Van Halen 1998-10-13 Sullivan Arena Anchorage, AK

Master Tapers Concert Series - Volume (210)

Band name: Van Halen
Date: October 13, 1998
Venue: Sullivan Arena
Location: Anchorage, Alaska, USA
Tour name: III

Media: 2 CDs
Recording type: Audience
Taper: Steve "ballsdeep" Hagar
Recording Equipment: Sonic Studios DSM-6P w/ 3-way lo-cut filter, position unknown (most likely @ 80hz, middle setting) > Sony WM-D6
Lineage: Denon 790R > Kenwood A-522 amplifier > Kenwood GE-622 Equalizer > DAT out > line in on Tascam DR-2D >WAV>Flashdrive>AUDACITY>WAV (16bit)>TLH>FLAC (8)
Transfer/Mastering: March 2015
Audio format: FLAC
Total running time: 121:01
Audio quality: 3++/4-
Artwork: No

Track listing:
Unchained
Without You
One I Want
Mean Street
When It's Love
Fire In The Hole
Why Can't This Be Love
I'm The One
Drum Solo*
Jamie's Cryin'
Humans Being
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
A Year To The Day
Guitar Solo
A Year To The Day (Reprise)
Right Now*
Ain't Talkin' Bout Love
Josephina
Panama
Jump

*slight cut due to tape flip

Band:
Gary Cherone - Vocals
Edward Van Halen - Guitar
Michael Anthony - Bass Guitar
Alex Van Halen - Drums

Taper comments:

Van Halen 1998:

funny how this batch being upped is FULL of the crazy funnies. this show was never traded out before now. I was choked out at this show by security. and it's all
(well, enough of the juicy parts are, I should have fucking sued them) let me explain...
his was the FIRST time I ever paid $100 for a ticket for a show in Alaska ($98 apiece for the front 10 rows, I got 2nd row, Eddie's side, 1st VH appearance in Alaska EVER.)
they sold maybe 5000 tickets, a little over half full (8750 capacity). in the first 45m of the show, Ga"y"ry Cherone not once, but twice, turned around to the crowd, in his
black yoga spandex pants, and he dragged the tip of his middle finger from the top of his buttcrack to the bottom. I can't make this up. once, my fault for looking. twice,
his fault, in spades. thank goodness he was short lived.

THAT said, sound-quality wise, this show sounds all shitty and brittle on the lo-end. my guess as to 'why', is that like for the Crue 5 months later in Fairbanks
(I was 5th row for the Crue), the bass was SO loud that you could close your eyes, and when Michael (or Nikki) would pluck bass strings, you could ***feel*** the bass blow
your hair back. yeah, THAT much 'wind' from the speakers. I did my best to mitigate the brittle, burpy lo end. the guitar solo, for the record, sounds PERFECT!!! why? NO bass or drums.
just listen to the "Unchained" guitar intro, before the drums and bass kick in....it's plently listenable, from 2nd row, from the master. did I mention the guitar solo sounds perfect?

aaaahhh, back to the guitar solo, and the jist of the story. ok; so I paid $100 (x2) for my tickets. by doing so, and by this NOT being a GA show, I had a reasonable expectation for
security to ***keep the aisles clear and protect our space***. well, instead of that happening,when Eddie started his solo (contained in "I can't remember the song title, setlist is
not in front of me), people started pressing in on BOTH sides (from the side of the floor and the aisle cutting up the sections), to the tune that it was like a GA crowd in about 3 minutes.
and not just any GA crowd. like a GA crowd at a metal show, sans pit. in that time, and over the next 10 minutes, a girl started not only screaming, but pushing me...and my girlfriend.
the solo ended, and we made it thru "Right Now" and into "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love". the crowd did not dissipate. near the end of the song (ATBL), which is the end of the main set,
Eddie is wailing away, and the crowd pushes even more to the stage. we are getting nearly crushed between the people and the chairs (several chairs collapsed)
the song ends. they start chanting his name. he starts throwing guitar pics out to the crowd.

they go NUTS.
security saw me open palm push this same, loud, screamy bitch (you can hear her continually at the end of the solo to this point, but not before or after) in the face away from me and my gf 
and then it was on like Sean John. longer story short, first one, then 2, by the time I was on the ground, it took 4 of them to get me there...(more on that later)...the mic came unplugged
when I was brought to the ground. yes, you hear a scuffle...
leading up to the scuffle:
"IT WASN'T HIM"..."WHY DON'T YOU DO YOUR FUCKING JOB AND GET THESE MOTHERFUCKERS OUT OF HERE"..."STOP IT"..."LET GO OF MY SHIRT"..."DON'T CHOKE ME!!!" (yeah, I said it)...then the tape cuts out.
when the tape cuts back in:
"I had the pause on the whole time" (me)
"it just pisses me off" (her)
"how big are you?"  "how much can you lift?" "jump me, lift me, boost me up on stage" (security guard....yeah, the fucking security guard asked me to do his job)
yeah, I'm 5'11" and 220-225, but not a lifter or bodybuilder or anything. I just don't take kindly to paying 2 bills to get manhandled, scratched and popped in the head in the 2nd row with 8
security guards 5 feet from me. THEN...... they let me ***stay***. yeah, that's right, the rest of the show is there. on tape.

I've NEVER seen 4 security guards take someone out, then let them stay (I wasn't drinking that night, in order to tape, waited till after, again, keep reading). my only guess is that they respected
me for not bowing to them easily, and didn't want to fuck with me. you even hear during the opening strains of "Panama" security not do the job, and ME ask a fucker for his ticket, then they take over,
tell me to "just watch the show, just watch the show". it was ridiculous what happened that night.
in the parking lot post show, I remembered that the security guard had his hands *around my neck*. with that not being right, and my being pissed off, I went in and tracked down head of security,
Ken A. within 10 minutes, "Choker" Darren was fired. "great", I thought..... "problem solved".

silly little me.
so we drive to Koots for post-show libations.
as it turned out, upon walking in, we discovered that Darren also moonlighted at Chilkoot Charlie's as a security guard when concerts weren't happening, and Koots refused me entry.
5 minutes later, when I'm standing outside the truck with steam literally pouring off me (it was October), a Koots rep came out in the parking lot and offered to waive my cover, and buy me and my gf
our first round (???, video cameras in the parking lot much???).
aaanyhow, longer story short, I talked to Darren, explained my side, and made the peace. the punchline: he was suspended for 6 months, and his first show allowed back to work: Metallica at the Sully
(GREAT choice for "1st show back", with a GA floor, vs., say, Natalie Merchant 2 weeks earlier, no?)
and there's a GREAT story for that one too (involving a 70 year old security lady telling a shitfaced balls that ***your seats do not exist***)
yes, it's on tape. and yes, I was shitfaced
hopefully you like the stories...(upcoming: you can hear my nose get broken on the White Zombie '96 show, right in the middle of "More Human Than Human"...knuckle (unknowingly, the dudes back was to me,
it was a flailing error) on cartilage, on tape it sounds like the little plastic mallet in Parker Brothers "Don't Break The Ice" hitting the little plastic ice cube, except one big "POP" instead of several little taps)

--- balls OUT

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