February 22nd, 2008
From: http://www.news-press.com/
They heard we missed them. Well, they're back.
On Monday night - yes, almost 17,000 fans partied on a school night -
three-fourths of the original Van Halen lineup and one offspring
entertained over the course of 23 songs and two hours at the St.
Petersburg Times Forum in Tampa.
With Eddie Van Halen on guitar, brother Alex Van Halen on drums and
vocalist David Lee Roth all over the place, the group opened with "You
Really Got Me," "I'm the One," and "Runnin' With the Devil."
"That's Wolfgang Van Halen on the bass guitar!" shouted Roth, who used an
unprintable word to describe that guitar in introducing Eddie's 16-year-
old son, who proved throughout the show he belonged with the other three
members who have each passed their 50th birthdays.
The show began with Roth standing on top of a ramp while waving a large
white flag, his silhouette - and perhaps his massive but lovable ego -
visible on the 60-foot-wide big-screen behind him.
The screen came in handy, as it displayed up-close shots of Eddie Van
Halen's gritty guitar playing. From "Romeo Delight," "Mean Street," "Hot
for Teacher," Alex's drum solo, a shirtless Eddie's guitar solo and the
encore "Jump," Eddie and "Diamond Dave," shoved aside their differences.
Those differences forced Roth out of the band in 1984, the last time they
toured together.
Roth pranced around the stage like a circus ringmaster, his ripped bare
chest making him look more like a Muscle and Fitness magazine model and
less like a 52-year-old rocker.
Eddie Van Halen, especially during "Little Guitars," and his epic guitar
solo toward the end of the show, displayed how he transformed hard rock
guitar playing in the late 1970s and beyond. Whether Roth realizes it or
not, Eddie Van Halen remains the ruler of this band.
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