I snuck out of my house as a 12 year old kid I’m 1984, after taking my arcade money for two weeks and buying a $9 buck ticket, grabbed a ride to the Mid South Colosseum in Memphis and saw Van Halen. By myself I was blown away! Opened with Unchained one spot might hit Eddie from above and blew my mind. Towards the end I snuck to the 2nd row but couldn’t see I was so short. A girl and her boyfriend saw me trying to see and she had him put me on his shoulders. I saw the last several songs front and center. It was eddies birthday the night before and he had one of those pointy party hats with the elastic string on. I was more than hooked.

You guys are just talking what is dear to my heart. I love hearing stories of people going to concerts when vh first started. My first experience was a 8 track with headphones. It was 1978. I was 8 years old. My cousins played it for me. I was into music very much at a young age. They knew it. They turned me on to something that changed my life.

In 84 ,I was hanging outside the arena for the pre show party and then jumped the gate and made my way to first row in front of evh. Best concert ever.Never seen such insane energy.Roth,evh running,jumping all over....So glad i jumped the gate!I owe vh 10$ for that one!

I was there!! Mind blown by Eddie and crew, and even the second show just blew Sabbath away!

I was a 15 year old guitar player that loved Blackmore! That was the best music ever! This video is like reliving that night! Saw Rainbow at Municipal not long after and had the same spot on the rail on the right side. Rainbow was amazing back then too

It took me 10 years to learn eruption, we had no M TV or KZfaq, just a 78 LP or go watch Eddie in concert and no rewinding if you missed something plus Eddie running and jumping all over the stage and I almost gave up but it was to damn cool and I had to learn everything I could by Eddie and couldn't wait till the next album came out to see what he would come up with next, nobody ever did that to me, I'm 63 now and was 18 when Van Halen came out in 78 and I've been following his stuff still to this day, to say Eddie is my hero is a huge understatement Eddie was and still is an obsession R.I.P. Eddie nobody will ever even come close to you.

Great story. Many times I hear someone say, this or that changed my life, to the point where it has become cliched. However, listening to this guy’s Van Halen story, and the real passion of hearing his explained memory, I’m convinced there is no BS coming out of him.

I can't imagine how great it would have been to be at that Nashville show. So, cool!!

Fantastic interview. I am Mikes age. But I grew up in Northern California. 20 minutes from Oakland. I missed the first tour, but seen every tour after that. I was at the first night of the famous Oakland fair warning shows. That was the ultimate for me. I feel blessed to have been alive during that time. The excitement and anticipation of their concerts back then were unmatched. Great memories of Van Halen.

38 Special played Municipal often. Mother’s Finest used to open for almost everyone!

Phenomenal stories. Thanks for sharing

Van Halen was my first rock concert ever. I was aware of them. Women and Children had just come out. It was the middle of the summer and they just kicked ass. Opened with Romeo Delight. 1980 Invasion.

I was there. I'm in Nashville. I grew up here. I went to Hillwood. I'm sure that guy knows the school. I was 15. The radio station was 103 WKDF. I have some video of the outside of the auditorium. I saw everyone in that place. I really didn't know who Van Halen was until that show. I went with my big brother, or otherwise I doubt my mom would let me. I was stoned too. They did play extremely loud in those days. The tour was really to promote Van Halen cause Sabbath was basically history by then. KDF was the only place to get your rock news. The second show was Sunday afternoon if I remember right.

Around 5:43 i know man. I loved VH from the first album but I didn't get to see them live until Eddies birthday in January 1984 in Lakeland Florida. Dave even had us all sing Happy Birthday to him. And what a nuclear blast that's how I felt standing about 20 feet in front of Eddies mic the entire show. I've seen almost everyone, but nothing has come close to that first time finally getting to see Eddie & the band live.

Great interview y'all ! Mike gives off such a warm & sincere aura

This brought back some great memories! I was 13 and 1978 and didn't learn about Van Halen until the following year. Angus was my idol right up until then, but just like y'all Ed change the world for me! I have been studying him and chasing his tone my whole life as well and still do to some extent! Haha thanks for bringing back those memories!

Great conversation

My first Van Halen show was for "Diver Down" in Kansas City at Kemper Arena. Same arena for "1984." I had 4th row seats right in front of Eddy. That was a phenomenal show. Sold out. They added a second show and it sold out as well. It was Michael Anthony's birthday, June 20th. After the show roadies brought out a huge sheet cake. It had to be 8 feet long and 5 feet wide. Michael wound up in the cake.

I’m 21 years old and so envious of these stories cause never got to see the mighty Van Halen live. That will always break my heart. But I’m glad that I just got to hear the records and concert footage.

What a great story!!! I feel like I was there with him! Thanks for sharing this.✌️

Blackbird is in a cool neighborhood. What a massive candy store of gear.

I know at 16 years old in 1981 Brooklyn calling up the ROCK radio station and asking for the " Mighty " Van Halen to be played. I can't help but feel I'm the FIRST that referenced them AS THE Mighty Van Halen because the guy answering the phone said ( word for word ), " The MIGHTY Van Halen?! I like that! I never heard that before. "

78 was an amazing year. I saw them with Journey and Montrose, then later the same year, saw them with Black Sabeth .

I had a very similar experience to seeing VH that Mike described in Nashville. I took my girlfriend to see Journey in Houston, TX. at the Music Hall. We get to our seats - lower prom, row G, seats 1 and 2. (Eddie’s side of the stage) I get up to go buy her a Journey t shirt. I hear VH start to play while I’m standing in line. No big deal because I hadn’t heard their music yet, I was a Journey fan. I get back to my seat and I think they were playing Little Dreamer. I just remember how loud they were and how clearly I could hear Eddie’s phase and flange effects whenever he punched the pedals with his foot. Seemed like he never made a mistake, each note was perfectly played and they a bell like quality to them. When Journey came on, there was a noticeable drop in energy in the audience.

Eddie touched many of souls with his great riffs n amazing talent. Great memories they gave us.

Dude. Watched and Loved every second of that. Keep up the Great Work.

I just stumbled onto this channel and I’m so glad that I did. These old Van Halen stories are awe inspiring. New sub 🤘🏻

My same first concert!! Montrose and Bob Seager!!!

My brother was at the Atlanta show the night after Nashville in 1980. He was 18.

Got to work security for VH in 92' at Starwood. Was right under Eddie during most of the show - awesome experience!

I'm just seeing this 2 yr old interview. Great to see Mike Simmons on here, & his VH concert stories are indeed awesome. When I was 17 - 18, a couple of friends & I would drive about 1.5 hrs to see him & his brothers play in Nashville every chance we got. They were phenomenal musicians, tight as a band, & Mike was playing badass guitar. He was definitely one of the best around, & an inspiration for sure. I've seen recent videos on social media, & the guy can still shred.

Brilliant video Gregg,. As Mike described seeing the mighty VH for the first time - it was a dream come true as I have often imagined what it would have been like to experience the energy from the stage and the visual , sonic spectacle from that first world tour. Thank you . Look forward to more superb episodes.

27:33 If Im not mistaken, back when VH first LP came out, CREAM magazine had to post a retraction that Eruption was synthesizer. I had the issue. Listening to this really is a treasure. Im a life long guitar player, 3rd generation musician, and relate to this. Saw VH 12 times, met the band 3 times. Met Edward in DC when he was inducted into the Smithsonian. Have a video on my channel to prove it. For a little while, Im 15 years old again. THANK YOU Mike Simmons and @FinalResonance TV.

Love your show . Pure VAN HALEN FKN RULES!!

Mike Simmons is the real deal. Loved hearing about those early VH shows.

I was up front on the right! My buddy got one of his picks!

One of the best interviews for sure and some great stories.

I went to all the Van Halen shows starting with the 1980 Invasion in Birmingham. I have photos up close at that show and Damon was just up a few rows in front of me. I have photos from Fair Warning, Diver Down and 1984.

I got too see Van Halen on the 1984 show. They did the same thing you said about 80. Blew my mind. Nashville. Municipal Auditorium. Still have my ticket stub. I was on Ed’s side. Unchained was the first song. Everybody Wants Some! Was killer. I saw them in 86 also. Valerie was there in 84 also. In the sound board out in the floor. I was tripping.

Baptized in the Fire! 🤣🤣🤣Hellz Yeah Jeff! Great interview with Mike Simmonz! Whoop! ❤🤍🖤

I saw them supporting Sabbath in UK 78 a few times.. it will forever live with me... After the gig we met them for Pizza

This is so awesome!! Thank you and your guest!

Great interview...my singer in my band said I was the 1st person she thought of when Ed died...devastated. still am. Great channel man...

I saw them same tour Hampton Virginia. I was 15.

I keep looking at that Steve Vai "V A Eye" - bag .. hanging in the background. Ha ha

This is the coolest channel - I have so many comments - the the one I want to make is this ( and I think the highest praise for you guys) --- I want to be the Third Dude in the room for the conversation Excellent guys

Dude's description of VH storming the stage in Nashville had me in goosebumps. Guitar World magazine is mentioned here but I want to point out the recent upload of Guitar Player magazine's Jas Obrecht interview with Eddie that took place at the Oakland Coliseum in July of 1978. And it happened because Jas had just been denied his scheduled interview of Pat Travers cause Pat had his hands and nose full of drugs and groupies. Ed ran into Jas moments later on the basketball court backstage, and eagerly introduced himself. It was Ed's first big league interview.

I feel that EVH was so much better than Hendrix.

I had the same feeling seeing Ed at the 1979 CA World Music Festival where they blew the doors of Aerosmith. I was totally blown away. First time I had ever seen big screen projection screens used at a concert and they did close ups of his hands playing. I had never seen anything like that with those stretches. Still gives me chills when I think about it.

Funny, my first rock concert was also the Kiss destroyer tour in 1976, and my first Van Halen show was 1980 invasion (Women and Children First). Two of my favorite concerts to this day. Raw and awesome. I loved Eddie's solo in 1980, but his solo during the Diver down tour was too drawn out, and sounded like a video game.

I think I’ll record my next album at Blackbird!! Good stuff!

So they were at Municipal Auditorium for Diver Down also and it was my first real rock concert. I was probably 50 foot from the stage and 15 yo and had never seen anything like it and nothing since. SRV is the other player that I was fortunate enough to see that just left me amazed. Very fortunate to see these two guys. Great Nashville memories. Thanks for touching on Neil Peart at the end as Rush is my favorite band. Two icons of music gone. So glad I got to see them live numerous times. Since Ozzy flaked out did you go to the makeup show a few days later? You did not mention that. Part of the legend of that Nashville show is able to see the mighty VH twice in a week with one show ticket.

an Mxr dist+ and a plexi with a basket weave cab with 25 watt greenbacks Will get you in the brown sound territory.

That was really fun to listen to. Great hearing both of your stories. 👍🏻 Sounds like we all did similar things all over the country. As soon as the lights go down, me and my friends would rush the floor, climbing over stuff, just trying to get as close as we could. For years, if I wasn’t down in front somewhere, It just didn’t feel quite the same. Along with all the great Van Halen stuff he was describing, another thing that caught my attention was how ex girlfriends seem to find a way to ruin fun times… like concerts, high school reunions… going to the beach, ha ha. Maybe I’m just venting now. 😝 But when I was a teenager and was planning to take my girlfriend at the time to “the river” (Colorado river, Lake Havasu) for a big memorial day weekend, a wise older neighbor friend in his later 20s gave me that great piece of advice, “Don’t take sand to the beach.” 😝👍🏻🇺🇸🤘🏻🎸 Great stuff Jeff!!! 👍🏻🎥😎

Talk about you, is what you do

Cool story but try witnessing Van Halen before they were signed. I grew up in the San Gabriel valley/Pasadena area and got to see Eddie in action as he blew people's minds in Southern Cali!! 😃

42:11 saw them same year and lead off song was romeos delight, in jacksonville florida billy sheehans band Talas opened for them.

I saw Van Halen in 1977 in OKC. They were early on the bill and Black Oak Arkansas were playing that day too and I thought that DLR was Jim Dandy. Eddie turned his back to the crowd when he soloed, but I was amazed at the attack and his pure rawness.

9 /12 / 1978 New Haven Ct.. 13 old girl... I was already "Odd", for liking Black Sabbath... but, that Summer my friends Older cousin , had a Convertible & VH cassette. Just changed it Up.... (i got the album, that same week ) it was a Summer of VH... I used to say "Now this is, MY generation BAND" my Leif Garrett /Village people ( people were liking these, alot, my age group) HA HA HA Aerosmith, Deep Purple, The Who, Stones, Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Zappa, on & on (was an Older crowd) that my music taste . Went to that concert with 2 Older girls , i found in School that liked same music ...& We originally had 8th Row Center.... i went up closer .... I had been to concerts before, (1st was Aerosmith 1977 ) I was so Amazed the SHOW was better than the Album. Needless to say, i became obsessed with VH ,, saw them lots of times , met them . As it Ended Up , Black Sabbath who i liked for Years... weren't doing it for me , after watching VH. & as we know , the kicked Ozzy out , after this tour. I'm only 15 minutes in , & im agreeing, laughing & it brings back the greatest Memories.

Story starts at 6:25-6:30 mark.

Nice! First VH show was August 30, 1981 Nashville. I was right in front of Eddie and saw tapping for the first time in my life. I remember thinking the same, what is he doing? Thanks for the vid.

Good stuff. Van Halen I listening with nice Koss Headphones, life changing. Zeppelin and Rush records got set aside. Clapton yes, Henrix and Van Halen are the top dogs. Hendrix at the end of Purple Haze u=is shred city. This is why I use Germino 1968 Plexis through a load box. Fusion guys were not rock n roll, love McLaughlin and DiMeola Holdsworth love em but there arent rockers

I've had many amps over the years and many friends working in boutique guitar shops . I plugged in every amp and cabinet with my guitars when I picked out my amps. Extra gain circuits in the pre amps actually kill the brown sound . Out if all the amps the best sounding was a JCM 800 . Over the 900 or any of the new high gain Marshall's . The distortion takes to get brown right out of it . Hate to say it but even the 5150 amps have a fuzzy sound and lose the warmth . Did sound for many bands and was security for dressing room for every big band from 1990-1994. Brian Macloud from the headpins/ Chilliwack was like the Canadian Eddie . He would have a Hiwatt head with treble and volume to 10 and mid and bass to 0 .

I was fortunate to see them in 78 first tour when the open for Black Sabbath. Blew them away, stayed for only 3 BS songs,......how can you top what Eddie was. And saw the 2nd tour in Boulder at the Balch fieldhouse where Robert Palmer opened up for them with his at the time hit, "Doctor doctor, give me the news, I've got a bad case of loving you" At this show he came out with the star guitar that Charvel made for him. It had a strat style headstock charvel neck, the reason I bought one, was the coolest guitar I'd seen. Here is the video of their 2nd tour with that guitar in the original configuration. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/r96Wq5N7yKi7gmw.html

so the magic mountain bootleg solo had no taping Eddie mastered taping in 6weeks amazing played eruption civic center i have every known VH Boot 74-84 How about a first eruption Story thx

Did they have tab books at that time?

Prodigy

Probably,pretty sure,I don't know, maybe...which one is it?

Ehv's secret weapon was his amile!

Where did you get that G.O.A.T. T-shirt? Need one of those!

I’ll bet you were listening to KDF

Fair Warning, I think they peaked. 7/17/1981 MSG. HOLY SHIT!! Better than 1978, because it was their show now. 1982 after he broke his wrist and he came back a month later..that was cool ..but not as good as 1981. 1984 in MSG OMG..so many great songs and Dave has this midget come out with the jack Daniels! lol They were on top of the world. .....THEN ...Dave EP ..super cool....THEN ...its over???? I cried. I will admit it now , I cried like my parents just got divorced(THEY DID, a year before) Then I get a Guitar Magazine in my mail box in 1986. THEY ARE BACK! wait Sammy Hagar?? man Mickey Mouse could have sang for them and it would have been cool. 5150 was great..but different. 1981 was still my favorite, they were just demon good . so glad I found Van Halen. I was just listening "push Comes to Shove" yesterday, they are timeless. listened to th ROTH SHOW, he has a few cool stories lately. . Sorry Im typing too much...I have a decades of VH stories in NYC/NJ/long Island.

Can you break these down, 1 hour is too long. Have chapters

Forest Guuuummmmppp 😅

6:44 - This story is LAME because it was already VH SECOND tour when they opened for BS. I saw the FIRST tour with Ronnie Montrose and Journey in April of 78 in fort Worth and it was a MUCH BETTER show because Montrose was on the bill instead of WASHED UP and COKED UP BS. DLR was also fantastic on the first tour....not so much on this one because of hangin with Osbourne doing blow every night.

Way too much Echo I couldn't stand listening to

That’s funny you mentioned .38 Special I once saw Bon Jovi open up for .38 - this was early ‘80’s and the crowd (Philly Spectrum) was full of Good ole Boys wearing cowboy hats. I still remember the guy behind me saying “who in thee heel is this Bon Geeovi” band?” I don’t think they played even a half hour before leaving the stage.