Review by Albert DiMatteo - vanhalen@cgocable.net

Hello everyone. My friend and I just arrived home from the Bad Company, David Lee Roth concert from the Darien Center, NY. WOW !!! From the opening guitar cord, Diamond Dave deliverd a very entertaining, "Van Halenized" theme of a show.

The 1 hour and 5 minute show consisted of Dave's one of a kind jokes, to his plaid "digital" suit as he called it! And I can't forget to mention his kicks, his boyish grins to the crowd, and his martial arts technique with a chrome poll he twirled about....

Dave performed mostly Van Halen songs like, "Runnin' With The Devil", "Dance The Night Away"," Little Guitars" and many more... His vocals were great, and he didn't try to strain away from his vocal potential we all know he has.

He honestly sounded better than the early days with VH! If Dave wanted to prove to the rest of Van Halen that his act hasn't grown old, he did just that! His high spirited "here to have a good time", "4th of July party" atmosphere was just that! Dave performed like a true "one of kind" frontman whose magic from the Van Halen days found a way back to the people who sat in the front row right to the people sitting way back on the lawn tonight at the Darien Center!!!

I hope the guys in Van Halen take notice and respect the fact that the only guy they need and the fans need in the next millennium is David Lee Roth who poured his heart out this 4th of July.....From Canada's number #1 Van Halen fan, I can now say, Diamond Dave... You Can Do It!!!

I entered Six Flags Darien Lake at 4:15PM. There were many people waiting by their cars, eating, smoking, drinking...etc...the car behind us played "Eat 'em and Smile" loudly, while others heard the Bad Co. warm up and test the mics. The show was to begin at 7:30PM, so I was quite bored, but satisfied by the sound of "Yankee Rose" in the car.

Eventually, at 6:00PM, my dad and I walked towards the gate, while Bart was heard warming up for "Mean Street" and then "Panama" was being played...without Roth for each warmup. You must keep in mind that we were not allowed in yet. Eventually, after the beginning of "Panama", Roth was heard! He sang the song a bit lower, but he sounded great. They stopped after the first section, but it was there to tempt the fans.

After a wait, we found that cameras were not allowed, so my dad tried to hide his, but the security guards noticed and made us bring them back (we met a nice lady who claims she'll send me a pic from FIRST ROW!).

After my dad got back, I bought a concert shirt, which was written like everything on "The Best" album. Then, we went to our amazing, less than 20 feet away seats and relaxed with some fans. At 7:32PM, the band came out of nowhere and the first hits of the bass and the drums were freakin' loud! I, being so close, had a tough time hearing the guitar, but Roth was there, loud and clear, wearing a silk, poco-dot outfit that was very snug. His first words were "I wonder what the teacher's gonna look like this year!"

His mic was VERY loud, but he sounded great and better than previous concert videos I've seen. He swore a lot under his breath and into the mic and he said some rude things, but all was for comedy and nobody was offended. Roth's high kicks weren't all that high, but he kept great balance and his baton twirling was amazing and quick. By the end, people were cheering and for the last couple of songs there was a standing ovation.

The best thing was seeing him for real. He literally pointed to me after I was yelling my brains out and raising my fist during "Yankee Rose" and it was nice to see the guy have a great time. One thing's for sure is that he blew the Bad Co. out...not for the drunken crowd, but for me and many. His voice was WAY better than on the "DLR Band" album. His screams were also the same as when he was younger! This man was having a ball and it was tough to see him leave the stage...so when they returned for Jump, people went crazy! I hope everyone sees him, because he, for that hour, WAS classic Van Halen.

The first thing you noticed when the former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth took the stage was he has kept himself in great shape, physically, mentally and vocally.

I was lucky enough to see both Van Halen (1998) and the DLR band (1999) at this venue and at both (new line up) shows you felt something was missing. Van Halen missing Roth, and Roth missing Mike, Ed and Al.

I walked into the show a sceptic and left a renewed Roth fan. Dave's band however looked like they needed Dave to throw them some cash to get some new stage wear. They looked like 80's rockers throw backs, while Dave in his b/w flared leg silk suit (much like Gary wore the WHOLE tour) looked like the 90's rocker he should (unlike Gary, lets hope Dave mixes up the outfits each night).

The show was 99% Van Halen, and Roth sounded awesome! Actually better than he did singing these same songs the last few tours with Van Halen. He came out with the statement (in true Roth fashion) "I got more moves than the OJ Simpson defense team!" That helped Dave win over the crowd in the first seconds of the show.

The show was full of Dave banter such as "Hey Buffalo, I feel great tonight. I got one foot in Memorial Day, one foot in Labor Day (then grabbing his crotch) how 'bout meeting me at the fourth of July!! Once again Dave had the crowd at his mercy, and yes there was a lil dig at Sammy during Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love. He wouldnt be Dave with out the mouth, would he?

He also does this little thing with a whiskey bottle, but I won't ruin it for ya's! As you looked around at the full standing crowd, you wounderd were all these people here to see Bad Company, or the mighty Dave. By the response and turn out for an opening band, it almost looked like most were there to see Dave.

I thought his band (though way younger than Dave) did a great job representing the old Van Halen tunes. Hey, it looks like the closest we're gonna get.

All in all, I think if there were any of Dave's record execs there and they saw the way this crowd responded to Roth's show (much of the crowd standing throughout the 1 hour 5 minute show), I think you may see Dave out on a tour of his own. He definitely won over the 4th of July crowd at Darien Lake last night.

If you're hesitating on seeing Mr. Roth and his band live, don't!! Dave hasn't missed a beat, but the overall feeling as I watched the show was...man would this have been a great reunion last year, the real VAN HALEN! If it were to be, but I guess it wasn't. 'Til then, I guess we'll have to settle for these replacements. Oh well... (come on Ed, Al, give 'em one more chance for us, the fans!!)

After seeing Sammy Hagar in Detroit but a short month ago, I am somewhat comforted in the fact that I can now officially close the dusted chapter of David Lee Roth's career.

To put it nicely, David is through. I saw him on the YFLM tour, and it may have been one of the worst concert experiences these eyes have seen.

"Give him another chance," my friends said.

So I did. No more rambling.

What I saw last night was a man looking to dig in one last time, to cash in on the wonderful songcraft of Eddie Van Halen. Already in the terror twilight of his career, Dave last night played virtually nothing but Van Halen. Songs that are a good 15 years old. Sad.

He muttered something about having more "lines than an OJ Simpson defence team," during the messy Hot For Teacher. And just like that defense team, Roth had trouble convincing the majority in attendance that they should give a flying fuck about Roth, the 1999 version.

His voice was suspect, the antics, song-selection, banter, band etc etc made me feel nothing but compassion for the man.

To profess to be "BACK", and then only play no tracks from the new record? C'mon Dave, give us a break.

Whereas Sammy payed homage to his former bandmates while rocking out on his solo material, Dave's gig last night was on par with many of the Van Halen cover bands I had seen, but a lot more expensive.

He even put a hack at Sam. C'mon Dave, grow the fuck up.

"See the rockers with their long curly locks
Goodbye to the rock n roll era." - Steve Malkmus

I must say that I have been skeptical about whether or not Dave had let himself go a little. All the bad press and crap he got from the VH reunion fiasco. I was kind of sold on it even though his latest CD kicks ass.

However, on this great July 4th, it took no less than about 10 seconds for me to realize that not only is Dave still as good as he was years ago, he is damn near as good as ever. That's right. Ever.

This show was incredible. I have seen Van Halen w/ Dave 5 times and Dave solo 6 times. This was easily one of the best shows ever. Maybe it is because he proved me (and the other skeptics) wrong, maybe because I couldn't believe in shape he was, and maybe because this crowd of 7000+ was about as floored as I was - he worked us over in a big way.

My friend, not being either a big Van Halen or Bad Company fan, was so won over, that he even suggested we leave after only 3 Bad Company songs because they seemed so boring in comparison. Long live Dave.

Hot For Teacher
Panama
Little Guitars
Dance The Night Away
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: 02
Van Halen: 12

Total: 14

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