October 29th was the Love-In Music Festival at Greynolds Park featuring Completely Unchained, touted as the country’s number-one Van Halen tribute band.
Mr. Skeptical interrupts, “The number one Van Halen tribute band? Says who?”
“That’s what the Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation & Open Spaces Department had stated on their website.”
“That looks like some politician trying to get more votes.”
For those new to my writing, Mr. Skeptical can see what I write as it’s written, but he can’t see what I write when it’s in italics. “It might be a local politician trying to get more votes. In any case, I was very impressed with the band.”
First, we should ask, does Completely Unchained look like Van Halen?
“The three front men do, but not the drummer.” Says Mr. Skeptical.
“Yes, I’d agree, but there’s something special about that drummer. I’ll talk about him later. Let’s first talk about the David Lee Roth look-alike and the Eddie Van Halen look-a-like.”
These men look a lot like who they’re trying to imitate. These guys are really playing and singing, no lip-syncing! The singer sounded a lot like David Lee Roth. He wouldn’t or couldn’t do the incredible jumps David used to make, but it was good enough. Besides, I know the real David Lee Roth is too old to do some of his old jumps from back in the day.
The pic above is the real David Lee Roth from back in the day.
The guys from Completely Unchained aren’t so young. I’m sure the David impersonator would’ve pulled a hamstring trying to do some of the jumps David used to do. But it didn’t matter because we can’t go back in time anyway.
“Uhh, excuse me, but didn’t you pull a hamstring trying to do sprints a few weeks ago?”
“Yes, I did.” Did Mr. Skeptical really need to mention that?
I like that these guys aren’t so young. It makes me think they were true Van Halen fans. The fandom showed in their performance, making it better.
Even more impressive was the Eddie Van Halen-like guitar playing. It was phenomenal. The song Eruption was played, which is my favorite instrumental rock song, and the Eddie look-a-like did the guitar solo. It was genuinely majestic the way his fingers moved up and down the guitar strings.
One of my favorite Van Halen songs is Everybody Wants Some. For the strong drum intro, you can see the pic below with the David impersonator hitting the drums, and that drummer, that drummer was a lunatic, standing up and hitting the instruments like a madman!
Yes, let’s talk about that drummer who doesn’t look like Van Halen’s drummer: Alex Van Halen. But he was freaking awesome!
Look at his face. He played the drums with such raw, high energy, like a man possessed. He played like an alien was about to burst out of his chest, and the only way to stop the pain was to play harder and harder. I’ve never had sympathy for inanimate objects before, but I did for those sticks and drums. He’d frequently throw a drumstick or two high into the air, and I never once saw him not catch them perfectly and continue the beat. He was a spectacular drummer.
Throughout the show, I was transported back to high school, watching one of my favorite bands I never saw live. The journey was complete when I smelled marijuana in the air.
“I think you’re a sucker paying money to see a wanna-be band.”
“Mr. Skeptical, I’m so happy I don’t give a f#@k what you think. For the $20 it cost to enter the festival to see Completely Unchained, it was a steal. For anyone who’s a Van Halen fan, I totally recommend to go see them, for it was an awesome show.”
