Takin' A Ride

The 1983 South American Tour tapes are out (thanks to Music Media Matters and others).

Like the “Best of 1982 Tour” I did (REMIX: Van Halen – Best Of The Hide Your Sheep Tour 1982 – Takin’ A Ride and REMIX: Van Halen – The Chaos Of 1982 – Takin’ A Ride), I took the liberty to make my own “best of”, remix it, and present it as a live album.

This contains the “best” (in my opinion) of every song they played on this leg of the tour. This also depended on the sound quality of the performances picked and when there was (or wasn’t) a tape flip. I think the best overall performance and sound, was the 2/5 Montevideo show, so I tried match all the other shows used to match that baseline. All of the 7 existing shows used, varied in mix and quality, so it was actually a lot more work than usual to get the remixes to match up and be (relatively) consistent. This seemed to be a very fun part of the tour for them. David Lee Roth sounds great and speaks in Spanish most of the time. There is a big party atmosphere and a lot of impromptu banter and playing for all the shows. Eddie is on fire (was he ever not?), and Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen also are playing incredibly well.

This seemed to be a very fun part of the tour for them. David Lee Roth speaks in Spanish most of the time. There’s a lot of impromptu banter and a big party atmosphere around all the shows. Eddie is on fire (was he ever not?), and Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen also played incredibly well.

Performances used were as follows:

1. Intro (1983-02-01 Porto Alegre)
2. Romeo Delight (1/15 Caracus)
3. Unchained (1/21 Sao Paulo)
4. Drum Solo (1/21 Sao Paulo)
5. The Full Bug (1/21 Sao Paulo)
6. Runnin’ With The Devil (2/5 Montevideo)
7. Dave Talks (2/1 Porto Alegre)
8. Jamie’s Cryin’ (2/5 Montevideo)
9. Little Guitars (2/5 Montevideo)
10. Bass Solo (2/12 Buenos Aires)
11. Where Have All The Good Times Gone (2/12 Buenos Aires)
12 Dancing In The Streets (2/12 Buenos Aires)
13. Beer Drinkers And Hellraisers (1/16 Caracas)
14 So This Is Love (2/5 Montevideo)
15 Little Dreamer (1/15 Caracus)
16. Mean Street (2/1 Porto Alegre)
17. God Bless The Child (1/27 Rio De Janeiro)
18. Cathedral (1/27 Rio De Janeiro)
19. Secrets (1/27 Rio De Janeiro)
20. Drum Solo II (2/12 Buenos Aires)
21. Everybody Wants Some (2/12 Buenos Aires)
22. Dance The Night Away (2/5 Montevideo)
23. Somebody Get Me A Doctor (2/5 Montevideo)
24 Summertime Blues (2/5 Montevideo)
25. Montevideo Jam (2/5 Montevideo)
26. Ice Cream Man (2/5 Montevideo)
27 Heartbreak Hotel (2/1 Porto Alegre)
28. Intruder (2/5 Montevideo)
29. Pretty Woman (2/5 Montevideo)
30. Guitar Solo (1/27 Rio De Janeiro)
31. Ain’t Talking Bout Love (2/5 Montevideo)
32. Bottom’s Up (1/27 Rio De Janeiro)
33. You Really Got Me/Happy Trails (2/12 Buenos Aires)

Here’s the link for the download (mp3 320)