Hear Eddie Van Halen shred for five minutes at 1984 soundcheck

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A rare glimpse of Eddie Van Halen warming up

Awhile back, the Van Halen Vault uploaded this rare audio clip of Van Halen performing a soundcheck at San Francisco’s Cow Palace in 1984.

The five-minute clip opens with the band finishing up “Jump” and continues with some wild shredding from Eddie Van Halen, along with a soundcheck of “Panama” and plenty more noodling from Ed.

You can check it out above.

Christopher Scapelliti
Christopher Scapelliti

Christopher Scapelliti is editor-in-chief of Guitar Player magazine, the world’s longest-running guitar magazine, founded in 1967. In his extensive career, he has authored in-depth interviews with such guitarists as Pete Townshend, Slash, Billy Corgan, Jack White, Elvis Costello and Todd Rundgren, and audio professionals including Beatles engineers Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott. He is the co-author of Guitar Aficionado: The Collections: The Most Famous, Rare, and Valuable Guitars in the World, a founding editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine, and a former editor with Guitar World, Guitar for the Practicing Musician and Maximum Guitar. Apart from guitars, he maintains a collection of more than 30 vintage analog synthesizers.

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