Van Halen's still got it

It was an interesting experience, and an epic one — all at the same time. At 25 years young, I had the chance to hear Eddie Van Halen shred the guitar like no other. I had the chance to see David Lee Roth perform his heart out, complete with high kicks and plenty of splits. And at the same time, I had the chance to see “Celebration,” “Jungle Boogie” and “Ladies’ Night” performed by Kool and the Gang. Really? Yes, really.

Sunday night I got the news that my dad had scored tickets to the Van Halen show at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H., on Tuesday night. Having been “brought up” by my dad on such music as Van Halen I knew I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. And despite it being N.H. Town Meeting Day — a crazy night in the newsroom world — my very kind and thoughtful editor knew I couldn’t pass up that opportunity either, and I was free from the hustle and bustle of the newsroom to go rock out with the best of them.

Well, that is after openers Kool and the Gang took to the stage.

To me it seemed like an odd pairing. Don’t get me wrong. I respect all music, and I respect Kool and the Gang as musicians. I just never in my life expected to see them open for an 70s rock band. And never did I expect to hear wedding staple “Celebration” performed live and in concert.

Despite my notions, the majority of the audience boogied the night away, and it was fun to see adults a few decades my senior let loose. And when an Ohio couple who showed up late uttered their disappointment in missing the Gang perform, I couldn’t help but laugh it off. This Gang must have created some lasting memories at some point, and the audience was all about bringing those memories back.

That was my mildly interesting experience. Then came the epic experience: Van friggin’ Halen.

The Van Halen boys (Alex on drums, Eddie on guitar and Wolfgang on bass) along with singer David Lee Roth took to the stage around 9 p.m. And I must say, they kept things fairly simple. No pyro. No rising platforms. A few strobe-light moments. And only one mishap — a fight down on the floor between two biker-clad women, to which David Lee Roth stopped the show completely and told them off. Aside from that, Van Halen kept things fairly intimate in a way — a simple backdrop mish-mashing current concert footage with footage from earlier years played behind the band throughout the night. It was all very classy for the rock stars.

The four-piece opened the show with “Unchained” off their 1981 album “Fair Warning.” Following through with 23 more songs — including major classics such as “Panama,” “Hot for Teacher,” “Runnin’ With the Devil,” “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman,” The Kinks “You Really Got Me” and John Brim’s “Ice Cream Man” — the band played what seemed like a very quick hour-and-a-half show.

To close out the rockin’ show, Van Halen performed everyone’s favorite — “Jump.” Rather than jumping around on stage as David Lee Roth does so in the classic video, he decided instead to bring out a giant black and white checkered flag and run around the stage with it as confetti rained down. Random? Sure. But I wouldn’t expect anything less.

Saddled in between those and a few songs off their newest album “A Different Kind of Truth” a couple solo performances from Alex and Eddie made for an intense night. Eddie’s 10-minute solo really showed off his insane skills and it proved that he, along with Van Halen still got it.