VAN HALEN - San Diego and San Jose, CA 2007

People, this will be my last post...

until the next one in two weeks. I'm headed outta town, while noting the second anniversary of this blog. With that in mind, I hereby post TWO big big Van Halen Reunion Tour concerts!

Van Halen booties will always make a good birthday present for the Chick, since it was the feverish hunt for VH's legendary, Gene Simmons-produced "Zero" demos that first sent me down the rabbit hole into this whole wide world of online bootlegs. Although, where bootlegs are concerned, the words "rabbit hole" scarcely imply "underground," since nothing is easier than acquiring bootleg music if you know where to look. (Speaking of which, my very first post link is still good...)

The 2007-'08 VH 30th anniversary tour kickoff roughly coincided with the birth of this blog; I saw them twice in three weeks at L.A.'s Staples Center. These boots are both from right around that time, one in SoCal and one in NoCal.

Since neither the setlist nor Diamond Dave's stage banter varied one iota, it's all about sound quality where VH reunion boots are concerned. Some performances might be looser and gnarlier (like these two), others might be slicker and smoother (like the second Staples Center show I saw), but the songs remain the same. With nice ambience, good balance and 320 bitrates, these both sound pretty great, especially where it matters most: EVH playin' that ol' gee-TAR!

I must say I'm still amazed that no official CD/DVD was released from this hugely attended tour; Roth and the boys of classic VH actually have quite a talent for leaving money on the table. But then, I guess that very lack of official live, demo or B-side material from them is what prompted me to give life to the Chick in the first place...so it's all good now, innit?

VAN HALEN
Cox Arena - San Diego, CA - November 25, 2007 (AUD @320 kbps)
DOWNLOAD 1 / DOWNLOAD 2 / DOWNLOAD 3

HP Pavilion - San Jose, CA - December 16, 2007 (AUD @320 kbps)
DOWNLOAD 1 / DOWNLOAD 2 / DOWNLOAD 3

PS -- Spock and the gals wish you a Happy Green Alien Turkey Day!

GREEN DAY - Manchester, UK 2009

Here at Green Alien Chick, Friday the 13th is Green Day!

My wish of almost three months ago has been fulfilled, with a decent full-length boot of their exhilarating -- and still-going-strong -- 21st Century Breakdown Tour. In fact, this one was taped exactly two weeks ago tonight.

Green Day remains the Show of the Year, for my money, and finally we have a recording of something resembling the three-hour extravaganza Billie Joe & Co. laid down at the L.A. Forum gig, closing out the U.S. leg of the tour.

It's an audience recording, true -- but a clear and well-balanced one (at 320 no less), capturing not just 30 great tunes but every last f-bomb and "Get yer hands in the air!" scream.

So cheers to the taper -- the esteemed PABBY -- and to you!

Oh, and Nazi punks? FUCK OFF.

GREEN DAY
MEN Arena - Manchester, UK - October 30, 2009 (AUD @320 kbps)
DOWNLOAD 1 / DOWNLOAD 2 / DOWNLOAD 3

KISS - Los Angeles, CA 1998 (Halloween Night)

As promised a week ago, the best Halloween concert I've ever been to. I mean, come on, KISS on Halloween night? And a Saturday Halloween at that, like the one just past?

This is a superb live boot, 22 stupendous-sounding tracks from a complete FM broadcast. Even the three then-new Psycho Circus songs don't suck. (Incidentally, the complete video of this show can be found on Vol. 3 of the exhaustive Kissology DVD series.)

My enduring memory of this massive Dodger Stadium gig -- which I attended with my old buddy Jon "Smackley" Alpo, both of us stoned 'n' stupid in our KISS 3-D glasses -- is that prior to "God of Thunder", Gene Simmons was doing his customary stalk around the stage...in inky darkness. Then he stopped, stood still, and his voice rumbled out: "Gimme a fuckin' spotlight."

Directly behind Jon and me, a spotlight beam popped on, quickly finding its way to the Demon onstage...

We both looked behind us, toward the hapless spotlight operator. I clearly remember thinking, "That poor bastard is lucky if he only gets fired, and doesn't end his Halloween floating facedown in the L.A. River, courtesy of the God of Thunder himself."

Scary, right?

KISS
Dodger Stadium - Los Angeles, CA - October 31, 1998 (FMB)
DOWNLOAD 1 / DOWNLOAD 2

PS -- You will need to number the tracks yourself. But hey, as Mr. Simmons and I always say, "Can't beat the price!"