Concert review: Van Halen at the United Center
22.05.12
On a spare stage, backed by a wall of amplifiers and an IMAX-style video screen that essentially blew up the on-stage proceedings to Godzilla proportion, the band slammed out 24 songs in two hours. No fuss, few frills, only a confetti shower for the closing “Jump.” With the exception of some piped-in keyboards and a rhythm guitar track on one song, the band did all the heavy lifting itself. This was the kind of ballad-free heavy that suggested a grand piano being dropped from a 20th-floor window, closing in on the pavement with intimidating size and speed.
Sometimes it looked a little too much like work, especially for the normally flamboyant Roth. He entered with a scarf-and-glitter outfit befitting a circus barker and a broad grin. But he was soon complaining about the weather conditions (“There’s some kind of blower … shut it off!”), his microphone, the need for a water bottle – he was distracted presence for most of the show. Once a showman who was as much about acrobatics as singing, Roth focused exclusively on the latter this time.
Source: Chicago Tribune