Van Halen concert review, Kool & The Gang and Billy Mack

The new Van Halen release is very good.  I reviewed A Different Kind of Truth recently and the songs are surprisingly hard and well crafted.  I also commented that there was no way I was paying more than $150 to see anybody in concert.  Thankfully, my fabulous wife came through and won us some tickets!

When the tour was first announced it caught my attention because Kool & The Gang is the opening act.  The concert pairing is what my CD collection looks like, but what FM radio refuses to program.

The only song Kool & The Gang didn’t do that I wanted to hear was Joanna.  Their set was personable, interactive, tight and very enjoyable.    It was also nice to hear horns and lots of horns during a concert.  My wife even pointed out that one was playing a metal saxophone; that played louder than the others.  The joys of being married to a band geek is a topic for another post though.

One of the refreshing things about seeing Van Halen in concert is that you can forget how much noise, passion and enthusiasm a four piece rock band can bring.  The rhythm section was tight and sounded like they were in the studio, it was quite amazing.  Eddie Van Halen’s guitar work was stunning, his enjoyment and technical proficiency made the show for me.

Of course this show is in the news because it’s the first tour since 1984 for David Lee Roth.  How did David Lee Roth do?

David Lee Roth’s appearance was enjoyable, but he forgot the words to many of the songs and his voice was giving out.  On many of the songs he simply stopped singing, pantomimed his way out of it or dropped the microphone to his waist.  DLR was having fun for sure, but for a concert where tickets started above $150, one should expect fun and professionalism.  Eddie Van Halen was obviously having fun, but he didn’t’ stop playing the song or forget any of the chords.

My View

DLR reminded me of Madame.  Madame was a puppet who appeared on most variety shows the late 70’s and 80’s.  DLR’s stage antics, exaggerated facial gestures and manic arm movements would’ve made Wayland Flowers proud.  He didn’t wear as much makeup as Madame and didn’t have poles to move his arms, but the way his jaw moved was Madame incarnate.

My Wife’s View

To her DLR was more of a real live version of Billy Mack.  Billy Mack is the fictional character that was in Love, Actually.  He was a washed up rock singer that re-worked one of his songs to a Christmas song.   Put Billy Mack’s facial gestures on David Lee Roth, speed it up just a bit and you’ve got the lead singer to Van Halen.

The Van Halen show was good, but at times only ¾ of the band was there.  For the most part the crowd didn’t notice David Lee Roth’s flaws because they all knew the words.  In the case where we saw them in Atlanta, Kool & The Gang put on the better show.