Review by Scott Gregg - neckman@best.com

Wow! I don't care what his detractors have been saying; Dave looks and sounds great, and has the energy of a teenager! Sure he doesn't sound as good as he used to, but so what? He still sounds great. He's lost very little, if any, of his voice.

He opened with Hot For Teacher, with only about a third to half of the seats in the San Jose Arena filled. By the end of the song, it looked like two-thirds to three-quarters of the seats were filled, with most of the crowd applauding and yelling wildly (me included). Although the sound wasn't very good at first, you could definitely feel the energy. It was intense. Dave and friends were there to have a good time. And they did. Anyhow...

The sound in the arena was crappy for about the first two or three songs, but got straightened out slightly as the show went on. During Hot For Teacher, Bart's guitar was mostly undecipherable, sounding like one big blob of noise. Dave's voice wasn't loud enough either. Thank God somebody noticed, and did something about it. It took them another song or two, but the technicians got things sounding much better. Not perfect, though. I don't think the acoustics in the SJ Arena are the best...

The rest of the band was really good. I thought Bart sounded great. My wife commented that "...he's not Eddie, but he's really good." She's right. He's a good imitation, but it's just not the same. He did his job though, better than most Eddie imitators could have, I'm sure. The bass and drums both sounded really good once the sound got fixed, and the backup vocals were done very well.

Dave did his usual high kicks, twists, twirls, and jumps, keeping the energy high throughout the show. He flirted with all of the girls in the front row. And, yes, he mimicked masturbating on the girls in the front row with his bottle of JD. Everyone seemed to enjoy the antics. I didn't think I would be, but I was really impressed with his twirling of the mic stand as though it was a sword. It was quite impressive. I would love to see him do this with a real sword sometime.

I was bummed that he only performed one encore tonight (Jump). The crowd was completely filled, and everyone was on their feet, screaming like hell when his set was done, and everyone seemed completely disappointed that they only did one encore. The whole crowd wanted a little more Dave (I wanted at least another hour), but we were let down. Maybe that's what he wanted, though, to leave us wanting more. Well, it worked.

I cannot wait until the next time he comes around. I'm going to be the first in line to get tickets, and I'm paying for the closest seats I can get. What a great show!

Oh, and one other thing: I feel really bad for Bad Company. I'd hate to have to follow Dave's performance. They won't even come close. Poor bastards...

Well, this is sure to draw some flames from the DLR camp...but I have to tell it like I saw it. First off I think you should know that I went to this show with an open mind. Actually I was very optimistic looking forward to a "Diamond Dave" quality performance....especially after reading some of the reviews from recent shows. Second, you should know that I was at Dave's B-day bash at Oakland Coloseum on Oct. 10, 1980....the 1980 Invasion World Tour....my first Van Halen concert. I was hooked! Van Halen was and still is my favorite band. I've caught every tour since 1980 except for the Monsters of Rock. So I've seen each version of VH....and now I've seen Dave's version.

The guy has guts and definitely a lot of positive energy. He sounded great at 44. Sure the wales and shrieks of yester-year weren't there but his powerful lower tones were sharp as ever. His band is, at best, "Ok"! I'm surprised at the comparisons that have been made between Dave's guitarist & drummer and the Van Halen brothers. I actually felt a little sorry for this guy (can't remember his name...sorry) who is obviously a talented musician and who has to play someone else's material... not just anybody's material.....Eddie Van Halen's! He botched up Eruption, the intro to "Mean Street", and just wasn't as fast/crisp with some licks as he needed to be. He was "good". The drummer was good and the bass player was good but to say they're right up there with Alex and Mike is way off-base! These guys with Dave could probably make some damn good music together. They should get away from the VH tunes. Dave needs to let go and move on. I loved hearing and seeing him onstage... I hated him doing those songs without "the boys"!

Those of you that's seen Gary Cherone with Van Halen know the awkwardness of seeing/hearing him doing the old VH tunes. Sure he carried his own and did a damn good job....but he wasn't Dave or Sammy. Tonight I saw Dave being Dave which was great....but not as great as if the 3 behind him were Eddie, Alex, and Michael. His kicks seemed strong for 3/4 of the show but he seemed to run out of gas and nearly fell doing a jump during the song "Jump". On the plus side he went the entire night without bashing Gary or Sammy...thanks Dave! Show's that you still have some class to go with your heart and desire to perform.

Don't get the wrong impression.....if you've never seen Dave do the old VH tunes.....go see the show. But if you've witnessed him at his best while leading the best rock n roll band of all time (my opinion), then you might want to consider waiting for him to come out with new tunes so his set will be mixed and not all VH tunes (except the two from "Eat em & Smile). Otherwise you might find yourself feeling like something was missing....

My rating (1=poor, 10=Superb): 6

If I sound confused on whether or not to like Dave or his performance it's due to VH's history which doesn't need to be re-hashed. He was, at one time, one of my favorite performers until his head swelled. I believe he's more than paid his dues for his decision to leave VH and would love to see a successful reunion. But until that happens he needs to put the VH tunes on the shelf.

Before you start with "If Gary can do the old songs, Dave most certainly has the right to do them", consider this......Dave left the band. The band didn't leave Dave nor did they kick him out! When he quit the band......he lost those rights to play their songs. I know that's not the case....but it should have been. Perhaps if by quitting the band he was prohibited from playing VH tunes live, he may have thought twice about leaving.

DAVID LEE ROTH ROCKED!

I have seen DLR 20 times with VH/Solo and he is the ultimate entertainer. He had the crowd on its feet the entire show. DLR came right at you with the classic VH tunes. He opened with Hot for Teacher and ended with Jump. He played Mean Street, Little Guitars and Dance The Night Away. The way they are supposed to played.

If Eddie Van Halen had any sense he would fire Cherone and bring back Diamond Dave. David Lee Roth is the best frontman in rock! He always has been and always will be. No question!

David Lee Roth is back... well, sort of! I just saw the show last night in San Jose and I have a couple of pros and cons and here it is...

The pros! It was wonderful to hear old classic Van Halen tunes with the "original" Van Halen singer (the last time I saw Van Halen was with that so-called singer Gary and he just RUINED all the old classics!). You can tell that the audience loved hearing all the classics (although most of the audience sat down for most of his performance). And Dave actually looked good for being how old he is! The highlight of the night was the encore "jump"... just awesome!!!

The cons! Well... his voice isn't that great anymore (he looked like he struggled a bit on the high notes), his kicks and his leaps seemed like another struggle (although he did save his wonderful flying leap off the drum riser during the encore "Jump"), and he did manage to ruin my favorite song of the night "So This Is Love?" (what's up with saying that you forgot the words to the song... that was okay at the US Festival but not on a new tour when you've been singing the damn song for over a month now!).

Okay... enough of Dave, now the band. I would have to say I did like the bass player and the drummer, but I have a few words for Bart Walsh, the Eddie want to be. Now Bart is a talented guitarist... but don't play Eddie's signature songs "Little Guitars" and "Eruption". And Bart... what's up with your hair??? That look is out dated... You look like Joey Ramone up there!

But other than ALL that... the show was good, it was nice to see David Lee Roth on the stage again, and the music still rocks after all these years!!!

Just on a side note... the "original" Bad Company was quite a pleasant surprise... they still rocked after all these years (my favorite song of the night was seagul... the acoustic version). It's too bad that the arena was half full...

DAVID LEE ROTH IS ONCE AGAIN THE KING OF ALL THAT IS BIG ROCK VAN HALEN!!

Last night was one of the most incredible displays of rock-n-roll showmanship I have seen in many years. I have also not had so much fun at a show since seeing the mighty VH back in 1980 on David Lee Roth's birthday.

At 7:35 p.m., the lights went down and the mighty roar of guitars, bass and drums filled the arena, breaking into the opening of "Hot For Teacher". Dave looked great in his once again, bleached blonde mane and leopard print body suit. He's also still in great physical shape as well. But before I go any further regarding Dave, I'd like to address his band.

The drummer for DLR is fucking awesome! This guy had so much energy and enthusiasm behind the kit, it was contagious. He is a total showman, with awesome chops to boot. He easily puts Alex Van Halen to shame. Being a drummer myself for about 30 years now, I know of what I speak. Anybody who throws in some double bass licks at the end of "Jump", is tops in my book. He sang great background vocals as well.

While Dave's bass player's look is a little funky (a dead on for David Spade), he had cool stage presence as well as strong background vocal abilities. He kept to the script of the songs, but you could tell that he had his own bag of tricks to throw in the mix to liven things up a bit.

As for Bart Walsh, I was thinking how this guy must be loving life right now. He went from playing small clubs in L.A. in a VH tribute band to playing huge arenas around the world with the great David Lee Roth himself. Bart played the songs note for note perfect, but would've liked to have seen him move around the stage a little more. I imagine he wanted to make sure he played the songs perfectly, which is ok, I guess. I would've just liked to have seen him display a little more showmanship.

Saving the best for last, let me just say this; take all of those images we have seen over the years of Dave making a fool of himself (the ill-fated MTV awards in '96, the Vegas lounge lizard act of '95, his embarrassing Tonight Show appearance of that same year), and throw them out the window. For that was an impostor, a confused soul who is nevermore to be seen or heard from again (we hope). Last night Diamond Dave proved once again that he is the ultimate showman, the consummate performer, who we all grew up with and came to worship as the greatest frontman in rock-n-roll.

Dave's genuine enthusiasm and love of performing these great classics was evident from the opening line of "Hot For Teacher" to his final "Goodnight". Dave and his band showed last night how hungry they were to prove themselves to the audience. Knowing that he only had one hour and ten minutes to prove himself all over again, Dave wasted no time in going from one song to the next with almost no rambling banter in between.

He sang and I mean REALLY SANG each and every song incredibly well. His voice was unbelievable. In all the years I have seen him, his voice has never sounded as good as it did last night. That in itself is quite a statement. By the time the band kicked into "Mean Streets", the crowd was going wild and Diamond Dave played right into that. He still does his spins and kicks, although they're not quite as high as they once were. His infamous grinding and pelvic thrusts were all in place many times throughout the show. He even used his microphone as an extension of his genitals, waving it in all its splendor to the adoring females in the front rows. The Jack Daniels bottle was there as well, at one point being used as prop in Dave's simulation of jacking off and ejaculating the remainder of the bottle's contents onto the hungry fans up front. Classic Dave!

At the end of "Unchained" (the last song), the crowd was once again on its feet wanting more. The band took a bow and retreated off stage - except for Dave. He stood there in the lone spotlight soaking up every last drop of his reclaimed adulation from the adoring fans and seemed genuinely grateful for being shown such a wonderful time. A minute or so later, the rest of the band came back out to finish up the night with the encore of "Jump". Dave did some cool martial arts moves with a micstand and then on the final note of the song, came flying off the drum riser in his famous, split legged jump. He was once again the man of the hour, the king of the world, holding court over his faithful and adoring subjects.

As the house lights came up, we were resigned to closing another chapter on the DLR story. Hopefully, it won't be another 15 years before we see this kind of performance from the man who does it best.

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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