Takin' A Ride

You can always tell the amateur Van Halen fans by what they say about this show. Even people who were there. Everyone says that they were so wasted that they couldn’t play. When I call people out on this they go “No! They showed them partying backstage before they went on! They were beyond hammered!”

Van Halen were always doing stunts. This was a stunt that kind of backfired. A week before the US Festival, they had a huge party and got completely hammered. It was a party of the ages. They filmed it and showed it before they went onstage at the US Festival. They made sure to wear the same clothes as they did the week before at the party, so that it all looked like it was actual backstage footage right before they went onstage. But it wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, David Lee Roth in his book, “Crazy From The Heat”, says they did party before going onstage at the US Festival, but it wasn’t anything close to what that filmed party was like. But people think it was real footage right before they went onstage and they thought they were playing the biggest show of their careers while being wasted.

Another thing the casuals like to throw out was that “David Lee Roth couldn’t even remember the words to his own songs! That’s how wasted he was!” Another myth. Or I guess you can call it an inside joke that failed. David Lee Roth likes to ham it up, in case you didn’t notice, and during the opening song to all theirs shows in ’82 and ’83, “Romeo Delight”, during the second verse, he goes “I FORGOT THE F’N WORDS!” He did this at the US Festival and everyone thought he was so drunk. Only he did this at almost every single show during the 1982-1983 tour. And they had over 80 shows. It’s part of the song now!

So download this remix, see what you think. Were they really so wasted? If you still think so, mention below in the comments which song and where in the song he messes up, because I don’t see it.

Note: The last song, “You Really Got Me” was mixed differently on the original source (video), so it sounds a bit different than the other tracks.

Get it here.