There’s never a dull moment to be had when David Lee Roth is around.
That seemed to be the running theme throughout Van Halen’s rocking Tacoma Dome set Saturday night as the band blazed through 22 songs in two hours during an electrifying and entertaining show.
Things were off to a rather rocky start from the beginning with “Unchained” when Diamond Dave mumbled and scatted his way through most of the first and second verses. It was the first song of the set and things only got more interesting, and more rocking, from there.
How interesting?
During “Chinatown,” from the band’s latest record A Different Kind of Truth, DLR announced that he forgot the words to the song and smiled at Eddie Van Halen while asking him to quickly get to the chorus. When he wasn’t botching lyrics he was singing out of time with the music and between songs he was delivering witty banter, inviting the crowd to do shots with him at Sleater-Kinney Boulevard and notching up the charm factor with his bright, flashy smile. He didn’t hit the high register marks he used to from the band’s early days but still managed to entertain with some rather spry dance moves — or at least spry for a 57-year-old rock star who has seen better days.
But it didn’t really matter how good or bad Roth’s singing and showmanship was Saturday because the near-capacity crowd came to party with Van Halen and Van Halen delivered the goods as VH version 4.0 could do no wrong in the eyes of the adoring crowd.
Eddie Van Halen performed an astonishing 10-minute guitar solo near the end of the set which included one of the greatest instrumental rock songs ever recorded, “Eruption.” He once again proved that he belongs in the pantheon on guitar Gods. He also once again proved that he’s the talent and Diamond Dave is the show.
Alex Van Halen’s drum into to “Hot For Teacher” was as powerful live as on record and remains unparalleled as the greatest drum intro to any rock song.
Wolfgang Van Halen didn’t get a bass solo but he filled in admirably for former member Michael Anthony and it was fun to see the father-son moments when Eddie and Wolfgang smiled and played together.
Seeing the late-era Van Halen of 2012 was quite a contrast to when I saw the late-era Van Hagar. When Sammy Hagar was fronting the band the group was rather jovial, signing autographs throughout the show, and the band members genuinely seemed to enjoy one another’s company. With Roth at the helm it was less of an intimate stadium affair (if such a thing exists) and more of a big-time rock show where egos were put aside for the sake of the almighty dollar, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing since Roth knew the crowd came for a show and he made sure everyone left feeling like they were thoroughly entertained. Although I could’ve done without the massive Best Buy ad that popped up on the giant video screen mid-song that let the crowd know they could buy A Different Kind of Truth at the electronics retail giant.
Of course with DLR as their frontman the band played only early Van Halen material so there was no “Poundcake” or “Right Now” or other songs from later in the band’s career when Sammy Hagar fronted the group which was a real treat for all the old school VH fans. While the hiccups in the show provided by Roth were noticeable they were also relatively minor and didn’t prevent songs like “Somebody Get Me A Doctor,” “Beautiful Girls,” “Panama” and “Dance the Night Away” from sounding massive and for the most part well executed.
Sure Diamond Dave was more or less all over the place but he didn’t ruin the show at all. Instead he made things more unpredictable and a lot more entertaining than if it was just a straight-up rock show with the Van Halens and Diamond Dave simply going through the motions. The show seemed bound by an imaginary unspoken contract between both the three other band members and DLR that guaranteed a good time.
What’s the contract state? To steal a phrase from Donald Rumsfeld, you go on stage with the David Lee Roth you have, not the David Lee Roth you might want.
I agree they pulled it off and I was thoroughly entertained!! My night could have ended on a happy note with them playing “Every Body Wants Some!” Eddie still has it and it was great to see the band smile and truly enjoy themselves. Eddies grin during the solo made me smile, because with all the troubles he seems to be happy now and ROCKING!