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.

House Rules

30 minutes or less.

In the time it takes you to get a Domino’s Pizza.

You too can tour The White House.

That’s all it takes.

30 minutes.

Well that and a great connection.

I guess you could stay a little longer.

Or you could certainly breeze through.

In about five minutes.

But if you’ve got a half day set aside.

Don’t.

Of course, you have to get in first.

And that’s no small feat.

Fortunately we knew somebody.

Who knew somebody.

Yada yada yada.

For 30 minutes, we saw how the other half lives.

About two weeks ago we learned that our request for a tour had been accepted.

We were a lock.

What could possibly go wrong?

I hadn’t looked so forward to a tour since David Lee Roth got back together with Van Halen.

Then the big news of a few days ago.

Obama-1, Osama-0.

And with that, our big day had disappeared.

Or so we thought.

Thankfully that was not the case.

Everything went off just as planned.

We were given a whole set of rules before we got in.

And like Jerry taught George.

You’d better play by the rules.

“Hold out your money, speak your soup in a loud, clear voice, step to the left and receive…It’s very important not embellish on your order. No extraneous comments. No questions. No compliments.”

Well that was how to order soup from the Soup Nazi.

But the White House is no different.

We got in a single-file line, as requested.

In alphabetical order.

We were allowed one camera.

They checked out the license of each adult.

They checked out the name for each kid.

And just like Studio 54, you’d better be on the list.

Or you ain’t goin' nowhere.

If you pass all those tests -- presto chango -- you’re in the building. 

The first stop is a hallway.

Loaded with old pics.

That hallway leads up to the east wing.

Where you are greeted by a sign.

“This is a Self-Guided Tour.”

And they are not joking.

Let your eyes be your guide.

That and a little pamphlet.

Nobody is telling you what this is or what that is.

Well there is a sign in each room, telling you what the room is.

And what it is used for.

Fortunately we were tipped off ahead of time that the guard in each room is actually a secret weapon.

Not only are they there to watch the room.

And watch you.

But they are also there to answer every single one of your questions.

All you have to do is ask.

No asky, no telly.

So ask we did.

I learned that John Adams, Prez #2, and Thomas Jefferson, Prez #3, had a $1 bet.

Like Randolph and Mortimer Duke.

Except their $1 bet was to see who would live longer.

And the winner is.....

Neither.

They both died July 4.

1826.

The same exact day!

Did you know....

When our commander and his first lady move into that little white house, they get a $100k allowance.

To remodel the place.

Well I learned today that they a) get an allowance.

And b) the Obamas refused to use that money.

Because of the economy being what it is.

They decided to use all of their own money to make their changes.

I also learned that each new President gets to pick any 50 pieces of art.

From any U.S. art gallery.

To put in the house while they are in office.

I learned The White House doesn’t have a front and back.

They have a North and South entrance.

They don’t ever want it to be said that a diplomat was brought in through “the back door.”

I learned that the East Room faces East.

And it seats 100 more people than the State Dining Room.

The Green Room has green walls.

The Red Room has red walls.

But the Blue Room has white walls.

And it's also the home for the White House Christmas tree.

All-in-all, it was amazing.

Amazing, but a little empty.

I’m not sure what I was expecting.

But it didn’t quite get there.

Now if you ever get the chance to go.

GO!

But ask A LOT of questions.