Van Halen - 1982-09-15 - Cow Palace, Daly City, CA (AUD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

15 September 1982

Venue: Cow Palace

Location: Daly City / San Francisco, California

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage: Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Little Guitars

09 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

10 Bass Solo (cut)

11 Cathedral (cut)

12 Secrets

13 Drum Solo II

14 Everybody Wants Some!!

15 Dave Talks (cut)

16 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise)

17 Dance The Night Away

18 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

19 Intruder

20 Pretty Woman

21 Guitar Solo

22 D.O.A.

23 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

24 Bottoms Up!

25 You Really Got Me (cut)

Notes:

Here we have a totally unheard, uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Daly City (San Francisco area) during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. This is the second of two consecutive nights Van Halen played at the Cow Palace in 1982. It's worth noting that an audience recording of this show does also exist in circulation.

This is a fairly special show for various reasons. For starters, the sound mix of this soundboard recording is very good. The band also seems to be in an extra good mood, and with a lot of high energy in their performance.

The first standout difference of note is during the breakdown of Romeo Delight, Dave sings the "feel my heart beat... feel my heart beat..." lines heard in the studio version, something he isn't known to ever sing during this tour. A bit over halfway into Little Guitars, Eddie's guitar starts to get a bit weird and sounding out of tune for the rest of the song. It seems like he's trying to figure out how to play the parts with a broken string, but is unable to get it quite right. During Cathedral there is a sudden reverbing WOMP and Eddie stops playing for a few seconds. An attendee account reports that someone in the audience had thrown an orange and managed to make a direct hit on the guitar strings, which followed with Eddie raising his hands in the air in a "come on" motion.

Right as the band is going into the talking interlude of Everybody Wants Some, Mike and Dave seem to be commenting on something being done by Ed or Alex. Mike says "crazy mother f'er", and Dave says "look at this mother f'er's eyes". Not long after Dave starts into his storytime about the girl in the hotel, he pauses and says "I'm going to throw your ass in the audience". Without a visual or a fan recollection, it's hard to know for sure what was going on here, but it all adds to the unique mood of the show.

Later during the jam of Somebody Get Me A Doctor, Dave starts making all sorts of noises along with the music, along with some screams. During Intruder the synth parts sound noticeably different, and the explanation is that the synth's waveform mode was set to square wave instead of sawtooth wave, making this a cool unique version. Then during the breakdown of Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, Eddie plays a unique little guitar bit that sounds sort of similar to Cathedral.

This show is also significant due to the fact it is very last known performance of D.O.A. not only for the tour, but for the rest of the band's history. While there is no known recording for the next show in Las Vegas, audience or otherwise, all recordings from El Paso and onward no longer have D.O.A. in the setlist. As a side note, there is a fan story that Dave fainted off to the side of the drum kit during the Las Vegas show, leading Mike to do lead vocals during Somebody Get Me A Doctor. It could be assumed that may be a reason they shortened the set with one less song. If anyone can materialize an audience recording of the Vegas show, it would be a great historical document to have!

As usual, Roy paused the tape during the break where Dave would give an extended talk to the crowd prior to Jamie's Cryin'. This tape has very unusual cut, with the tape being randomly paused about halfway into Mike's bass solo, so is sadly missing all of Hang 'Em High, then starts recording again approx 52 seconds into Cathedral. The first side of the 90 minute master tape runs out during Dave's storytime interlude of Everybody Wants Some, missing about 2 minutes total before being flipped. Roy pauses the tape after Somebody Get Me A Doctor, so does not capture Dave's acoustic solo or Ice Cream Man. The recording starts again about 10.5 seconds before the start of Intruder. The tape is paused again during both encore breaks. The tape runs out right near the end of the first part of You Really Got Me, so does not capture Happy Trails or the reprise of You Really Got Me.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-09-14 - Daly City, CA (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

14 September 1982

Venue: Cow Palace

Location: Daly City / San Francisco, California

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage: Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Little Guitars

09 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

10 Bass Solo

11 Hang 'Em High

12 Cathedral

13 Secrets

14 Drum Solo II

15 Everybody Wants Some!! (cut)

16 Dave Talks

17 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise)

18 Dance The Night Away

19 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

20 Intruder

21 Pretty Woman

22 Guitar Solo

23 D.O.A.

24 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

25 Bottoms Up!

26 You Really Got Me (cut)

Notes:

Here we have a totally unheard, uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Daly City (San Francisco area) during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. This is the first of two consecutive nights Van Halen played at the Cow Palace in 1982. It's worth noting that an audience recording of this show does also exist in circulation.

Despite a newspaper review claiming they played Atomic Punk at this show, unfortunately that was not the case. Old newspaper reviews are known for occasional glaring errors, which is proven to be the case here, since this soundboard recording, as well the audience recording of the entire show, both only show evidence that it was the same standard 1982 setlist.

As usual, Roy paused the tape during the break where Dave would give an extended talk to the crowd prior to Jamie's Cryin'. The first side of the 90 minute master tape runs out only about 29 seconds into Everybody Wants Some, while the second side starts right near the beginning of Dave's storytime interlude. Roy pauses the tape after Somebody Get Me A Doctor, so does not capture Dave's acoustic solo or Ice Cream Man. The recording starts again right at the start of Intruder. The tape is paused again during both encore breaks, although the pause before Bottoms Up is only very brief and captures most of the downtime. The tape runs out only about 38 seconds into You Really Got Me, so does not capture Happy Trails or the reprise of You Really Got Me.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-09-11 - The Forum, Inglewood, CA (FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

11 September 1982

Venue: The Forum

Location: Inglewood, California

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage: Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Little Guitars

09 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

10 Bass Solo

11 Hang 'Em High

12 Cathedral

13 Secrets

14 Drum Solo II

15 Everybody Wants Some!!

16 Dave Talks (cut)

17 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise)

18 Dance The Night Away

19 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

20 Pretty Woman (cut)

21 Guitar Solo

22 D.O.A.

23 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

24 Bottoms Up!

25 You Really Got Me (cut)

Notes:

Here we have a totally unheard, uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Inglewood (Los Angeles area) during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. This is the third of three consecutive nights Van Halen played at The Forum in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously. However, it is worth noting that an audience recording does circulate of the previous night at The Forum.

During Dave's interlude of Everybody Wants Some, from what we can interpret from his commentary, it seems that a woman from the crowd was taken backstage by the crew. Whether she ran on stage, or this was one of Van Halen's infamous shenanigans, it's hard to know for sure.

As usual, Roy paused the tape during break where Dave would give an extended talk to the crowd prior to Jamie's Cryin'. The first side of the 90 minute master tape runs out at the very end of the first part of Everybody Wants Some, while the second side starts partway into Dave's storytime interlude. Roy pauses the tape after Somebody Get Me A Doctor, so does not capture Dave's acoustic solo, Ice Cream Man, or Intruder. The recording starts again about 47 seconds into Pretty Woman. The tape is paused again during both encore breaks. The tape runs out during the first part You Really Got Me, so does not capture Happy Trails or the reprise of You Really Got Me.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-09-07 - Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, AZ (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

7 September 1982

Venue: Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Location: Phoenix, Arizona

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage: Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Little Guitars

09 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

10 Bass Solo

11 Hang 'Em High

12 Cathedral

13 Secrets

14 Drum Solo II

15 Everybody Wants Some!! (cut)

16 Dance The Night Away

17 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

18 Dave Acoustic Solo

19 Ice Cream Man

20 Intruder

21 Pretty Woman

22 Guitar Solo

23 D.O.A.

24 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

25 Bottoms Up! (cut)

Notes:

Here we have a totally unheard, uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Phoenix during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously.

For the most part, this is a very strong show for the band, with lots of great live versions of songs. The sound mix has some pretty unique aspects here, such as the effects on Dave's vocals during Hang 'Em High. Eddie's backing vocals are also more prominent than usual throughout the show. Often times you'll hear this cool stereo separation with Mike's backing vocals on left and Eddie's backing vocals on right. There's also a decent amount of audible audience noise captured in mix. It really seems that Roy felt like experimenting with the sound on this night in Phoenix. For some reason he also recorded this show with noise reduction, something he never really did before or afterwards.

As this bit shows up at random points on random nights, it's interesting to note that Dave throws out his "I'm gonna f your girlfriend" bit during his acoustic solo prior Ice Cream Man, this time purportedly about someone "throwing bottles" on stage.

As usual, Roy paused the tape during break where Dave would give an extended talk to the crowd prior to Jamie's Cryin'. The first side of the 90 minute master tape runs out near the end of the first part of Everybody Wants Some, while the second side starts near end of Dave's storytime interlude, so the majority of that segment is missing. There's a short unusual cut near end of Ice Cream Man, when the band stops playing where Dave usually does his drawn out "g-g-g-guaranteed" thing, but the recording starts again pretty quickly before the song ends. There is one more tape pause during encore break before Bottoms Up. The tape runs out before the ending of Bottoms Up, so does not capture the second encore with You Really Got Me and Happy Trails.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-08-21 - Richfield Coliseum, Richfield, OH (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

21 August 1982

Venue: Richfield Coliseum

Location: Richfield, Ohio

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Little Guitars (cut)

08 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

09 Bass Solo

10 Hang 'Em High

11 Cathedral

12 Secrets

13 Drum Solo II

14 Everybody Wants Some!!

15 Dave Talks

16 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise)

17 Dance The Night Away

18 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

19 Intruder

20 Pretty Woman

21 Guitar Solo

22 D.O.A.

23 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

24 Bottoms Up!

25 You Really Got Me (cut)

26 Happy Trails

27 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here we have a totally unheard, uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Richfield (near Cleveland) during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously.

This show features something very unique during the Doctor / Glad jam, which would slowly evolve and extend over the course of the tour. Exclusively here in Richfield, Eddie plays a bit of Panama, showing us just how early the idea for the song was in his head.

Unfortunately this show is as close to a trainwreck as you'll get. No doubt it'll be the worst you'll hear from this tour. It's hard to not write an essay pointing out every little issue, so I tried to keep it summarized. It's really something you have to experience yourself.

This is easily the worst night for Dave the entire tour. It's hard to be sure if he had a cold, as there were subtle signs of this a week prior in Detroit. Perhaps it's a combination of that, and/or substance abuse. Throughout the show you will hear various instances where he's really struggling, often times not even trying to hit the notes, rather just sort of speaking through the lyrics. Even Eddie isn't totally on point tonight, throughout the show there are instances where he fumbles his parts. Not all the issues are his fault though, which comes to the biggest flaw with this show: the sound system.

There's no explanation for what was going on with the sound system tonight, but it is certain that all the issues noticeably plagued this concert, for the crew, band, and audience. For the first few songs, and at some points later, there is a constant clicking noise, which I believe is related to one of the drum mics. Secondly, the mix is awful. The vocal and instrument levels are individually at times either loud and blown out, or very quiet, sometimes nearly inaudible. Sometimes the levels go up and down during a single song. A good example is Unchained, which has weird wavering. Another good example is The Full Bug, which is further plagued by mic feedback. Other notable examples are the guitar dropout during Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, and the delays prior to Happy Trails. During Eddie's guitar solo there are parts where he starts having issues, and pauses longer than he usually would.

The climax of these issues start being heard during Cathedral, then right as they start Secrets, the issues finally derail the show. Ed's guitar isn't coming through, causing the band to stop playing. Dave tries to play it off and blame the sound crew, but it doesn't hide the fact that the entire night had been cursed. Perhaps all the issues during this show in Richfield could've been due to exhaustion of the band and sound crew, having been the fifth night in a row without a day off. This was also the last show of the first leg of the tour, until resuming on the west coast on September 1st.

Interestingly, this was the only tape in Roy's collection that was unlabeled. Perhaps he intended to record over it. Perhaps he didn't want to remember it, which clearly wasn't a shining moment for his career.

The first cut in the recording is where Roy would often pause to save space, during the break where Dave would talk to the crowd following Runnin' With The Devil. It seems on this night that he must've forgotten to start recording again, since it cuts Jamie's Cryin' and the first half of Little Guitars. The first side of the 90 minute master tape ends during Dave's Everybody Wants Some storytime interlude, though the tape is flipped very quickly and not missing much. Roy later paused the tape after Somebody Get Me A Doctor, so did not capture any of Dave's acoustic solo or Ice Cream Man. The tape starts again in time for Intruder. Lastly, Roy paused during the encore breaks, but forgot to start again in time, so most of the first part of You Really Got Me is cut.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-08-13 - Cobo Hall Arena, Detroit, MI (AUD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

13 August 1982

Venue: Cobo Hall Arena

Location: Detroit, Michigan

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Dave Talks (cut)

08 Jamie's Cryin'

09 Little Guitars

10 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

11 Bass Solo

12 Hang 'Em High

13 Cathedral

14 Secrets

15 Drum Solo II

16 Everybody Wants Some!!

17 Dave Talks

18 Everybody Wants Some!!

19 Dance The Night Away

20 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

21 Dave Acoustic Solo (cut)

22 Pretty Woman

23 Guitar Solo

24 D.O.A.

25 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

Notes:

Here we have a totally unheard, uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Detroit during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. This is the first of three consecutive nights Van Halen played at Cobo Hall Arena in 1982. It's worth noting that an audience recording of both this show and the second night do exist in circulation.

This is the same night that Life Magazine photographers attended a concert to take photos that would later appear in their November 1982 issue. During the interlude where Dave talks between Runnin' With The Devil and Jamie's Cryin', he draws a lot of attention towards the photographers being there. Some of the photos that can be seen in the magazine show a girl who ran on stage to grab Dave, who was then quickly grabbed by security. There is actually a silent Super 8 film of this concert that just so happens to capture this very incident. By comparing the choreographed movements of the band, it's clear this happens immediately before the final verses of Everybody Wants Some, prior to Dave's storytime interlude.

While it is an overall strong show, Dave shows subtle signs of possibly having a cold. This can be suggested by the slight rasp in his voice at times, struggling a bit more than usual, and a cough during his Everybody Wants Some storytime. The reason this felt worthy of note, perhaps not only as minor defense for Dave against those who like to rag on him, but whatever underlying health issue he may have had during this show becomes greatly pronounced in a recording from about a week later in Richfield.

The first cut in the recording is where Roy would often pause to save space, during the lengthy break where Dave would talk to the crowd before Jamie's Cryin'. However, he turns the tape back on right as Dave is about to mention Life Magazine, lets it roll a while, then stops the tape again after that topic passes. He starts recording again immediately before the band is about to start playing Jamie. This interlude, which is only approx 2m40s in this recording, is revealed to have been about 6m40s in length when comparing to the audience recording.

The first side of the 90 minute master tape ends during the second drum solo (aka Dave's "tai chi dance"), however the tape is flipped very quickly and starts again a few seconds before they go into Everybody Wants Some. Roy pauses again later, about 50 seconds into Dave's acoustic solo, then starts back recording right before Pretty Woman. Due to this, the recording is ultimately missing Ice Cream Man and all but 8 seconds of Intruder. The second side of the tape ends after Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love concludes, so is missing the encores with Bottoms Up, You Really Got Me, and Happy Trails.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Van Halen - 1982-08-10 - St. Paul Civic Center, St. Paul, MN (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

10 August 1982

Venue: St. Paul Civic Center

Location: St. Paul, Minnesota

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Little Guitars

09 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

10 Bass Solo

11 Hang 'Em High

12 Cathedral

13 Secrets

14 Drum Solo II

15 Everybody Wants Some!!

16 Dave Talks (cut)

17 Dance The Night Away

18 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

19 Dave Acoustic Solo

20 Ice Cream Man

21 Intruder

22 Pretty Woman

23 Guitar Solo

24 D.O.A.

25 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

26 Bottoms Up!

27 You Really Got Me (cut)

Notes:

Here we have a totally unheard, uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in St. Paul during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously.

During the breakdown of Unchained, Dave plays out his rarer routine that is seemingly prompted when people are making a mess on the stage, in this case towards someone throwing beer. As his usual comeback goes, he delivers the "after the show I'm gonna f his girlfriend" line.

Probably not too significant of note, but Secrets starts a bit late with a weird build up, as if Eddie was having some sort of issue with his yellow Kramer doubleneck guitar.

The first cut in the recording is where Roy would often pause to save space, during the lengthy break where Dave would talk to the crowd before Jamie's Cryin'. The first side of the 90 minute master tape ends partway into Dave's story-time interlude during Everybody Wants Some. The second side of the master tape starts at the final few ending notes of the reprise of Everybody Wants Some, so the reprise is essentially missing. There are short tape pauses during the encore breaks, but no music missing except the Growth intro to You Really Got Me, hence the abrupt start. The second side of the tape ends barely a minute into You Really Got Me, so is missing Happy Trails and the reprise of You Really Got Me.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-08-08 - Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, NE (OAM/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

8 August 1982

Venue: Omaha Civic Auditorium Arena

Location: Omaha, Nebraska

Source: Open-Air Microphone (Master)

Lineage: Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Little Guitars

09 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

10 Bass Solo

11 Hang 'Em High

12 Cathedral

13 Secrets

14 Drum Solo II

15 Everybody Wants Some!! (cut)

16 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad (cut)

17 Guitar Solo (cut)

18 D.O.A.

19 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

20 Bottoms Up!

21 You Really Got Me

22 Happy Trails

23 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

24 Outro Music

Notes:

Here we have a totally unheard, uncirculated open-mic recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Omaha during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously.

This is what could be considered an "official audience recording", having been recorded with an open-mic right next to the soundboard / mixing desk. This is definitely a great recording, very similar to the Knoxville open-mic tape. Don't be fooled by the "Backstage" Open Air Mic from Toronto 1982 that was shared last year, which was overall pretty bad. Unlike Toronto, where both the soundboard was recorded while an open-mic was also seemingly obscured elsewhere to record, none of Roy's other open-mic recordings have a paired soundboard version.

A minor unique thing of note in this show, when the band comes back on stage for the final encore for You Really Got Me, Dave first says "Hello! I'm Dave Roth, and this is VAN HALEN!", something he never seems to have done at other shows during the tour.

Like the Rockford soundboard, this is also one of the few tapes that captures the "outro music" that plays over the speakers after the band walks off stage, a song called "Imitation" by Kid Creole and the Coconuts.

What will become common with many later recordings, to save space, Roy stopped the tape temporarily during the lengthy break where Dave would talk to the crowd before Jamie's Cryin'. The first side of the 90 minute master tape ends barely two minutes into Everybody Wants Some, so is missing all of Dave's tangent about the girl in the bar, and the song's reprise, as well as Dance The Night Away. The second side of the master tape starts about a minute into Somebody Get Me A Doctor. After the song ends, Roy temporarily stopped the recording again, and must've forgot to turn it back on because it doesn't start again until over half way into Eddie's guitar solo. Due to that, this recording does not capture Dave's acoustic solo, Ice Cream Man, Intruder, or Pretty Woman. Once the tape starts again during the guitar solo, the remainder of the concert is all captured, only having short tape pauses during the encore breaks, something else Roy would start doing to save space.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-08-06 - The Checkerdome, St. Louis, MO (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

6 August 1982

Venue: The Checkerdome

Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage: Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Dave Talks

08 Jamie's Cryin'

09 Little Guitars

10 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

11 Bass Solo

12 Hang 'Em High

13 Cathedral

14 Secrets

15 Drum Solo II

16 Everybody Wants Some!!

17 Dave Talks

18 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise)

19 Dance The Night Away

20 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

21 Dave Acoustic Solo

22 Ice Cream Man

23 Intruder

24 Pretty Woman

25 Guitar Solo

26 D.O.A. (cut)

Notes:

Here we have a totally unheard, uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in St. Louis during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously.

At the very end of Where Have All The Good Times Gone, Dave abruptly ends the song to act out one of his rarer routines about people throwing things on the stage. The act seems to be prompted by a legitimate mess being made, but when it happens Dave always likes to play it up. In this case in St. Louis, he doesn't throw in the "I know who it is, and after the show I'm gonna f your girlfriend" line, which later on in the tour is a standard part of this routine.

The first side of the 90 minute master tape ends right after Secrets, and luckily Roy flipped the tape quickly enough to not miss anything in between. The second side of the master tape ends near the end of D.O.A., so is sadly yet another incomplete recording of the song, and ultimately is missing Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, Bottoms Up, You Really Got Me, and Happy Trails.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings.

Van Halen - 1982-08-03 - Rockford, IL (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

3 August 1982

Venue: Rockford MetroCentre

Location: Rockford, Illinois

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage: Maxell UDXL-I C-60 cassettes (x2) > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24 bit - 96 khz) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Dave Talks

08 Jamie's Cryin'

09 Little Guitars

10 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

11 Bass Solo

12 Hang 'Em High

13 Cathedral

14 Secrets

15 Drum Solo II

16 Everybody Wants Some!!

17 Dave Talks

18 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise)

19 Dance The Night Away

20 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

21 Dave Acoustic Solo

22 Ice Cream Man

23 Intruder

24 Pretty Woman

25 Guitar Solo

26 D.O.A. (cut)

27 Bottoms Up!

28 You Really Got Me

29 Happy Trails

30 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

31 Outro Music

Notes:

Here we have a totally unheard, uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Rockford during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously.

It's a bit of an unusual night for Eddie, as he fumbles over his guitar parts on a few occasions throughout the show. The synth on Intruder even gets fumbled, which I believe was done by Dave. These little hiccups naturally don't wreck the show, unlike some dates later in the tour, but it is interesting to note in comparison to other shows. There are still plenty fun performances here, and overall what seems to be a pretty good sound mix.

Notably, this is the very first show where Dave expands the little "how much are you willing to give" interlude during Everybody Wants Some into his lengthy tangent about meeting a girl in the bar and going back to the hotel room, teasing the lighting crew, etc. This tangent would continue to evolve in little ways as the tour progressed.

Another fact of note, this is the first show of the tour where the short, seconds-long "Growth" is played as an intro to You Really Got Me. This would continue through 1982 and would sometimes be done as an intro to Bottoms Up instead. For those who don't know, Growth is a short hidden track at the end of the Women And Children First album.

This recording is one of a small handful of tapes that captures the rarely heard "outro music" that plays over the speakers at the end of the show after the band walks off stage. While this may seem insignificant, I'm not even sure if the outro music has ever been heard before in any Diver Down audience recordings. In all instances this outro is captured, the song that can be heard playing is called "Imitation" by Kid Creole and the Coconuts. Knowing Dave's taste in music, this seems likely to be a song he picked out. Here in Rockford only, 20 seconds of a second outro song can be heard at the end, which is called "Harder Than Diamond" by Chubby Checker. With the small handful of tapes later in the tour that also capture the outro music, those all have Van Halen's own Big Bad Bill as the second outro song instead.

This recording is one of only three shows where Roy chose to use 60 minute tapes instead of his usual choice of a single 90 minute tape. Unlike the show in Louisville, Roy ran two 60 minute tapes in Fort Wayne and Rockford, allowing him to capture nearly the entire setlist at these two shows. While this Rockford recording is nearly complete, there are a few notable cuts.

The first side of the first 60 minute master tape runs out during Where Have All The Good Times Gone, but luckily Roy flipped the tape quickly enough to still capture the most of the song. The second side of the first tape ends right after Dance The Night Away, while the first side of the second 60 minute master tape starts right at the beginning Somebody Get Me A Doctor. The first side of the second tape ends near the end of D.O.A., so is sadly missing the end of the song and Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love. The second side of the second tape starts at the beginning of Bottoms Up, and runs through capturing the remainder of the concert.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-07-31 - Fort Wayne Coliseum, Fort Wayne, IN (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

31 July 1982

Venue: Fort Wayne Coliseum

Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage: Maxell UDXL-I C-60 cassettes (x2) > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24 bit - 96 khz) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Dave Talks

08 Jamie's Cryin'

09 Little Guitars

10 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

11 Bass Solo

12 Hang 'Em High

13 Cathedral

14 Secrets

15 Drum Solo II

16 Everybody Wants Some!!

17 Dance The Night Away

18 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

19 Dave Acoustic Solo

20 Ice Cream Man

21 Intruder

22 Pretty Woman

23 Guitar Solo

24 D.O.A.

25 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

26 Bottoms Up!

27 You Really Got Me

28 Happy Trails

29 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here we have a totally unheard, uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Fort Wayne during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously. This is the second earliest date documented to feature the standard 1982 setlist arrangement, which was significantly reorganized sometime between July 27th and 30th, while the earliest dates of the tour were notably structured differently. Additionally, like all shows with this setlist structure, the set includes D.O.A., a song which was permanently dropped after the middle of September.

This recording is one of only three shows where Roy chose to use 60 minute tapes instead of his usual choice of a single 90 minute tape. Unlike the night prior in Louisville, Roy ran two 60 minute tapes in Fort Wayne and Rockford, allowing him to capture the entire setlist at these two shows. Despite capturing the full setlist, there are still some minor cuts due to the tape flips.

The first side of the first 60 minute master tape runs out right after Little Guitar ends, only cutting out a small piece of Dave's banter between songs. The second side of the first tape ends right after Dance The Night Away, while the first side of the second 60 minute master tape starts only about 30 seconds into the beginning Somebody Get Me A Doctor. The first side of the second tape ends near the end of D.O.A., so the song sadly does have a short cut too, but luckily Roy flipped the tape quickly enough to still capture the remainder of the song. The second side of the second tape runs through the end and captures the remainder of the concert.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-07-30 - Louisville, KY (SBD/FLAC) 24-96

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

30 July 1982

Venue: Freedom Hall

Location: Louisville, Kentucky

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage: Maxell UDXL-I C-60 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Dave Talks

02 Jamie's Cryin'

03 Little Guitars

04 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

05 Bass Solo

06 Hang 'Em High

07 Cathedral

08 Secrets

09 Drum Solo II

10 Everybody Wants Some!! (cut)

11 Dance The Night Away

12 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

13 Dave Acoustic Solo

14 Ice Cream Man

15 Intruder

16 Pretty Woman

17 Guitar Solo

18 D.O.A. (cut)

Notes:

Here we have a totally unheard, uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Louisville during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. This is the earliest date documented to feature the standard 1982 setlist arrangement, which was significantly reorganized sometime between July 27th and 30th, while the earliest dates of the tour were notably structured differently. Additionally, like all shows from this date until the middle of September, the setlist includes D.O.A., a song which is not known to have been played since the first night of 1979 tour.

Unfortunately, this recording is relatively short and incomplete, due to having been recorded on a single 60 minute tape, and for some reason Roy started recording about 18 minutes late into the show. However, an old circulating audience recording DOES exist, which is complete.

This soundboard recording starts significantly late, right after Runnin' With The Devil would've concluded, when Dave does his first lengthy interlude to interact with the audience. The first side of the 60 minute master tape runs out right after the first part of Everybody Wants Some, just as Dave is about to do his short "we take it for granted that everybody wants some, but the question to ask ourselves is how much are you willing to give" interlude. While no songs are missing in between, we're still missing the ending of Everybody Wants Some, with the second side of the tape starting again just in time for Dance The Night Away. The second side of the 60 minute master tape sadly ends only about a minute into D.O.A., so is missing Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, Bottoms Up, You Really Got Me, and Happy Trails.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Van Halen - 1982-07-24 - Biloxi, MS (SBD/FLAC) 24-96

Van Halen

24 July 1982

Venue: Mississippi Coast Coliseum

Location: Biloxi, Mississippi

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Romeo Delight (cut)

02 Unchained

03 Drum Solo

04 Dance The Night Away

05 Runnin' With The Devil

06 Dave Talks

07 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

08 Hang 'Em High

09 Little Guitars

10 Bass Solo

11 Jamie's Cryin'

12 Dave Acoustic Solo

13 Ice Cream Man

14 Somebody Get Me A Doctor (cut)

15 Cathedral (cut)

16 Secrets

17 Drum Solo II

18 Everybody Wants Some!!

19 Intruder

20 Pretty Woman

21 Guitar Solo

22 Keep Playin' That Rock N Roll

23 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

24 Bottoms Up!

25 You Really Got Me

26 Happy Trails

27 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here we have a totally unheard, uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Biloxi during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously. Due to being so early in the tour, this is one of very few recordings that documents this earlier setlist arrangement, which would soon be significantly reorganized sometime between July 27th and 30th.

The true treasure of this recording, making it likely the most special of any of these 1982 live tapes, is the super rare appearance of Keep Playin' That Rock N Roll, an Edgar Winter song that Van Halen played during their early local gigging days prior to their debut album. The song is played where Bottoms Up would usually be slotted in the setlist, with Bottoms Up being pushed down to the first encore where The Full Bug would usually be slotted in the early setlist arrangement. In effect, The Full Bug was not played on this night in Biloxi. It's been known that Van Halen would throw curveball songs into their setlists on very rare occasion, however this song has not previously been known to be one of them.

There are only three other dates confirmed to have had VH perform Keep Playin' That Rock N Roll, all preceding their debut album. One is from the Pasadena Hilton on June 13th 1975, and is an excellent soundboard recording of the band's early years. The next is a really short version from Gazzarri's in West Hollywood on an unconfirmed 1975 date, and the other is from the Eros and Bogart's bar in San Bernardino on September 18th 1976, but the latter is simply unlistenable (and I don't say that easily about bootleg recordings).

While the song had never been known to have been played after the release of their first album, an attendee who was at the August 30th 1981 Fair Warning show in Nashville claims they opened the show with Keep Playin' That Rock N Roll instead of On Fire. While that can't be totally confirmed without finding a recording of that concert, it's not an impossible claim, seeing as this Biloxi 1982 tape now confirms this song in particular was in VH's arsenal of potential curveball rarities.

This Biloxi recording starts a bit late, a little over a minute into Romeo Delight, but over half of the song was still captured. The first side of the 90 minute master tape runs only about 35 seconds into Somebody Get Me A Doctor, and while no songs are missing in between, it seems it took a while to realize to flip the tape because the second side doesn't start again until about a minute into Cathedral. Luckily, this recording captures the remainder of concert.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Van Halen - 1983-05-21 - Los Angeles, CA (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit Rehearsal

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen (US Festival Rehearsal)

21 May 1983

Venue: A&M Studios Soundstage

Location: Los Angeles, California

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Dave's Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Dave's US Festival Story

08 Jamie's Cryin'

09 So This Is Love?

10 Little Guitars

11 Bass Solo

12 Dancing In The Street

13 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / Girl Gone Bad (cut)

14 Cathedral

15 Secrets

16 Drum Solo II

17 Everybody Wants Some!!

18 Dave's Wozniak Song

19 Ice Cream Man

20 Intruder

21 Pretty Woman

22 Guitar Solo

23 You Really Got Me

24 Happy Trails

25 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here is an uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing a private Van Halen show in front of a small audience during their rehearsals for the US Festival. This is the final recording from the collection of VH's then-front-of-house sound engineer, Roy.

As spoken by Dave, this particular performance occurred on a Saturday, and was the final rehearsal before the US Festival that was set to take place "next weekend". This provides us with a concrete date of May 21, while Roy's tape was simply labeled "Rehearsal US Fest". So where did this show take place? Apparently the band rehearsed for a few weeks, starting out at their usual rehearsal spot at Zoetrope Studios, however at some point during the weeks, they relocated to A&M Studios, specifically on the A&M Soundstage which is where this performance took place. Very special thanks to Van Halen historian Greg Renoff for helping solve the "where".

The story that has been told before, is that after the band concluded their South American tour and headed home, Dave stayed behind in South America to explore the Amazon jungle with a group of friends. Some weeks later, after the rest of the band had settled on the initial $1 million deal to perform at the US Festival, it is said that it took many days to locate Dave deep in the jungle, so that he could come home to finalize the deal and start rehearsals.

While this was a private show, it is essentially like any other concert as far as the show structure and performance goes. This time however, Dave shows off his comedy skills in full glory, making this a very fun and unique listen, perhaps rivaling the final show in Buenos Aires over three months earlier. Where he would usually first talk to the crowd prior to Jamie's Cryin', here we get a comedic backstory to the US Festival gig. Then where it is usually the acoustic spot before Ice Cream Man, we get some funny lyrics from Dave poking fun at Steve Wozniak, who for anyone that doesn't know was a cofounder of Apple, and founder of the US Festivals. Dave joking about Steve is a recurring theme through the show, alongside other comedic bits. Another standout moment is Ed's "little guitar" seemingly having some strings out of tune for Little Guitars.

If we look at the setlist, it has been shortened and shuffled a bit since South America, but is the same arrangement as what was performed at the actual US Festival show on May 29. The only difference here is Dance The Night Away seemingly being missing due to the tape flip, because in typical Roy fashion, his usual choice of a 90 minute tape ran out during the jam section of Somebody Get Me A Doctor. Luckily, we get to hear the full Girl Gone Bad segment before the tape stops, which has evolved even more since the final show in South America. Dance The Night Away should've followed, but he didn't flip the tape and start recording again until during Cathedral. Nothing else is missing, and while at a glance it may look like Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love and Bottoms Up are cut, it's because the band just didn't play those at this rehearsal, and instead went straight into You Really Got Me.

This is the end. Roy Snyder was Van Halen's front-of-house sound engineer beginning with the rehearsals preceding the start of the Fair Warning tour on May 12 in 1981, up through the US Festival show on May 29 in 1983. The 53 recordings that have been shared over the last year are the majority of what is known to have survived in his collection. We are aware of 9 or 10 Fair Warning 1981 soundboard and open-mic recordings that survived, plus 1982 soundboard tapes for a Diver Down pre-tour rehearsal from July 5, the show in Montreal, and the two shows at the Hollywood Sportatorium. Sadly, someone else bought those around the same time we saved these other 53, but with any luck, there's a slim chance they may turn up one day. Regardless, what we ended up with is a great legacy preserved for both Van Halen and Roy, rest in peace.

Van Halen - 1983-02-12 - Buenos Aires, ARG (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

12 February 1983

Venue: Estadio Obras Sanitarias

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-II C-90 cassettes (x2) > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Dave Talks (cut)

08 Jamie's Cryin' (cut)

09 Little Guitars

10 Bass Solo

11 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

12 Dancing In The Street

13 Little Dreamer

14 So This Is Love? (cut)

15 God Bless The Child / New York, New York

16 Cathedral

17 Secrets

18 Drum Solo II

19 Everybody Wants Some!!

20 Dance The Night Away

21 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

22 Argentina Jam

23 Ice Cream Man

24 Heartbreak Hotel

25 Intruder

26 Pretty Woman

27 Guitar Solo

28 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

29 Bottoms Up!

30 You Really Got Me

31 Happy Trails

32 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here is an uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Buenos Aires during the South American leg of their Diver Down tour in 1983 (No Problem tour). This is the second of two consecutive nights Van Halen played at the Estadio Obras Sanitarias (Obras Stadium). This recording is another from the collection of VH's then-front-of-house sound engineer, Roy. While the proshot video of the first night is well known, no recordings from this second night have circulated previously, audience or otherwise.

This show in Buenos Aires is the grand finale of Van Halen's 1983 "No Problem" tour, and overall finale of the 1982-1983 Diver Down tour, notwithstanding the then-unplanned US Festival gig. The band is in a full-on celebratory mood, easily making the most off-the-rails performance we've heard, with a ton of improv and goofing off. Possibly the most unusual Van Halen concert to ever occur, it's a miracle that it can now be heard.

To list Dave's most notable bits: he starts the show screaming "Van Halen!", his story of "Chew-Me" and "I-Lean" during The Full Bug, his noises during Mike's bass solo, his tangent about dreams and pickles during an extended Little Dreamer, the extended intro to So This Is Love, his rendition of "New York, New York", and extra lyrics prior to Happy Trails. This is also the only South American show with his "forgot the words" routine: "No recuerdo las palabras" during Romeo Delight, then during Where Have All The Good Times Gone he "forgot the words again", adding "but it's the last show, and you probably don't understand English anyway, I know I don't". Further unique parts and humor from Dave, Mike, and Ed are heard throughout the show, such as the recurring word "guido".

As we've seen the Somebody Get Me A Doctor jam regularly evolve over the course of 1982-1983, and including the progressing evolution of Girl Gone Bad, this show also teases House Of Pain. While we know the song dates to the 1970s, its appearance here tells us that its revival for 1984 was likely already being considered.

Following Everybody Wants Some where Alex starts Dance The Night Away, Dave stops to say "you got it right... why not?", then Ed says "It was different last night". While these songs are missing on the first night video, I was recently gifted an uncirculated broadcast recording of the first night that has all missing songs, which reveals Dance The Night Away and Somebody Get Me A Doctor were played in swapped order that night. Both Argentina shows also see the return of Growth, but as an intro to Bottoms Up rather than for You Really Got Me in 1982.

Once again, Roy used two 90 minute tapes to record this show, allowing him to capture most of the show without many major cuts. This is easily Roy's longest recording, and the only one to clock at over two hours. Yet this show still isn't without cuts. Roy did his typical pause partway into Dave's talking segment that precedes Jamie's Cryin', but then missed a chunk of the song before recording again. With all the improv, you can't really blame Roy for not timing his tape flip better, but sadly the first side of the tape runs out during the guitar solo of So This Is Love.

While Summertime Blues can not be confirmed at this unique show, a fan who attended both shows tells me that he recalls the song on both nights. Unlike in Montevideo where the song transitioned from the end of Somebody Get Me A Doctor, in Buenos Aires they did Summertime Blues after So This Is Love. We could assume the song was played before Roy flipped the tape, which is a shame that he'd miss a rare song, but the show easily makes up for the loss. The only other cut worth mentioning is the tape flip after Pretty Woman ends, so misses the first ~45 seconds of Ed's guitar solo, and a pause during Dave's slower acoustic intro to the Argentina ode jam.

While Argentina is mostly free from the date revision chaos that plagued 1983, there was originally a third night set for February 13, and I'm told tickets were sold, but was ultimately cancelled. There was also a planned show in Rosario on February 8 and/or 9, but near assuredly cancelled as there's no evidence it ended up occurring. While on the subject, to amend the notes from Porto Alegre regarding the documentation discrepancies: I want to thank those who lived through it and shared their first hand memories, confidently stating that there was no concert in Belo Horizonte, and that there was only one show in Porto Alegre.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1983-02-05 - Montevideo, UY (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

5 February 1983

Venue: Cilindro Municipal

Location: Montevideo, Uruguay

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-II C-90 cassettes (x2) > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Romeo Delight (cut)

02 Unchained

03 Drum Solo

04 The Full Bug

05 Runnin' With The Devil

06 Dave Talks

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Little Guitars

09 Bass Solo

10 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

11 Dancing In The Street

12 Little Dreamer

13 So This Is Love?

14 God Bless The Child

15 Cathedral

16 Everybody Wants Some!!

17 Dance The Night Away

18 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

19 Summertime Blues

20 Montevideo Jam

21 Ice Cream Man

22 Heartbreak Hotel

23 Intruder

24 Pretty Woman

25 Guitar Solo

26 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

27 Bottoms Up!

28 You Really Got Me

29 Happy Trails

30 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here is an uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Montevideo during the South American leg of their Diver Down tour in 1983 (No Problem tour). This is the one and only night Van Halen played at El Cilindro Municipal (Municipal Cylinder). This recording is another from the collection of VH's then-front-of-house sound engineer, Roy.

This show may not be completely new to a lot of fans, since there has been a recording of a local radio broadcast that has circulated for many decades. This new uncirculated soundboard recording is a completely different source, with much improved audio quality, and features the previously unheard encore missing from the broadcast recording (Bottoms Up, You Really Got Me, Happy Trails). Due to the tape flip however, this new source is missing a small segment that is present on the old source, specifically Secrets and the drum solo intro to Everybody Wants Some. Oddly, both sources start at the same point during the middle break of Romeo Delight. While unconfirmed, to me this could suggest that Roy was once again running his two tape decks consecutively, starting each at the same time, and was overseeing the recording that was to later be used for the broadcast. The copies of the broadcast source that circulate suffer from many issues such as occasional quality changes, muffle, dropouts, stereo shifts, speed issues, and pops, most of which are probably due to what goes around being from degraded bootleg copies several generations down. Luckily, thanks to Roy, that old broadcast source is 'mostly' obsolete now.

This show in Montevideo sees the very first live performance of Dancing In The Street, plus for the first time since 1981, So This Is Love and Summertime Blues make a return to the setlist. These three songs would be part of the setlist for the remainder of the South American tour.

Just as it had been played since Van Halen's early years, Summertime Blues features a special outro jam, which includes a tease of Black Sabbath's Symptom Of The Universe. It's also worth noting that Dance The Night Away ends with Eddie quickly playing a unique riff that seems to be a tease of Keep It Dark from Genesis, and he places more attention on it when doing it again at the start of the jam section during Somebody Get Me A Doctor.

Once again, Roy used two 90 minute tapes to record this show, allowing him to capture most of the show without many major cuts. As mentioned earlier, the only significant cut was during the tape flip at the end of Cathedral, which caused Roy to miss Secrets and the drum solo intro to Everybody Wants Some. The only other minor cut worth mentioning is the quick tape flip during Ed's guitar solo.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1983-02-01 - Porto Alegre, BR (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

Credit to ByTorX1

Van Halen

1 February 1983

Venue: Ginásio do Gigantinho

Location: Porto Alegre, Brazil

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassettes (x2) > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Dave Talks

08 Jamie's Cryin'

09 Little Guitars

10 Bass Solo

11 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

12 Little Dreamer

13 Mean Street

14 God Bless The Child

15 Cathedral

16 Secrets

17 Drum Solo II

18 Everybody Wants Some!!

19 Dance The Night Away

20 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

21 Porto Alegre Jam

22 Ice Cream Man

23 Heartbreak Hotel

24 Intruder

25 Pretty Woman

26 Guitar Solo

27 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

28 Bottoms Up!

29 You Really Got Me

30 Happy Trails

31 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here is an uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Porto Alegre during the South American leg of their Diver Down tour in 1983 (No Problem tour). This is the first of 'potentially' two consecutive nights Van Halen played at the Ginásio do Gigantinho (Gigantinho Gymnasium). This recording is another from the collection of VH's then-front-of-house sound engineer, Roy. No recordings of the show(s) from Porto Alegre have circulated previously, audience or otherwise.

Porto Alegre marks the final 1983 appearance of Mean Street in the setlist, while several other rarer songs would be added after the conclusion of these Brazilian shows. While the setlist is mostly the same as it was in Rio, this show in Porto Alegre sees the first appearance of the more personalized jam, or "ode" as some have called it, that takes place prior to Ice Cream Man, rather than the more simplistic solo spots from Dave that were typically performed. These seem to evoke more of an audience reaction with Dave's lyrical emphasis on where they are playing (e.g. "Oh, Porto"), and will be a setlist trait for the remainder of the South American tour. Like in Rio, Eddie's guitar solo also features a tease of what would soon become the intro of Hot For Teacher. A minor oddity of note, Alex starts into Where Have All The Good Times Gone a bit too soon at the end of Mike's bass solo, and Ed briefly follows suit before they redirect back into the ending flourishes.

Roy used two 90 minute tapes to record this show, allowing him to capture the full show without any major cuts. The only cuts worth mentioning are the quick tape flips during Cathedral and during Ed's guitar solo.

Like most of these South American shows, the Porto Alegre show(s) are also subject to confusion regarding the dates performed. The band's printed itinerary indicates there were two Porto Alegre shows planned for February 1 and 2. When looking at another copy of the itinerary with additional handwritten notes from the band's crew, which has so far made accurate indications of previous 1983 date revisions, it does not provide any signs that the second show was cancelled. Multiple Brazilian newspapers affirm this, even printings up to the day of the February 1 concert mention two shows taking place.

I also want to point out that these same newspapers all mention a previously undocumented show in Belo Horizonte on January 29 listed among the other known Brazilian dates, while a later paper lists the show in the past tense after it would've occurred. The aforementioned band itinerary copy with written notes also marks "play" next to January 29. Before recently, there were zero mentions of this show anywhere online.

The mystery of Belo Horizonte and the second Porto Alegre show are similar. Contrary to all the evidence mentioned above, when looking at a different sheet of paper with handwritten notes from the band's crew, these notes also make indications of tour revisions from Rio and onward. These notes are very detailed, with travel times and flight plans, and suggest the band travelled straight to Porto Alegre from Rio, and after one Porto Alegre show travelled straight to Montevideo. In other words, it makes it seem as if the show in Belo Horizonte and second in Porto Alegre were cancelled. Which set of itinerary revisions is accurate? Chicken or the egg? This is the only discrepancy. With the other South American shows, we have some sort of evidence to confirm each took place, such as tickets, photos, reviews, first-hand accounts, even recordings. The shows in question are the only two lacking any additional solid documentation.

In conclusion, I can not say whether a second show in Porto Alegre or the show in Belo Horizonte took place. The confusion isn't mine alone, as others who have researched these 1983 dates for much longer than I have also share this sentiment. I hope that we can hear from attendees who may remember more details regarding those two shows.

Special thanks to those who provided the itinerary revision documents, which played a big role into the research alongside the newspapers uncovered.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1983-01-27 - Rio de Janeiro, BR (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

27 January 1983

Venue: Ginásio do Maracanãzinho

Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UD 90 cassettes (x2) > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Little Guitars

09 Bass Solo

10 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

11 Little Dreamer

12 Mean Street

13 God Bless The Child

14 Cathedral

15 Secrets

16 Drum Solo II

17 Everybody Wants Some!!

18 Dance The Night Away

19 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

20 Ice Cream Man

21 Heartbreak Hotel

22 Intruder

23 Pretty Woman

24 Guitar Solo

25 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

26 Bottoms Up!

27 You Really Got Me

28 Happy Trails

29 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here is an uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Rio de Janeiro during the South American leg of their Diver Down tour in 1983 (No Problem tour). This is the second of two consecutive nights Van Halen played at the Ginásio do Maracanãzinho (Maracanãzinho Gymnasium). This recording is another from the collection of VH's then-front-of-house sound engineer, Roy. No recordings from either Rio show have circulated previously, audience or otherwise.

In comparison to the previous shows on the South American tour, Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers has sadly already been dropped from the setlist by this second show in Rio, and will not return again later, as other rare songs will soon be added to the setlist after the Brazilian shows conclude. Since we don't have a recording of the previous night in Rio, nor two of the three shows in São Paulo, the exact show at which the song was dropped from the setlist is unknown.

With Beer Drinkers gone, this show sees the first time Where Have All The Good Times Gone is played following Mike's bass solo rather than preceding it. This show also sees the first appearance of Dave's prayer-like version of Billie Holiday's God Bless The Child as a prelude to Cathedral, and Everybody Wants Some no longer having his lengthy talking interlude. All of these particular setlist traits will be seen for the remainder of the 1983 tour.

Oddly, there isn't any sort of Dave solo or special jam played prior to Ice Cream Man during this show, which was otherwise standard on the Diver Down tour. Instead, we just hear Dave say "oh, Mengo" a couple times then start right into Ice Cream Man.

A lengthy story written online by an attendee claims that the first Rio show started with Hear About It Later, rather than Romeo Delight. While unconfirmed, and some may quickly dismiss it, we should consider how frequent the band changed up the setlist over the course of these South American shows. We've also seen during 1981 and 1982 how they would play an odd song on rare occasion. Sadly, a tape of the first night was not found in Roy's collection. With any luck, maybe someone who recorded these shows from the audience will come forward?

Roy used two 90 minute tapes to record this show, both labeled "Rio II", allowing him to capture the full show without any major cuts. The only cuts worth mentioning are the tape flip at the very end of Runnin' With The Devil, a pause during most of Dave's talking segment that followed, and a quick tape flip during the Doctor jam. He also decided to record the opening band on Side A, which is unusual considering Roy isn't known to have ever recorded bands who opened for Van Halen. The opener for these Rio shows was Herva Doce, a well-known local band, and their recording has been shared separately.

Like most of these South American shows, these Rio shows are also plagued with discrepancies among the date ranges listed online. The band's printed itinerary indicates there were originally three Rio shows planned for January 28/29/30. Though when looking at a copy of the printed itinerary with additional handwritten notes from the band's crew, these notes make indications of the rescheduling. I won't get long-winded trying to fully elaborate on those handwritten notes here, but essentially January 26 and 27 are barred off and have the word "play" written by both dates. Regardless, the real hard evidence to confirm the dates are the adverts and articles that all seem to confirm that the dates for the Rio shows were January 26 and 27. There's nothing to suggest any third show took place after this rescheduling. While there is another lingering question about a completely different show that may or may not have taken place on January 29, the details surrounding that will be elaborated on once we get to Roy's next recording.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.