago, I got to see a Van Hagar show.

And it was fantastic.

But until last night, I had never seen the real Van Halen.

From the first time I heard "So This is Love".

Or "Big Bad Bill".

Or "I’m the One".

I fell in love with this group.

But for one reason or more I never got to see the original band together in concert.

Hey, there was nothing wrong with the Sammy Hagar years.

But for anyone who saw Willie Mays play for the Mets.

You didn’t really see Willie Mays.

No disrespect to the Mets.

Or Sammy Hagar.

But Van Halen is David Lee Roth.

And of course it’s Eddie... and Alex.

And it’s Michael Anthony too.

But as much as the bass makes the music better.

The bass player is not the one wearing the sparkly jacket, doing the karate kicks in the middle of the stage.

That would be David Lee Roth.

And Thursday night he didn’t disappoint.

Oh, there were times he tried.

His voice is NOWHERE near what it used to be.

His dance moves were more Arthur Murray than Arthur Conley.

And that cliche smile made me feel more like he was running with the politicians.

Than running with the devil.

But other than that, Dave was flawless.

Even after all these years, this guy is 100% rockstar.

Well sorta.

At one point during the show I tweeted:

Sir Bacon ‏@sirbacon123

David Lee Roth is 75% showman, 82% caricature, 96% entertainer. That adds up to 100%, right? 

@RealCdnAngel liked that tweet so much, she made it one of her favorites.

Like the Bruce Springsteen show I attended in New Orleans, I decided to tweet the set list, live as it happened.

But unlike the boss, I’m not as well versed in Van Halen song names.

And that came back to bite me.

Several times.

I can probably blame my love for live tweeting on ADD, but I sure did enjoy it.

Instead of losing my real voice, I got to express my inner one.

Tweeting things like:

• David Lee Roth averted major disaster during song 1. During spin, sunglasses fell off. He caught them before they hit ground. Phew.

• No sign ... yet... that the band hates each other.

• DLR just did 1st back bend of night in song 4... 

• And there it is .. 9:20pm MT... David Lee Roth first karate kick of night. Good news, he survived.

• Guy one row in front of me just missed a note on air guitar during Eddie solo.

• Three sets of leg splits by DLR during Beautiful Girls.

• DLR to lady in front row: "I made my first sex tape in 1982. I slept w/any girl w/two legs in her pants. Even an amputee." TMI DLR.

• Song 24 -- new DLR sparkly jacket. ANOTHER one. -- Ain't talkin bout love. David Lee Roth has missed more words than he has sang.

• BREAKING NEWS: 10:51pm MT . David Lee Roth's latest sparkly jacket has been taken off.

• 10:54pm MT, #VanHalen leaves Denver stage after Jump. Our 1st clue was confetti shot off during song, then DLR waving checkered flag.

It’s amazing how much love you can spread through just 140 characters.

And it goes both ways.

Like @joesanders33.

He informed me that “VH fans do not wear earplugs” after I announced that I did.

My new BFF @RealCdnAngel told me I need to “listen to more Roth era albums” when I didn’t remember a name to a song.

A song that was released 32 years ago.

But the highlight of the twitter night for me came about an hour after the show.

That's when @wolfvanhalen retweeted a picture I took at the concert.

You see @wolfvanhalen is Wolfgang Van Halen.

Eddie’s son.

And the new bass player in the group.

How cool is that?

Me and Wolfie exchanging tweets.

That was my brush with greatness.

It’s almost like we almost met.

In all, the show ran five minutes short of two hours.

A decent time for a big-time rock band.

But considering that this big-time rock band may not be together for much longer, I’ll take anything I can get.

Other than a few songs off the new album.

I knew them all.

All 25.

And those 25 included pretty much every song you would want to hear.

Including the covers.

What I didn’t realize until recently is how much Roth was responsible for the unique sound of early Van Halen.

Not the insanely crazy guitar shredding.

That was all Eddie.

Or the hard-pounding drum rolling.

That’s all Alex.

But I’m told that Dave does deserve credit for taking an old classic.

And making it new.

Making it VAN HALEN.

Like You Really Got Me.

Dancing in the Street.

Pretty Woman.

Happy Trails.

I could go on.

It was Dave’s love of music that helped VH separate themselves from VH1.

And based on that, I’m guessing it was Dave who picked the opening band for this concert tour.

Kool & the Gang.

Yes, that Kool & the Gang.

Is there another?

That match didn’t really seem to make sense.

Kinda like when Eddie Van Halen hooked up with the little sister from One Day at a Time.

But unlike that marriage, Kool & the Gang worked out just fine.

They played for like 47 minutes and never once did I look at my watch.

One hit song after another.

Wrapping their night with a six-minute version of Celebrate.

Good thing they didn’t forget that one.

I found out at the show that the Kool in the group is actually bass player Robert “Kool” Bell.

And the Gang on this night was a group of 10 other guys.

10 amazing musicians.

So amazing I actually saw a bunch of 40-something white guys try to dance.

I wish I hadn't.

But they certainly set the tone for a great night of music.

A night of music that was well worth the wait.

Geaux Big or Geaux Home

The Bucket List.

Not just a movie I never saw.

But a lifestyle.

According to urbandictionary.com, a bucket list is:

A list of things to do before you die.  Comes from the term "kicked the bucket".

I’ve never spent the time to create such a list, but there are definitely a few things that I’ve always wanted to do.

Like go to New Orleans.

A place that features two of my favorite things.

Music and food.

Not necessarily in that order.

Well this weekend, I’m going to get that chance.

You see I got a call about a month ago from a friend.

A friend who has mastered the art of living his life.

In Los Angeles.

And New York.

France.

Prague and Iceland.

And this weekend in New Orleans.

Instead of saying “someday.”

He says today.

In full disclosure, he is single.

And without kids.

So if he wants to go somewhere, he goes.

Without hesitation.

To a married guy, like me, that grass sometimes looks greener.

And for a single guy, like him, I’m sure he’d give it all up in a second.

But for this weekend we will both be living on the same street.

Bourbon Street.

I got the free pass to go.

Not a “hall pass”.

Just a free pass.

And thanks to a bunch of leftover airline miles, I got a free plane ticket too.

As someone who is on the lip of turning the big 4-5, this was one opportunity I just couldn’t let pass.

Not to mention we are going to be in the bayou for the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Or I should say, THE New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

A festival that’s been running since 1970.

Now that first year it was more of a get together than a festival.

With an estimated 350 ticket-buyers.

Let’s just say it has grown from there.

In fact, in 2001, the total attendance for the two-week event was more than 650,000 people.

Including 160 grand in just one day.

The festival is held at the New Orleans Fairground Race Course.

With ten different stages.

All going at the same time.

Acts performing from 11 in the AM.

To seven in the PM.

Something like 70 bands a day.

For seven days.

That’s like 9,000 bands.

And sure, most of them you’ve never heard of.

Me neither.

But isn’t that half the fun?

The main stage is where they put all of the acts that don’t quite full under the category of “jazz”.

Let’s call them the ringers.

Like this Friday night, the headlining group will be The Beach Boys.

I’m not sure I’d call Help Me Rhonda a jazz song.

But work with me.

Saturday night is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

And Sunday the weekend will close with The Boss.

Bruce Springsteen.

And the E Street Band.

This will be Bruce’s second appearance at this festival.

The first time was 2006.

A year after Katrina.

Keith Spera, a newspaper columnist who covers music for a city that breathes music, called that performance:

“The best, and certainly most emotional, musical experience of my life.”

That’s why they call him The Boss.

Every stage has a different name.

The Blues Tent.

The Jazz & Heritage Stage.

The Gospel Tent.

The Congo Square Stage.

The Sheraton New Orleans Fais Do-Do Stage.

Yes, corporate sponsorship.

Hey, momma’s gotta eat.

And eating is a big part of this shindig too.

Or so I am told.

We’ve all been to these giant food festivals where you wait in line... forever.

And you end up spending way too much on way too little.

Rumor has it this festival is different.

I’m sure it won’t be cheap.

But according to my sources, the food is amazing.

And really bad for you too.

Fried this.

And fried that.

Spicy here.

Spicy there.

Everything I love.

I’ve always said I would try anything once.

Well, this is my chance.

Apparently one of the Louisiana delicacies is a crawfish.

More crustacean than fish.

But this little baby lobster lookin’ fella is a must get on this trip.

I’ve been told you gotta suck the head out of the crawfish to enjoy the abdominal fat juices.

There’s gotta be a better way to say that.

But 650,000 people can’t be wrong.

Right?

Thanks to the good folks at Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, we’ve got plenty of food to try away from the festival too.

Like Katie’s.

A place that shutdown in 2005.

Literally.

Seven feet of hurricane water washed through this restaurant, closing it down for nearly five years.

But in March of 2010, Katie’s re-opened.

And today they’re doing better than ever.

Why not, have you seen “The Barge”?

An entire french loaf, stuffed with shrimp, catfish and oysters.

All fried.

Duh!

It’s like a Po Boy on deep fried steroids.

The menu says it serves 2-4.

We’ll see about that.

If that doesn’t work, there’s always  Katie's “Boudreaux”.

That’s a pizza.

Topped with Cochon de Lait (smoked cajun pork), roasted garlic, spinach, onions and garlic butter cream reduction.

Sounds healthy.

Sounds amazing.

I better leave my skinny jeans at home.


In my bucket.