teen wolf/wolfman

[xxx]

so, has anyone heard anything out of wolf that makes you think he's
any sort of prodigy, like his pops seems to think? i think he's
adequate and can hold his own on bass but i wouldn't go any further
than that. i think mike's a better player (been playing eons longer
than wolf) but was never given any sort of free reign. seems like mike
was kept on a pretty short leash by king edward, by all accounts.

where i think wolf comes up short (live, anyway) was on harmonies when
he was left to carry them alone. but i have to say when wolf and eddie
sang together, it sounded really good. wolf's shrill and ed's croak
managed to cancel each other out, somehow. i don't know why ed sings
harmonies on some songs and totally ignores them on others. it was a
world of difference when they both sang back-ups when i saw the
chicago show.

but anyway, as far as bass, wolf's no billy sheenan or flea, right?? i
mean, not even close. can we agree on this?

and doesn't it seem a little weird that a kid that young would want to
be in his dad's band, playing with old farts about 40 years his
senior? most 15-20 year old kinds wouldn't want to be hanging with
their old man. they'd want to be doing their own music with friends
their own age. does anyone else find this peculiar? it's like one of
those "what's wrong with this picture" scenarios.

[The Mighty T.B.]

xxx wrote:

(snip)

Post by xxx
but anyway, as far as bass, wolf's no billy sheenan or flea, right?? i
mean, not even close. can we agree on this?

Van Halen doesn't need a player like Flea or Billy Sheehan in the band. They need someone who can hold down a solid, dependable rhythm with Alex and occasionally play some runs along with Eddie. But some some guy who will overplay and literally compete with Eddie as an instrumentalist. I mean, would U2 or The Rolling Stones have sum guy who shreds all widdly-diddly style on bass? No. Miike filled that part for years and now Wolfgang does. The big difference is that we no longer have some guy doing a bass solo that entails making whale calls and farting noises with his instrument and throwing it off the speakers and rolling around on the floor like Curly of The Three Stooges while drinking JD.

Post by xxx
and doesn't it seem a little weird that a kid that young would want to
be in his dad's band, playing with old farts about 40 years his
senior? most 15-20 year old kinds wouldn't want to be hanging with
their old man. they'd want to be doing their own music with friends
their own age. does anyone else find this peculiar? it's like one of
those "what's wrong with this picture" scenarios.

When the "seniors" are playing some of the greatest hard rock music ever written to area-sized audiences and having a great time doing that while traveling all over the country and probably, later this year around the world, yeah, it's understandable some guy just outta High School might be enticed to join in on the fun.

T.B.

[xxx]

"Van Halen doesn't need a player like Flea or Billy Sheehan in the
band."


hey, i'm just articulating what eddie seems to have wanted on bass all
these years (sheenan, not flea). and sheenan playing with vai in
roth's band worked.

and i still find it weird that a young kid wouldn't want to play his
own music with guys his own age. seeing him on stage and in photos
with nearly 60 year olds looks bizarre. he sticks out like a sore
thumb.

[CG]

Post by xxx
"Van Halen doesn't need a player like Flea or Billy Sheehan in the
band."
hey, i'm just articulating what eddie seems to have wanted on bass all
these years (sheenan, not flea). and sheenan playing with vai in
roth's band worked.
and i still find it weird that a young kid wouldn't want to play his
own music with guys his own age. seeing him on stage and in photos
with nearly 60 year olds looks bizarre. he sticks out like a sore
thumb.

93 million dollars in 2007 says that nobody cares how old Wolfgang is.

I would find it weird if Wolfgang *didn't* want to play with Van
Halen. He is 21, just out of high school and has the opportunity to
be a professional musician, being *paid* to play with a legendary hard
rock band; why would he, let alone *anybody*, turn that down?

Due to nepotism, Wolfgang now has a career in the music industry, this
with no college education or previous experience with any other band
(of which we're aware). After Van Halen is dead and gone, Wolf will
probably be like Jason Bonham, spending the rest of his career
recording with various bands.

[The Mighty T.B.]

Post by xxx
"Van Halen doesn't need a player like Flea or Billy Sheehan in the
band."
hey, i'm just articulating what eddie seems to have wanted on bass all
these years (sheenan, not flea). and sheenan playing with vai in
roth's band worked.

That's what Eddie wanted 3 decades ago around the WACF/Fair Warning era. Also don't don't forget Eddie considered leaving Van Halen and joining KISS(!) around that time as well and in two occasions seriously considered bring in women to front the band (Patty Smyth and Sass Jordan). Neither thing ever happened and more than anything else illustrates what a headcase Eddie has been since day one.

And as for the Sheehan/Vai thing, that lasted a whole single tour and 2 albums. And Eddie is a vastly different player than Vai. Vai has a much more formal and regimented style while Eddie plays more on feeling. Carrying off some of those complicated runs Vai and Sheehan did on the eat Em And Smile tour would frankly be beyond Eddie abilities even at Eddie's peak. And I won't even go into what a mess that would have been if Eddie somehow got Sheehan on board the Hagar or even the first Roth reunion tours. Yeah, fucked up Samurai Hobo Eddie who couldn't even play his own songs with a guy like Sheehan running rings around him while Sammy Hagar is busy signing autographs for the front row fans while a song is being played - LOL!

Post by xxx
and i still find it weird that a young kid wouldn't want to play his
own music with guys his own age. seeing him on stage and in photos
with nearly 60 year olds looks bizarre. he sticks out like a sore
thumb.

Eh, it was a bit weird in '07 when Wolfgang was practically growing roots into the stage where he stood all night, but this tour is a big improvement. And Van Halen is far from the only band getting members' kids into the band - Bruce Springsteen's drummer Max Weinberg had his just-outta-High School son sub for him in the E Street Band during many shows on their last tour because Max was in Conan O'Brian's house band.

T.B.

[xxx]

"And as for the Sheehan/Vai thing, that lasted a whole single tour and
2 albums. "


the first album was great and the EEAS show was *awesome*. just
saying. point taken about how it probably wouldn't have worked and how
bad ed's judgement sucks but i don't think it excuses having wolf in
the band, either. i think the majority of fans would prefer to have
mike, if they had their druthers but just having VH do *something* and
having dave back (for however long it lasts) is higher on the list.



"Eh, it was a bit weird in '07 when Wolfgang was practically growing
roots into the stage where he stood all night, but this tour is a big
improvement.  And Van Halen is far from the only band getting members'
kids into the band - Bruce Springsteen's drummer Max Weinberg had his
just-outta-High School son sub for him in the E Street Band during
many shows on their last tour because Max was in Conan O'Brian's house
band."


i'm not a big springsteen guy and didn't know about max's kid filling
in but there's a similar situation with a band i like, cheap trick-
guitarist rick nielsen's son plays drums now...i think because of bun
e carlos' back issues. and yeah, it looks fucking weird in that band,
too, with a kid playing with guys much, much older. i've seen cheap
trick 16 times and have decided i won't go see them anymore if bun e
isn't playing. his drumming, along with zander's singing are my
favorite parts of that band.

i also thought it was kind of funny that the old guys in VH were in
better physical condition/shape than the fat fuck young kid. he's lost
some of the weight, thank god. maybe his mother threw a jenny craig
meal his way every so often. god, was he a sloppy looking kid.

[IGB]

Post by xxx
i'm not a big springsteen guy and didn't know about max's kid filling
in but there's a similar situation with a band i like, cheap trick-
guitarist rick nielsen's son plays drums now..

I was going through the channels last night and there was Cheap Trick
on the Austin City Limits show. I didn't realize that was Rick's son.
I wondered what happened to Bun E. Just like VH, they only interviewed
the 3 old members together and not the son.

Robin Zander's neck is like fried chicken. His hair reminds me of 1999
DLR. He can still sing decent, but kinda has the Sammy man-breasts
going and walks around like a truck driver.

[xxx]

Post by IGB

Post by xxx
i'm not a big springsteen guy and didn't know about max's kid filling
in but there's a similar situation with a band i like, cheap trick-
guitarist rick nielsen's son plays drums now..

I was going through the channels last night and there was Cheap Trick
on the Austin City Limits show. I didn't realize that was Rick's son.
I wondered what happened to Bun E. Just like VH, they only interviewed
the 3 old members together and not the son.
Robin Zander's neck is like fried chicken. His hair reminds me of 1999
DLR. He can still sing decent, but kinda has the Sammy man-breasts
going and walks around like a truck driver.

zander's voice has held up remarkably well. he's pushing 60 and i know
rick and bun e are well into their 60's, like mid-60s. sucks getting
old...RnR is really a young man's game. it's kind of funny how long
these bands are going now. i guess the money's too good to call it a
day (or they still need an income).

[Clocky]

Post by xxx

Post by IGB

Post by xxx
i'm not a big springsteen guy and didn't know about max's kid
filling in but there's a similar situation with a band i like,
cheap trick- guitarist rick nielsen's son plays drums now..

I was going through the channels last night and there was Cheap Trick
on the Austin City Limits show. I didn't realize that was Rick's son.
I wondered what happened to Bun E. Just like VH, they only
interviewed the 3 old members together and not the son.
Robin Zander's neck is like fried chicken. His hair reminds me of
1999 DLR. He can still sing decent, but kinda has the Sammy
man-breasts going and walks around like a truck driver.

zander's voice has held up remarkably well. he's pushing 60 and i know
rick and bun e are well into their 60's, like mid-60s. sucks getting
old...RnR is really a young man's game. it's kind of funny how long
these bands are going now. i guess the money's too good to call it a
day (or they still need an income).

Or they don't need the money but still enjoy doing shows.

[xxx]

Post by Clocky

Post by xxx

Post by IGB

Post by xxx
i'm not a big springsteen guy and didn't know about max's kid
filling in but there's a similar situation with a band i like,
cheap trick- guitarist rick nielsen's son plays drums now..

I was going through the channels last night and there was Cheap Trick
on the Austin City Limits show. I didn't realize that was Rick's son.
I wondered what happened to Bun E. Just like VH, they only
interviewed the 3 old members together and not the son.
Robin Zander's neck is like fried chicken. His hair reminds me of
1999 DLR. He can still sing decent, but kinda has the Sammy
man-breasts going and walks around like a truck driver.

zander's voice has held up remarkably well. he's pushing 60 and i know
rick and bun e are well into their 60's, like mid-60s. sucks getting
old...RnR is really a young man's game. it's kind of funny how long
these bands are going now. i guess the money's too good to call it a
day (or they still need an income).

Or they don't need the money but still enjoy doing shows.

the money these older acts charge is kind of sickening, regardless if
they're doing it for the money or enjoyment.

[Clocky]

Post by xxx

Post by Clocky

Post by xxx

Post by IGB

Post by xxx
i'm not a big springsteen guy and didn't know about max's kid
filling in but there's a similar situation with a band i like,
cheap trick- guitarist rick nielsen's son plays drums now..

I was going through the channels last night and there was Cheap
Trick on the Austin City Limits show. I didn't realize that was
Rick's son. I wondered what happened to Bun E. Just like VH, they
only interviewed the 3 old members together and not the son.
Robin Zander's neck is like fried chicken. His hair reminds me of
1999 DLR. He can still sing decent, but kinda has the Sammy
man-breasts going and walks around like a truck driver.

zander's voice has held up remarkably well. he's pushing 60 and i
know rick and bun e are well into their 60's, like mid-60s. sucks
getting old...RnR is really a young man's game. it's kind of funny
how long these bands are going now. i guess the money's too good to
call it a day (or they still need an income).

Or they don't need the money but still enjoy doing shows.

the money these older acts charge is kind of sickening, regardless if
they're doing it for the money or enjoyment.

I guess they charge what they think they can get away with.
How much do they charge? I wouldn't have thought Cheap Trick as being much
of a drawcard these days, but maybe they were much more popular in the US
than here.

[xxx]

Post by Clocky

Post by xxx

Post by Clocky

Post by xxx

Post by IGB

Post by xxx
i'm not a big springsteen guy and didn't know about max's kid
filling in but there's a similar situation with a band i like,
cheap trick- guitarist rick nielsen's son plays drums now..

I was going through the channels last night and there was Cheap
Trick on the Austin City Limits show. I didn't realize that was
Rick's son. I wondered what happened to Bun E. Just like VH, they
only interviewed the 3 old members together and not the son.
Robin Zander's neck is like fried chicken. His hair reminds me of
1999 DLR. He can still sing decent, but kinda has the Sammy
man-breasts going and walks around like a truck driver.

zander's voice has held up remarkably well. he's pushing 60 and i
know rick and bun e are well into their 60's, like mid-60s. sucks
getting old...RnR is really a young man's game. it's kind of funny
how long these bands are going now. i guess the money's too good to
call it a day (or they still need an income).

Or they don't need the money but still enjoy doing shows.

the money these older acts charge is kind of sickening, regardless if
they're doing it for the money or enjoyment.

I guess they charge what they think they can get away with.
How much do they charge? I wouldn't have thought Cheap Trick as being much
of a drawcard these days, but maybe they were much more popular in the US
than here.

recent cheap trick shows, they were charging something like $80! once
they got over $50, that was enough for me, especially without bun e
behind the kit. they only play about an hour and 15 minutes now, too.
they used to do at least an hour and a half.

[CG]

Post by xxx

Post by Clocky

Post by xxx

Post by IGB

Post by xxx
i'm not a big springsteen guy and didn't know about max's kid
filling in but there's a similar situation with a band i like,
cheap trick- guitarist rick nielsen's son plays drums now..

I was going through the channels last night and there was Cheap Trick
on the Austin City Limits show. I didn't realize that was Rick's son.
I wondered what happened to Bun E. Just like VH, they only
interviewed the 3 old members together and not the son.
Robin Zander's neck is like fried chicken. His hair reminds me of
1999 DLR. He can still sing decent, but kinda has the Sammy
man-breasts going and walks around like a truck driver.

zander's voice has held up remarkably well. he's pushing 60 and i know
rick and bun e are well into their 60's, like mid-60s. sucks getting
old...RnR is really a young man's game. it's kind of funny how long
these bands are going now. i guess the money's too good to call it a
day (or they still need an income).

Or they don't need the money but still enjoy doing shows.

the money these older acts charge is kind of sickening, regardless if
they're doing it for the money or enjoyment.

The exorbitant monetary value of entertainment is just the way things
are nowadays. It isn't just the music industry; look at how much it
costs to see a movie or a sporting event. Don't castigate Van Halen
over their prices without mentioning society in general.

Not to mention, I doubt ticket prices are Van Halen's decision.
That's probably decided upon by promoters.

[The Mighty T.B.]

CG wrote:

(snip)

Post by CG

Post by xxx
the money these older acts charge is kind of sickening, regardless if
they're doing it for the money or enjoyment.

The exorbitant monetary value of entertainment is just the way things
are nowadays. It isn't just the music industry; look at how much it
costs to see a movie or a sporting event. Don't castigate Van Halen
over their prices without mentioning society in general.
Not to mention, I doubt ticket prices are Van Halen's decision.
That's probably decided upon by promoters.

That's funny you guys mention this, reminds me of a situation I thought I'd bring up.

Guns n' Roses aka Axl's cover band are playing 3 shows in small theaters and a House Of Blues club here in LA this week. I saw the original band between '86 - '92 a number of times and broke down and saw them again in LA in '06 which was actually a pretty good show (especially since Izzy joined for about 1/3rd of the set) so I thought a theater or club show might be worth an evening out. Problem was, tickets were in the $95 - $170 range depending on show so I was pretty much gonna pass. None of the shows sold out by the day of the show (I could have had pit for tonight's Wiltern Theater show as of 5pm today) but for some fucking weird reason, the (face value) price of tickets day of show jacked up by about $50 putting most tickets above $200! I've never heard of an act jacking up ticket prices day of show, always dropping them down if changing the price at all.

T.B.

[Clocky]

Post by xxx
so, has anyone heard anything out of wolf that makes you think he's
any sort of prodigy, like his pops seems to think? i think he's
adequate and can hold his own on bass but i wouldn't go any further
than that. i think mike's a better player (been playing eons longer
than wolf) but was never given any sort of free reign. seems like mike
was kept on a pretty short leash by king edward, by all accounts.

I think Wolf is a better player as his playing has more presence than Mike
ever had (and has). I always thought Mike was just a bass player and could
have been replaced by anyone who knows how to play. His solo's were
pissbreaks and I can't think why anyone would have enjoyed them for any
other reason. His harmonies, well that's another story altogether.

Post by xxx
where i think wolf comes up short (live, anyway) was on harmonies when
he was left to carry them alone. but i have to say when wolf and eddie
sang together, it sounded really good. wolf's shrill and ed's croak
managed to cancel each other out, somehow. i don't know why ed sings
harmonies on some songs and totally ignores them on others. it was a
world of difference when they both sang back-ups when i saw the
chicago show.

I think they are improving as they are going, including Wolf's backup
vocals. Sometimes it sounds a bit odd because Wolf's backups are in tune and
in key whilst Dave is struggling to do both. That's not Wolf's fault. I
agree that Ed's croak ads another dimension which does make the backups
sound better overall.

Post by xxx
but anyway, as far as bass, wolf's no billy sheenan or flea, right?? i
mean, not even close. can we agree on this?

He's pretty damn good especially considering the limitations of the VH
material. As far as Flea or Sheehan, well the material VH play doesn't call
for that sort of playing as they don't have a bass orientated funk sound,
they have a guitar orientated sound.

Post by xxx
and doesn't it seem a little weird that a kid that young would want to
be in his dad's band, playing with old farts about 40 years his
senior? most 15-20 year old kinds wouldn't want to be hanging with
their old man. they'd want to be doing their own music with friends
their own age. does anyone else find this peculiar? it's like one of
those "what's wrong with this picture" scenarios.

Not really. Any kid playing bass with a clue wouldn't knock back the chance
to play with some of the best rock musicians in the world, earn good money,
sell records and hone their skills live. Especially considering the olds are
on the top of their game and showing the younger generations what it means
to rock.

[IGB]

Post by xxx
and doesn't it seem a little weird that a kid that young would want to
be in his dad's band, playing with old farts about 40 years his
senior? most 15-20 year old kinds wouldn't want to be hanging with
their old man. they'd want to be doing their own music with friends
their own age. does anyone else find this peculiar? it's like one of
those "what's wrong with this picture" scenarios.

He probably thought of Van Hagar as old farts. That's why he was blown
away when he heard Hot For Teacher. He knew that was the shit and it
sure wasn't Hagar singing.

How cool would that be to grow up with 5150 in your backyard?