I saw Eddie Van Halen twice. The first time was at the now-razed Bradley Center in Milwaukee in 1988. The next was the night this photo was snapped, at Rock USA in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 2013.
The WAPL airstaff, myself included, pretty much had the run of the backstage area all day. I chatted up my pals in the regional band Road Trip and then, accompanied by former WAPL DJ Tim Hartt and Rock Garden Studio’s Marc Golde, I spent about 45 of the strangest minutes of my career with Don Dokken, whose band Dokken was also one of the openers. That’s an epic story for another time, though. We also hung out some with Jesse James Dupree and the fellas in Jackyl and listened to some funny rock tales told out of school by the guys in Ratt.
But all day long we all felt a weird and palpable tingle of extra excitement because Van Halen was headlining and it would be one of only two US shows by them that year, the other being later that summer in Los Angeles. As we went on and off the stage to introduce bands and such, it became evident to us that we were in remarkably close proximity to some of Eddie’s equipment which was already onstage. We literally could have touched some of it (but didn’t). It was total nerdy rock geek out time! I thought Tim Hartt was going to have a moment of solo sex as he stared into the back of Eddie’s amps. Borna Velic, another of our former DJ’s, reminisced today, “I remember standing next to a large, touring guitar case that had ‘Property of Edward Van Halen’ inscribed on the front. I forget who was next to me, but I said ‘I’ve never been in this much awe just to stand next to another man’s stuff.'”
The deal with security staff was that pretty much everyone had to leave the backstage area once the guys in Van Halen arrived and most everyone complied. Except us. We just dawdled and pretended we were precisely where we were supposed to be. At one point, Elwood and John Jordan, who now host the Road Show together on WAPL afternoons, walked right past Eddie. As they tell it, Eddie just kind of nodded at them with a “hey” and they, acting all calm and cool, nodded a “hey” back as they passed. What I saw was the moment after Eddie’s back was to them. They stopped, paused a second and started silently giggling and slapping each other’s hands like they were schoolgirls who just got smiled at by One Direction. Being that close to Eddie and “his stuff” turned several adult men into blubbering fan girls that day.
Our staff also had the honor of introducing VH from the colossal stage. I’ve introduced tons of bands but this? What a thrill. The final words were, “VAN F**KING HALEN!”
We stood up front as the show began, gape-mouthed and giddy, just a few feet away from Eddie as he ripped his bleeding hands…and us…to shreds. It was one of those moments which reminded me that, yes, Len, you picked the right career path.
Thanks, EVH.
