Pensacola Civic Center
The PCC
Location	201 East Gregory Street Pensacola, Florida
Broke ground	1983
Opened	January 21, 1985
Owner	Escambia County
Operator	SMG
Surface	200' x 85' (hockey)
Construction cost	$20.5 million ($44.3 million in 2012 dollars[1])
Architect	Lindley Renken[2]
General Contractor	Dyson Construction, LLC.[2]
Capacity	up to 12,000
Tenants
Pensacola Ice Flyers (SPHL) (2009-present)

The Pensacola Civic Center is an indoor arena located in Pensacola, Florida. It is owned by Escambia County and operated by SMG Management. The Civic Center has a capacity of 8,150 for hockey games, and as much as 12,000 for non-hockey events. The arena contains 23,000 square feet (2,100 m²) of space and 10,000 square feet (1,000 m²) of meeting space.

Sporting events[link]

The Civic Center opened in January 1985^[3] and was used primarily as the home of the Pensacola Ice Pilots hockey team until the team's exit from the ECHL on June 23, 2008. However, hockey returned to the Civic Center in fall 2009 when the Pensacola Ice Flyers of the Southern Professional Hockey League began play. Other minor professional teams have used the Civic Center as its home. From 2000 to 2002, the Pensacola Barracudas played in the af2. In 1998, the Pensacola Flyers of the Eastern Indoor Soccer League played for one season. Various sporting events have taken place at PCC, including wrestling and rodeos. It has also been the multiple-time home of the U.S. Roller Skating National Championships.

Concerts[link]

On February 27, 1990, Janet Jackson opened her Rhythm Nation World Tour in Pensacola. The tour's dress rehearsal at the Pensacola Civic Center Tickets Issued 7.600 to the public as a benefit to local charity, Which sold out in less than an hour.

KISS was the first band to perform at the arena, and continues to make Pensacola a destination on its North American tours.

Perhaps the biggest concert ever at the PCC never took place, Michael Jackson used the venue to rehearse for his Bad World Tour for nearly a month in 1987, but did not perform a public concert at the PCC. Many other large touring acts, including AC/DC, Page & Plant, David Bowie, Rush & Van Halen have used the PCC for pre-tour rehearsals in the past, thanks to the venue's relatively inexpensive rental rates and availability for extended occupation. Unlike Jackson, most acts play a full public show at the PCC before continuing with their tours.

On March 9, 1994, the Pensacola Civic Center hosted the largest Rock for Choice concert in history, which was organized by the band L7 and headlined by Pearl Jam.^[4]

In March 2000, Britney Spears kicked off her Crazy 2K Tour.

The largest attendance for a concert was over 12,000 for AC/DC in 1988 and Bon Jovi in 1989.

Springfest, an annual music event in downtown Pensacola, used the arena in its final years.

Politics[link]

The Pensacola Civic Center has also had various guest speakers, including President George W. Bush in 2006. During the 2008 Presidential race, both Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama used the venue for political rallies as the November election drew close.

External links[link]

• Pensacola Civic Center Official Site

References[link]

Coordinates: 30°24′59″N 87°12′34″W / 30.416485°N 87.209372°W / 30.416485; -87.209372

This article about a sports venue in Florida is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Pensacola, Florida
—  City  —
The City of Pensacola
Upper Left: T. T. Wentworth, Jr. Florida State Museum, National Naval Aviation Museum, University of West Florida Library, William Dudley Chipley Obelisk, Artel Gallery
Flag Official seal of Pensacola, Florida Seal
Nickname(s): P-Cola, The City of Five Flags, Capital of Red Snappers[citation needed], World's Whitest Beaches[citation needed], Cradle of Naval Aviation[citation needed], Bright Gate to the Sunshine State[citation needed]
Motto: Enhancing the Quality of Life for all Citizens
Location in Escambia County and the state of Florida
Coordinates: 30°26′N 87°12′W / 30.433°N 87.2°W / 30.433; -87.2Coordinates: 30°26′N 87°12′W / 30.433°N 87.2°W / 30.433; -87.2
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Escambia
Settled	1698
Incorporated (city)	1667
Government
• Type	Mayor-council
• Body	Pensacola City Council
• Mayor	Ashton Hayward
• Council President	Maren DeWeese
• Council Vice President	P. C. Wu, Ph. D.
Area
• City	39.7 sq mi (102.7 km2)
• Land	22.7 sq mi (58.8 km2)
• Water	17.0 sq mi (43.9 km2)
Elevation	102 ft (31 m)
Population (2010)
• City	51,923
• Density	2,303.5/sq mi (956.8/km2)
• Metro	437,125
• Demonym	Pensacolan, Pensacolian
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Zip Code	32501, 32512, 32534, 32591, 32502, 32513, 32559, 32592, 32503, 32514, 32573, 32593, 32504, 32516, 32574, 32594, 32505, 32520, 32575, 32595, 32506, 32521, 32576, 32596, 32507, 32522, 32581, 32597, 32508, 32523, 32582, 32598, 32509, 32524, 32589, 32511, 32526, 32590
Area code(s)	850
FIPS code	12-55925[1]
GNIS feature ID	0294117[2]
Website	pensacolacitygov.com

Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America.^[3] As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 51,923.^[4] Pensacola is the principal city of the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent Metropolitan Statistical Area, an area with about 455,102 residents in 2009.^[5]

Pensacola is a sea port on Pensacola Bay, which connects to the Gulf of Mexico. A large United States Naval Air Station, the first in the United States, is located southwest of Pensacola (near the community of Warrington) and is home to the Blue Angels flight demonstration team and the National Naval Aviation Museum. The main campus of the University of West Florida is situated north of the city center.

Pensacola is nicknamed "The City of Five Flags" due to the five governments that have flown flags over it during its history: the flags of Spain (Castile), France, Great Britain, the Confederate States of America, and the United States. Other nicknames include "World's Whitest Beaches" (due to the white sand prevalent along beaches in the Florida panhandle), "Cradle of Naval Aviation" (Naval Air Station Pensacola is the home of both the legendary Blue Angels and the National Museum of Naval Aviation), "Western Gate to the Sunshine State", "America's First Settlement", "Emerald Coast", "Redneck Riviera", "Red Snapper Capital of the World", and "P-Cola"

History[link]

Pensacola was the site of one of the first European-inhabited settlements in what would later become the United States of America

The original inhabitants of the Pensacola Bay area were Native American peoples. At the time of European contact a Muskogean-speaking tribe known to the Spanish as the Pensacola lived in the region. This name is not recorded until 1677, but the tribe appear to be the source of the name "Pensacola" for the bay and thence the city.^[6] The area's recorded history begins in the 16th century, when the first European explorers arrived. Pensacola Bay was visited by the expeditions of Pánfilo de Narváez in 1528 and Hernando de Soto in 1539, at which time it was known as the Bay of Ochuse.^[7]

The Juan Sebastian de Elcano initiates a 21-gun salute in honor of Pensacola's 450th anniversary in 2009.

In 1559 Tristán de Luna y Arellano landed with over 1,400 people on 11 ships from VeraCruz, Mexico.^[7][8][9] A notable early attempt to settle in Florida, the purpose of the expedition was to establish an outpost, called by de Luna Ochuse, from which to launch further efforts to colonize Santa Elena (present-day Parris Island, South Carolina.) However, the colony was decimated by a hurricane on September 19, 1559,^[7][9] which killed hundreds, sank five ships, grounded a caravel, and ruined supplies. The 1,000 survivors divided to relocate/resupply the settlement, but due to famine and attacks, the effort was abandoned in 1561.^[9] About 240 people sailed to Santa Elena, but another storm hit there, so they sailed to Cuba and scattered.^[9] The remaining 50 at Pensacola were taken back to Mexico, and the Viceroy's advisers concluded northwest Florida was too dangerous to settle, a view which stood for 135 years.^[9]

In the late 17th century, however, the French began exploring the lower Mississippi River with the intention of colonizing the region as part of Louisiana. Fearful that these overtures would threaten Spanish territory in both Florida and Mexico, the Spanish determined to found a new settlement to check the French. In 1698 they finally established a fortified town near what is now Fort Barrancas, laying the foundation for the modern city of Pensacola.^[10] The Spanish built three presidios in Pensacola:^[11]

• Presidio Santa Maria de Galve (1698–1719): the presidio included fort San Carlos de Austria (east of present Fort Barrancas) and a village with church;^[11]
• Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa (1722–1752): this next presidio was on Santa Rosa Island near the site of present Fort Pickens, but hurricanes battered the island in 1741 and 1752, and the presidio was closed and moved to the mainland;^[11]
• Presidio San Miguel de Panzacola (1754–1763): the final presidio was about five miles east of the first presidio, over in the present-day historic district of downtown Pensacola, named from "Panzacola".^[11]

The Spanish ceded Florida to the British in 1763 as a result of the French and Indian War, and Pensacola was made capital of the new British colony of West Florida. From 1763, the British went back to the mainland area of fort San Carlos de Barrancas, building the Royal Navy Redoubt. After Spain joined the American Revolution late, in 1779, the Spanish captured the city in the 1781 Battle of Pensacola, gaining control of West Florida.^[8] After the war the British officially ceded both West Florida and East Florida to Spain. In 1819 Spain and the United States negotiated the Adams-Onis Treaty, in which Spain sold the Floridas to the United States for US$5 million.^[8] In 1821, with Andrew Jackson as provisional governor, Pensacola became part of the United States.^[8]

St. Michael's Cemetery was established in the 18th century at a location which was located in a south central part of the city that would become the Downtown area. Initially owned by the Church of St. Michael, it is now owned and managed by St. Michael's Cemetery Foundation of Pensacola, Inc.^[12] Preliminary studies indicate that there are over 3200 marked burials as well as a large number unmarked.^{[citation needed]}

Archaeologically, the best known Pensacola Culture site is the Bottle Creek site, a large site located on a low swampy island north of Mobile, Alabama. This site has at least 18 earthen mounds; 5 of which are arranged around a central plaza. Its main occupation was from 1250 to 1550 CE. It was a ceremonial center for the Pensacola people, and a gateway to their society. This site seems like an unlikely place to find a ceremonial center due to the fact that it is surrounded by swamps and is difficult to reach on foot. However, it would have been easy access by a dugout canoe, the main mode of transportation available to the people who built the Bottle Creek site. (Archaeology of Native North America, 2010, Dean R. Snow, Prentice-Hall, New York. pp. 248– 249)

Geography[link]

Pensacola Beach, Florida

Topography[link]

Pensacola is located at 30°26′13″N 87°12′33″W / 30.43694°N 87.20917°W / 30.43694; -87.20917 (30.436988, -87.209277).^[13] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 39.7 square miles (102.8 km²), consisting of 22.7 square miles (59 km²) of land and 17.0 square miles (44.0 km²) (42.77%) water.

Climate[link]

The climate of Pensacola is humid subtropical (Köppen Cfa), with short, mild winters and hot, humid summers. Typical summer conditions have highs in the upper 90s °F (32-34 °C) and lows in the mid 70s (23-24 °C).^[14] Afternoon or evening thunderstorms are common during the summer months. Due partly to the coastal location, temperatures above 100 °F (37.8 °C) are rare, and last occurred in June 2011, when two of the first four days of the month recorded highs of over 100 °F.^[15] The hottest temperature ever recorded in the city was 106 °F (41.1 °C) on July 14, 1980.^[14]

The average high in January is 61.2 °F (16.2 °C), and the low is 42.8 °F (6.0 °C), though freezing temperatures occur on an average fifteen nights per season.^[16] Temperatures below 20 °F (−6.7 °C) rarely occur, and last occurred in January 2003, when a low of 18 °F (−7.8 °C) was seen.^[17] The coldest temperature ever recorded in the city was 5 °F (−15 °C) on January 21, 1985.^[14]

Snow is rare in Pensacola, but does occasionally fall. The most recent snow event occurred on February 12, 2010.^[18]

The city receives 64.28 inches (1,630 mm) of precipitation per year, with a rainy season in the summer. The rainiest month is July, with 8.02 inches (204 mm), with April being the driest month at 3.89 inches (99 mm).^[14]

Hurricanes[link]

Pensacola's location on the Florida Panhandle makes it vulnerable to hurricanes. Major hurricanes which have made landfall at or near Pensacola include Eloise (1975), Frederic (1979), Juan (1985), Erin (1995), Opal (1995), Georges (1998), Ivan (2004), and Dennis (2005).

Pensacola and several surrounding areas were devastated by Hurricane Ivan. Pensacola found itself on the eastern side of the eyewall, which sent a large storm surge into Escambia Bay that eventually destroyed most of the I-10 Escambia Bay Bridge and completely destroyed the fishing bridge that spanned Pensacola Bay alongside the Phillip Beale Memorial Bridge or locally known as The Three Mile Bridge.^[19] The storm heavily damaged the bridge. It knocked 58 spans off of the eastbound and westbound bridges and misaligned another 66 spans causing the bridge to close to traffic in both directions.^[20] Over six billion dollars in damage occurred in the metro area and more than 10,000 homes were destroyed, with another 27,000 heavily damaged. NASA created a comparison image to illustrate the massive damage. Hurricane Ivan drove up the cost of housing in the area, leading to a severe shortage of affordable housing. In July 2005, Hurricane Dennis made landfall just east of the city, sparing it the blow it had received from Ivan the year before. However, hurricane and near-hurricane force winds were recorded in downtown, causing moderate damage.

Although Pensacola only received a glancing blow from 2005's devastating Hurricane Katrina, light to moderate damage was reported in the area. Katrina also undermined a large percentage of Pensacola's tourist base from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Statistics[link]

Cantonment Clinch began providing meteorological observations in the 1830s. Observations from the Pensacola area continued intermittently over the next several decades.^{[citation needed]} Weather statistics today originate at the airport.

Demographics[link]

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 56,255 people, 24,524 households, and 14,665 families residing in the city, and 402,000 people in the Pensacola MSA. The population density was 2,478.7 people per square mile (956.8/km²). There were 26,995 housing units at an average density of 1,189.4 per square mile (459.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city is 64.91% White, 30.58% African American, 1.77% Asian, 0.52% Native American, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.54% from other races, and 1.61% from two or more races. 2.07% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 24,524 households out of which 24.6% had children living with them, 39.7% were married couples living together, 16.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.2% were non-families. 32.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.92.

Of the people in Pensacola, 45.9% identify with a religion, slightly lower than the national average of 48.34%.^[22] Over 48% of Pensacolians who do practice a religion consider themselves Baptists (22.14% of all city residents).^[22] Other Christian denominations include Roman Catholics (9.22% of city residents), Pentecostal (3.82%), Methodist (3.77%), Episcopalian (1.11%) and Presbyterian (1.08%).^[22]

Pensacola is home to a small (0.15% of city residents)^[22] but significant Jewish community, whose roots stretch back to the mid-to-late 19th century. The first Florida chapter of B'nai Brith was founded downtown in 1874, as well as the first temple, Beth-El, in 1876. Paula Ackerman, the first woman who performed rabbinical functions in the United States, was a Pensacola native and led services at Beth-El. Apart from the Reform Beth-El, Pensacola is also served by the Conservative B'nai Israel Synagogue.^[23]

Longtime opposition to annexation in the areas surrounding the city has held its 2000 Census population figure at 56,255.

Architecture[link]

Pensacola does not have a prominent skyline, but it does have several low-rise buildings. The tallest is the 15 floor Crowne Plaza Grand Hotel, which stands at 146 feet. Other tall buildings include the Scenic Apartments (98 feet), SunTrust Tower (96 feet), Seville Tower (88 feet), and the AT&T Building (76 feet).

Economy[link]

Personal income[link]

The median income for a household in the city was $34,779, and the median income for a family was $42,868. Males had a median income of $32,258 versus $23,582 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,438. About 12.7% of families and 16.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.2% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.

Military[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

The city has been referred to as "The Cradle of Naval Aviation".^{[citation needed]} Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP) was the first Naval Air Station commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1914. Tens of thousands Naval Aviators have received their training there including John H. Glenn, USMC who became the first American to orbit the earth in 1962 and Neil Armstrong who became the first man to set foot on the moon in 1969. The Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, is stationed there.

The National Museum of Naval Aviation is located on the Naval Air Station and is free to the public. The museum cares for and exhibits hundreds of vintage Naval Aviation aircraft and preserves the history of Naval Aviation through displays, symposiums, IMAX movies and tours.

Corry Station Naval Technical Training Center serves as an annex for the main base and the Center for Information Dominance.^{[clarification needed]} CW03 Gary R. Schuetz Memorial Health Clinic is at Corry Station, Naval Hospital Pensacola, as is the main Navy Exchange and Defense Commissary Agency commissary complex for both Corry Station and NAS Pensacola. The Army National Guard B Troop 1-153 Cavalry is stationed in Pensacola.

Hospitals[link]

• Baptist Health Care^[24]
• Gulf Breeze Hospital^[25] – Baptist Health Care
• Naval Hospital^[26] – United States Navy
• Sacred Heart Hospital^[27] – Sacred Heart Health System
• Santa Rosa Medical Center^[28] –
• West Florida Hospital^[29] – West Florida Healthcare
• Nemours Children's Clinic^[30]

Tourism[link]

There are a number of annual festivals, events, historic tours, and landmarks. The Pensacola Seafood Festival and The Pensacola Crawfish Festival held in the heart of historic Downtown has been held for nearly 30 years with live music acts. The Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival is held annually in November in Seville Square often drawing more than 200 regional and international artists as well as The Children's Art Festival which is held in the same park featuring art by children from local area schools.

There are several walking tours of the historic 18th century era restored neighborhoods.

Pensacola is the site of The Vietnam Veteran's Wall South. There are a number of historical military installations from the Civil War including Fort Barrancas. Fort Pickens served as a temporary prison for Geronimo. There is the National Naval Aviation Museum at NAS Pensacola.

Law and government[link]

The City of Pensacola is governed by an elected City Council with nine seats, two of which are considered "at large." The city government also has an elected mayor; Ashton Hayward.

Politics[link]

Like other parts of the South during Reconstruction, Pensacola was solidly Republican for years after the Civil War. The Republican government had numerous African American politicians, including several county commissioners, city aldermen, constables, state representatives, and even one African American Mayor—Salvador Pons. However, with the 1884 election of native Pensacolan and former Confederate General Edward Perry, a dramatic shift occurred. Perry, a Democrat who actually lost the Escambia County vote during the state-wide election, acted to dissolve the Republican city government of Pensacola and in 1885 replaced this government with hand-picked successors, including railroad magnate William D. Chipley. The only African American to remain in city government was George Washington Witherspoon, a pastor with the African Methodist Episcopal Church who was previously a Republican and switched parties to the Democrats. Following Governor Perry's dissolution of the Republican government, the city remained Democratic for more than a century after the Civil War with no African Americans serving in an elected capacity for nearly a century. Until the 1970s, most local elections were determined by the Democratic primary. However, from the 1960s onward, the staunchly conservative military and Bible Belt city became increasingly Republican. However, Democrats continued to win most elections at the state and local level well into the 1990s, though most of them were very conservative even by Southern Democratic standards.

This changed in 1994, when Republican attorney Joe Scarborough defeated Vince Whibbs, Jr. the son of popular former Democratic mayor Vince Whibbs, in a landslide to represent Florida's 1st congressional district, which is based in Pensacola. Republicans also swept all of the area's seats in the state legislature, the majority of which were held by Democrats. Since then, Republicans have dominated every level of government, although municipal elections are officially nonpartisan. In August 2005, registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats for the first time in the area's history. As of August 2005, in Escambia County, 44% of the residents are registered Republicans compared to 39.91% of the population having registered as Democrats with another 13.21% having no party affiliation.^[31]

In the 2004 presidential election, 65% of Escambia County residents voted for George W. Bush over John Kerry. The Pensacola area has not supported a Democrat for President since John Kennedy in 1960. In 1968, Pensacola and the rest of North Florida supported American Independent Party candidate George Wallace.

Chuck Baldwin, the 2008 presidential nominee of the Constitution Party, is the pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola.

Regional representatives[link]

Pensacola is currently represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Jeff Miller (R), in the state senate by Don Gaetz (R) and Durell Peaden (R), and in the state house by Clay Ford (R), Dave Murzin (R), and Greg Evers (R).^[32]

Libraries[link]

The West Florida Regional Library is a system of libraries with five locations throughout the Pensacola area. They offer fiction and non-fiction books, magazines, books on cassette or CD, DVD and VHS films and music. Each library offers public access computers, children's materials, and a variety of reading materials.

Genealogy and local history resources are available at the geneaology branch near the Pensacola State College. Library staff and various volunteers from the West Florida Genealogy Society are available to help start the research process. The Friends of the Library hold periodic book sales where donated and discarded items are sold to the public. Donations of books or audio-video items in good condition are welcome at the main library on Gregory Street.

Sister cities[link]

According to Sister City International, Pensacola has the following sister cities:^[33]

• Chimbote, Peru
• Escazu, Costa Rica
• Gero, Japan
• Horlivka, Ukraine
• Miraflores, Peru
• Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Transportation[link]

ECAT bus, June 2006.

Major air traffic in the Pensacola and greater northwest Florida area is handled by Pensacola International Airport. Airlines currently serving Pensacola International Airport are Air Tran Airways, American Eagle, ASA, Comair, Continental Airlines, Continental Express, Delta Air Lines, SkyWest Airlines, United Express, and US Airways.

From early 1993 through August 2005 Pensacola was served by the tri-weekly Amtrak Sunset Limited, but service east of New Orleans to Jacksonville and Orlando was suspended due to damage to the rail line of CSX during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Attempts are being made to have service restored. This was previously the route of the Gulf Wind operated by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.^[34][35]

Pensacola is served by Interstate 10 and the Interstate 110 spur connecting I-10 with downtown Pensacola.

Greyhound bus service is also available.

The local bus service is the Escambia County Rosa Parks Transit System.^[36] In December 2007, ECAT announced that it would cut many of its routes citing poor rider frequency. However in January 2008, ECAT announced that it would expand service to neighboring Gulf Breeze and change existing routes to more convenient locations.^[37]

Education[link]

Public primary and secondary education schools in Pensacola are administered by the Escambia County School District. The current superintendent of schools for Escambia County is Malcolm Thomas. The University of West Florida, which resides north of the city, is the primary tertiary school in the area. UWF also has the largest library in the region, the John C. Pace Library.

Universities and colleges[link]

• University of West Florida
• Pensacola State College
• Troy University - Pensacola
• Fortis College (private)
• Pensacola Christian College (private)
• Virginia College (private)
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - NAS Pensacola

High schools in the City of Pensacola[link]

• Aletheia Christian Academy
• East Hill Christian School
• Escambia High School
• Pensacola School Of Liberal Arts
• Pensacola Catholic High School
• Pensacola High School (Ranked as the 8th best high school in America by Newsweek magazine in 2004.)^[38]
• Washington High School
• Pine Forest High School
• Pensacola Christian Academy
• Tate High School
• West Florida High School of Advanced Technology

Elementary schools[link]

Culture[link]

Music scene and subculture[link]

• Jim White - singer, songwriter and guitarist
• This Bike is a Pipe Bomb - a folk-punk band
• Finite Automata - an industrial band.
• Mark Gormley - Singer/songwriter who rose to internet fame.

The arts and theatre[link]

There are a number of different performance venues in the Pensacola Area, including the Pensacola Civic Center, often used for big ticket events, and the Saenger Theater, used for performances and mid level events. Other theatres used for live performances, plays and musicals include the Pensacola Little Theatre, Pensacola Junior College, University of West Florida and Loblolly Theatre. Pensacola is also home to the Pensacola Opera, Pensacola Children's Chorus, Pensacola Symphony Orchestra, and the Choral Society of Pensacola, as well as Ballet Pensacola.

Sports[link]

There are several semiprofessional sports teams, including the Pensacola Lightning NAFL team, the Pensacola Ice Flyers, and the Pensacola Blue Wahoos Double-A Southern League Baseball Team.

Media[link]

The largest daily newspaper in the area is the Pensacola News Journal, with offices on Romana Street in downtown; the News Journal is owned by the Gannett Company. There is an alternative weekly newspaper, the Pensacola Independent News.

Pensacola is also home to WEAR-TV, the ABC affiliate for Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, and Mobile, Alabama, and WSRE-TV, the local PBS member station, which is operated by Pensacola State College. Other television stations in the market include WALA-TV, the Fox affiliate; WKRG, the CBS affiliate; and WPMI, the NBC affiliate, which all are located in Mobile. Cable service in the city is provided by Cox Communications and AT&T U-Verse. WUWF is the area's NPR affiliate and is based at the University of West Florida.

Pensacola Magazine, the city's monthly glossy magazine, and Northwest Florida's Business Climate, the only business magazine devoted to the region, are published locally. The News Journal also publishes Home & Garden Weekly magazine as well as the monthly Bella, devoted to women.

Notable people[link]

See also[link]

	Florida portal
	New Spain portal

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pensacola, Florida

• City of Pensacola
• Pensacola Scene And Events
• Pensapedia, the Pensacola encyclopedia
• Pensacola Bay Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Pensacola Shopping
• Nelson, Melissa (2007-05-27). "Gays Flock to Fla. Panhandle for Holiday". Associated Press. ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3215976. Retrieved 2007-05-27. ^{[dead link]}
• Haldimand Collection : Pensacola at the time of War of Independence

v t e Municipalities and communities of Escambia County, Florida, United States County seat: Pensacola City Pensacola Town Century CDPs Bellview Brent Ensley Ferry Pass Gonzalez Goulding Molino Myrtle Grove Warrington West Pensacola Unincorporated communities Barrineau Park Innerarity Point McDavid Pensacola Beach Perdido Key Walnut Hill Ghost town Muscogee

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The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (September 2011)

The Denver Civic Center

A civic center or civic centre (see "American and British English spelling differences") is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the term "civic center" has been used in reference to an entire central business district of a community or a major shopping center in the middle of a community^{[citation needed]}. In this type of civic center, special attention is paid to the way public structures are grouped and landscaped.

In some American cities, a multi-purpose arena is named "Civic Center", for example Columbus Civic Center. Such "Civic Centers" combine venues for sporting events, theaters, concerts and similar events.

In Australia Civic Centre is used as a brand of Shopping Centre.

Notable civic centers[link]

• Miami Civic Center
• Tallahassee Civic Center
• Mid-Hudson Civic Center
• San Francisco Civic Center
• Honolulu Capitol District
• National Mall
• Civic Center, Denver
• Florence Civic Center
• Ottawa Civic Centre
• Hartford Civic Center
• Providence Civic Center
• Springfield Civic Center
• Peoria Civic Center
• Millennium Park
• Cumberland County Civic Center
• Los Angeles Civic Center
• Saint Paul Civic Center
• Evansville Civic Center Complex
• New York City Civic Center

Civic centers in the UK[link]

Newport Civic Centre, Wales

In most cases civic centers in the UK are a focus for local government offices and public service buildings. The Cardiff Civic Centre is probably the oldest and best preserved civic centers in the UK. With reforms of local government in London in 1965 and across England in anticipation of the implementation of the Redcliffe-Maud Report in 1974, a number of local authorities commissioned new civic centers sometimes funded by disposing of their 19th Century Town Hall buildings. Sir Basil Spence was responsible for designing three of these civic centers:

• Hampstead Civic Centre, which was only partially completed; and of which only the Swiss Cottage Library (1964) still exists.^[1]
• Sunderland Civic Centre (1970).^[2]
• Kensington and Chelsea Civic Centre (1977).^[3]

Other noteworthy civic centers include:

• Barking and Dagenham Civic Centre at Becontree Heath (1937).
• Newcastle Civic Centre (1967).
• Southampton Civic Centre (1932).
• Newport Civic Centre (main building 1940, clock tower completed 1964).
• Civic Centre, Swansea (opened in 1982 as the County Hall)

References[link]

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: citations requested since 2009, so either sources need to be added, or uncited stuff deleted. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (March 2011)

Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen onstage in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Edward Lodewijk van Halen
Also known as	EVH
Born	(1955-01-26) January 26, 1955 (age 57) Nijmegen, Netherlands
Genres	Hard rock, heavy metal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Guitar, keyboards, vocals, bass, drums
Years active	1968–present
Labels	Warner Bros.
Associated acts	Van Halen, Michael Jackson, Derek Sherinian, Steve Vai, Brian May
Website	www.van-halen.com
Notable instruments
"Frankenstrat" Ernie Ball Music Man EVH model Peavey EVH Wolfgang

Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen (born January 26, 1955) is a Dutch-born American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer. He is best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the eponymous hard rock band Van Halen. Allmusic described him as "Second to only Jimi Hendrix... undoubtedly one of the most influential, original, and talented rock guitarists of the 20th century."^[1] He is ranked 8th in Rolling Stone's 2011 list of the Top 100 guitarists.^[2]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2011)

Born in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, Edward Lodewijk van Halen is a son of clarinetist, saxophonist and pianist father Jan van Halen and mother Eugenia. Eugenia van Halen was originally from Indonesia which was a former Dutch colony. Eugenia was half Dutch and half Indonesian. Edward's middle name "Lodewijk" was derived from composer Ludwig van Beethoven (Lodewijk is the Dutch version of Ludwig). Edward continued this naming tradition by naming his son Wolfgang Van Halen after composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.. In February 1962, at the age of seven, Edward moved with his family to the United States, settling in Pasadena, California.[1]

Van Halen and his older brother Alex learned to play the piano as children.^[1] The brothers were shuttled from Pasadena to San Pedro to study with an elderly man who taught them classical piano. Eddie and Alex hated the commute but continued as their mother would discipline them if they refused to go. Eddie revealed in an interview that he never could read the music. He learned from watching and listening. So during recitals of Bach or Mozart, he would simply wing it. Afterward, the judges would comment that he had an interesting interpretation of the classical piece. Eddie thought, "What? I thought I was playing it correctly!" However, playing the piano did not prove to be challenging or interesting to him — he once said in an interview.^[3] Consequently, while Alex began playing the guitar, Eddie bought a drum kit and began practicing. He would practice for hours day after day.

After Eddie heard Alex's performance of the The Surfaris' drum solo in the song "Wipe Out", he grew annoyed that his brother had overtaken his ability and decided to switch and begin learning how to play the electric guitar. He stated^{[citation needed]} that he would often walk around at home with his guitar strapped on and unplugged, practicing. He claims^{[citation needed]} that he would sit in his room for hours with the door locked as a teen, practicing the guitar. Van Halen notes the importance of supergroup Cream, holding their improvisation in high regard, considering 'I'm so Glad' on 'Goodbye Cream' to be mind-blowing.^[4] He once claimed that he had learned almost all of Eric Clapton's solos in the band Cream "note for note". Eddie has stated: "I've always said Eric Clapton was my main influence, but [Jimmy Page] was actually more the way I am, in a reckless-abandon kind of way."^[5]

[edit] Van Halen

Van Halen, originally called Genesis with bass player Mark Stone, changed their name to "Mammoth" when they discovered there was already a band from England with the name Genesis. The band consisted of Eddie Van Halen on guitar and vocals, his brother Alex on drums, and bassist Mark Stone. They had no P.A. system of their own, so they rented one from David Lee Roth^[6] — a service for which he charged by the night. Eddie quickly became frustrated singing lead vocals,^[6] and decided they could save money by letting Roth into the band.,^[6] Michael Anthony replaced Mark Stone on bass. They opted to change the name of the band because David Lee Roth suggested that the last name of the two brothers "sounded cool." Roth also thought that changing the name would give the group staying power. Would people think it was a name? A place? The name would be more cryptic, with more to think about.

At one point the group considered calling themselves Rat Salade, before deciding on Van Halen.^[7] The band originally began playing cover material, ranging from pop to disco, before settling on original material.^[7] In 1976, Rodney Bingenheimer took Gene Simmons to see one of Van Halen's shows.^[8] Simmons then produced a Van Halen demo tape with recording beginning at the Village Recorder studios in Los Angeles and finished with overdubs at the Electric Lady Studios in New York.^[9] In mid-1977, Van Halen was offered a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records. After recording a set of demos, they recorded their first album "Van Halen" in mid September to early October 1977, which was released on February 10, 1978.

David Lee Roth fallout[link]

Van Halen in New Haven, 1977

Van Halen released a total of six albums with vocalist David Lee Roth: Van Halen (1978), Van Halen II (1979), Women and Children First (1980), Fair Warning (1981), Diver Down (1982) and 1984 (1984). However, the band had trouble working together as a cohesive unit. According to Gene Simmons' book Kiss and Make-Up, Eddie Van Halen approached Simmons in 1982 about possibly joining Kiss, replacing Ace Frehley. According to Simmons, Eddie did so chiefly due to his personality conflicts with Roth.

Simmons and Alex persuaded Eddie to remain in Van Halen, while Kiss replaced Frehley with Vinnie Vincent, and shortly afterwards the band released the album 1984, which yielded the band's first #1 hit "Jump". Other singles released from the album performed well, particularly "Hot for Teacher", the video for which featured a skimpily dressed model playing the part of a female elementary school teacher and school-age boys portraying younger versions of the band members. The album peaked at #2 on the Billboard charts, behind Thriller by Michael Jackson, on which Eddie also played.

Jimmy Page said at the time: "For my money, Eddie Van Halen was the first significant new kid on the block. Very dazzling".^[10] In 1982, Eddie was invited by producer Quincy Jones to contribute the guitar solo for Michael Jackson's recording for Thriller's "Beat It". Van Halen improvised and integrated for the recording the familiar Van Halen-styled guitar solo bridge in the new song. Part of rock lore was that credit for his work on the noteworthy track would be sufficient and Van Halen declined the payment he was offered for his performance.^{[citation needed]}

Sammy Hagar[link]

With the arrival of former Montrose singer Sammy Hagar in July 1985, the band's sound changed somewhat to adapt to the strengths of the new vocalist, as Eddie's keyboard playing became a permanent fixture, heard in songs such as "Dreams" and "Love Walks In". Even on the more guitar-driven songs, Eddie's performances became looser, less aggressive, and some said more thoughtful, while others said more commercial. The change in sound and pace prompted many fans, both positively and negatively, to refer to the band as "Van Hagar" or "Sam Halen". However, tensions within the band again arose over identity and artist direction, and Hagar, like Roth earlier, departed in June 1996.

Hagar appeared on 4 studio albums with the band, 5150, OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and Balance, as well as one live album Live: Right Here, Right Now. Even though some fans of the original Van Halen were upset over both the separation of Roth and the hiring of Hagar, the band achieved something never attained by the original line-up, a #1 record. With Hagar, all four studio releases reached #1 on the Billboard charts. "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" earned the 1992 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal. And their live album Live: Right Here, Right Now peaked at #5.

Gary Cherone[link]

Following Hagar's departure, the group briefly reunited with original singer David Lee Roth and released Best of Volume I, a greatest hits package, in October 1996. Two new songs were recorded for the album, with the single "Me Wise Magic" reaching #1 on the mainstream rock chart "Can't Get This Stuff No More". However, previous disagreements resurfaced and the reunion did not last, as Roth left in September 1996, after the MTV Video Music Awards.

The band auditioned many prospective replacements for Hagar, finally settling on Gary Cherone, former front man for Extreme, a band also represented by Van Halen's manager. Cherone predicted that the new line-up would last 'ten years', however the Van Halen III album was poorly received. The band completed a world tour with their new single "Without You" and did go back in the studio to start on a second record. However, Cherone soon had an amicable departure, and without a lead singer, Van Halen went on hiatus.

Reunion with Hagar and Roth[link]

Van Halen (right) with David Lee Roth (left), November 2007

In 2004, Van Halen returned with Hagar as their lead singer. A greatest hits package, The Best of Both Worlds, was released to coincide with the band's reunion tour. The album included three new tracks recorded with Hagar, "Up For Breakfast", "It's About Time" and "Learning to See". The band toured the U.S., covering 80 cities.^[11] On February 2, 2007, it was officially announced on the band's website that David Lee Roth would rejoin Van Halen for their summer tour.^[12] The excitement regarding the tour waned when on February 20, 2007, reports surfaced that the tour was indefinitely postponed. A previously planned compilation of Roth era Van Halen hits was shelved.^[13]

After six months and a stint in rehabilitation for Eddie, it was confirmed by the band on August 13 at a press conference in Los Angeles that they would do a tour with the new lineup from late 2007-2008 across North America, with worldwide touring and a new album proposed to follow.^[14] Persistent rumors had long indicated the Van Halen brothers were in talks with Roth to rejoin the band for a tour and/or new material. Van Halen's then 15-year old son Wolfgang was to play bass in Van Halen in the fall, replacing Michael Anthony. Van Halen claimed his son's presence would have a positive effect on the band.

2000s[link]

Suffering from lingering injuries from past high-risk acrobatic stage antics and crashes, Eddie Van Halen underwent hip replacement surgery in November 1999, after his chronic avascular necrosis, which he was diagnosed with in 1995, became unbearable.^[15] In April 2001, Eddie confirmed that since May 2000, he had been undergoing treatment for tongue cancer. The subsequent surgery removed roughly a third of his tongue. He was declared cancer-free in May 2002. Since the 2004 tour, Eddie Van Halen has largely disappeared from the public eye, with the exception of occasional appearances such as the 14th annual Elton John Academy Awards party, and a performance at a Kenny Chesney concert. In December 2004, Eddie attended "Dimebag" Darrell Lance Abbott's funeral, and donated the black and yellow guitar featured on the Van Halen II album inlay, stating that it was always a favorite of Dimebag's. The guitar was put in Darrell's Kiss Kasket and was buried with it.^[16]

On December 5, 2005, Eddie's wife, Valerie Bertinelli, filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court, after four years of separation. On March 8, 2007, Van Halen announced on the official band website that Eddie was entering rehabilitation for unspecified reasons. However, both Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony have made statements indicating that Eddie's personality had changed due to alcohol abuse. Van Halen emerged from rehabilitation and appeared publicly as an honorary official during the April 21, 2007 NASCAR event at Phoenix International Raceway. He also unveiled a new Fender Stratocaster with a paint-job made for the NASCAR races before the ceremony. In 2007, Eddie was honored in the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II. A player receives the "Eddie Van Halen" achievement for hitting 500 or more notes in succession.^[17]

Van Halen toured the U.S. and Canada (Eddie, Alex, Wolfgang, and Roth) from September 2007 until summer 2008. On October 6, 2008, it was reported that Eddie Van Halen proposed to his girlfriend Janie Liszewski, an actress and stuntwoman who became Van Halen's publicist in 2007. He proposed to her while vacationing in Hawaii. The two married on June 27, 2009 at his Studio City estate, with his son and ex-wife Valerie in attendance.^[18] The rocker's brother, Alex Van Halen, officiated the ceremony, while his son served as best man.^[19] On January 1, 2011, Eddie attended Valerie Bertinelli's wedding, along with his son Wolfgang. In mid-January 2011, he attended the winter NAMM Show to present his new Wolfgang guitars, sharing the Fender booth with fellow guitar player Yngwie Malmsteen.

Van Halen released their twelfth studio album, A Different Kind of Truth, on February 7, 2012: their first album for 14 years and their first album with David Lee Roth since 1984.

Style and influence[link]

Eddie van Halen's approach to the guitar involves several distinctive components. His use of two-handed tapping, natural and artificial harmonics, vibrato, and tremolo picking, combined with his rhythmic sensibility and melodic approach, have influenced an entire generation of guitarists. The solo in "Eruption" was voted #2 on Guitar World magazine's readers poll of the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.^[20][21]

Tapping[link]

The instrumental "Eruption" showcased a solo technique called tapping, utilizing both left and right hands on the guitar neck. Although Van Halen popularized tapping, he did not, despite popular belief, invent the tapping technique. The tapping technique in blues and rock was being picked up by various guitarists in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Duane Allman, Frank Zappa and Ace Frehley, tapped with a pick in the early 1970s. Steve Hackett used tapping to play Bach like keyboard passages on the guitar in the early 1970s. Larry Carlton also had a tapped note at the end of his solo on the song Kid Charlemagne.

Brian May also used the tapping technique, which he picked up in America in the early 1970s, on songs such as It's Late from the News Of The World album. From a January 1983 Guitar Player Brian May interview,

I stole it from a guy who said that he stole it from Billy Gibbons in ZZ Top.^[22]

George Lynch has said in an interview that he and Eddie saw Harvey Mandel tap at the Starwood Club in the 1970s. From a March 2009 Metal Den George Lynch interview,

We both witnessed Harvey Mandel from Canned Heat do a neo classic tapping thing at a club called the starwood in Hollywood back in the 70’s. Other people were doing it to a limited extent, Brian May from Queen dabbled… George Van Eps was doing it in the 50’s.^[23]

Early Van Halen stage photographs,^[24] and demo and bootleg recordings from 1976 and before, do not indicate Eddie using any tapping techniques. Eddie's comments about how he came across the tapping technique vary from interview to interview. This is one interview excerpt,

I think I got the idea of tapping watching Jimmy Page do his Heartbreaker solo back in 1971. He was doing a pull-off to an open string, and I thought wait a minute, open string... pull off. I can do that, but what if I use my finger as the nut and move it around? I just kind of took it and ran with it.^[25]

Eddie also employs tapping harmonics. He holds the pick between his thumb and middle finger, which leaves his index finger free for tapping and also makes for easy transitions between picking and tapping. In support of his two-handed tapping techniques, Van Halen also holds a patent for a flip-out support device which attaches to the rear of the electric guitar.^[26] This device enables the user to play the guitar in a manner similar to the piano by orienting the face of the guitar upward instead of forward.

Tone[link]

Van Halen (a self described "tone chaser") achieved his distinctive tone, known as the "Brown sound", by using the EVH "Frankenstrat" guitar, a stock 100-watt Marshall amp, a Variac (to lower the voltage of the amp to keep the same tone as an amplifier running full-blast at lower volumes) and effects such as an Echoplex, an MXR Phase 90, an MXR Flanger and EQs. Van Halen constructed his now legendary Frankenstrat guitar using a Boogie Bodies factory "2nd" body and neck (cost ), a single vintage Gibson PAF humbucker pickup sealed in molten surfboard wax done at home in a coffee can to reduce microphonic feedback, This also warped the bobbin of the pickup. a pre-CBS Fender tremolo bridge (later to be a Floyd Rose bridge) and a single volume control with a knob labeled "tone". Eddie has used a variety of pickups including Gibson PAF's, 1970s Mighty Mites, DiMarzios and Ibanez Super 70s. Eddie was using Mighty Mite pickups in 1977 club photos, just prior to the recording of the first Van Halen album. Mighty Mite pickups were OEM pickups made by Seymour Duncan ^[27] and were copies of DiMarzio Super Distortion pickups and can be identified by their lack of bobbin holes. Seymour Duncan started advertising pickup rewinding services In late 1977/early 1978 ^[28] and apparently rewound a Gibson PAF for Eddie around the early 1978 period.^[29]

The now famous single pickup, single volume knob guitar configuration was the chosen platform due to Van Halen's lack of knowledge in electronic circuitry, primitive wire soldering skills, and his disappointment in not finding an adequate, durable bridge and neck pick-up combination on his own. Upon installing the humbucking pickup he did not know how to wire it into the guitar circuit, so he wired the simplest working circuit to get it to function.

His later guitars include various Kramer models from his period of endorsing that company (most notably the Kramer "5150", from which Kramer in its Gibson-owned days based their Kramer 1984 design, an unofficial artist signature model) and three signature models: the Ernie Ball/ Music Man Edward van Halen Model (Which continues as the Ernie Ball Axis), the Peavey EVH Wolfgang (which has been succeeded by a similar guitar called the HP Special), and the Charvel EVH Art Series, on which Eddie does the striping before they are painted by Charvel.

In an interview he gave to Guitar World magazine in July, 1985, Van Halen states that his "brown sound" is "basically a tone, a feeling that I'm always working at ... It comes from the person." He continues, "If the person doesn't even know what that type of tone I'm talking about is, they can't really work towards it, can they?"

Tuning[link]

Though rarely discussed, one of the most distinctive aspects of Van Halen's sound was Eddie's tuning of the guitar. Before Van Halen, most distorted, metal-oriented rock consciously avoided the use of the major third interval in guitar chords, creating the signature power chord of the genre. When run through a distorted amplifier, the rapid beating of the major third on a conventionally tuned guitar is distracting and somewhat dissonant.^{[citation needed]}

Eddie tuned to "Hendrix's tuning" which is flat E, the open G and B reaches a justly intonated, beatless third. This consonant third was almost unheard of in distorted-guitar rock and allowed Van Halen to use major chords in a way that mixed classic hard rock power with "happy" pop. The effect is pronounced on songs such as "Runnin' With the Devil", "Unchained", and "Where Have All the Good Times Gone?".

With the B string flat, chords in some positions on the guitar have more justly intonated thirds, but in other positions the flat B string creates out-of-tune intervals. As Eddie once remarked to Guitar Player:

A guitar is just theoretically built wrong. Each string is an interval of fourths, and then the B string is off. Theoretically, that's not right. If you tune an open E chord in the first position and it's perfectly in tune, and then you hit a barre chord an octave higher, it's out of tune. The B string is always a motherfucker to keep in tune all the time! So I have to retune for certain songs.^[30]

Volume swells[link]

Eddie used a volume technique in the instrumental "Cathedral". He hammered notes on the fretboard with one hand while rolling the volume knob with the other. This altered the attack and decay of the notes so they mimicked the sound of keyboards. This "volume swells" sound (also known as "violining", because of the way it sounds) was originally popularized by 1970s progressive rock bands like Genesis (Steve Hackett), Focus (Jan Akkerman), Yes (Steve Howe), and Rush (Alex Lifeson) but was usually performed with a volume pedal, at a slower pace. "Cathedral" also employs an electronic delay, with the delay set at 400 ms and the delayed note set at the same amplitude as the original note. Most of the composition's notes come from hammering on the notes of a major 5th string barre chord (ascending and then descending) and replicating this pattern up and down the neck of the guitar. The end result of this technique made the composition sound as if it is being played on a church/cathedral organ.

Equipment[link]

Guitars[link]

Eddie Van Halen built his guitar (Black and White) by hand, using an imperfect body and a neck bought from Wayne Charvel's guitar shop. The body and neck were constructed by Lynn Ellsworth of Boogie Bodies guitars, whose parts were being sold by Wayne Charvel at the time. Eddie installed a humbucker in the bridge position essentially creating a Fat Strat. In 1979, Eddie began to play a black, rear loaded Charvel with yellow stripes. This was later replicated by Charvel along with the black and white striped model and the red white and black model (EVH Art Series Guitars). He also used a stock unmodified Ibanez Destroyer on a lot of the tracks on Van Halens first album such as You Really Got Me and Runnin' With the Devil. This same Ibanez Destroyer was later modified and nicknamed by Van Halen fans as "The Shark" guitar. Another mostly stock Ibanez Destroyer painted red/orange was borrowed from Chris Holmes from W.A.S.P. for the recording of most of the on the Women and Children First album.

Also, in 1979 Eddie's original guitar was repainted with Frankenstein artwork. Eddie also changed the neck, removed part of the pick guard and eventually installed a Floyd Rose vibrato unit. The guitar is known both as a "frankenstrat" and as the "Frankenstein." Fender issued a replica of the guitar in relic form at a retail price of in 2007. A "new" (non-relicced) Frankenstrat was available through the Charvel company for significantly less, but it was discontinued. This Fender/Charvel series was the first time Van Halen had consented to the commercial release of a guitar with his signature graphics on it.

Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstrat Guitar

In 1983, Eddie began to use a brand new Kramer guitar with artwork similar to its predecessor and with a hockey-stick or "banana" headstock, which came to be known as the "5150." This guitar was rear-loaded (no pick guard), had a Floyd Rose vibrato unit and a neck that was later electronically mapped in order for it to be copied on the later Music Man and Peavey signature models. This guitar was last used on the track "Judgment Day" on the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge album. Various versions of it can be seen in the music videos for "Panama","When It's Love" and the concert video, Live Without a Net. The guitar itself was a variant of a Kramer Pacer, although not a model that was technically available at the time.

It was painted with Krylon paints by Van Halen and used through the OU812 tour, after which it was "retired." However, Eddie did break out the guitar for use on the 2004 reunion tour, although the neck had finally failed and had apparently been replaced. A copy of this guitar was available (although not with Van Halen's permission) through the current manufacturer of Kramers, Music Yo, a subsidiary of the Gibson company, sadly Gibson ended the Music Yo business and Kramer is just known as a "Gibson Sister Company". In 2012 the Gibson company again began producing the "1984" model Kramer. These guitars did not feature the custom graphics of the 5150 guitar, as the striped EVH graphics are trademarked by Edward Van Halen.

Eddie has used a Steinberger GL-2T guitar with TransTrem on several songs, including "Get Up" and "Summer Nights" (from 5150). It was custom painted with the "Frankenstein" graphics. He has also used Kramer and Peavey model guitars fitted with the Steinberger TransTrem unit.

In the early 1990s, Ernie Ball produced an EVH signature "Music Man" guitar, and Eddie used this on For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge and Balance albums. This guitar is still commercially available under the "Axis" name, and retains all of the original features of the Edward Van Halen model. Although rumours abound of a personal falling-out between Edward and the Ernie Ball company's Sterling Ball, the official reason for the cessation of the commercial relationship was that Edward was upset that Ernie Ball could not produce enough of this guitar to meet demand.

Eddie named his line of Peavey signature Wolfgang guitars after his son, Wolfgang. The guitar itself was similar to the previous Axis line, but with a slightly altered shape and many additional options available in Peavey's much larger custom shop. These guitars included a device called a "D-Tuna" which enabled a guitarist to tune the low E string down to D with a slight turn of a knob attached to the end of the bridge.

In 2003, at the NAMM show, the relationship between Peavey and Eddie began to strain. Peavey constructed a glass enclosed stage for Eddie in which to play for VIP's at 2 p.m. Eddie arrived late, shocking fans there with his disheveled appearance, as he immediately went upstairs and initially refused to play. After an hour of negotiations, Eddie came down while fans, who had lined up for hours prior to the appearance, roared with approval. Eddie ended up spending his short time on stage, talking about Wolfgang guitar production and his promise to take a keen interest in quality control. Eddie left, having only played a few notes and small riffs, much to the dissatisfaction of the fans and Peavey.^{[citation needed]} The end came in 2004, when Peavey company parted ways with Van Halen, reportedly because Eddie launched an on-line sale of hand patterned (by Edward) Charvel guitars, sold by the name of the "EVH Art Series Guitars", while he was still contractually obligated to Peavey. The guitars sold for large sums on eBay, and were essentially replicas of his famous "Frankenstrat" guitars, played by Van Halen mainly during the David Lee Roth era of the band. Eddie also launched Frankenstein replicas as noted above, which are the only Van Halen guitars currently endorsed by Eddie.

Most recently Eddie has collaborated with Fender guitars to produce a replica of the Frankenstrat. Eddie and Chip Ellis of the Fender Custom Shop teamed up to produce a guitar priced at each. Also, Eddie has collaborated with Fender to launch his own EVH brand of guitars, amps, and musical instrument equipment, starting with his new EVH Brand 5150 III amplifier. Eddie now uses prototypes of his new EVH Brand Wolfgang, which is an updated version Eddie's Peavey Wolfgangs but with new pickups, knobs, a thinner but very elaborate quilted maple top to allow the basswood the dominant tone, providing more tonal resonance but with a balanced high sustain. Also, the new Wolfgang is equipped with an Original Floyd Rose. In addition, the new guitar has a slightly altered headstock. This is because this was Ed and Hartley Peavey's original design for the headstock, which Eddie had patented without the scoop on final version of the Peavey Wolfgang. He has been seen with three new Wolfgang guitars, first a sunburst one, then a black one which he stated he liked less than the sunburst one and now he uses a white one, the best sounding one out of the three prototypes according to Ed.

The EVH Wolfgang was planned for initial sale to the public in early 2009, and is now commercially available to purchase.^[31] As of February 2012 Eddie Van Halen has released different variations of the Wolfgang Guitar, for instance, there is an option called the "Stealth" it has all black hardware, and an Ebony fretboard. Since NAMM 2011 the Wolfgang Hardtail was introduced with either the aforementioned "Stealth" style or the standard Maple Fretboard/Chrome Hardware option. Eddie has also released the EVH Wolfgang USA Custom, similar to the Wolfgang Hardtail but with a bone nut rather than a locking one, also has a Les Paul style control layout.

In 2011 Eddie Van Halen donated the Frankenstein 2, a replica of the original guitar that was occasionally used on the 2007/2008 David Lee Roth reunion tour, to the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution.^[32]

Amplifiers[link]

Eddie's main amplifier in the early years was a 100 watt Marshall amplifier that had a 12301 serial number, which dates it to the 1967-1968 transitional period at Marshall when the circuit of the 100 watt Marshall 1959 changed gradually from the "Bass" circuit to the "SuperLead" circuit. Eddie's main Marshall's original circuit had an 820 ohm/0.68 uf resistor/capacitor pair on the cathode of Valve(Tube) 1 and the same on the cathode of Valve(Tube) 2. Eddie's main Marshall had a white knob installed at the back of his Marshall head, as seen in the 1978 world tour Japanese leg photos and the Van Halen II studio photos from late 1978. Photos of Eddie's main Marshall in the 1990s show that the white knob had been removed.

For Van Halen I, a single Celestion speaker cabinet was used and a variac set to around 90 volts was also used on Eddie's main 100 watt Marshall head, mainly to lower the amplifier's volume. The volume control and all other controls on his Marshall head were set to maximum or 10. Eddie's Van Halen I recorded guitar tracks were re-amped^[33] by using the Sunset Sound studios live reverb room.^[34] The first Montrose album was recorded in this way^[35] by Ted Templeman and Donn Landee who also produced and engineered the Van Halen I album. Van Halen I was recorded in Studio 1 at Sunset Sound and Van Halen II was recorded in Studio 2 at Sunset Sound.^[36]

From the mid 1980s, Eddie has used a real time re-amping or Master/Slave slaving amplifier setup that was originally designed by Bob Bradshaw and was published in the September 1986 issue of Guitar World Magazine, with the first amplifier being a Tube Amplifier and the second amplifier being a H&H MOSFET solid state power amplifier. Between 1993 and 2004 Eddie was sponsored by Peavey Electronics to use their 5150 Amplifiers, which he had a part in designing. Following the ending of this relationship, Peavey renamed the amplifier as the "Peavey 6505", with slightly updated styling but original circuitry. Eddie is now sponsored by Fender and has debuted his new amp called the 5150 III. The 5150 III features three channels with their own independent controls, a four-button foot-switch and his famous striped design on the head. In 2011 there will be a inexpensive 5150 III, 60 watt, 2 speaker, combo amp and 50 watt miniature head in production.

Floyd Rose system[link]

Floyd Rose Original

A crucial component of Van Halen's style is his use of the Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo, released in 1977. Early tremolo bars allowed the guitarist to impart a vibrato to a chord or single string via movement of the bar with the picking hand, but the slackening of the strings when the bar was heavily depressed could lead to detuning. The addition of the locking bolts at the nut and bridge kept the strings taut and allowed for drastic depression of the tremolo bar to create effects such as the dive bomb. Van Halen went on to collaborate with Floyd Rose on improvements to Rose's device.

Van Halen pioneered the mainstream use of the TransTrem system on the Steinberger line of guitars on "5150", most notably on the songs "Summer Nights" and on "Me Wise Magic" off of Best of Volume I where the song goes through several key changes while retaining the same chord voicings. The TransTrem system allows for the effect of an instant "capo", increasing the pitch of all strings by up to a minor third or lowering the pitch by as much as a perfect fourth.^{[citation needed]}

Intellectual property[link]

Edward Van Halen is owner of US 4656917 .^[37] The main claim is for a supporting member on the back of a stringed instrument allowing the musician to play and/or fret the instrument in new ways.

Other work[link]

Eddie van Halen has appeared on several projects outside of his enonymous band.

• Eddie van Halen was invited by Quincy Jones to play guitar on the song Beat It, from Michael Jackson's 1982 album, Thriller. Steve Lukather of Toto played the main guitar riff and rhythm, while Eddie played an improvised guitar solo.
• In 1983, Eddie collaborated with Queen guitarist Brian May on the Star Fleet Project, a three-track EP consisting of a rock styled rendition of the theme to the popular anime children's show, a May penned track (Let Me Out), and an improvised blues track (Blues Breaker).
• In 1984, Eddie recorded several instrumentals for a movie called The Wild Life. Some of those recordings used ideas that showed up later in Van Halen songs such as "Good Enough", "A.F.U. (Naturally Wired)", "Right Now", and "Blood and Fire". However, only "Donut City" was included on the soundtrack album, which was released on vinyl and cassette, and never made it to CD format.
• Also in 1984, he provided the score for the 1984 television film, The Seduction of Gina.
• He played bass on Sammy Hagar's 1987 solo album I Never Said Goodbye.
• Also in February 1987, he appeared on Saturday Night Live as a guest musician with G. E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band when Valerie Bertinelli hosted the show. About twenty seconds into the performance, G. E. Smith could be seen telling Eddie, "Go faster!" Eddie Van Halen also appeared in one sketch with Valerie Bertinelli on that evening's show, which actually featured the Robert Cray Band as its scheduled musical guest.
• In 1989 he played bass on the opening track, "Twist the Knife" from Steve Lukather's debut album, as well as giving the guitar part which was taken from an outtake from the 5150 album titled "I Want Some Action". The main riff was also later used by Eddie Van Halen in the 3 album for "Dirty Water Dog".
• In 1993, he co-wrote and played a song with Black Sabbath members, Tony Martin, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler called "Evil Eye" on the Cross Purposes album, but he wasn't credited due to record company restrictions.
• He has also done soundtrack work for movies such as Over The Top (Winner Takes It All, a collaboration with Sammy Hagar), Twister (the instrumental Respect The Wind), The Wild Life (one song was reused in the movie Back to the Future, and Lethal Weapon 4 (The track Fire In The Hole from Van Halen III)
• In 1998 he performed guitar solos for the Roger Waters song "Lost Boys Calling" from the film The Legend of 1900.
• He has recorded with Dweezil Zappa, Jeff Porcaro, and Thomas Dolby.
• In July 2006, Eddie Van Halen recorded two new instrumental tracks (Rise and Catherine) which debuted in an unusual format: in a pornographic feature entitled Sacred Sin directed by a friend of the guitarist, well known adult director Michael Ninn.^[38][39] These tracks have since surfaced on the internet. Eddie also composed some minor uncredited piano interludes in the feature.
• In 2009 Eddie guest-starred as himself in an episode of Two and a Half Men where he played his guitar in a mens bathroom.
• In 2010 Eddie Van Halen appeared on Lopez Tonight and gave George Lopez one of his Wolfgang Guitars.

Hollywood Walk of Fame[link]

Van Halen is on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work with electric guitars next to Slash and Jimi Hendrix.

References[link]