Van Halen Concert Review in Dallas, TX (March 24, 1995)

Van Halen Concert Review
Dallas, Texas Reunion Arena
March 24, 1995

Van Halen playing Canada during their 1995 Balance tour

At a little past 9 p.m., Van Halen took the stage at Reunion Arena and played hit after continuous hit for almost two hours. The only breaks in the action consisted of spurts of more action called solos. These ranged from Michael Anthony’s symphonic bass attack to three mini drum solos from Alex, the final one blowing away the crowd with its latin tinged flavor. Then there was Eddie’s ear piercing “Calm Before The Storm” solo which went right into their biggest 5150 hit, “Why Can’t This Be Love.”

The only other innterruption in the non stop music was a short soliloquy from Sammy about stopping violence before he performed “Where Eagles Fly.” Sammy picked up his guitar only for this tune and “Finish What Ya Started.” The show got kicked off with “Seventh Seal” from Balance and the crowd got into it right off but seemed to enjoy the smokin’ “You Really Got Me” more than any other selection during the first half of the show (even with out David Lee Roth).I might be alone in this opinion, but I thought Sammy nailed it and I doubt David Lee Roth could do as well on Sammy led songs.

Van Halen performed about half the songs from their latest album including “Aftershock,” “Amsterdam,” and the very special as Sammy said, “Feelin’,” which was the highlight of the evening for me. What might have dissappointed many was the attempt by Sammy to perform “Can’t Stop Loving You” after laying up sick with the flu for about a week. He said he’d try to sing this favorite of many but his forced and valiant effort could have been saved for another day and replaced with a tune like “Deja Vu (take me back),” or “Love Walks In.” The show finished off with “Right Now,” but after leaving the stage to deafening screams and applause for three or four minutes, Van Halen came back for a two song encore which included a tremendously crowd pleasing rendition of “Panama” and then they finally ended the night with “Dreams.”

If there were any Van Halen fans that were not pleased with the way the evening ended up I couldn’t find any. All I saw were people getting what they paid for and having a great time.