Review by Bob - metalbob@yahoo.com

For years, although I love the DLR-era VH material and his first few solo albums, I was not very interested in his last few solo records. When I heard the lastest DLR record, I knew he was back to his roots.

Figuring Dave used tons of studio trickery to make his voice sound good, I thought there was a slight possibility that he wouldn't be able to pull off this show. HE WAS AWESOME!!! I saw him on the "Lil Ain't Enough" tour and this was better! Dave is in GREAT shape (despite reports that state otherwise) and is still can do kicks over his head. He put on an amazing show.

His band was also pretty kick ass. When I had heard that Bart Walsh does "Eruption", I almost didn't even believe it until I saw him play it. I work in the music industry and have, literally, seen hundreds of shows. It's been quite a while since I've enjoyed a show this much. I practically grew up on this entire set of songs so, I literally, know them note-for-note. I hung on every one.

He played almost all VH classics. At times I thought his voice sounded a bit rough but, I finally figured out what was wrong. My roomate agreed with me. He goes a little overboard with some of his vocal lines and his voice just can't handle. I know Dave never had a great vocal range to begin with but, he occasionally over emphasizes his lines and they don't sound so good.

After a stunning set, the place held a standing ovation for Dave. Then, he and the band came back out for "Jump", where Dave pulled out all the stops and was kicking like mad and brought out some five foot silver pole that he swung around like a martial arts master.

I feel "bad" for Bad Company (pardon the pun) that they have to come out on stage after Dave laid waste to the entire venue. We scooted out of there before they came on. As a matter of fact, they are on stage right now as I type this. (Just so everyone knows, a good friend of mine is head of security at this venue and I saw him as I came in the door. He told me that they sold only 4500 tickets to this show. They only sold 100 lawn seats! They ended up roping off the lawn and letting everyone sit in the unfilled pavilion).

I look forward to Dave doing an entire tour on his own and he can play a bit more of his solo material and mix it up a bit.

Let me begin by saying...I appreciate Roth's past work with Van Halen. They put out some top notch music back in the day and at one time few would deny that they were the ultimate American rock and roll band.

Times have changed. Dave is gone. Last nights show was a sort of recon mission for me. Not only was I excited to see Roth from the sixth row but I wanted to see what really was behind the mouth.

Was Van Halen wrong for bypassing Roth? Absolutley not. Now that I have seen the Diamond Man for the fourth time as a solo project it is quite clear why the VH/Roth reunion did not work out. The guy can't sing. His voice is shot. He's lost more than a few steps and quite frankly it was at times painful to watch.

Yes the man can still talk with the best of them and he is still a half decent showman. Quite simply, the difference between a Roth show and a Halen show of today is like apples and oranges.

This was a bittersweet night for me. I wanted to leave the show with hopes that Roth still had the juice and maybe somewhere down the road...but unfortunately that will never happen. These are the facts. This may never hit the pages for your audience to view but heh, I got it off my chest.

Now that I am back from work, I can talk more about the show last night. First of all I am very pleased that I saw Dave for the first time. And as I expected it was a great show.

Dave did not lose his voice, although it did sound a little thin in some spots, he sounded very good. The set was the standard set being used through out all the shows he's done here in the US. His band started out with Hot For Teacher, then went into Panama, and Slam Dunk... All of those songs went over well with the crowd there....

Next I was very psyched to see them play Little Guitars, since it is one of my favorite songs period. Then came Runnin' With The Devil, with Todd going strong on the bass, everyone was really into it. Next I was very skeptical when Bart started up on Eruption, but he sounded very good! If you closed you eyes for a minute you would think it was Eddie up there! They segwayed into You Really Got Me from Eruption....

By that time there were people going around with banners and everything, and the energy level was getting up there! Then Dave did a little intro for So This Is Love? And the house went nuts after he said something like "this song is for all the people in love who don't want to be!"

Next was Mean Streets, which kicked some major ass... Then we had Yankee Rose and Tobacco Road (the lowest point in the night for Dave crowd-wise... I guess people were there to see him do VH stuff than Dave stuff). Then his stint with Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love. The audience was really into it until Dave went into the "I've been to the edge, and stood and looked down..." bit... He pulled the shit about Sammy, which I think was not cool... What does he have against him now? Both of them are sort of in the same boat. Although I was glad to see he didn't bad-mouth Gary, since Gary and Extreme did open for Dave back in 1991 I think?

There were a few boos, although wildly enough people were cheering about the Sammy bit. By the end of the song, everyone was going nuts again... Then Dave and the band left, and came back for their encore Jump... That brought the roof down!

All in all a great show, people filled in as his set went on. I think people were misled by the booking or something, but by the time Jump played the entire place (except lawn) was packed.. Between the tightness of the band, his showmanship and singing, he put on a great show, and I can't wait to see him the next time he comes around.

Welcome back David Lee Roth! The ringleader of all entertainers is back. I have not missed a local Van Halen or David Lee Roth show since 1981 and I must say that Dave's performance was better than expected. He cleaned himself up and got back into shape. Dave's energy and wittiness matched the same levels as he had during the 80's.

Right before Panama. Dave said "It's great to be back in Boston, you know I'm from Boston and I must say that I am not going to loose my voice tonight!" His comment was a dig on Gary Cherone because last year when VH3 (I refuse to call them Van Halen) played there they cancelled the show that night after the 3rd song due to Gary claiming he lost his voice. VH3 ended up performing the show the following night and there was no indication that Gary's voice was shot from the night before.

Dave also had a dig at Sammy saying that he was at the lowest and very bottom. Personally I don't think that was called for, especially the way Dave said it, but I guess that's Dave. Maybe I'm getting old but I also found Dave's extensive cursing a bit too much and uncalled for. Dave is an excellent performer and should stick to that without having to use so many colorful metaphors or trying to gain something from someone elses loss.

Well enough about the negative points and on to the show. Like I said, Dave was very energetic. He was jumping all over the place throwing his legs around like he was 30 again! For a man who is nearly 45 I was very impressed to see just how great of a shape he was in. During Jump, Dave took out a the staff portion of a microphone stand and was twirling it around like his 1984 performance with the Samurai sword! It was just incredible to see how fast and accurate he made that thing move.

Dave's voice was also right on key and the other band members had a superb performance. I was really impressed by them and you could tell that the guitarist Bob idolized Eddie and practiced Van Halen tunes for a very long time. Unfortunately because Dave was the so called 'Back-up Band' the band members didn't get to have their solos, which I (and everyone else at the concert) would have totally enjoyed. I found that the guys behind the mixing boards needed to turn up the instruments a bit more, and they did after the 3rd song but just not enough. The entire band well deserved to be cranked up!!!

Dave totally blew away Bad Company (and last year's VH3 tour) and you could easily tell that by the crowd. Many people left after Dave and the crowd was not as rowdy and into Bad Company as they were with Dave. Overall I must say it was great to have the ole Dave back and I don't think anyone at the concert was expecting such an outstanding performance. And if it wasn't for seeing the other set lists from this web page, I would never have believed Dave was going to play those tunes. Dave knows where his roots are and what the people want, that is why he is such an awesome entertainer. It's just too bad that he didn't play for an extra hour and a half or more.

The one thought that kept going through my mind while I was watching Dave was this...Eddie is fucking nuts for not hiring Roth back. This is what's missing from Van Halen...FUN ! Dave was awesome, he was in excellent condition and he sang all the songs!

Dave was wearing what looked like a skin tight leopard tights and of course he also had his trademark Jack Daniels. From the first song to the last, the crowd was going nuts (including yours truly). Dave came out to a thunderous applause and told the crowd "I was born in Boston, this is my original hometown and tonight I don't have the first show jitters in my hometown," a funny jab a Gary for losing his voice last year (I was also at that show) for being nervous in front of the hometown crowd. The crowd went ballistic.

Dave had succeded in stealing the thunder away from Bad Company, he had the crowd eating out of his hand, he was that good! Spread the word...DLR is back!!

Dave hit the Tweeter Center with Bad Company Wednesday night. One thing is for sure, he still knows how to entertain a crowd. And he still knows how to deliver "Quality Indiana Summertime Kick Ass 100 Proof Rock 'n Roll!"

I'm not gonna go into detail into what seems to be recurring things with each show.. Dave once again did the microphone stand twirl during Jump, and he even used the "you're so sweet you must shit sugar" line (or something damn close to it).

Dave was up to his old antics, decked out in a leopard skin bodysuit while running around the stage doing leg kicks and entertaining the crowd with his one liners. I remember reading in one review that the mix seemed to be muddy, or too bass and bass drum heavy, and it seemed that the same thing happened at this show. Had trouble picking out Bart's parts.. although what I heard seemed to be faithful renditions.

Dave also managed to get in cracks on both Sammy and Gary... the Sammy was the Ain't Talkin' Bout Love "been to the edge... it's Sammy Hagar!" bit... but before Mean Street he picked on Cherone when Dave mentioned that the Diamond one himself used to live in Boston, and he wasn't scared playing to the hometown crowd and he wasn't gonna lose his voice.

I thought the set was great, except that since most of the audience didn't recognize Slam Dunk it seemed odd and Dave seemed to be having trouble singing Little Guitars. Dave's voice as a whole isn't bad, but it's still not what it used to be. His screams aren't as high as his VH days, the trademark yelps in Panama and Unchained etc are replaced with those that are heard on the DLR Band album, which I wasn't really surprised about. But he didn't try to push his limits so he didn't come across as sounding bad.

My only real disappointment was the inclusion of Eruption. To me, it seems stupid to play Eddie's solo piece in concert if you're not Eddie. Maybe I could forgive a kid in some garage band trying to show off for playing it, but it just seems ridiculous to do it at this level. The real odd part about it was that Bart didn't even do the tapping part at the end! I suppose if you're gonna play ANY part of Eruption, that should be it! They just stopped at that point and went into You Really Got Me..

Dave's band was, in his words, tight. The bass player (Todd Jensen I think?) and Ray Luzier held down the backing vocals quite well. Wasn't the same as Mike, but I was real worried that the backing vocals were going to suck.

Overall, I thought it was well worth my money to see Diamond Dave. I didn't want it to ever end! All the energy Dave put into his performance made Bad Company seem almost anticlimatic. Someone behind me said that the concert was "Twenty times better than the fucking Van Halen show I saw.." so it seems that other people agree! The rest of the crowd, who were really into it (Dave commented that the crowd was "shakin' more than Ted Kennedy's hand reaching for his morning beer!") seemed to like it too.

If you like early Van Halen, go see Dave this summer. I don't think you'll regret it.

The date was June 30th, the location was Mansfield Mass, the venue was the Tweeter Center, the occasion was 60 minutes of unadulterated sonic/visual delight with Diamond David Lee Roth as the Master of Ceremonies.

First of all I must say I was a bit nervous about this show, not knowing how much effort the Mighty Diamond One would put into opening a show and the fact that I had heard rumors that the sound at his Sweden gigs was not up to par. Well, let me tell you the sound was AWESOME and Dave put 110% into the show! He looked fantastic in a matching leopard print shirt and bell-bottomed pants with suspenders under his shirt.

Dave had all his kicks and trademark moves/kicks/ass-shakin' down!!! He even jumped off the drum riser twice while riding "the invisible elephant"!! His ninja-stuff with the mic-stand was INSANE! Dave's voice was flawless, he sounded better than he did on the Skyscraper tour and much better than he did on my copy of the 1984 Montreal show.

Dave is obviously in super-shape and looks ripped! His band is tighter than a frog's ass under-water and the sound guy had it perfect...The band and Dave were flawless, except for the backing vocals(they could have been better)! But hey, anyone who's ever heard Real VH live knows about poor backing vocals (sorry, Eddie).

I can't deal with these whiners complaining about Bart Walsh (who is awesome) playing Eruption....Give me a break. I guess no singer for Van-Has-Been is allowed to sing DLR's lyrics or do his yells?...WE KNOW NO-ONE CAN DO HIS MOVES!!! The show was friggin' awesome and the tunes were done the way they were meant to be.

After the gig the crowd rushed towards the exit, like lemmings plummetting over a cliff. I feel bad for BAD CO, because that would be impossible to follow. Anyway, after the gig, I got to go backstage and hang with the whole band (super-nice and classy guys) and shoot the shit with Big Ed. Of course, I also got to thank THE KING himself, for 21 years of smiles!!! Long live THE KING!!! I'd like to say thanks to A SUPER-COOL-CHICK, that made a dream come true for me (meeting the Diamond One)!!!

Everyone seemed to have a killer time, even the geezers in front of me (waiting for Bad Co) were on their feet by the second song. I'd also like to say that 30 minutes before the show, tickets sold were at the 8,500 mark, NOT 4,500, as previously stated in another review.

This was clearly Dave's best show in many years! This new tour may not have all the bells and whistles of the 90 ton road show for Eat 'Em And Smile, this was Dave doing what he truly does best, HAVE A BLAST! And that he did.

The new boys did a remarkable job of playing the hits Dave does so well. If only there was more time for Dave . He truly deserves to headline this show.

By the time we got to Ain't Talkin'.. the crowd was truly into this new incarnation of Roth N' Roll. The stadium was filled for the Jump encore. You knew because after the encore the whole place left at once. It was pretty amazing.

As for the personal gunslinging Dave threw at Sammy, Gary and Eddie, let them eat cake, because Dave knows he is the frosting on the proverbial Van Halen birthday cake. Van Halen cakes only taste good if Dave is the frontman. Considering my birthday was June 27, this show took me back about fifteen years ago, when I was a senior in high school, and the songs had that same good feeling.

Thanks Dave, see you soon on the next go round.

I want to start by saying this: David Lee Roth NEEDS Van Halen, while Van Halen does NOT need David Lee Roth. Let me explain, before I am attacked!

The show impressed me in that Dave's vocals were their best in years - past VH and Dave shows featured 'talking' the lyrics and even forgetting them. I think that due to the fact he was on a small stage and the 'running' and 'jumping' were less involved, he was more able to concentrate on the vocals.

The set list was great, as I heard Dave and his little cover band play some VH tunes I had never heard live: Little Guitars and So This Is Love. Here's where the sad part comes, though. This set list, as was the Lil Ain't Enough set is jam packed with VH and HARDLY ANY solo Dave stuff. That's great for us VH fans who want to see our original singer doing the oldies. But, think of a DAVE SOLO fan who bought DLR Band CD and loved it (as I did) and walks into the show expecting some VH, but mostly Dave solo and ESPECIALLY new stuff. He or she leaves thinking the show should have been billed as 'DAVID LEE ROTH DOES THE BEST OF VH'....which is what it was.

Dave got together a band of no-name, so-so musicians, including a guitarist whose only past credits include being EDDIE in the VH cover band ATOMIC PUNKS and realized that the only way to crawl back into the scene was to play almost ENTIRELY VH songs in his set. This is why DAVID needs VH more. If he was playing only his solo stuff, the crowds would be a lot smaller.

I drove from Long Island, N.Y. for 5 hours to go to see this show, since he didn't/couldn't play N.Y. Dave himself once said 'Every night Sammy has to sing JUMP, but I will never sing a Hagar tune'...This is true, but now, DAVE is forced to sing almost only VH tunes and abandon his own excellent solo stuff and must suck it up every night, sticking bottles of beer into his crotch and faking jerking off (a childish stage move) badmouth Gary and Sammy (both of whom sold more records than the DLR Band CD will ever sell) and resort to self-praise when he really should gain some humility....

I was glad to hear these old VH tunes, which VH themselves are finally doing live. It will be interesting to see Dave with VH at the R AND R Hall of Fame in 2003.

Til then, VH is a pro-act while Dave and his cover band are imitations. Lastly, all those dissing BAD CO, or leaving early missed a great show by one of rock's greatest vocalists, Paul Rodgers.

Hot For Teacher
Panama
Little Guitars
Slam Dunk
Mean Street
Runnin' With The Devil
Eruption
You Really Got Me
So This Is Love?
Yankee Rose
Tobacco Road
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
Unchained

Jump

DLR Solo: 03
Van Halen: 11

Total: 14

Boston Globe