Love the way Eddie totally blurs - no, destroys - the line between rhythm and lead playing. There is no difference -- it's all just "the guitar part", hopping effortlessly between perfect groove and soaring improvisation, and then back again, all the while smiling and having a blast. There is no "work" happening here - it's all play, at a cosmic level of ability.
That rhythm right after that stratospheric solo - so freakin chunky and full of attitude. Us mortals would lose our shit if we could come up with that riff
I still can't believe I live in a world where Edward doesn't physically exist anymore, I cannot wrap my head around it..... Great video and reaction, keep up the great work Michael!
Its like i randomly think wonder when the next VH album is coming out n then im like oh yeah........ its crazy they released so little over the latter years but there was always hope....EVH the maestro R.I.P
EVH was a once in a millennium artist (perhaps an alien)... Yes, his tapping, harmonics and speed reinvented the lead guitar playing, but it goes SO MUCH deeper. EVH was one of the most melodic songwriters of all time, over 100 million records sold, dozens of hit songs, multiple patents as a guitar and amp builder, and insane groove lock and rhythm playing, all served up with that amazing EVH smile.. because it all came from a joyful heart! I was lucky enough to see EVH 50 times and meet him twice - it was like heaven and hell raining down all in one... never to be repeated... his gifts will travel for eternity throughout the expanses of the UNIVERSE! GOD BLESS THE GREATEST MUSICIAN TO EVER LIVE!
And in classic Eddie fashion, he’s playing like what sounds like three guitar players are on stage, never misses a beat and is smiling the entire time. Just unbelievable!!! The Goat!
He really is the goat. His riffs just always put a smile on my face because I'm in awe of how he comes up with them and plays them. He heard something in his head and played it and it just always sounded cool. God I miss him
For the Balance tour Eddie has really cleaned himself up. I saw them in Los Angles and that was the fastest and cleanest I’d EVER seen him play. Freakin’ amazing.
Two things you now need to do. Watch the rest of this performance. Two sold out nights in Toronto. They were on fire. Secondly, you need to listen to Balance. Tragically underrated album. So many great songs.
And Al with that amazing snare drum crack, each hit kind of sounds like a firecracker, and keeping the beat going amazing, and Michael is grooving along just as well. Such a treat to hear two of the best professional drums & bass players ever, it adds a lot to what Ed is doing. Thanks much for this video, your reactions are the best. I never paid much attention to Amsterdam, but I do now thanks to your video, and seeing them do this live brings it even more to life, not to just hear Ed playing it, but seeing him do it, soaring above is right.
Hope the Palmisano family had a lovely Easter Weekend. Second, congrats on 250k, Michael. Lastly, I too had never heard this song before today. EVH absolutely melting faces.
I agree Michael. It’s hard to put into words. There were and are a lot of insanely technical players out there but Eddie was the most magical to my ears. Just listen to solos like “when push comes to shove”. That solo is an absolute MASTERPIECE. Eddie’s solos have always been my favorite. Enjoyed the video buddy.
My Highschool crush. I saw them, the first time., in 1979. Right at the stage. Arms resting on the stage, we were that close. I watched Eddie the whole time. He smiled the whole time. lol. and played the guitar like no one we had ever seen up to that point. WAS LOVE FOR ME. I cried when he died. He was one of us. Grew up with the same kind of life we had. Well, almost. lol. House parties were a big thing back then. HE PLAYED HOUSE PARTIES IN CALI. LUCKY DOGS. I saw eddie for the last time in 2015. i am so glad i went. It was a toss up between VH and Rush. I LOVE RUSH JUST AS MUCH. Saw them in 79 as well. I chose my crush. Was amazing. HE WAS A TRUE PRODIGY.
The thing that sets the greatest guitar players apart from their peers is an inborn sense of rhythm. Hendrix, who is often cited as the greatest, was an amazing rhythm player. Eddie had it in spades! If you think about VH's greatest songs it the rhythm parts that you remember. This song is a great example of Eddie's rhythm SWAGGER!!!
Complete mastery of the guitar as an extension of his body, then he could just feel what to do and where to go next. No thinking, no script just all from the soul.
Eddies work in that track in unreal! And none of it repetitive. How many MILLIONS of players has this man inspired????? And how would he be pushing it today! RIP Ed....i had the pleasure of seeing you in 78 and 79.........You blew away every other guitarist on the planet.
Keith Rickett - That's almost the same thing Neil Young said about Hendrix when he first heard him. "It's like he landed from a spaceship" - Neil Young on Jimi.
I watch that performance live on cable TV pay-per-view must have been back in 94-95 I even recorded it on VHS that was the first time I heard Amsterdam and it blew my mind definitely some of Ed's best work and that guitar tone on the balanced tour is definitely my favorite
Balance is still my favorite Van Halen album. It maybe didn't have the hits of other albums, but the music is just so great--so much going on and so much musical maturity and experimentation. And honestly, with this lineup, it's basically a supergroup. Each individual member of this band would have groups formed around them.
I know this is old but this is the first time I have heard this song. I can't play a lick to save my life but I grown to understand that Eddie was not a guitar player, he was a sound smith! Someone that had the complete ability to craft cohesive and complex sounds out of his instrument even when seemingly there was only basic sounds available. There are lots of great guitarists around, but very very few sound smith's.
Van Halen has been my favorite band since I was a kid in the 80s. I've seen them multiple times in concert. Eddie inspired me to pick up the guitar and I just play what I know of his stuff over and over again because his sound appeals so much to me (and obviously to many others) and it's just fun to play. Literally, I made it an end goal of my life when I picked up the guitar to play Eruption just as good as him, and the fact that he innovated that at 22 years old still amazes me. To think he wrote practically the entire debut Van Halen album and recorded it at that age still astounds me, even though it was basically a "work in progress" from the time the mixed Indonesian-Dutch immigrant picked up the guitar at 12 years old and started playing drums with his brother Alex, and just continued his brilliance for almost three decades. "I'm the One" from the debut Van Halen album reminds me of Amsterdam in that there is just so much going on in the same kind of way although it's a completely different sound. Some people were just put on this planet to do what they do and change how things are.
I've always loved this version of Amsterdam. Awesome song and all the guys just crushed it. I was lucky enough to see VH 8 times between 1979 and 1984. Too bad there's not much footage from them during that era. Such a shame we didnt have cell phones back then. Just think of all the hundreds of concerts we could watch of the might VH. My favorite tour was Fair Warning. So glad I saw that show. I wish I had seen it a couple more times. Fun times back then.
My drummer and I back in the 90's spent WEEKS together before and after the others came and went learning this. I could play with the tape, all good. He would do the same, al good. Cut the tape off and it was hard to find "correct timing". We gave up on finding correct timing and just decided to "feel it" separately AND together and BANG it hit. I can't explain it, maybe you or someone else can, I don't know. What I DO know is that after you both "get it", it is some of the most fun you can ever have as a musician! These guys just do it because NOTHING can replace 40+ years of familiarity. I don't think Eddie or Alex could explain it in "music terms" either. It would be fascinating to hear either one of them talk about the timing in the song. I am only talking about the beginning part of the song, the rest of the song is pretty straight forward. I never did get the solo down but a reasonable facsimile had to do.
Amsterdam live on this show is one of the best performances by the 4 headed Monster. Ed’s Rhythm blending with its lead is killer. Aprox 3-4 Solos in this song, a jam Session with Michael and then another solo... The King..
Listening to EVH (since I was a freakin CHILD) makes me feel like I am doing the best designer drugs or something. The swag, energy, attitude and SKILL is just incomparable. Yeah, there will never be another guy that moves me like him. 🤘❤️
David - Agree 100% I'll not try to add to what you said. Because..... well.... it's perfect. I am still crushed that Ed is gone. The soundtrack of my Life. For sure.
I know this is a 3 yr old video but this is the first time I've actually seen this video of VH and I knew Eddie in the later part of his career. This is mind blowing and makes all other guitar players look ridiculous.
They broadcast this show here in Canada after they had edited together the two Toronto concerts into one performance for TV. We kept re-watching it to try and catch a glimpse of ourselves in the crowd. To this day my favourite concert of any band that I've seen (VH, U2, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, etc. etc.) and the tightest playing of any live performance. It sounded like they played a studio recording.
I always loved that song and i gotta tell you i loved this man i named my child Edward in his honor and his loss in years to come will be tremendously felt as he is unequaled in every aspect of electric guitar playing. I want to also give a big shout out to his son Wolfgang. He is a tremendous talent as we are now realizing as his album just came out. Eddie is up there with the biggest proud father grin watching son Wolfie do his thing Nice video great job🎸🎸🎸💜💙🎶🎵🎼😎😎😎
Man that’s such a killer performance-so impressive. That whole show was a great one-that was in Toronto. There were a few times toward the end-Panama I think...you can tell Ed was loving the crowd. They were really giving it up to the band and were super loud. Love the reaction in this video review-that was fun to watch!!!
So fortunate to have seen VH on their first tour back in 1978....backup to Montrose and Journey...basically played the entire first LP from start to finish. Killer show....yeah, EVH's innovation separated the men and boys...
The one thing that continues to amazed me is how Michael seems to keep up and enrich an already saucy Edward. The most under rated bassist in my opinion. Seriously. How the heck does he keep up wuth Ed??
Love that song... great video like always ;)... Eddie is the reason why I bought my own EBMM Axis Super Sport guitar... my favorite guitar... :) cheers from Canada
The Balance Tour was the only time I ever got to see Eddie play live and, he had his leg in a cast cause he just had a hip replaced and he still stood there ripping it up, I made sure to stand right infront of him maybe 2 rows back to just watch him play. Had to be one of my greatest concerts I've ever seen, he blew me away I was in awe of his majesty. I was 17 years old I'll never forget it one of the best nights of my life. Love ya Eddie
Eddie did not have his hip replaced until like 1999. He sat on a stool a lot of nights during the Balance tour, but his leg was never in a cast. He just couldn’t stand up all night, it hurt too much.
@@BANONEGuitar Okay you may be right about the date of his hip replacement but either way his leg was in some sort of cast at this show in Charleston WV, why would I lie? Eddie could hardly move around the stage because of what was wrapped around his leg, he even referred to this tour as the Ambulance Tour because of all the injuries. I guess I just assumed that his was replaced because of what he said on stage.
It's like rich semi-sweet chocolate, dark warm and sweet. This performance first saw it in 1995 , pay per view tape I bought in Orlando. Guy sold VHS bootlegs out of a record store. Live at Molson arena in Canada I think. Best regards.
pocket, pocket, and more pocket, the Van Halen pocket! often emulated, never duplicated! How he moves from rhythm to licks to sound fx, multiple techniques and NEVER.....EVER..... LOSES.......That Van Halen Pocket. Just Locked.
Saw someone post the vid of him playing this in 1985 (10 years prior) in 5150 studios on Facebook and that was the first time I’d heard it too, thank god someone put the name in the comments! I was floored
His sense of rhythm was beyond human. He could play lead lines and get right back in the pocket as good / better than anyone ever. Dweezil Zappa did a video on YT where he found a live clip of EVH playing a lick and then getting back in the pocket in the middle of the bar. Us mere mortals would have had to hold a note and pick up the rhythm at the beginning of the next bar. Not EVH, he jumped back in right in the middle seamlessly. Crazy stuff.
Ed was absolutely the inspiration for my life's work. I've made every penny since I graduated college with a guitar in my hand. My father passed in 2012, and it was devastating. Now Ed's gone too. The two men who most shaped my life are gone, and that messes with my head sometimes. They both set high bars that I'll never reach. But their spirits keep me reaching. There are certainly more technical players than Ed. There are more diverse and possibly more well rounded players than Ed. But no one writes music like Ed, period. He is the master of the hook, the king of groove, the emperor of originality and innovation, and the God Of Tone!! He was the total package. His music is timeless! There will never be another EVH, just us peasants that were inspired by him. I honestly cannot imagine leading a different life, but without Ed, I sometimes wonder what I might be. Probably something different and much less fulfilling. He inspired me to have a dream, and to live it. How is this the first time you've heard Amsterdam? What a hook! It gives me chills. I mean, an actual physical reaction. And he could do it all, live. The best concerts I've ever seen were Van Halen shows.
I play guitar and was very impressed with this song. It has elements of an obscure groove that follows some classic chord progressions but none of them are obvious before they land on you. This song reminds me of his earlier work where the groove was the showcase that no one seems to get right. His leads are easy compared to how bad that mofo swings. He could be the greatest rhythm guitarist of all time and one of the best writers. This was later in his career and it is sublime. We never could catch up with what he had going on. I personally do not care for his lead style but could eat all of his rhythm work over all others. This song could only be done by him. I have been playing for over 30 years and he was likely better than me within 6 weeks of playing guitar. His brother is awesome as well. The magic that ACDC and the Bee Gees have is real, they share brains like a colony of ants. I am glad that Michael had the same thought about this song as I did. Its hard to know where to start.
Van Halen was always about rhythm groove and swing. Michael Anthony got it for sure. Not the most technical bassest ever but he got the assignment! And he was a great singer.
I love Eddie Van Halen and I love Van Halen. Your videos are so awesome and I really, really appreciate them! I am right on with all of your commentary.
I loved Van Halen's Amsterdam. The rhythm and melodic parts are awesome on the guitar. It has that monster truck type of energy on the rhythm guitar track and the guitar solo is so energetic like electricity. I really liked that Amsterdam guitar performance you're watching in this video. This is what I think of as Peak Van Halen.
Long Live the Van Halen jump & 5150 Album, & Running with the devil Album three cds. For the price of One. There can only be one Eddie Van Halen. 🎸🤘 Revolution Rockin Revolution of Rock of the one only👌80's. Is the best time & space of Rock🤘of Ages, including Def🌎Leppard & Eroupe Rock N the Eagles 1 in my life Rock♓Sands for me because George Harrison is Rock👌& was also a Pisces like me, music is my life☮️✌️...
I learned this song on guitar (been playing 37 years. Eddie was my biggest influence) right after they aired the show on Much Music in Canada. I recorded the audio to cassette from my VCR after I recorded it from the TV. A lot of the VH crew hung out at the club (The Gasworks) I was mixing at (I was the audio engineer for the club at that time) during that week. Eddie's guitar tech introduced himself to me and gave me some picks of Eddie's and we hung out a bit. I couldn't see the shows as I was the only one around able to do Front of House at the Gasworks. The head FOH engineer for the Gasworks was mixing FOH for Van Halen's opening band, Our Lady Peace, on that VH Balance tour. Learn the song. It is very interesting to learn and fun to play!
Balance album was so underrated at the time. First and only time I saw them was on this tour. Don’t Tell Me (What Love Can Do) that’s a badass tune. The balance tone was his best!
Nobody goes to places like Eddie did, he plays with rules and but then cuts loose and comes back brilliantly pure expression and unique, music theory can't teach you that.
