Van Halen live on their 2nd stop to Charlotte, NC on the 1984 tour, Valentine’s Day. This audio bootleg is a 2021 Remaster that gets rid of some hiss.
Not a great performance on this one because several factors. Complete opposite of most 1984 shows where they were playing everything super speed, this one everything sounds a tad slow and the pitch seems correct, so don’t think it’s an issue with the original tape/transfer.
Eddie’s playing pretty loose and sloppy throughout, flubbing parts here and there. And DLR earns his (mostly overblown) criticism on this night, he’s looser than usually. Overall neither guy is on their A-game, but a really clear recording 🙂
Audio Bootleg Quality: A
Bootleg Notes:
This is a great recording. A little bit of tape hiss, but otherwise very clear. All of the instruments and Dave’s singing come out with SB-like clarity. Generally not a lot of audience noise during this one. The taper and the people around him start chatting a little during the last couple songs. The recording sounds like it runs just a tad slow but I didn’t adjust anything. There is a cut in “Pretty Woman” on the analog master around 1:40-1:45. I’m not sure what else has been in the lineage. I suspect there was a DAT in there based on the spectral view. It does not look like a straight cassette to CDR transfer.
I suppose the ultra-long guitar solo would be the distinguishing feature of this show. It’s over 16 minutes long, and it doesn’t even have the Eric Clapton jam in it. The performance is solid. The Daveisms are funny and are of a special Valentine’s Day variety. Eddie’s playing sometimes is a little off…the intro to Girl Gone Bad, the excessively long “Little Guitars intro” section of the guitar solo, and the part in Panama going from the “She’s runnin'” part back into the chorus.
Overall, probably one of the top 10 recordings of the 1984 tour.
Credits:
Thanks to Tim O. in New York for this.
Brought to you by Lou
Awesome. Thanks for posting!
Great concert. The music, while slower than most 1984 nights, sounds on, but when we hear dave’s banter it sounds lower in pitch and slower which makes me believe the whole thing might be runnin’ a little low and slow.