Customer Reviews

Live: Right Here Right Now [VHS]

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

It's as simple as that because basically it's the only full concert filmed and edited professionally and released to DVD and will be the last one at the rate Van Halen is going! So buy it and enjoy!

I've been a huge Van Halen fan since the 80's and own all of thier material. I personally think this is their best concert of all time. I have a copy of the U.S. Festival and while it is truly a classic, the video is horrible due to the bootlegs. But that's understandable! Live without a net is really good, but that whole 80's era and the overall look of the band is cheesy. Some of that stuff including the clothing is hard to look at because I grew up in that era. There are a couple nice Van Halen concerts that aren't released to DVD that a Van Halen fan may want to get if you haven't had a chance to see them. The pay per view material such as the 1998 Australia concert with Cherone is ok, but again, you can tell Cheron didn't quite fit in. The band tried to make it work, but it wasn't there. The only other concert that comes close to right here, right now is the Toronto show on their Balance tour filmed at a jam packed Molson Ampitheatre. Good set list, great sound but the band was a little banged up. Alex was in a neck brace and Eddie was hurting. But the band still sounded tight, they put on a great show and the sound was great. The Balance songs aren't as good as For Unlawful, but it's still a great show and Eddie's playing was sharp.

But Live Right here right now is some of the best Van Halen concert footage from one of the best bands in the world that you'll find anywhere. However, the one discouraging thing about it was they took video footage from 2 different nights and edited them together. So for example you have Eddie performing the same solo but notice him wearing different clothing. No big deal because the music is the same and sounds great, but why do that! The songs they perform are great, the music is fantastic and Eddie's sound is right on, but what may be the best of all is the fact that the album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge was their best material top to bottom and it shows in this concert. I've had it on VHS since it came out several years ago and finally updated to DVD. Not an overall big improvement on the video since it came from VHS, but it beats re-winding and fast forwarding.

A few other reviewers already mentioned it, and it bugs the heck out of me as well. They blended the footage from two different concert nights to put this video together. I'm not crazy about seeing Hagar change clothes instantaneously (as someone already mentioned), but I'm REALLY not crazy about watching Eddie play a solo with the video footage coming from concert 2, but the audio is from concert 1. And this happens frequently in the video where the band isn't exactly playing along with the audio because they swap back and forth between the video footage from the two different concerts, but only use the audio from one of the performances.

Despite what looks like a lip-synching performance at times (because of video not matching audio), Van Halen are in fine form in this, and though I loved the Roth years, I found plenty I enjoyed with the Hagar era as well. They really seem to enjoy playing up there, and that's part of the reason the band rocks so much.

For audio/performance purists, I'd consider something else, but if you're really a die-hard VH fan, there's some good stuff on here.

For several years I've listened to the Right Here, Right Now CD and wanted to see this concert but never ran across the earlier VHS version of this so I was very surprised and delighted to see this DVD available for sale. Granted, this DVD is a VHS transfer but who cares. This is an outstanding DVD of Van Halen's For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge tour, from beginning to end this DVD displays what an outstanding rock group they were with Sammy Hagar in the lead vocal position.

There are those out there that have said that Van Halen was better with David Lee Roth but I wouldn't go that far. Both versions of Van Halen had their particular sound to them, both of which I've enjoyed over the years, when you add Sammy Hagar to the mix though, their music is incredible.

The DVD is a mix of several concerts and some brief interviews. Although it is slightly distracting with cutting between different concerts and cloths on the same songs it's no real big deal. As a live bind, their sound is incredible and all four of their solos are absolutely wonderful. There are a couple of songs where the transfer isn't all that great, leaving a grainy picture, but who cares, for someone like myself who wanted to but never made it to one of their concerts this is a great find. That being said, it's great to see them back together again and my tickets are purchased for their "re-union" tour!

I highly recommend this DVD to any and all fans of Van Halen as it is a great example of just how great a band they are live! {ssintrepid}

I love the music, and the band performs beautifully. However, if you've ever seen this band live, you've come to love how "spontaneous" and off the cuff they are. This DVD was filmed over the course of two different nights and unfortunately it shows. The director intercuts the two days in an extremely haphazard fashion, and ruins all the spontaneity for the fans. It makes it look like Van Halen can't play through a song without heavy editing. But back to the music: According to an interview I read with Eddie, the RHRN album utilizes the sound recording from the first evening of filming, whereas the sound recording from the DVD/VHS is from the second evening (ie. so fans would have a reason to buy both the DVD and CD). This certainly sounds like an intriguing idea. Unfortunately, this becomes problematic, because upon listening to the cd vs. the DVD side by side, it becomes obvious that the band has over-rehearsed their material to the point that the illusion of spontaneity is lost. For example, I was crushed to find out that Sammy's impromptu "Cabo Wabo" interlude in the middle of "You Really Got Me" was not so impromptu at all. In fact, he did it pretty much the same BOTH nights. I love the band, but this release is incredibly shoddy. When I do play this DVD, I play it to listen to the great music, but I find it so painful to watch. For a 100% better VH viewing experience, get "Live Without A Net" instead, which coincidentally was ALSO filmed over two evenings, but somehow manages to get it right.

I personally liked this DVD because it contained interviews with Alex and Michael, solo's with each of the band members, and also great live footage of all of the songs from the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledege album and Right Here, Right Now CD.

"Live: Right Here, Right Now" is not Van Halen at their best, but it's good enough. I am a huge Van Halen fan, and, perhaps, I was just over-anxious to see this concert, but there were aspects about the film that disappointed me. No. 1: the video footage was spliced together from two shows. So, you could be watching one song, and, in the middle of the song, Sammy Hagar's outfit would change. That became a nuisance. No. 2: Eddie Van Halen doesn't display his usual over-the-top energy during this show. No. 3: the song selection could have been better. Since this was taken from the "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge Tour," there are too many songs taken from that album, leaving little room for precious older songs. But most of the songs work and work well!
However, the sound is top-notch. If it's sound quality you want, not much beats this. Michael Anthony's bass solo sounds out of this world. (You die-hard VH fans will recognize a portion of "Sunday Afternoon in the Park" in the middle of it. Alex Van Halen's solo is, indeed powerful and impressive, but a little too long. Eddie Van Halen's solo is a definite crowd-pleaser and it's very good, but I've definitely heard better solos from him. Finally Sammy Hagar's solo ("Eagles Fly") is a nice acoustical change of pace.
"Live: Right Here, Right Now" is a good DVD, and worth the price, but it lacks the energy and fun of "Live Without a Net."

This lineup of VH is simply the best.Eddie is without question the best ever but people tend to look past the incredible ability of Alex,Sammy and Mike.Alex has very few equals in the drummer category.He is in a list of greats that include John Bonham,Vinny Caliuta,Buddy Rich,Dave Weckel,Steve Gadd,and Tommy Lee.Sammy is without question the single best live singer in rock history.The man truly has a gift.One listen and you wonder why people even care about the whole David Lee Roth issue.Roth is horrible live.Lastly there is Mike the most under appreciated bass player in rock.This videos editing is not so great.I recommend Live Without A Net.Filmed in 1986 this is one of there first live performances together and is a true testament to there incredible talent.

I'll just add to the litany of dissatisfaction with this video. First off, since this is the only live DVD, I have to recommend it, just to see them play and listen to the incredible sounding music. The performance is great, they don't miss a note.

Unfortunately, the original high quality video shooting is utterly butchered by editing two shows together. As mentioned by many others, it destroys any sense of "being there". It's basically the equivalent of lip-syncing, but worse. It's like reverse lip-syncing, the moron director syncing a different performance to the music.

And another annoying factor is how often the director cuts away from Eddie right in the middle of a guitar solo in a song. Quite unbelievable.

Nevertheless, like I said, this is all we got, as far as DVD, so it's certainly better than nothing. Just sit back, squint your eyes to not focus on the video too much, and enjoy the music.

This is good DVD despite the fact that it was made by compiling footage from two different concerts. For example: at certain times during the video, you see Sammy Hagar's shirt change color right in the middle of a song. I wish what Van Halen had done instead was just film two nights and use the best one for this video. Some people may say that Live without a net is better because of that. I do agree because this dvd was taken from two nights of video.Other than that, this is good addition for the diehard fan. The sound is even good when viewing on a regular stereo tv and DVD/VCR combo.

Hey what can I say, I am a huge VH fan and that is the way it is. I dont care what anyone says, Sammy Hagar is a great front-man. Roth is great also, but Hagar is better. Van Halen basically put on a flawless performance. Eddie is just remarkable, and sammy sang perfectly note for note. The only flaw in the DVD is the editing. I hate how they put the concert together over a 2 night period. During the same song, the band ramdomly changes their clothes. It is obvious that they took the live audio and edited it into the live video. In my oppinion that takes away from the live "feel". But other than that it is an excellent DVD to add to any music fans collection.