ARTIST: Van Halen
ALBUM: Tokyo Dome in Concert
LABEL: Warner Bros.
RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2015
An Old Flame
Photo by Robert Yager & RWTD
Written by Silas Valentino
How does the old adage go again? It’s better to burn out than to fade away.
Right… and to borrow from Jack Black’s character in High Fidelity: “Is it in fact unfair to criticize a formerly great artist for his latter day sins?”
To deny Van Halen’s once-unstoppable capability to shred, jump and erupt would be to limit their massive cultural dominance circa 1984 – but it’s been 31 years since 1984 and Tokyo is 5,479 miles away from the Sunset Strip.
22 aging years have passed since the last time Van Halen – err, I should say Van Hagar – produced a live album (1993’s Live: Right Here, Right Now) so the timing is ripe for another effort. Tokyo Dome Live in Concert comes three years after 2012’s studio album A Different Kind of Truth and we can all trust David Lee Roth is currently still in the band. (Though let’s not discredit his potential to split again by the time this is published!) Tokyo Dome is the first live album released with Diamond Dave manning the ship but besides this tidbit the rest of the album falls short of any ingenuity or notoriety.
“Unchained” kicks us off and they really do hit the ground running. 55,000 fans are right there with them providing the much-required stimulation to keep the rock and roll train from derailing. “What do you think so far?!” ask Roth three and half minutes into the show before receiving a shower of applause. So far so good but two hour shows probably feel a little different without the boost of youth, strong blood circulation and amphetamines.
This June 21, 2013 concert is very far from their first and Van Halen knows exactly what we came for. The one-two-punch is completed after “Unchained” with a roaring “Running with the Devil” and Eddie Van Halen’s guitar chops are as loose and dazzling as ever. What “Devil” and the majority of this album prove are that fingers, unlike vocal chords, don’t go silently into the darkness of age. Keeping the pace behind the two starlets are fellow Van Halens Alex and young Wolfgang who maintain the rhythm and rarely poke out from behind the shadows. Though Alex’s three-minute drum solo that bridges “Panama” and “You Really Got Me” showcase the 61 year old’s timeless talent.
The moment on this live album that really concerned and disheartened me, a quasi-fan of the band, is the opening track on CD 2 “Dance the Night Away.” A swooning classic that gave girth and depth to the band’s playability back in their – what could have been – sophomore-slumping 1979 days. Instead “Dance the Night Away” proved Van Halen could master a meaty beat and appeal to wider audience. (Remember, there’s nothing wrong with your special lady friend digging the same bands as you.) But when that iconic cowbell shake comes in during their Tokyo Dome performance instead of an alarm signaling next stop joy, an unsettling omen appears and then confirmed when Diamond Dave can’t muster the stamina to sing “You’re old enough to dance” as they charge wobbly into the chorus. There’s nothing wrong with being 60. But there is something off about attempting the same ol’ tricks long after your heyday 20s.
Rule number one is to stick with what you know and Van Halen knows their hits. All seven of the Roth years are well represented and not a single notable song is left untouched. They played their best, gave us what we wanted and ended on a sizzling “Jump.” What more could we really ask for? It’s just that this Tokyo Dome show would have been an absolute amazement and spectacle if the show’s date was closer to the 80s than the Van Halen bandmembers.