This is the first tour with their third lead vocalist, Gary Cherone (formerly of the band Extreme), and in support of their new album fittingly entitled Van Halen 3. Many critics and fans have questioned Van Halen's direction by chosing Cherone instead of trying to rekindle the old flame with David Lee Roth (singer #1). But, after seeing them live, most criticisms were put to rest! Unfortunately, there are still a group of VH fans who refuse to give this version of the band a chance which forced them to switch venues from the 20,000 seat Hershey Stadium to the Star Pavilion which only holds 7,000.

The main drive of this tour was to feature older material that Sammy Hagar (singer #2) refused to perform in concert. Van Halen figures that the best way to win over their fans was to give them the oldies that they wanted to hear for so many years. To many of the diehards, they certainly were pleased to hear that news. Unfortunately, they really weren't the oldies I wanted to hear! Don't get me wrong, the setlist was pretty good but I would have preferred to hear "Runnin' With The Devil", "Hot For Teacher", and "Jamie's Cryin'" rather than "Somebody Get Me A Doctor", "Romeo Delight", and "Feel Your Love Tonight". I am not a "diehard" so I wanted to hear the more commercial hits of that era. The biggest setlist disappointment was the absence of "Dreams" which was a staple in the Hagar era concerts. The highlights of the setlist were the return of the kick ass tune "Unchained" and the never before performed "Humans Being" from the Twister soundtrack. The new songs from VHIII were all great selections but I don't think they were as great live as they are on the CD. Besides the new single "Fire In The Hole" (my least favorite song performed from the new album but the one that worked best live), the rest of the songs from the new effort seemed a bit lifeless. And honestly, I am a big supporter of the new version of Van Halen but most of these songs just couldn't be duplicated live. They also should get rid of the drum solo that just wastes ten minutes of concert time. I'd much rather hear two more songs in that time slot than hear Alex perform a solo which is nothing new or innovative. Eddie is Eddie so he has a right to take ten minutes. He is simply a legend. He's the kinda guy you'll tell your kids that you had the pleasure of seeing live. His solo was actually enjoyable since it was a compilation of solo guitar material from previous albums rather than just random wailing.

Ok, I know it sounds like I have been a bit negative about the show and still gave it four stars, but really, most of my complaints are minor gripes. The fact is, Gary Cherone pulled it off and in a big way. A lot of fans come to the show very skeptical about the new singer but after it is all done, he had won over most of the Van Halen faithful. He does most of the Sammy songs well but he does the Dave era songs EXTREME-ly well! He also brings to the table a great bit of attitude not seen since the Roth days. He doesn't try to copy Roth in any way and brings a fresh, new, ballsy approach (not to mention an incredible voice!!!).

The reason I even attended the Van Halen shows was due to the fact that I was/am a huge fan of Mr. Cherone's former band, Extreme. And even though no songs from his former band were performed (although it hasn't been totally ruled out for the future), he does great justice for both editions of the band that preceded him and brings quite a lot to the table. The Hershey show just happened to be Gary's birthday and the crowd all sang a great big happy birthday for the new crooner.

The bottom line is this: Give this new version of VH a chance! They totally rock and Gary really is a great replacement. The thing that has hurt the band is the mediocre effort they put into VHIII. There is so much they can do now that they have such a gifted vocalist. Now, if they just don't try to make him sound like the previous VH vocalists, particularly Hagar on the new songs (which they are very guilty of on the new CD), they will have the same successes of the last two editions of the band.