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Photo by Chad Batka with The New York Times

Photo by Mark Duckworth

The Southerner and the City: An Older Van Halen Does NYC
Mar 02, 2012

“D.J., do you want to go see Van Halen at Madison Square Garden?” said Mark. “Do I have to?” I replied. Needless to say, I was less than enthused about the prospect of an old school style concert experience in 2012. I wasn’t really a big Van Halen fan back in 1984. My brother was a HUGE fan and evidently so was my husband. At that time I was really into Madonna and Prince and not Van Halen, Metallica or any other heavy metal, big-hair bands.

So I did what lots of married women do…I compromised. On Tuesday night, Mark and I headed down to MSG for the show. We were an hour late as the show started at 7:30 and our dinner at Marea ran over a bit. Mark wasn’t as worried as the opening act was Kool and the Gang. I don’t know about you, but that seems like a random combination of bands to me. I would have liked to have heard Kool and the Gang but my John Dory fish entrée was much too good to leave on the table.

I have to say, David Lee Roth and the band sounded really good. For a 56-year-old rocker star, Roth still has an amazing jump-spin high kick that would rival any college cheerleader’s. His high notes didn’t seem as high as before, but he still sounded good. Eddie Van Halen is a fantastic guitar player. I’ve never seen anyone do to a guitar what he did with his guitar.

The real show for me was the crowd. It was funny to see an older crowd watching an older Van Halen. Gone were the skinny young men in muscle t-shirts sporting a mullet and smoking various forms of tobacco. Instead, there was a sold out crowd of middle aged fans with less hair, an expanded physique and not as much pot smoking going on. If you can, imagine MSG packed with 40-something-year-old men all doing the head banging action for an hour and a half with numerous fist pumps into the air. And when the band started their classic song, Jump, everyone did has recommended and, well, jumped! Again, another hilarious sight to see!

The whole experience quickly took me back to memories of my life in Carlisle, Arkansas in the mid 80’s. What a crazy time! Junior high school, baton twirling practice, first loves, piano lessons, driving the back roads of Lonoke County and all sorts of insane, irresponsible things that teen agers do. Luckily I lived through them all and am here to give you this report! After listening to the lyrics again, I honestly can’t believe Mom allowed us to listen to Van Halen’s music at the time. Or Madonna’s or Prince’s music for that matter either. I mean Madonna’s Like a Virgin and Darling Nikki by Prince are not exactly easy listening for teenagers!

As for the compromise I made with Mark? I went to see Van Halen with him. He is going to see Madonna with me in September at Yankee Stadium. I’ll let you know if he tries to find a way out that date!

To read more about D.J.’s adventure in the Big Apple check out her blog at www.djduckworthyoga.com/blog Follow her on twitter @mrsdjduckworth and on Facebook at dj.c.duckworth

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