Van Halen Jump Out on YouTube in Rare 70s Concert Footage; Van Halen Songs in YouTube Eruption [VIDEO]

Van Halen News: Van Halen eruption on YouTube as rare concert footage from the 1970s hits the internet.

Van Halen jump out in all their glory. Eddie Van Halen's sizzling fast guitar licks. David Lee Roth's aerodynamic dance moves. Classic Van Halen live footage from the late 1970s hit the internet this week, catching the melodic metal band just as they were starting to hit it big.

YouTube served up a dish of Van Halen as a series of concert clips from their 1978 and 1979 performances at Selland Arena in Fresno, California, hit big on the video channel. These are the highest quality Van Halen clips taken from the audience's perspective that have come out chronicling Van Halen's early years. Van Halen are just a few months shy of their first hits.

The Van Halen footage from the September 22, 1978 show opens with the song "On Fire" from the band's debut, "Van Halen." Van Halen hit the stage with "On Fire" and closed the show with "Bottoms Up" which would appear on the band's second album six months later.

Van Halen formed in the early 1970s when Musician brothers Eddie Van Halen and Alex Van Halen teamed up with vocalist David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony. They became a fixture in the Los Angeles music scene within a few years. KISS bassist Gene Simmons got so caught up in the excitement of Van Halen live show that he produced a demo tape for the band. Simmons wasn't so impressed by their studio work and pulled out, deciding "they had no chance of making it." What a kiss off.

That didn't stop Warner Bros., who caught Van Halen's live act in 1978 and signed them up. "Van Halen" became the one of the hottest rock debut albums of all time. It hit No. 19 on the Billboard Charts.

 "Van Halen II was recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood. It went gold in the US just 10 days after its release, and platinum a month later.