Review by Shawn Perry
Thirty years ago, David Lee Roth walked out on Van Halen at the height of their popularity. Tonight, he told Edward Van Halen that the highlight of his career was standing on the same stage as the guitarist. For all the bickering and infighting that has shrouded Van Halen over the years, the love flowed like hot lava on this Sunday night at the Hollywood Bowl — the last night of Van Halen’s 41-date 2015 tour. Roth may have summed it up best when he said that he and Van Halen have their issues, but when they get together on stage, none of that seems to matter.
On home turf for the second and final night, the singer reminisced throughout the show, recalling the respective high schools he and the Van Halen brothers attended in Pasadena, the cars they drove, condoms filled with beer (!), and the music they grew up on (“Hey Ed, can you play ‘Smoke On The Water’?”). At one point, the singer brazenly talked about attending the MTV Awards, hoping to collect multiple statues for the “California Girls” and “Just A Gigolo” videos he made without Van Halen. His Lifetime Achievement Award for the night, he said, was meeting James Brown.
Roth’s little quips — “Do I know your mom?” or “Halloween is right around the corner and I know a lot of you will be going as me” — were as frequent as his lamé-flavored costume changes (and perhaps made in lieu of any shortcomings in the vocal department). The thunder of Van Halen (specifically, Edward, Alex and Wolfgang), however, was what really got the Bowl shaking. Of the dozen or so times I’ve seen this band since 1976, tonight may have been one of the purest demonstrations of Edward Van Halen’s genius on the guitar.
Before Van Halen came on, another guitar shredder named Kenny Wayne Shepherd, with his band, played a searing 45-minute set. Primarily hung up on the blues, the Shreveport, Louisiana native stepped out of his comfort zone to cook up a few frenetic flights of fancy finger work. Together, the guitarist, singer Noah Hunt, bassist Tony Franklin from the Firm and Blue Murder, Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble drummer Chris Layton and keyboardist Riley Osbourn cruised through a streamline set that included Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well, “ Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile” and their own FM staple, 1998’s engaging “Blue On Black.”
Waiting for Van Halen, it occurred to me that the last time I’d seen them in Hollywood was at the Whisky in 1977, just before they got signed. I’d been thinking about those days when I used to follow them regularly. Reading Greg Renoff’s intriguing Van Halen Rising, a book I recently received about the band’s beginnings, it felt like my Van Halen experience was in full bloom. Here they were, about to finish a whirlwind tour in the same town where they got their big break. It was so poetically perfect it got me to thinking that this may be the last we see of the Pasadena quartet for a while.
The set was filled with odd little trinkets from the band’s catalog. Unlike the show I had seen in 2012, this one went a little deeper into the file and some rarely heard (at least before this tour) nuggets were plucked out and put on display. The show got off to an explosive start when “Light Up The Sky” from Van Halen II was drawn and cued up, with Roth out front, slapping crash cymbals. in the first hour, “Feel Your Love Tonight” from the self-titled 1978 debut, “Dirty Movies” from 1981’s Fair Warning, and “Drop Dead Legs” from 1984’s 1984 were all dusted off and given a shine. Roth didn’t so much sing as he did rap and scat, although it some cases he either changed the key or the melody. The only song they played from A Different Kind Of Truth was “She’s The Woman,” a “lost” song from the 70s that seamlessly fit without deviating the mood.
Instead pulling out his famous Frankenstein guitar, Eddie stuck with his crème-colored Relic’d EVH Wolfgang axe for most of the night. When matched with the close-cropped, graying hair, Edward Van Halen has finally outgrown his stripe-addled past. Standing next to Roth, whose own flowing blonde mane and hip-hugger trousers have given way to shorter locks and a more toned-down GQ look, the two would be more at home at an exclusive country club than a beer-soaked, hole-in-the-wall Hollywood night club.
When it came to the guitar breaks, the speed, the tapping and the volcanic volume swells Van Halen is so famous for seemed less acrobatic and more refined and integrated into the program. The same could be said for brother Alex’s drumming, which are as much a part of the band’s boom as Edward’s guitar. For his part, Wolfgang pounded out the bass lines and chimed in on the backing vocals as if he’s been with the band his whole life. If his presence brings out the best in the Van Halen brothers, perhaps the call for Michael Anthony’s return is no longer an issue.
Roth doesn’t attempt those high-pitched screeches or high-flying jumps anymore, but the swagger and gift for gab are ever more apparent. Sporting a vest without a shirt, the 60-year-old showed off his Japanese tattoos and even did the splits. He strummed an acoustic and asked: “Anyone in the mood for ice cream?” After “Ice Cream Man,” the Bowl came “Unchained” with bouncing beach balls and the place became a backyard party. “Panama” and “Jump” finished things off, as the band hugged, bowed and waved their goodbyes. Was tonight Van Halen’s last stand? Never one to entertain rumors in the press or on social media, Van Halen will undoubtedly weigh their next move carefully while the rest of us stay in the dark. Gotta hand it to these guys for maintaining an air of mystique in an age of too much information.
