Static Live Magazine December 2020

I’m guessing that not many kids can say they
went to a concert all by themselves when they
were 14, much less a Van Halen concert on one
of their first world tours. Well, that
kid was me and you wouldn’t believe
how much sweet talking and begging
and pleading I had to do to my mom to
get her to let me go to the show.
The year was 1981 Van Halen was out on
their Women and Children First album
tour and I had just recently started liking a
little bit of the hard rock; when I was
younger I was more of a fan of the Beatles
and Simon and Garfunkel and other
mellow crap that my parents loved.
Even though the show was quite a long
time ago, there are a few things that I do
remember quite distinctly. Number one,
my mom preached the whole way there
and looking back it kind of felt like when
the mom was speaking to Cameron
Crowe in the movie Almost Famous.
She dropped me off at the
McDonald’s across the
street from the arena with
the final instructions,
“You’d better be here right
after the concert.” Of
course, back then there
were no cell phones so
she just had to trust that
I would do as she wished.
Walking into the show all
by myself was such a unique
experience, as I was only
about 5’ 2” and probably
looked like I was ten.
Back then, it was
basically general admission
so the fans who got there first
were the ones that were able to
be at the front of the stage. I, of
course, was late but after about 30
minutes of wiggling, joking and
basically shoving my way towards
the stage, by the third song my chest
was against the crowd barrier and
I was front row. I remember raising
my hands to scream and shout like
everyone else and because of the
pressure of the crowd I basically had
to hold my hands above my head for
the next ten songs.
What I’m going to tell you next is a
little embarrassing but it is true and
it is sort of funny. During one of the
songs, David Lee Roth came directly
in front of me and literally 3
feet away from my face. I was so
excited by the thrill of the crowd,
the pulsing of the music and the
fact that the lead singer of one of
the worlds biggest new bands was
right in front of me, creating a
euphoria that’ll never
be forgotten.
It was at that moment
I couldn’t control my
emotions and I reamed
what must’ve been a
girl-like pitch as loud as
I could “ I love you
Eddie”!!! It was not
my proudest moment
but I do swear today
that David Lee