The Real Van Halen Returns

Sound

VAN HALEN AND SAN DIEGO have enjoyed a long, loving relationship. The infamously hard-rocking Southern California band’s original lineup——David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen and Michael Anthony——played its first concert at the San Diego Sports Arena in July 1978 and rocked that same venue to the rafters five more times in the early to mid-1980s.

But when the group returned for a three-night gig at the Sports Arena in June 1986, it was with a new lead singer——former Montrose frontman Sammy Hagar——and a more polished pop sound. Those shows still were met with large and wildly enthusiastic crowds, but this version of the band, which subsequently sold a ton of records but was derisively dubbed Van Hagar by some, was bland and, frankly, boring. And there’s one simple reason: no Roth.

Equal parts rock god and village idiot, Roth, Van Halen’s original lead singer (who parted company with the group in 1985 to pursue a solo career that was briefly successful), is the personification of rock and roll——even when he crops his famous blond locks and goofily croons Louis Prima tunes. At times incoherently weird, arrogant and annoying, at other times wonderfully witty, self-deprecating and endearing, Roth is the extroverted yin to Eddie Van Halen’s introverted yang. In recent years, Roth spent time as an emergency medical technician and host of a nationally syndicated radio show. He’s P.T. Barnum in spandex; there’s never a dull moment with Diamond Dave.

Not to diminish Eddie’s genius, of course. Arguably the greatest living hard-rock guitarist, Eddie’s shredding style changed the face of hard-rock guitar playing, and his masculine, ear-shattering riffs and ridiculously fast, furious and innovative lead breaks——along with brother Alex’s brutally confident drumming——made some of the hardest-rocking 1970s bands sound like wimps by comparison.

But while the original VH rocked harder than anyone, ever, what gave this band its personality, its humor, its character——what transported it to a place all its own——was Roth. Probably the most underrated rock singer, Roth, unlike so many blond American rock vocalists (Sebastian Bach, Bret Michaels, Robin Zander), actually has something to say when he steps off stage; he has something going on upstairs——even if he sometimes acts so loopy he should be taken away in a rubber truck.

Roth and Eddie are a dynamic and historically contentious duo, but they seem closer now, suddenly and surprisingly, than they were back in the day. Why? Well, Roth evidently has come to terms with the terminally hard-nosed Van Halen brothers, and Eddie has successfully completed rehab. So maybe these eternal juvenile delinquents have grown up a little, even mellowed a bit.

But don’t expect anything resembling mellow when the first Van Halen tour in nearly 23 years with Roth (a recent inductee with his Van Halen bandmates to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame) on vocals storms San Diego’s Cox Arena on November 25. This long-awaited, unlikely reunion of the original incarnation of this epic band——minus Anthony, that is, who’ll be replaced on bass by Wolfgang Van Halen, teenage son of Eddie and ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli——promises to be among the most memorable concerts in local memory.

For those diehard loyalists of the original group, hearing David, Eddie and Alex (and Wolfgang) jamming on such rock-hard classics as “Ain't Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” “Runnin’ with the Devil,” “Jamie’s Crying,” “Everybody Wants Some,” “Beautiful Girls,” “And the Cradle Will Rock,” “Unchained,” “Jump” and “Hot for Teacher” will be high-energy, high-decibel bliss. The planets in the rock ’n’ roll universe will, at least for a brief moment in time, be aligned once again . . . and Saturn’s rings will be in your ears for a week. For tickets, call 619-220-TIXS.

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