Live Without a Net (Van Halen video)


Live Without a Net is a live concert video of Van Halen recorded in New Haven, Connecticut in 1986, and released the following year. It was of their performance on August 27, 1986 at New Haven's Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The 90-minute release removed a few songs from the full performance. While the band attempted to record the previous night, audio problems prevented it from being used, although some video footage from that night would later surface in music videos. The concerts were part of the 5150 Tour, supporting the album of the same name, Van Halen's first with lead singer Sammy Hagar.

Track listing

  1. Introduction
  2. "There's Only One Way to Rock"
  3. "Summer Nights"
  4. "Get Up"
  5. "Drum Solo"
  6. "5150"
  7. "Best of Both Worlds"
  8. "Bass Solo"
  9. "Panama"
  10. "Love Walks In"
  11. "Guitar Solo"
  12. "I Can't Drive 55"
  13. "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love"
  14. "Why Can't This Be Love"
  15. "Rock 'N' Roll"

    Personnel

Songs appear in the concert film in a sequence that differs from the original performance, and at least four songs from the live show were omitted from the film entirely. Other edits to the concert were made, such as editing Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo slightly and cutting brief moments elsewhere from the night. The performance of "Best of Both Worlds", which included a portion of Robert Palmer's hit "Addicted to Love" was aired during the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, but the Palmer section was edited out of the home video release. The same performance footage that aired during the MTV VMA's continued to include "Love Walks In", further illustrating the re-arranging of the playlist order for the edited home video version. Both aired in one continuous clip during the awards show. Continuity problems continued as displayed during the start of Eddie's guitar solo. At one point Eddie sticks his cigarette under the strings behind the nut. A few moments later, Eddie smokes his cigarette then discards it to the floor. A few seconds later the cigarette re-appears in its original place, behind the nut.
Another problem occurred when Eddie Van Halen's Kramer 5150 broke a string during "I Can't Drive 55". After the bridge of the song, while Sammy was soloing, Eddie picked up his Steinberger 5150 guitar and used it to finish the song and to perform "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love".
Originally released on VHS and Laserdisc, Live Without A Net was re-released on DVD in 2004 with both Stereo and Surround Sound - Dolby 5.1 and DTS mixes.
There is an Easter egg on the 2004 DVD, a short, silent clip of a man driving a small car and playing guitar. The clip is from the video Amsterdam by the band Guster. It can be accessed by opening the VTS files on your computer.