John Soeder
Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic

"I waited a long, long time for this present," David Lee Roth told a packed house during Van Halen's comeback show Wednesday night at The Q. It was his 52nd birthday, six dates into the swaggering lead vocalist's first tour in 23 years with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted group. The Van Halen brothers -- guitar hero Eddie and drummer Alex -- are in their 50s, too. Far be it from "Diamond Dave" to act his age, however.

When this incurable ham wasn't executing martial arts moves or slaying invisible dragons with his microphone stand, he shoved a fan's cell phone down his pants. Tossing it back, Roth quipped: "You're going to get a helluva picture!"

The rest of us got a helluva concert. The hard-rocking festivities roared to life with "You Really Got Me," followed by "I'm the One" and "Runnin' with the Devil."

Eddie's 16-year-old son, Wolfgang, handled bass-thumping duties. He replaced longtime band member Michael Anthony, dismissed because he fraternized with Roth's successor, Sammy Hagar. "And the Cradle Will Rock...," indeed.

Shy at first, Wolfgang loosened up as the evening went on. He capably provided backing vocals alongside his proud father, who kissed Wolfgang a few times. The kid was alright, despite the fact he wasn't even born the last time Van Halen 1.0 hit the road, back when Ronald Reagan was in the White House and parachute pants were the height of fashion.

Uncle Alex was no slouch, either. His driving backbeats were Hemi-powered.

Next to Roth, nobody appeared to have a better time than Eddie, who did a stint in rehab earlier this year for unspecified reasons. Looking fit and smiling often, the guitarist reaffirmed his status as one of the all-time greats, with a dazzling style all his own.

His 10-minute solo -- more of a soliloquy, really -- began with a few bars of "Happy Birthday" in honor of Roth, who hugged Eddie more than once. After years of bad feelings between these guys, this was a bona fide lovefest.

The set was stacked with crowd-pleasers such as "Dance the Night Away," "(Oh) Pretty Woman," "Unchained," "Hot for Teacher" and "Panama" -- in other words, "all the favorites you've been hearing tearing out of the back of a pickup truck at the Burger King drive-thru," as Roth put it recently. The band dusted off a few surprises, too, including "Atomic Punk" and "Romeo Delight."

Two hours after it began, the triumphant gig climaxed with "Jump," complete with canned synthesizer accompaniment. As confetti fell and a disco ball sent rays of light dancing around the venue, Roth mounted a giant inflatable microphone and rode it like a cowboy.

Clearly, you have to roll with the punches just to get surreal.

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