October 15th, 2007 by Ilaa Admin
I had the 5-star at Philly on the third show. I was apprehensive to pay the money, but I figured I was paying basically a broker price for the guaranteed great ticket and maybe some extras. Let me say after attending the show, I thought it was well worth the price tag. I had an absolute blast and would not hesitate to pay for it again if I had the chance (and the $$$). I was not dissapointed in the least. Let me just say I’m going to break down what I got for my money in terms of what it was…not trying to drum it up as anything better but trying to give you a subjective point of view. I had front row (that’s right, row 1) seats between Eddie and Dave, a small laminate…the backstage tour is pretty cool, no soundcheck (and no chance of soundcheck). However, when we were in the VIP lounge where we got the buffet and drinks you could clearly hear soundcheck with Ed, Al and Wolfgang (but that might have just been how the Wachovia Center was setup). The backstage tour is about 10-15 minutes where you walk by the dressing rooms, walk the perimeter of the stage and get to see Wolfgang’s guitars and gear, Eddie’s guitars and gear, and the video center where they do the production for the big screen on stage. We saw Wolfgang and Matt Bruck walk by while on the tour. The gift bag has the VIP bag, a pin, playing cards, a CD case, a bandana and a 10% off coupon for the future online merchandise section of van-halen.com. You get a small merchandise stand where you don’t have to fight a crowd. The ILAA guide told me that there were only a handful of merchandise counters on the main concourse and they typically will be packed except during the show…so I guess that was pretty cool not being rushed and not having to fight for someone to wait on you. Plus, you pay all that money for a seat down front, you definitely don’t want to leave to get a t-shirt. I will say they did not accept credit cards at this special booth. Don’t know if it was just this venue, but it was cash only. One of the coolest things for me was being around a bunch of Van Halen fanatics for the lead up to the show. I mean, it’s really an overall experience. You get in this exclusive room where everyone is waiting on you, they have all the classic VH videos playing on TV’s, the soundcheck is going on right outside the room. Then you get the fanastic show. The show was absolutely amazing, btw. So all in all, I was looking forward to this show because of Dave being back and the classic songs…but really it ended up being a 5 1/2 hour Van Halen experience! Started at 5:15 ended at 10:40. Again, I had an absolute blast. Best show I’ve ever seen and by far the funnest concert experience I could have imagined.
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October 8th, 2007 by Ilaa Admin
Met the group at the Plaza Entrance, party was in the Hospitality A room. Room is located at the end of the backstage hallwya, great location. (same room used on VH ‘04 - the very first I love All Access event!)…..We did 3 backstage tours tonight so that the groups wouldn’t be too large. On the first backstage tour we were outside of the dressing rooms when David Lee Roth entered the hallway! It was a great surprise to everyone! He went down the line and shook hands. The group screamed when they got back into the party room. For the second tour, we passed by Wolfgang as he walked into his dressing room! What a night! And the show, of course, was awesome, with our 5 star fanatics right up front!
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October 8th, 2007 by Ilaa Admin
Vivian took photos w/ the group tonight! One guest brought her young daughter who happens to be a HUGE Vivian fan, she was very happy!…Catering tonight was fantastic! Lots of compliments.
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October 8th, 2007 by Ilaa Admin
Great show, great night. Our party was in the Club Lounge Restaurant. It was very nice for a small group and it overlooked the backstage.
Tonight Rocko and the Devils opened the show, which was our road crew band. I went out and personally bought a bunch of devil horns and got the women in the 5 star group to wear them, so when Rocko looked out into the first row he saw all these devil fans. It was great! It was also a great way to get the 5 stars to play into the inside joke. One of the lighting guys did a stand up comedy routing, and Malvin sang along with Rocko’s band. Awesome!
That’s it for now. We are driving 12 hours to Calgary.
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October 8th, 2007 by Ilaa Admin
Opening night…..woohoo! Met our awesome group, got them signed in and gave everyone their laminates. Then it was off to the merch stand where someone from guest services and helpers were waiting. About 75% of the group were signed in and at the merch stand, when VH started soundcheck! We enjoyed the private audio soundcheck while walking down the arena stairs….The party was in the Backcourt Restaurant, located right at the end of the dressing room hallway! Great location and room….and everyone was able to listen to soundcheck from the room…..Once soundcheck was done, I started the backstage tours. We did 3 tours tonight. The first group was walking by Wolfgang’s tech world when he rounded the corner, said hello to everyone and gave out a few guitar picks. Everyone loved it! Then we circled around behind the stage to Eddie’s guitar world, where Eddie was going over things with his tech. Some folks yelled out their well wishes for opening night!…..At the end of the night we received a lot of compliments about the program and that they really enjoyed the party and tours, and especially the seats! Not a bad seat inside the ramp!! And, last but not least, what a show!
Show #2, here we come!
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October 8th, 2007 by Ilaa Admin
Our party was in the Sports Action Lodge, which was great as it was on the 4th floor and you could view the backstage action. Moving the crowd between 4 floors was interesting - meet on Level 0, go to level 1 to merch shop, move to level 4 for the party, but it was not a problem…Lots of fun and good people at the party tonight. All is well now that we are amongst the Canooks. Lots of fun….Tomorrow Victoria, and then 5am ferry ride and 12 hour bus ride through the Canadian Rockies. A very very good tour to be on.
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