Van Halen - 1983-05-21 - Los Angeles, CA (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit Rehearsal

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen (US Festival Rehearsal)

21 May 1983

Venue: A&M Studios Soundstage

Location: Los Angeles, California

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Dave's Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Dave's US Festival Story

08 Jamie's Cryin'

09 So This Is Love?

10 Little Guitars

11 Bass Solo

12 Dancing In The Street

13 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / Girl Gone Bad (cut)

14 Cathedral

15 Secrets

16 Drum Solo II

17 Everybody Wants Some!!

18 Dave's Wozniak Song

19 Ice Cream Man

20 Intruder

21 Pretty Woman

22 Guitar Solo

23 You Really Got Me

24 Happy Trails

25 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here is an uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing a private Van Halen show in front of a small audience during their rehearsals for the US Festival. This is the final recording from the collection of VH's then-front-of-house sound engineer, Roy.

As spoken by Dave, this particular performance occurred on a Saturday, and was the final rehearsal before the US Festival that was set to take place "next weekend". This provides us with a concrete date of May 21, while Roy's tape was simply labeled "Rehearsal US Fest". So where did this show take place? Apparently the band rehearsed for a few weeks, starting out at their usual rehearsal spot at Zoetrope Studios, however at some point during the weeks, they relocated to A&M Studios, specifically on the A&M Soundstage which is where this performance took place. Very special thanks to Van Halen historian Greg Renoff for helping solve the "where".

The story that has been told before, is that after the band concluded their South American tour and headed home, Dave stayed behind in South America to explore the Amazon jungle with a group of friends. Some weeks later, after the rest of the band had settled on the initial $1 million deal to perform at the US Festival, it is said that it took many days to locate Dave deep in the jungle, so that he could come home to finalize the deal and start rehearsals.

While this was a private show, it is essentially like any other concert as far as the show structure and performance goes. This time however, Dave shows off his comedy skills in full glory, making this a very fun and unique listen, perhaps rivaling the final show in Buenos Aires over three months earlier. Where he would usually first talk to the crowd prior to Jamie's Cryin', here we get a comedic backstory to the US Festival gig. Then where it is usually the acoustic spot before Ice Cream Man, we get some funny lyrics from Dave poking fun at Steve Wozniak, who for anyone that doesn't know was a cofounder of Apple, and founder of the US Festivals. Dave joking about Steve is a recurring theme through the show, alongside other comedic bits. Another standout moment is Ed's "little guitar" seemingly having some strings out of tune for Little Guitars.

If we look at the setlist, it has been shortened and shuffled a bit since South America, but is the same arrangement as what was performed at the actual US Festival show on May 29. The only difference here is Dance The Night Away seemingly being missing due to the tape flip, because in typical Roy fashion, his usual choice of a 90 minute tape ran out during the jam section of Somebody Get Me A Doctor. Luckily, we get to hear the full Girl Gone Bad segment before the tape stops, which has evolved even more since the final show in South America. Dance The Night Away should've followed, but he didn't flip the tape and start recording again until during Cathedral. Nothing else is missing, and while at a glance it may look like Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love and Bottoms Up are cut, it's because the band just didn't play those at this rehearsal, and instead went straight into You Really Got Me.

This is the end. Roy Snyder was Van Halen's front-of-house sound engineer beginning with the rehearsals preceding the start of the Fair Warning tour on May 12 in 1981, up through the US Festival show on May 29 in 1983. The 53 recordings that have been shared over the last year are the majority of what is known to have survived in his collection. We are aware of 9 or 10 Fair Warning 1981 soundboard and open-mic recordings that survived, plus 1982 soundboard tapes for a Diver Down pre-tour rehearsal from July 5, the show in Montreal, and the two shows at the Hollywood Sportatorium. Sadly, someone else bought those around the same time we saved these other 53, but with any luck, there's a slim chance they may turn up one day. Regardless, what we ended up with is a great legacy preserved for both Van Halen and Roy, rest in peace.

Van Halen - 1983-02-12 - Buenos Aires, ARG (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

12 February 1983

Venue: Estadio Obras Sanitarias

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-II C-90 cassettes (x2) > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Dave Talks (cut)

08 Jamie's Cryin' (cut)

09 Little Guitars

10 Bass Solo

11 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

12 Dancing In The Street

13 Little Dreamer

14 So This Is Love? (cut)

15 God Bless The Child / New York, New York

16 Cathedral

17 Secrets

18 Drum Solo II

19 Everybody Wants Some!!

20 Dance The Night Away

21 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

22 Argentina Jam

23 Ice Cream Man

24 Heartbreak Hotel

25 Intruder

26 Pretty Woman

27 Guitar Solo

28 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

29 Bottoms Up!

30 You Really Got Me

31 Happy Trails

32 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here is an uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Buenos Aires during the South American leg of their Diver Down tour in 1983 (No Problem tour). This is the second of two consecutive nights Van Halen played at the Estadio Obras Sanitarias (Obras Stadium). This recording is another from the collection of VH's then-front-of-house sound engineer, Roy. While the proshot video of the first night is well known, no recordings from this second night have circulated previously, audience or otherwise.

This show in Buenos Aires is the grand finale of Van Halen's 1983 "No Problem" tour, and overall finale of the 1982-1983 Diver Down tour, notwithstanding the then-unplanned US Festival gig. The band is in a full-on celebratory mood, easily making the most off-the-rails performance we've heard, with a ton of improv and goofing off. Possibly the most unusual Van Halen concert to ever occur, it's a miracle that it can now be heard.

To list Dave's most notable bits: he starts the show screaming "Van Halen!", his story of "Chew-Me" and "I-Lean" during The Full Bug, his noises during Mike's bass solo, his tangent about dreams and pickles during an extended Little Dreamer, the extended intro to So This Is Love, his rendition of "New York, New York", and extra lyrics prior to Happy Trails. This is also the only South American show with his "forgot the words" routine: "No recuerdo las palabras" during Romeo Delight, then during Where Have All The Good Times Gone he "forgot the words again", adding "but it's the last show, and you probably don't understand English anyway, I know I don't". Further unique parts and humor from Dave, Mike, and Ed are heard throughout the show, such as the recurring word "guido".

As we've seen the Somebody Get Me A Doctor jam regularly evolve over the course of 1982-1983, and including the progressing evolution of Girl Gone Bad, this show also teases House Of Pain. While we know the song dates to the 1970s, its appearance here tells us that its revival for 1984 was likely already being considered.

Following Everybody Wants Some where Alex starts Dance The Night Away, Dave stops to say "you got it right... why not?", then Ed says "It was different last night". While these songs are missing on the first night video, I was recently gifted an uncirculated broadcast recording of the first night that has all missing songs, which reveals Dance The Night Away and Somebody Get Me A Doctor were played in swapped order that night. Both Argentina shows also see the return of Growth, but as an intro to Bottoms Up rather than for You Really Got Me in 1982.

Once again, Roy used two 90 minute tapes to record this show, allowing him to capture most of the show without many major cuts. This is easily Roy's longest recording, and the only one to clock at over two hours. Yet this show still isn't without cuts. Roy did his typical pause partway into Dave's talking segment that precedes Jamie's Cryin', but then missed a chunk of the song before recording again. With all the improv, you can't really blame Roy for not timing his tape flip better, but sadly the first side of the tape runs out during the guitar solo of So This Is Love.

While Summertime Blues can not be confirmed at this unique show, a fan who attended both shows tells me that he recalls the song on both nights. Unlike in Montevideo where the song transitioned from the end of Somebody Get Me A Doctor, in Buenos Aires they did Summertime Blues after So This Is Love. We could assume the song was played before Roy flipped the tape, which is a shame that he'd miss a rare song, but the show easily makes up for the loss. The only other cut worth mentioning is the tape flip after Pretty Woman ends, so misses the first ~45 seconds of Ed's guitar solo, and a pause during Dave's slower acoustic intro to the Argentina ode jam.

While Argentina is mostly free from the date revision chaos that plagued 1983, there was originally a third night set for February 13, and I'm told tickets were sold, but was ultimately cancelled. There was also a planned show in Rosario on February 8 and/or 9, but near assuredly cancelled as there's no evidence it ended up occurring. While on the subject, to amend the notes from Porto Alegre regarding the documentation discrepancies: I want to thank those who lived through it and shared their first hand memories, confidently stating that there was no concert in Belo Horizonte, and that there was only one show in Porto Alegre.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1983-02-05 - Montevideo, UY (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

5 February 1983

Venue: Cilindro Municipal

Location: Montevideo, Uruguay

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-II C-90 cassettes (x2) > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Romeo Delight (cut)

02 Unchained

03 Drum Solo

04 The Full Bug

05 Runnin' With The Devil

06 Dave Talks

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Little Guitars

09 Bass Solo

10 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

11 Dancing In The Street

12 Little Dreamer

13 So This Is Love?

14 God Bless The Child

15 Cathedral

16 Everybody Wants Some!!

17 Dance The Night Away

18 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

19 Summertime Blues

20 Montevideo Jam

21 Ice Cream Man

22 Heartbreak Hotel

23 Intruder

24 Pretty Woman

25 Guitar Solo

26 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

27 Bottoms Up!

28 You Really Got Me

29 Happy Trails

30 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here is an uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Montevideo during the South American leg of their Diver Down tour in 1983 (No Problem tour). This is the one and only night Van Halen played at El Cilindro Municipal (Municipal Cylinder). This recording is another from the collection of VH's then-front-of-house sound engineer, Roy.

This show may not be completely new to a lot of fans, since there has been a recording of a local radio broadcast that has circulated for many decades. This new uncirculated soundboard recording is a completely different source, with much improved audio quality, and features the previously unheard encore missing from the broadcast recording (Bottoms Up, You Really Got Me, Happy Trails). Due to the tape flip however, this new source is missing a small segment that is present on the old source, specifically Secrets and the drum solo intro to Everybody Wants Some. Oddly, both sources start at the same point during the middle break of Romeo Delight. While unconfirmed, to me this could suggest that Roy was once again running his two tape decks consecutively, starting each at the same time, and was overseeing the recording that was to later be used for the broadcast. The copies of the broadcast source that circulate suffer from many issues such as occasional quality changes, muffle, dropouts, stereo shifts, speed issues, and pops, most of which are probably due to what goes around being from degraded bootleg copies several generations down. Luckily, thanks to Roy, that old broadcast source is 'mostly' obsolete now.

This show in Montevideo sees the very first live performance of Dancing In The Street, plus for the first time since 1981, So This Is Love and Summertime Blues make a return to the setlist. These three songs would be part of the setlist for the remainder of the South American tour.

Just as it had been played since Van Halen's early years, Summertime Blues features a special outro jam, which includes a tease of Black Sabbath's Symptom Of The Universe. It's also worth noting that Dance The Night Away ends with Eddie quickly playing a unique riff that seems to be a tease of Keep It Dark from Genesis, and he places more attention on it when doing it again at the start of the jam section during Somebody Get Me A Doctor.

Once again, Roy used two 90 minute tapes to record this show, allowing him to capture most of the show without many major cuts. As mentioned earlier, the only significant cut was during the tape flip at the end of Cathedral, which caused Roy to miss Secrets and the drum solo intro to Everybody Wants Some. The only other minor cut worth mentioning is the quick tape flip during Ed's guitar solo.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1983-02-01 - Porto Alegre, BR (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

Credit to ByTorX1

Van Halen

1 February 1983

Venue: Ginásio do Gigantinho

Location: Porto Alegre, Brazil

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassettes (x2) > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Dave Talks

08 Jamie's Cryin'

09 Little Guitars

10 Bass Solo

11 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

12 Little Dreamer

13 Mean Street

14 God Bless The Child

15 Cathedral

16 Secrets

17 Drum Solo II

18 Everybody Wants Some!!

19 Dance The Night Away

20 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

21 Porto Alegre Jam

22 Ice Cream Man

23 Heartbreak Hotel

24 Intruder

25 Pretty Woman

26 Guitar Solo

27 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

28 Bottoms Up!

29 You Really Got Me

30 Happy Trails

31 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here is an uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Porto Alegre during the South American leg of their Diver Down tour in 1983 (No Problem tour). This is the first of 'potentially' two consecutive nights Van Halen played at the Ginásio do Gigantinho (Gigantinho Gymnasium). This recording is another from the collection of VH's then-front-of-house sound engineer, Roy. No recordings of the show(s) from Porto Alegre have circulated previously, audience or otherwise.

Porto Alegre marks the final 1983 appearance of Mean Street in the setlist, while several other rarer songs would be added after the conclusion of these Brazilian shows. While the setlist is mostly the same as it was in Rio, this show in Porto Alegre sees the first appearance of the more personalized jam, or "ode" as some have called it, that takes place prior to Ice Cream Man, rather than the more simplistic solo spots from Dave that were typically performed. These seem to evoke more of an audience reaction with Dave's lyrical emphasis on where they are playing (e.g. "Oh, Porto"), and will be a setlist trait for the remainder of the South American tour. Like in Rio, Eddie's guitar solo also features a tease of what would soon become the intro of Hot For Teacher. A minor oddity of note, Alex starts into Where Have All The Good Times Gone a bit too soon at the end of Mike's bass solo, and Ed briefly follows suit before they redirect back into the ending flourishes.

Roy used two 90 minute tapes to record this show, allowing him to capture the full show without any major cuts. The only cuts worth mentioning are the quick tape flips during Cathedral and during Ed's guitar solo.

Like most of these South American shows, the Porto Alegre show(s) are also subject to confusion regarding the dates performed. The band's printed itinerary indicates there were two Porto Alegre shows planned for February 1 and 2. When looking at another copy of the itinerary with additional handwritten notes from the band's crew, which has so far made accurate indications of previous 1983 date revisions, it does not provide any signs that the second show was cancelled. Multiple Brazilian newspapers affirm this, even printings up to the day of the February 1 concert mention two shows taking place.

I also want to point out that these same newspapers all mention a previously undocumented show in Belo Horizonte on January 29 listed among the other known Brazilian dates, while a later paper lists the show in the past tense after it would've occurred. The aforementioned band itinerary copy with written notes also marks "play" next to January 29. Before recently, there were zero mentions of this show anywhere online.

The mystery of Belo Horizonte and the second Porto Alegre show are similar. Contrary to all the evidence mentioned above, when looking at a different sheet of paper with handwritten notes from the band's crew, these notes also make indications of tour revisions from Rio and onward. These notes are very detailed, with travel times and flight plans, and suggest the band travelled straight to Porto Alegre from Rio, and after one Porto Alegre show travelled straight to Montevideo. In other words, it makes it seem as if the show in Belo Horizonte and second in Porto Alegre were cancelled. Which set of itinerary revisions is accurate? Chicken or the egg? This is the only discrepancy. With the other South American shows, we have some sort of evidence to confirm each took place, such as tickets, photos, reviews, first-hand accounts, even recordings. The shows in question are the only two lacking any additional solid documentation.

In conclusion, I can not say whether a second show in Porto Alegre or the show in Belo Horizonte took place. The confusion isn't mine alone, as others who have researched these 1983 dates for much longer than I have also share this sentiment. I hope that we can hear from attendees who may remember more details regarding those two shows.

Special thanks to those who provided the itinerary revision documents, which played a big role into the research alongside the newspapers uncovered.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1983-01-27 - Rio de Janeiro, BR (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

27 January 1983

Venue: Ginásio do Maracanãzinho

Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UD 90 cassettes (x2) > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Little Guitars

09 Bass Solo

10 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

11 Little Dreamer

12 Mean Street

13 God Bless The Child

14 Cathedral

15 Secrets

16 Drum Solo II

17 Everybody Wants Some!!

18 Dance The Night Away

19 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

20 Ice Cream Man

21 Heartbreak Hotel

22 Intruder

23 Pretty Woman

24 Guitar Solo

25 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

26 Bottoms Up!

27 You Really Got Me

28 Happy Trails

29 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here is an uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Rio de Janeiro during the South American leg of their Diver Down tour in 1983 (No Problem tour). This is the second of two consecutive nights Van Halen played at the Ginásio do Maracanãzinho (Maracanãzinho Gymnasium). This recording is another from the collection of VH's then-front-of-house sound engineer, Roy. No recordings from either Rio show have circulated previously, audience or otherwise.

In comparison to the previous shows on the South American tour, Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers has sadly already been dropped from the setlist by this second show in Rio, and will not return again later, as other rare songs will soon be added to the setlist after the Brazilian shows conclude. Since we don't have a recording of the previous night in Rio, nor two of the three shows in São Paulo, the exact show at which the song was dropped from the setlist is unknown.

With Beer Drinkers gone, this show sees the first time Where Have All The Good Times Gone is played following Mike's bass solo rather than preceding it. This show also sees the first appearance of Dave's prayer-like version of Billie Holiday's God Bless The Child as a prelude to Cathedral, and Everybody Wants Some no longer having his lengthy talking interlude. All of these particular setlist traits will be seen for the remainder of the 1983 tour.

Oddly, there isn't any sort of Dave solo or special jam played prior to Ice Cream Man during this show, which was otherwise standard on the Diver Down tour. Instead, we just hear Dave say "oh, Mengo" a couple times then start right into Ice Cream Man.

A lengthy story written online by an attendee claims that the first Rio show started with Hear About It Later, rather than Romeo Delight. While unconfirmed, and some may quickly dismiss it, we should consider how frequent the band changed up the setlist over the course of these South American shows. We've also seen during 1981 and 1982 how they would play an odd song on rare occasion. Sadly, a tape of the first night was not found in Roy's collection. With any luck, maybe someone who recorded these shows from the audience will come forward?

Roy used two 90 minute tapes to record this show, both labeled "Rio II", allowing him to capture the full show without any major cuts. The only cuts worth mentioning are the tape flip at the very end of Runnin' With The Devil, a pause during most of Dave's talking segment that followed, and a quick tape flip during the Doctor jam. He also decided to record the opening band on Side A, which is unusual considering Roy isn't known to have ever recorded bands who opened for Van Halen. The opener for these Rio shows was Herva Doce, a well-known local band, and their recording has been shared separately.

Like most of these South American shows, these Rio shows are also plagued with discrepancies among the date ranges listed online. The band's printed itinerary indicates there were originally three Rio shows planned for January 28/29/30. Though when looking at a copy of the printed itinerary with additional handwritten notes from the band's crew, these notes make indications of the rescheduling. I won't get long-winded trying to fully elaborate on those handwritten notes here, but essentially January 26 and 27 are barred off and have the word "play" written by both dates. Regardless, the real hard evidence to confirm the dates are the adverts and articles that all seem to confirm that the dates for the Rio shows were January 26 and 27. There's nothing to suggest any third show took place after this rescheduling. While there is another lingering question about a completely different show that may or may not have taken place on January 29, the details surrounding that will be elaborated on once we get to Roy's next recording.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1983-01-21 - São Paulo, BR (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

21 January 1983

Venue: Ginásio do Ibirapuera

Location: São Paulo, Brazil

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UD 90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Mean Street

08 Dance The Night Away

09 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

10 Cathedral

11 Secrets

12 Drum Solo II

13 Everybody Wants Some!! (cut)

14 Intruder (cut)

15 Pretty Woman

16 Guitar Solo

17 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

18 Bottoms Up!

19 You Really Got Me

20 Happy Trails

21 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here is an uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in São Paulo during the South American leg of their Diver Down tour in 1983 (No Problem tour). This is seemingly the first of three consecutive nights Van Halen played at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera (Ibirapuera Gymnasium). This recording is another from the collection of VH's then-front-of-house sound engineer, Roy.

This soundboard source is the SAME SHOW as the circulating proshot video, just in better sound quality. It's also worth noting, I'm going off the assumption that the video source has been dated properly over all these years, as I couldn't find any evidence to 100% confirm if it truly is the first of the three nights in São Paulo. Not to claim that it isn't, but you never know with old bootlegs (e.g. Caracas). Roy did not label his tape with any indications of São Paulo that would help.

The setlist on this specific night is a bit shuffled up compared to normal, with Dance The Night Away and Somebody Get Me A Doctor being played much earlier in the set, rather than after Everybody Wants Some. After Mean Street, Dave shouts out "alright baby let's dance the night away!", seemingly as a way to lead the band together with the shift in the setlist, considering he didn't regularly introduce the song during the Diver Down tour otherwise.

Unfortunately this recording isn't without a fair bit of cuts, because if you remember the 15 minute remnant of the third night in Caracas, the majority of that show was recorded over with this night in São Paulo. Similar to what he often did in 1982, Roy paused the recording after Runnin' With The Devil, and misses Dave's entire segment talking to the crowd. Sadly, he doesn't start recording again until right before Mean Street, so unfortunately this tape is missing Jamie's Cryin', Little Guitars, Mike's bass solo, Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers, and Little Dreamer.

The 90 minute tape runs out after first part of Everybody Wants Some, misses Dave's interlude and the reprise of Everybody Wants Some, after which it is then flipped. He pauses again soon after flipping, misses Dave's acoustic solo, Ice Cream Man, and Heartbreak Hotel, and doesn't start back until during Intruder.

As far as we know, Heartbreak Hotel didn't appear for any night in Caracas, and was first added here in São Paulo, which will be in the setlist for the remainder of the South American tour. The bit prior to starting Ice Cream Man proper is the same Dave acoustic bit as in 1982, rather than the more unique variations otherwise typically seen in 1983.

Despite the cuts on this tape, all of these songs can be found on the video source, which contains the complete show. The only song missing from the video is Where Have All The Good Times Gone, but since the setlist is already unusual, it might be safe to assume it just wasn't played on this night.

While this is one of the more cut up shows in Roy's collection, his reason here seems due to having wanted to save the rarer songs from the third night in Caracas that he was recording over. So it seems strange that he then chose to miss a couple of those same rare songs here in São Paulo instead of more common songs, but for whatever reason, that is what he ultimately decided as a way to cram everything on the same 90 minute tape instead of using a new blank tape. Fortunately, from Rio and onward he used two 90 minute tapes per show, and all those recordings have survived intact.

Unlike in 1982 where Bottoms Up was played as the first encore, then You Really Got Me and Happy Trails for the second encore, these encore songs are all performed back to back at these South American shows, and also omit the "Growth" intro to You Really Got Me that was present during most of 1982.

While most South American shows are plagued with discrepancies among the date ranges listed online, the São Paulo shows seem to have always been documented correctly. Adverts, articles, ticket stubs, and the band's itinerary all reaffirm that the date range of the three São Paulo shows were January 21/22/23.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1983-01-16 - Caracas, VE (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

16 January 1983

Venue: Poliedro de Caracas

Location: Caracas, Venezuela

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UD 90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Bass Solo (cut)

02 Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers

03 Little Dreamer

04 Mean Street

05 Cathedral

06 Secrets (cut)

Notes:

Here is an uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Caracas during the South American leg of their Diver Down tour in 1983 (No Problem tour). This is the third of three consecutive nights Van Halen played at the Poliedro de Caracas (Caracas Polyhedron). Like all of the 1982 soundboard tapes, this recording is another from the collection of VH's then-front-of-house sound engineer, Roy.

First thing to note, this is NOT the same performance that has circulated for years as January 16, the date of that show is actually January 15. The recording being shared here is a completely unheard performance. For a more detailed explanation on the date discrepancies, see the notes for the January 15 soundboard that was shared right before this one. Though as a brief recap, ticket stubs, adverts, and the band's itinerary provide us with a date range of January 14/15/16 for the three Caracas shows. Despite all the contradicting date ranges you may see online, there's been nothing to confirm that any sort of rescheduling took place. To further affirm this, Roy labeled his other tape "2nd show Caracas" and in it Dave is heard stating it is "Saturday night" in Spanish, which solidifies that show as January 15. In comparison, Roy labeled this tape "Caracas III", so that solidifies the recording here as the third and final Caracas show.

Unfortunately, this show is another victim of Roy's occasional decisions to record over his other recordings instead of buying more blank tapes. While this show was recorded on a 90 minute master tape, the majority of the show was overwritten a few days later in São Paulo. Fortunately, I'm inclined to believe Roy must have deliberately chose to retain the rarer songs, considering those are all the bulk of what survives from this show. I'm not sure how he timed his São Paulo recording so precisely, but as soon as the São Paulo show ends after You Really Got Me, the entire remainder of the tape contains what is being shared here from the final night in Caracas. It's worth noting that the tape is also labeled with "T.1", indicating there was once also a second tape that contained the ending of this third Caracas show. Since the second tape was not found, it's safe to assume that it ended up recorded over as well.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1983-01-15 - Caracas, VE (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

15 January 1983

Venue: Poliedro de Caracas

Location: Caracas, Venezuela

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UD 90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Dave Talks

08 Jamie's Cryin'

09 Little Guitars

10 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

11 Bass Solo

12 Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers

13 Little Dreamer

14 Mean Street

15 Cathedral

16 Secrets

17 Drum Solo II

18 Everybody Wants Some!!

19 Dave Talks (cut)

20 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise)

21 Dance The Night Away

22 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

23 Caracas Jam

24 Ice Cream Man

25 Intruder

26 Pretty Woman

27 Guitar Solo (cut)

Notes:

Here is an uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Caracas during the South American leg of their Diver Down tour in 1983 (No Problem tour). This is the second of three consecutive nights Van Halen played at the Poliedro de Caracas (Caracas Polyhedron). Like all of the 1982 soundboard tapes, this recording is another from the collection of VH's then-front-of-house sound engineer, Roy.

There's a lot to talk about here, all of which I want to cover as briefly as possible. Firstly of note is a little bit about the South American tour. The band dubbed this leg as the "No Problem" tour, rather than "Hide Your Sheep" in 1982, which was apparently a joke referring to how problematic it was to arrange this South American tour. The setlists of these 1983 shows are noticeably different from 1982, and will change up every few nights. Throughout these 1983 shows, we get to hear seven songs that were not played at all in 1982. Standout songs for this particular show are Little Dreamer, Mean Street, and ZZ Top's Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers, a song VH played during their early years.

Many are already familiar with both the proshot video and radio broadcast from Caracas that have circulated for many years. The video and the radio broadcast are of the same performance, but neither are the complete show, and both have some songs exclusive to each source. This new soundboard source being shared is indeed the SAME SHOW as those older sources, however this version is by far the superior sounding. I will explain the whole ordeal with the date discrepancy in the next paragraph. Unfortunately this source is also incomplete, as the 90 minute master tape runs out during the latter part of Eddie's guitar solo, so is missing Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, Bottoms Up, You Really Got Me, and Happy Trails. The master tape is labeled "Tape 1", but there was no "Tape 2" found, so I assume that was yet another one Roy later recorded over. The tape is flipped between Mean Street and Cathedral, and there are a few minor pauses during non-music segments.

To elaborate on the date, the old sources of this show have largely been known as the "first night on January 16", so it may seem confusing that this source is being labeled as the "second night on January 15". On this master tape, in Roy's handwriting, he wrote "2nd show Caracas" and I've had no reason to dispute his contemporary labeling. Roy also has another tape labelled "Caracas III", which will be available next. It's definitely not unusual for old bootlegs to have been labeled wrong, especially from multi-night shows where someone had to make a guess. Even though Dave speaks Spanish throughout the show, the broad statement of "first time" has proven in other cases to not necessarily mean the first night, rather is often in reference to the multi-night residency. One key is when Dave states "sábado noche", literally "Saturday night", which establishes January 15.

At various places on the internet, you will find these three Caracas shows among conflicting date ranges: one being January 14/15/16, another being January 16/17/18, while some things have suggested a January 15/16/17 range. This is all very confusing, and if you ask anyone who has invested in deep research on the South American shows, they will tell you it's a nightmare. This is a recurring theme for most of these 1983 recordings. Simply put for Caracas, many ticket stubs and adverts have been found that provide us with the January 14/15/16 dates, as does the band's itinerary. Among my own research, and others who have been researching these shows for a lot longer, there's been no definitive evidence that would confirm any rescheduling took place. In summary, the consensus is that the Caracas shows took place January 14/15/16, and this recording (and old circulating sources) are of the second night, and confirmed as January 15.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-12-11 - Jacksonville, FL (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

11 December 1982

Venue: Jacksonville Coliseum

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UD 120 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Dave Talks

08 Jamie's Cryin'

09 Little Guitars

10 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

11 Bass Solo

12 Hang 'Em High

13 Cathedral

14 Secrets

15 Drum Solo II

16 Everybody Wants Some!!

17 Dave Talks

18 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise)

19 Dance The Night Away

20 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

21 Dave Acoustic Solo

22 Ice Cream Man

23 Intruder

24 Pretty Woman

25 Guitar Solo

26 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

27 Bottoms Up!

28 Happy Trails

29 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

30 Outro Music

Notes:

Here is yet another uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Jacksonville during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously.

This show in Jacksonville is the grand finale of Van Halen's 1982 "Hide Your Sheep" tour, and it's clear that the band are an a celebratory mood. Overall, the band is performing well and with an obvious energy, and of course Dave is being sure to make it a party tonight.

One unique aspect is Dave's vocalizing intro to Little Guitars, which is very different from any show prior. Another standout moment is during Where Have All The Good Times Gone, where instead of the first verse, Dave delivers his "I forgot the f'in words" line, rather than having done it during Romeo Delight, then sings the next verse as "oh, Dave is f'in around".

As the band breaks after the first part of Everybody Wants Some, Dave starts his banter by mentioning someone throwing toilet paper at his head, and brings out his occasional "I'm gonna f your girlfriend" line. Then a bit later near the end of Ice Cream Man, Dave stops to calmly say "the next stupid motherf'er who throws something at my head, you pass him up here on stage and I'll kick his ass". While there are photos of toilet paper all over the stage, there's more of a story behind it all, as a post online from an attendee claims that the band's roadies were throwing the rolls of toilet paper into the crowd from the back row. This same attendee claims he hit Dave square in the head with a roll, feeling a sweet satisfaction. Being able to now hear this recording pretty much paints the rest of the story, as true as it can get.

There are also photos of balloons all over the stage, and after the final encore you can hear what sounds like many balloons being popped. Lastly of note, this show features the final performance of Hang 'Em High, up until a few rare outings in 2012.

Like several nights prior in Lakeland (and perhaps his two missing Hollywood tapes), Roy has again decided to use a 120 minute tape, rather than his standard choice of a single 90 minute tape per show. This time, he decided to let the entire first side of the tape run without pause, so we get to hear Dave's talk prior to Jamie's Cryin', which emphasizes this being the final night of their 1982 tour. The first side of the master tape runs out less than a minute into the beginning of Somebody Get Me A Doctor, but it's clear Roy was alert with the intention to record as much as possible, because he only misses about 30 seconds of the song.

What could have been a near perfect tape, Roy still decided to do his usual pauses during both encore breaks so that he wasn't recording down time. He starts the recording again for the first encore a handful of seconds into Bottoms Up, not missing that much. However when he paused before the second encore, for whatever reason he missed the entire first half of You Really Got Me, with the recording starting again during the downtime that precedes Happy Trails. Overall, with that being the only major cut, we can't complain too much. It's easily one of the most complete shows in his collection, and it survives for us to hear. Yet one can't help but again feel like there's no excuse to have missed anything, considering there was plenty room left on the tape. What ideally would've been a worthy sacrifice to miss, this tape is again one of the few that captures the outro music that would play over the speakers after the band walked off stage, that being Kid Creole's "Imitation", followed by Van Halen's own "Big Bad Bill".

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-12-07 - Lakeland, FL (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

7 December 1982

Venue: Lakeland Civic Center

Location: Lakeland, Florida

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UD 120 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Little Guitars

09 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

10 Bass Solo

11 Hang 'Em High

12 Secrets

13 Drum Solo II

14 Everybody Wants Some!!

15 Dave Talks

16 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise)

17 Dance The Night Away

18 Somebody Get Me A Doctor (cut)

19 Dave Acoustic Solo

20 Ice Cream Man

21 Intruder

22 Pretty Woman

23 Guitar Solo

24 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

25 You Really Got Me

26 Happy Trails

27 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

28 Outro Music

Notes:

Here is yet another uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Lakeland during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously.

With the tour winding down in Florida within the week, it's clear that the band is well aware and in good spirits. Like the show in Memphis several nights earlier, this show in Lakeland features the second known instance of Cathedral being omitted from the setlist in favor of a unique extended intro to Secrets. Unfortunately, there is no known recording of the show prior in Raleigh, and Roy's soundboard tapes of the two shows that followed at the Hollywood Sportatorium are among three known 1982 concert tapes (with Montreal) that disappeared into the hands of an unknown person, so as it stands we don't know if this special arrangement of Secrets was ever done more than twice.

It's also worth noting, that while the surface internet will tell us there were two consecutive shows performed in Lakeland, and retroactively created posters can be found, there has been no clear evidence that a second show on December 8th ever actually happened. While it may or may not have taken place, the alleged second show seems to have stemmed from the crew's tour itinerary, those which are generally always subject to multiple changes. Many known local newspaper mentions only reference one show on December 7th, ticket stubs have only been found for the Dec 7th date, and an attendee has even said they don't remember there being two shows. A couple other VH researchers were not able to provide confirmation either. Roy also labeled his tape simply as "Lakeland Board", whereas for multiple nights he typically labeled them with a "I", "II", or "III". So if anyone has evidence of a second show on the 8th, it would be great to turn up any sort of confirmation.

The moment many have been waiting for, Roy has finally used a 120 minute tape to record, rather than his preferred choice of a single 90 minute tape per show. While this recording is notably longer, it unfortunately isn't without a few cuts. Roy still chose to do his usual pause during the break where Dave would give an extended talk to the crowd prior to Jamie's Cryin'. There's another very brief pause following the first part of Everybody Wants Some, but it seems it just misses a length of crowd noise, because essentially all of Dave's usual banter is here. The first side of the master tape sadly runs out midway into the jam section of Somebody Get Me A Doctor, and the second side starts not long after the song had already ended.

Later in the show, Roy still chose to pause during the first encore break, but for some reason didn't start the recording again until the second encore starts, so unfortunately we're missing the entire first encore with Bottoms Up. There's no excuse for the tape being paused here, considering there was plenty time left on the tape. Though overall this is still one of the longer recordings in Roy's collection, and it survives for us to hear, so we shouldn't complain too much. This tape is again another one of the few that captures the outro music that would play over the speakers after the band walked off stage, that being Kid Creole's "Imitation", followed by Van Halen's own "Big Bad Bill".

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-12-02 - Memphis, TN (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

2 December 1982

Venue: Mid-South Coliseum

Location: Memphis, Tennessee

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Jamie's Cryin' (cut)

08 Little Guitars

09 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

10 Bass Solo

11 Hang 'Em High

12 Secrets

13 Drum Solo II

14 Everybody Wants Some!!

15 Dave Talks

16 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise)

17 Dance The Night Away

18 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

19 Intruder

20 Pretty Woman

21 Guitar Solo

22 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

23 Bottoms Up!

24 You Really Got Me

25 Happy Trails

26 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here is yet another uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Memphis during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously.

If you tend to glance at the track listing first, you may incorrectly assume Cathedral wasn't recorded. However, this show is a very rare case of there being a setlist difference, because Cathedral was NOT performed on this night in Memphis. Instead, they played a unique extended intro to Secrets, which is quite beautiful. Unlike other instances where the band has done extended jams due to sudden technical difficulties, this time it feels very deliberately planned as Alex comes in immediately on drums first, and the whole intro feels very structured. Crazily enough, this won't be the last time in 1982 that the band omits Cathedral in favor for an extended Secrets!

As the jam section of Somebody Get Me A Doctor continues to lean more heavily into improvisation over the last few weeks, this show features a snippet of the guitar bit that would eventually become the intro to Pleasure Dome about 8 years later. This can also be heard the night prior in Asheville, but I failed to make note of it then.

As usual, Roy paused the tape during the break where Dave would give an extended talk to the crowd prior to Jamie's Cryin'. Though instead of starting the tape again at the start of the song, he comes in a bit late this time, missing the first 50-ish seconds. The first side of the 90 minute master tape runs out during Dave's long interlude of Everybody Wants Some, but seems to have been flipped quickly and didn't miss much. Then as usual, Roy pauses the tape after Somebody Get Me A Doctor, so does not capture Dave's acoustic solo or Ice Cream Man. The recording starts again about 3 seconds prior to the start Intruder. There is another pause during the break of Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love where Dave would usually say a few more words to the crowd, however no pieces of music are missing. Roy paused once more during both encore breaks as always, and starts again in time to capture the complete encore songs.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1978-12-03 - San Diego, CA (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

credito to ByTorX1

Van Halen

3 December 1978

Venue: San Diego Sports Arena

Location: San Diego, California

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

TDK D-C90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 On Fire

02 I'm The One

03 Bass Solo

04 Runnin' With The Devil

05 Atomic Punk

06 Drum Solo

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Ice Cream Man

09 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

10 Eruption

11 You Really Got Me

Notes:

Here we have an unheard, uncirculated soundboard recording of Van Halen on the final night their debut album tour in 1978, opening for Black Sabbath. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously.

This recording exists only on the first side of the 90 minute master tape, clocking in at about 47 minutes long. The second side of the tape is blank, so it's unknown for certain what unrecorded encore may have been performed. Dave hints during the show at possibly playing songs from their then-upcoming album, but none of those songs actually appear here. A newspaper review also indicates they played an encore with a "new tune" featuring a "ten minute jam".

This is largely the raw transfer, since I overall prefer doing as little editing as possible. A few channel dropouts were present, which were patched by copying over from the alternate channels. An overall speed adjustment was also applied. The manual azimuth adjustment was done by briefly listening to the tape playing into a mono feed, with stereo headphones.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-11-30 - Asheville, NC (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

30 November 1982

Venue: Asheville Civic Center Arena

Location: Asheville, North Carolina

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Little Guitars

09 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

10 Bass Solo

11 Hang 'Em High

12 Cathedral

13 Secrets

14 Drum Solo II

15 Everybody Wants Some!! (cut)

16 Dave Talks (cut)

17 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise)

18 Dance The Night Away

19 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

20 Pretty Woman

21 Guitar Solo

22 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

23 You Really Got Me

24 Happy Trails

25 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

26 Outro Music

Notes:

Here is yet another uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Asheville during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously.

After having minor guitar issues the night prior, they are even more pronounced tonight. The show starts off with noticeable difficulties throughout Romeo Delight, resulting in an unusual extended transition into Unchained, instead of the usual clean break between songs. Crackling sounds and other minor oddities are occasionally heard throughout the first few songs. Then when attempting to start Little Guitars, we only hear bass and drums, so we get another short extended intro jam while Dave makes a bunch of repeated "oh" sounds until Ed's guitar finally comes in.

Later on, there's a really weird false start to Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, seemingly due to something on Eddie's part rather than an issue with the guitar itself. It almost seems like he dropped his pick after doing the neck slide that is usually done to transition into the song. In response to the screw up, Dave says "don't you ever play anything fast, man", to which Ed soon follows with a tease of "Baby Elephant Walk", something he also teased the night prior during the Doctor jam. He then quickly restarts playing Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, properly this time.

As usual, Roy paused the tape during the break where Dave would give an extended talk to the crowd prior to Jamie's Cryin'. The first side of the 90 minute master tape runs out near the end of the first part of Everybody Wants Some. The second side of the tape starts over halfway into Dave's storytime interlude, so is missing several minutes. Then as usual, Roy pauses the tape after Somebody Get Me A Doctor, so does not capture Dave's acoustic solo, Ice Cream Man, nor Intruder. The recording starts again about 7 seconds into Pretty Woman.

Roy paused again during the first encore break, as always. However, Roy didn't start recording again until the second encore, so we're completely missing the first encore with Bottoms Up. It's easy to not notice the pause, but the recording starts again about 9 seconds prior to the start of You Really Got Me. This tape is another one of the few that captures the outro music that would play over the speakers after the band walked off stage, that being Kid Creole's "Imitation", followed by Van Halen's own "Big Bad Bill". There is about 25 seconds of silence before the outro music starts, not because the tape had been stopped, but because Roy seemed to have shut off all other mics that may have picked up any crowd noise.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-11-29 - Huntsville, AL (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

29 November 1982

Venue: Von Braun Civic Center

Location: Huntsville, Alabama

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Little Guitars

08 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

09 Bass Solo

10 Hang 'Em High

11 Cathedral

12 Secrets

13 Drum Solo II

14 Everybody Wants Some!! (cut)

15 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

16 Dave Acoustic Solo (cut)

17 Intruder

18 Pretty Woman

19 Guitar Solo

20 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

21 Bottoms Up!

22 You Really Got Me

23 Happy Trails

24 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

25 Outro Music

Notes:

Here is yet another uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Huntsville during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously.

This show has a bit of a weird sound mix for a while, and a few random guitar feed issues throughout, but nothing majorly disruptive. Despite that, Dave seems to be in a "special" mood tonight. During his introduction to Where Have All The Good Times Gone, he breaks routine with a dramatic pause, then comes back with a deep voice, and then repeats himself. A bit later he introduces Mike's bass solo as a "private moment with Lady Di". Then for his vocalizing introduction to Cathedral, he instead does more of a low hum like what he'd typically do before Happy Trails, and follows with a goofy high voice which I can only presume was meant to sound like Michael Jackson or Mickey Mouse. Later, for the transition into to the jam section of Somebody Get Me A Doctor, Eddie starts off playfully with a tease of "Baby Elephant Walk" by Henry Mancini, something he has been known to do on other tours.

As usual, Roy paused the tape during the break where Dave would give an extended talk to the crowd following Runnin' With The Devil. However, this time he didn't resume recording for Jamie's Cryin' as he usually would, so misses the entire song, and instead started the recording again right before Little Guitars. Due to the missed song, the tape flip came a bit later in the set, so Roy manually pauses after the first part of Everybody Wants Some, intentionally misses Dave's entire storytime interlude, and resumes recording right before the reprise of Everybody Wants Some. Despite that, the first side of the 90 minute master tape runs out before the band finishes the song.

The second side of the tape starts several seconds into the beginning of Somebody Get Me A Doctor, so we're completely missing Dance The Night Away. Then as usual, Roy pauses the tape after Somebody Get Me A Doctor, however he pauses a bit later than normal and captures about 8 seconds at the start of Dave's acoustic solo, though overall does not capture that part nor Ice Cream Man. The recording starts again prior to the start of Intruder. The tape is paused again during both encore breaks, as always. There is one more pause during the brief interlude where Dave says a few more words between You Really Got Me and Happy Trails. This tape is another one of the few that captures the outro music that would play over the speakers after the band walked off stage, that being Kid Creole's "Imitation", followed by Van Halen's own "Big Bad Bill". There is about 22 seconds of silence before the outro music starts, not because the tape had been stopped, but because Roy seemed to have shut off all other mics that may have picked up any crowd noise.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-11-26 - Baton Rouge, LA (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

26 November 1982

Venue: Riverside Centroplex

Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Little Guitars

09 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

10 Bass Solo

11 Hang 'Em High

12 Cathedral

13 Secrets

14 Drum Solo II

15 Everybody Wants Some!!

16 Dave Talks (cut)

17 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise)

18 Dance The Night Away

19 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

20 Intruder (cut)

21 Pretty Woman

22 Guitar Solo

23 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

24 Bottoms Up!

25 Happy Trails

26 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

27 Outro Music

Notes:

Here is yet another uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Baton Rouge during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. It's worth noting that an incomplete audience recording of this show does also exist in circulation.

Following the unique surprise break of routine the night prior in Kansas, Dave again suddenly and completely slams the breaks on the band while they're playing a song. This time, it is during Dance The Night Away, making remarks about someone throwing their "nasty f'ing chewing tobacco" on stage. While the night prior he seemed genuinely irritated when he abruptly stopped Secrets, this time it seems more deliberately timed and more in his usual joking manner, and topping it off with his usual "I'm gonna f your girlfriend" line. It seems he figured it'd be funny to take the previous song-halting incident to make the "throwing things on stage" bit of his much more impactful than it had been during some earlier dates of the tour, and also use the chewing tobacco stereotype here in the deep south. Or did it really happen? In any case, it's quite hilarious.

As usual, Roy paused the tape during the break where Dave would give an extended talk to the crowd prior to Jamie's Cryin'. The first side of the 90 minute master tape runs out not long after the first part of Everybody Wants Some. The second side of the tape starts over halfway into Dave's interlude, so is missing several minutes. Then as usual, Roy pauses the tape after Somebody Get Me A Doctor, so does not capture Dave's acoustic solo or Ice Cream Man. The recording starts again over halfway into Intruder. Roy paused again during the both encore breaks, as always. However, Roy didn't start recording again in time for the second encore, so we're completely missing the first part of You Really Got Me. The recording starts again right before Happy Trails, and runs through the end of the concert. This tape is another one of the few that captures the outro music that would play over the speakers after the band walked off stage, that being Kid Creole's "Imitation". There is about 30 seconds of silence before the outro music starts, not because the tape had been stopped, but because Roy seemed to have shut off all other mics that may have picked up any crowd noise.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-11-22 - San Antonio, TX (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

22 November 1982

Venue: San Antonio Convention Center Arena

Location: San Antonio, Texas

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Little Guitars

09 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

10 Bass Solo

11 Hang 'Em High

12 Cathedral

13 Secrets

14 Drum Solo II

15 Everybody Wants Some!!

16 Dave Talks

17 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise)

18 Dance The Night Away

19 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

20 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love (cut)

21 Bottoms Up!

22 Happy Trails

23 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

24 Outro Music

Notes:

Here is yet another uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in San Antonio during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. Not even an audience recording of this show has circulated previously.

There's some faint radio interference that can be heard during the first drum solo and again during Little Guitars. During the drum solo, you can hear a blast of noise, leading me to believe the interference may have been something to do with the guitar wireless transmitter.

As usual, Roy paused the tape during the break where Dave would give an extended talk to the crowd prior to Jamie's Cryin'. The first side of the 90 minute master tape runs out right at the very end of the first part of Everybody Wants Some. The tape was then flipped pretty quickly, seemingly not missing much of Dave's interlude. Then as usual, Roy pauses the tape after Somebody Get Me A Doctor. This time however, Roy must've either been preoccupied or completely forgot to start recording again for Intruder where he usually would, because he doesn't start the tape again until the second half of Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love. So this recording is ultimately missing Dave's acoustic solo, Ice Cream Man, Intruder, Pretty Woman, Eddie's entire guitar solo, and the first half of Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love.

The tape is paused again during both encore breaks, as always. However, Roy didn't start recording again in time for the second encore, so we're completely missing the first part of You Really Got Me. The recording starts again right before Happy Trails, and runs through the end of the concert. This tape is another one of the few that captures the outro music that would play over the speakers after the band walked off stage, that being Kid Creole's "Imitation", followed by Van Halen's own "Big Bad Bill".

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-11-19 - Reunion Arena, Dallas, TX (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

19 November 1982

Venue: Reunion Arena

Location: Dallas, Texas

Source: Soundboard (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassette > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Intro

02 Romeo Delight

03 Unchained

04 Drum Solo

05 The Full Bug

06 Runnin' With The Devil

07 Jamie's Cryin'

08 Little Guitars

09 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

10 Bass Solo

11 Hang 'Em High

12 Cathedral

13 Secrets

14 Drum Solo II

15 Everybody Wants Some!! (cut)

16 Dave Talks

17 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise)

18 Dance The Night Away

19 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

20 Dave Acoustic Solo

21 Ice Cream Man

22 Intruder

23 Pretty Woman

24 Guitar Solo

Notes:

Here is yet another uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Dallas during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. This is the second of two consecutive nights Van Halen played at the Reunion Arena in 1982. It's worth noting that an audience recording of this show does also exist in circulation.

A minor oddity of note, for some reason Dave doesn’t do his vocalizing during the beginning of Cathedral on this night. The jam section during Somebody Get Me A Doctor has a notable moment, a snippet of the unreleased song called Ripley, which was later reworked into Blood And Fire for Van Halen's final album in 2012.

As usual, Roy paused the tape during the break where Dave would give an extended talk to the crowd prior to Jamie's Cryin'. The first side of the 90 minute master tape runs out during the first part of Everybody Wants Some. The second side of the tape starts right at the beginning of Dave's interlude, not missing much. Following his decision from the couple shows prior, Roy again decided to not do his usual tape pause following Somebody Get Me A Doctor, so we once again get to hear Dave's acoustic bit and Ice Cream Man. The second side of the 90 minute master tape runs out a split second into Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, so does not capture that song, nor either encore with Bottoms Up, You Really Got Me or Happy Trails.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.

Van Halen - 1982-11-18 - Reunion Arena, Dallas, TX (SBD/FLAC) 24-bit

CREDIT to ByTorX1

Van Halen

18 November 1982

Venue: Reunion Arena

Location: Dallas, Texas

Source: Soundboard (Source 2) (Master)

Lineage:

Maxell UDXL-I C-90 cassettes (x2) > Nakamichi DR-1 (azimuth adjustment) > Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD > Audacity (24-96) > FLAC 6

01 Romeo Delight

02 Unchained

03 Drum Solo

04 The Full Bug

05 Runnin' With The Devil

06 Jamie's Cryin'

07 Little Guitars

08 Where Have All The Good Times Gone!

09 Bass Solo

10 Hang 'Em High

11 Cathedral

12 Secrets

13 Drum Solo II

14 Everybody Wants Some!! (cut)

15 Dave Talks (cut)

16 Everybody Wants Some!! (Reprise)

17 Dance The Night Away

18 Somebody Get Me A Doctor / I'm So Glad

19 Dave Acoustic Solo

20 Ice Cream Man

21 Intruder

22 Pretty Woman

23 Guitar Solo

24 Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

25 Bottoms Up!

26 You Really Got Me

27 Happy Trails

28 You Really Got Me (Reprise)

Notes:

Here is yet another uncirculated soundboard recording, capturing the Van Halen concert in Dallas during their Diver Down tour (Hide Your Sheep tour) in 1982. This is the first of two consecutive nights Van Halen played at the Reunion Arena in 1982.

This one initially may not seem truly new or uncirculated to a lot of people, considering a recording of this first night in Dallas has long been the only true soundboard tape from 1982 to circulate prior to 2024, albeit in much poorer quality due to generation loss and seemingly poor transfer. However, what we have here isn't simply an upgrade from the master, this seems to be an alternate recording source. The real surprise here is that the old source is without a doubt also one of Roy's recordings, as his signature tape pauses and length all match there with how he recorded the majority of the tour. The most noticeable difference with this new source is that it doesn't have his usual omission of Ice Cream Man and Dave's long acoustic bit. Yet the old source has the show introduction, while this source starts right at Romeo Delight. Most of the other tape pauses are near identical, which makes the alt source theory confusing, though due to the uniqueness of each, I'd guess he often hit pause simultaneously.

This all raises more questions. How did Roy's other source of this first night in Dallas make it out all those years ago? He certainly didn't just make a copy and keep the master, this new source was the only one he had retained. We also have to wonder, why did he record this show on two decks simultaneously, and how often may he have done "double tapings"? It's not unheard of, since in Toronto he recorded both from the soundboard and with an open mic. Did he let go of alternate sources of other shows as well? Regardless, it could be considered that since the Dallas area was both Roy's birthplace and the origin of the sound company he worked for, that could've factored towards the decisions made with this particular show.

For this new tape, Roy didn't record the brief introduction at the beginning of the show, though he started the tape perfectly in time for Romeo Delight. Then while there oddly is about a minute of crowd noise recorded following Runnin' With The Devil, Roy still did his usual pause during this break where Dave would give an extended talk to the crowd. The first side of the 90 minute master tape runs out during the first part of Everybody Wants Some. The second side of the tape starts right at the start of Dave's interlude, though it seems Roy randomly paused again while Dave was talking, so is missing about a minute or so. Following his decision from the show prior in New Jersey, Roy again decided to not do his usual tape pause following Somebody Get Me A Doctor, so we once again get to hear Dave's acoustic bit and Ice Cream Man.

The second side of the 90 minute master tape runs out during the brief breakdown of Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love where Dave says a few more words to the crowd, however in a complete change of routine, Roy finally decided to grab a second tape to capture more of a show than the confines of a single 90 minute tape. He changed tapes quickly, so was able to capture the rest of the song as well as both complete encores (with the usual pauses during the encore breaks). It seems that using a second tape was perhaps a last minute decision, as the pause timing on the first tape are mostly identical to other single-tape shows he recorded during this time frame. Questionably, the second tape only featured about 13 minutes of audio on an otherwise blank 90 minute tape, which you'd think he could've used to record more of another show sometime later.

Huge thanks to those who significantly helped with the absurd pricetag that was required to liberate this VH collection, most of which would've been impossible to save otherwise.

Enjoy the music and be grateful we are able hear these special recordings. If you have uncirculated tapes, please consider sharing them before they end up forever lost to time.