By ED CONDRAN
Bucks County Courier Times

When I saw Van Halen perform at the Spectrum in 1981, the seminal group inspired me to form a band. After witnessing the reconstituted VH Monday night at the sold-out Wachovia Center, the band made me want to retire.

Van Halen, which will return tonight to a SRO Wachovia Center, can still kick out the classic tunes. A shirtless and cut Eddie Van Halen, the star of the evening, remains a guitar monster. The ax hero still sports a perpetual grin and is as energetic as ever. Eddie Van Halen, who added vocabulary to the sonic lexicon, was dynamic throughout the two-hour set.

However, something just wasn't right with VH, which is on the road with vocalist David Lee Roth for the first time in 23 years. Diamond Dave is a shadow of himself. Is it too much to expect Roth, who used to be one of rock's great balls of energies to leap a little bit during "Jump"?

Perhaps Roth is a victim of his past performance. The former master showman set the bar so high with his scissor kicks, one-liners and charm a generation ago that it's just difficult for a guy, who soon will turn 54, to approximate the feats of a younger, trend-setting man.

Apparently Eddie Van Halen has custody of his son, Wolfgang, for the tour since his progeny has taken over at bass. However, bass has never been where it's at for Van Halen. It's the David and Eddie show.

A number of the songs, such as "Beautiful Girls" and "Hot For Teacher" sound lecherous coming out of Roth's aging mouth. The meaning of the tunes doesn't sound the same as it once did. When Roth is belting out "Everybody Wants Some," is he singing about high fiber?

VH did have some moments. The group nailed "Ain't Talking About Love," "Panama" and scored points for delivering its best deep album cut, "Atomic Punk."

And yes, Van Halen is light years better than it was after Sammy Hagar replaced Roth in 1985. Hagar's lyrics make Roth seem like Rimbaud. The show wasn't so bad when you closed your eyes and soaked in Roth's clever and often amusing lyrics and Eddie V's explosive blasts. It was all fine until Roth failed to hit yet another note.

Roth and Eddie Van Halen made nice hugging and smiling at each other onstage. Will the formerly feuding tandem make it through the tour? It's too early to tell since it was only their third date of the jaunt. Who knows about the band's future? We all know about their past.

[Return to Current Headlines]