Last night, I saw a concert from two bands that defined my younger years. Van Halen finally made it's way to the BOK Center along with the most unlikely of opening acts, Kool & The Gang.
A puzzling pair, you say? Well, so did I when I looked at the tickets. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to put a party-funk band like Kool & The Gang with a 80s metal band like Van Halen. I was willing to trade my bewilderment for the fact that I was going to see Van Halen live for the first time in my life. I had been waiting to see them since I was around 16 years old.
Since we built the BOK Center four years ago, the larger venue tuoring bands have finally taken notice of Tulsa, or rather, they have taken notice of them once again. Thus such acts like Paul McCartney and Bruce Sprigsteen have made their way into the $183 million dollar behemoth and put us back on the map concert-wise, and it has allowed my generation to experience the bands that would have overlooked Tulsa altogether.
So it was that my girl and I went to the BOK, had a delicious Theta Burger from Billys (my traditional pre-concert meal), and settled into our seats for the show. I must give props to head usher Dean, who was kind enough to give us comps in the lower bowl after I plead my case about having to climb the mountain to our original seats in the upper bowl.
Kool took the stage with their 1984 hit "Fresh". They rocked it. Followed by "Get Down On It", "Jungle Boogie" and "Ladies Night", they never dropped into the slower ballads like "Cherish or "Joanna", which was a good move. Dennis "DT" Thomas provided excellent lead vocals that mirrored those of original lead singer JT Taylor. Predictably, the set closed with "Celebration", and the longer live version oif the song featured a brief audience participation segment.
All-in-all, I was pleasantly surprised. This was going to work...again, this is an R&B/Soul/party-funk band opening for an 80s pop-metal band. An hour break to clear the stage and it was time for the headliner. The stage was a simple setup, just the drum riser and the trademark stage amplifiers. There was a huge hi-definition screen behind the band as well...a prerequisite for large venue concerts anymore...and that was it.
They opened with Unchained, and ripped through their hits as well as selections from "A Different Kind Of Truth". It was loud, earplitting at times. Yeah, I am getting old and hearing things through only one channel, but as Van Halen's show wore on it became somewhat painful to listen to. There weren't many drawbacks to Van Halen's show but they were glaring. The screen behind the band made things easier to see, but when the camera pointed into it it created an infinity effect that was cool at first but quickly became annoying, for example.
In the end though, this was VAN HALEN, and though there was an original member missing, little was lost in the update. Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie's son, filled in well for Michael Anthony both on bass and vocals. David Lee Roth was all of himself, arrogant and cocky and the two solos from the Van Halen borthers were, awesome.
In shoprt, this was a great show across the board. They may be a vestige from the past, but the new generation "Big Chill" generation was well represented in the building. It was odd to see older people with young children, but that just shows how far the band goes back in people's memory.
And my list is that much shorter.
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