Amanda and I were lucky enough to see the Kelly Clarkson concert in downtown Durham last night after a long spell of not seeing a single show.

Our last was several years back. Just looking it up, it was more than several years — in fact it was our first Kelly Clarkson show in Charlotte back in 2005. Wow.

Anyway, I’ll write up a full review of the show in the coming days, but in the meantime, here’s the set list she played last night at the DPAC downtown:

Dark Side
Behind These Hazel Eyes
Since U Been Gone
Gone
You Love Me
Heavy in Your Arms (Florence and the Machine cover)
Gravity (Sara Bareilles cover)
Medley – The Trouble With Love Is / Walk Away / How I Feel / I Want You
I Know You Won’t (Carrie Underwood cover)
Don’t You Wanna Stay
Let Me Down
I Forgive You
Already Gone
Breakaway
You Still Won’t Know What It’s Like
Stronger
My Life Would Suck Without You

-Encore-

Never Again (Acoustic piano only)
Because of You
Mr. Know It All
Miss Independent

Great set. Quick stats on the breakdown of tracks per album (including the medley, but not the covers and the 1 yet-to-be-released track):
Thankful: 2 Tracks
Breakaway: 6 Tracks
My December: 2 Tracks
All I Ever Wanted: 3 Tracks
Stronger: 7 Tracks

Not surprisingly, Stronger — the newest album had the most tracks, but Breakway had almost as many, with My December and Thankful being under represented. As you get more albums, it’s bound to happen. More greats tracks have to be mothballed unless you do a monster multi-hour set.

My full concert review will be coming soon.

So I said I wouldn’t go see Van Halen in concert again until they had something new recorded in the studio. Well that time is here.

We’ve heard a couple of tracks from the new album, but so far so good. “Tattoo,” the first single off the soon-to-be released album A Different Kind of Truth has really grown on me.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10am for the Greensboro, NC date. I’ll be sitting front and center at my iMac buying a pair of floor seats.

A co-worker seems psyched to see them in concert and witness Edward Van Halen in all his glory live. I’m psyched as well. While I sound like a broken record — I really wish the bass work and the high background vocals of Michael Anthony were present, I’ll get over it, and enjoy 3/4 of the original VH lineup.

Below is a article that riffs on the fact that a lot of people are hyped about the band, and how surprising that is with them having been in hibernation for so long.

Van Halen is Back On Top Again

Here it is — the first single from Van Halen’s 2012 album. I dig the song, especially the guitar and bass work, but the video is crap — it’s that black and white video that’s been circulating in part on YouTube and on van-halen.com for the last couple weeks. As others have pointed out, the video and audio don’t even sync. Why? Is that supposed to be artsy fartsy?

I’m still hopeful for the new album and have pre-ordered it.

It’s nice to be able to write about new Van Halen stuff that isn’t a pair of flip flops or some other merchandise. New music is coming!

Van Halen – Tattoo from Van Halen on Vimeo.

Van Halen’s “TATTOO” Song & Video Released!

Every guitarist should be a regular reader of woodytone.com. Great “inside baseball” type stuff regarding music and guitars especially. It’s got a bunch of gear-related stuff.

Love this new article about the recent Van Halen Cafe Wa appearance in New York City.

After you read the article, surf over to YouTube. There’s plenty of footage from the concert. They sound pretty good IMHO.

Breaking Down the Van Halen NYC Debut

OK, April 21, 2012: Greensboro, NC. Who’s going with me?

Tickets go on sale for earlier dates on January 10th, so thinking the later dates should be mid-month.

Van Halen Tour Schedule 2012

OK, I’m getting slightly excited and anxious for early February 2012′s new album release. Sadly, we won’t get to hear the first single till just a few days before the whole album is released.

Anyway, the article below from the Van Halen News Desk drops the bomb that Van Halen has not only been filming the video for the first single (where do videos play now, other than YouTube, BTW?), but they’ve also been rehearsing hardcore for the 2012 tour.

Yeah, I’m a bit psyched.

Van Halen Rehearsals!

Following up on this morning’s post about Van Halen in 2012, thanks to the Van Halen News Desk, we’ve gotten a few more details, including confirmation that February 7th will be the new album release date. Yay!

Here are the details:
JANUARY 3rd:
CONCERT DATES & CITIES ANNOUNCED for first wave of tour

JANUARY 10th:
FIRST SINGLE PREMIERE
FIRST MUSIC VIDEO PREMIERE
CONCERT TICKETS GO ON SALE

FEBRUARY 7th:
NEW ALBUM RELEASE DATE

All via: Exclusive: Van Halen Release Dates, New Photos Revealed!

I meant to post this the other day, but it’s been busy with family and the holidays. Both blogs pretty much were on hiatus there for a few days.

I got an email the day after Christmas from Van-Halen.com.

Their site has now been updated with three black and white seizure-inducing videos backed by tracks from the 1984 album.

Again, we’re seeing a tour without any announcement of a new album. I’m as big a Van Halen fan, as anyone out there, but I’m really disappointed that we’re not hearing anything about an album release. The email was a picture of a NY Central System train, accompanied by the classic VH logo and a date of “2.7.12.” Hopefully, that’s the album release day, which is probable as the 7th of February is a Tuesday — the typical day for new album releases.

This album better be supporting a new album. Otherwise, there’s no other conclusion than the Van Halens and DLR are in full-on money grab mode.

Came across this great article about the last album from the classic Van Halen lineup of Dave, Ed, Alex and Michael. Here’s to hoping the new year brings us a new album that has 3/4 of that classic lineup. In the meantime, here’s a good read about the album that spawned such great tracks as “Jump,” “Panama” and “Hot For Teacher.”

Also, I love the article’s stat about the classic lineup, “6 years, 6 albums, 60 songs and slightly over three hours of recorded music.”

A Look Back at Van Halen’s ’1984′

These are a few years old, but I just stumbled upon them and they rock. A couple of rock giant-inspired Christmas tunes. They’re all well done.
Frank Klepacki spoofs AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen and Rob Zombie in the festive video below.