mjp
Founding member
I wanted to tack this onto the end of an existing Van Halen thread, but maybe not surprisingly, there isn't one.
Anyway, I found these while cleaning out a file cabinet, and now they're on eBay. Backstage passes from their first two tours. In 1978 when I saw them they were third on the bill behind Journey and Montrose. The next year they headlined the same venue (a 1,200-1,500 seat theater) and sold out two nights in a row.
I'll include the story behind the 1978 pass because it's quaint and old-timey. I don't think it happens like that anymore.
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This is from a show on Van Halen's first national tour at the St. Paul Civic Center Theater, where they opened for Journey and Montrose. They played a 30 minute set. A couple hours before the show a friend and I kind of "gained access" to the backstage area because we wanted to see Eddie's setup.
We saw it: a beat up old Phase 90 and a footswitch (for a tape echo, if I recall) duct taped to a small piece of plywood, and a stack of four battered 100w Marshall heads. The famous one humbucker Charvel strat was still black and white (with a pickguard), like the cover of the first album. I seem to recall there was an Explorer copy there as a backup guitar, but I may be confusing that with the 1979 tour (I'm also selling a backstage pass from that tour in another auction). It could be that there was no backup for the black and white guitar.
We got the passes because a roadie saw us inspecting Eddie's equipment, and he stopped - I think to tell us to get out of there - but he just looked at us for a couple seconds and said, "You need these if you're going to be back here," and handed us the passes. Things like that happened in those days.
Anyway, I found these while cleaning out a file cabinet, and now they're on eBay. Backstage passes from their first two tours. In 1978 when I saw them they were third on the bill behind Journey and Montrose. The next year they headlined the same venue (a 1,200-1,500 seat theater) and sold out two nights in a row.
I'll include the story behind the 1978 pass because it's quaint and old-timey. I don't think it happens like that anymore.
---
This is from a show on Van Halen's first national tour at the St. Paul Civic Center Theater, where they opened for Journey and Montrose. They played a 30 minute set. A couple hours before the show a friend and I kind of "gained access" to the backstage area because we wanted to see Eddie's setup.
We saw it: a beat up old Phase 90 and a footswitch (for a tape echo, if I recall) duct taped to a small piece of plywood, and a stack of four battered 100w Marshall heads. The famous one humbucker Charvel strat was still black and white (with a pickguard), like the cover of the first album. I seem to recall there was an Explorer copy there as a backup guitar, but I may be confusing that with the 1979 tour (I'm also selling a backstage pass from that tour in another auction). It could be that there was no backup for the black and white guitar.
We got the passes because a roadie saw us inspecting Eddie's equipment, and he stopped - I think to tell us to get out of there - but he just looked at us for a couple seconds and said, "You need these if you're going to be back here," and handed us the passes. Things like that happened in those days.