Covering Van Halen concert in Indy Wednesday night

Do reviewers have a "no cheering rule?" Yeah - agreed. But concert reviewers don't have work their way up reviewing high school concerts and hearing parents complain that the freshman band tries just as hard.

 

We have a "culture" editor who covers most of the rock and such that come through here...one of the other sports slot guys is the country music writer.
What he does is pays attention to the set list, maybe if something is said on stage that is worthwhile.
Basically, in sports terms...a running gamer with a nice lede.
Getting background info ahead of time helps as well.
He usually pounds out 10-12 inches on deadline and write a bigger review for the web.

Here is an example of the Shelton concert (again, this was for web, it was shorter in the paper): http://www.toledoblade.com/Music-Theater-Dance/2012/01/13/Shelton-rocks-the-Huntington-Center.html

 

You'd be surprised. Not rocket science, but as noted by spike, there's a lot to get in in a short amount of space. Which is no different than anything else, except there's typically a lot more color in a concert than a ballgame.

Then again, if you're only a casual fan. you'll probably have an easier time than some diehard trying to explain awesomeness in 12 inches. Have fun. I loathe how the Van Halen dipshits have treated Michael Anthony so I refuse to buy the new CD or see them live. Wouldn't turn down a free ticket though!

 

Saw them last night in Detroit - great show if you like VH. I've only reviewed one concert professionally — Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp's group The Wreckers at the county fair here. I'm not really a country fan, but I felt I have enough of a music background from listening and playing to be able to tell what sounds good. And I know Branch's solo work well enough to know what a lot of the songs were.

So if you think you can tell when music sounds good - in tune, everyone playing the same tempo, etc. - and if the technical stuff seems to be happening in sync with the music, you should be fine, even if you don't know the band very well. But since you know VH, you'll know if they sound anything like what you expect. It probably helps readers who are unfamiliar with the act to compare the sound to something tangible, too.

As far as cheering goes, if you're in the audience, I doubt anyone will care. If you're with other reporters, you probably should hold back on the cheering and singing along. I don't know if they'll put you in a suite or near the soundboard or in the press box or what having never covered an arena show before. You may be too busy writing down the titles and any notes about some aspect of the performance to be able to do much cheering. Hopefully you won't be near people who feel they have to go out to the bathroom or concessions every 15 minutes like some of the people near me last night. And these were people who paid $165 a ticket - they probably missed a third of the show.

And, yeah, you'll help yourself by writing up some background beforehand about the new album, when the tour started and anything notable from the earlier shows.

As far as what to expect from this particular show, be prepared for the music to start immediately when the house lights go down. They really crank through the songs with very little down time or chit chat from Dave between the songs. And it looks like they're switching up some of the songs, so they may spring a surprise in Indy that they haven't played before on this tour or even since way back in the day.

You may want to say something about Kool & the Gang, too. They're a band people have heard of. Their set isn't very long. I got to the show a little late last night and missed all but the last 30 seconds or so of "Celebration," but they sounded good.

 

I reviewed a few of these big arena/amphitheater shows years ago (Ozzy, KISS, Tom Petty, Judas Priest...a few others) and the seats were always decent ones, but varied wildly. Sometimes it was first row, but at the very end of the stage. Other times you were on the side of the floor with a good sight line. Never in anything like a press box. A lot of it depended on your relationship to the publicist and the publicist's relationship to the promoter.

 

Wait, how the hell does Van Halen end up with Kool & the Gang as an opening act? That's the oddest pairing since Springsteen and Anne Murray on the same bill.

 

I don't know. Something about Dave seeing them somewhere recently and thinking they sounded pretty good.

 

How in holy hell is Van Halen playing an arena these days? They should be on the state fair circuit — at best — by now.

 

Seriously?

 

I learned from reading NME and Rolling Stone at the outset of my career that those folks have much more writing game than I do. If you can get your foot in the door, do it.

 

Like, totally.

 

I will say that I tried to find some good old school VH on youtube, and they do seem a lot more dated than most great rock bands. There is nothing on youtube, at least decent, performing in their prime, and if it is, they are all stoned out of their heads.