DLR: "I'm Only In The Middle Of My First Retirement"

https://blabbermouth.net/news/david-...rst-retirement

David Lee Roth has hinted that he will take part in an all-star VAN HALEN tribute project with Alex Van Halen and Joe Satriani.

Last month, Satriani confirmed to the "Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen" classic rock show that the trio has been in regular contact over the past year "about doing something — a tour, something like that — that was gonna be a true tribute to [late VAN HALEN guitarist] Eddie [Van Halen] and the VAN HALEN legacy," he said.

The 65-year-old guitarist addressed the rumor just days after former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted revealed to The Palm Beach Post that he was approached by the VAN HALEN drummer about six months earlier about playing bass for the project. Newsted told the Florida newspaper that he agreed to go to California to jam with Alex and Joe and see if it felt right, but he eventually realized that it would be impossible to do justice to VAN HALEN's legacy. "How could you?" Jason said. "There's nobody that can top it, so how do you show it honor? I didn't want it to be viewed as a money grab. And then it kind of just all fizzled."

Roth, who announced he was stepping away from the stage in October 2021, talked about his participation in a possible VAN HALEN tribute tour when he was spotted earlier this week by Fox News leaving the Los Angeles International Airport. Asked if he was going back on tour any time soon, the 67-year-old VAN HALEN frontman simply responded: "There's always a tomorrow for a singer, not so much for a trombone player these days."

He added: "How many times did Rocky retire? Seven. I think No. 3 was my favorite? How many times did Rambo have to come out of retirement in order to make the sequel?"

When asked about the possibilities of a VAN HALEN tribute band, including Satriani, Roth said: "Ya, I wrote the songs … I was the one who named the band."

He added: "I'm only in the middle of my first retirement."

In January, Roth canceled the remaining farewell shows he was set to play at the House Of Blues at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In a February 2020 interview with StarTribune, Roth openly wondered whether his first tour since VAN HALEN completed its 2015 run of shows would be the last time he would perform.

"I'm calling it 'The Last Tour'," he said at the time, "and then underneath it in parentheses: 'Unless It Isn't'. ... At my age, everything is a possible farewell tour."

"It's been a long great trip, a long great run," he continued. "But this kind of music requires the kind of energy that people in their 20s bring. You know what NFL stands for: Not For Long. It's similar in rock. I remember the days when we would stand around and say, 'Let's go have a cigarette.' And that's what we did: Four guys having one cigarette. I remember those days. They go by fast, so enjoy them while you're in them."

In February/March 2020, Roth performed as the opening act for the North American leg of KISS's "End Of The Road" farewell tour.

Roth's 2020 Vegas residency wasn't the first time he had set up shop in Sin City. Back in 1995, David completed a Las Vegas engagement at Bally's Hotel and Casino and another short run at MGM Grand.

It appears Dave is hard at work coming up with ad libs and sound bites for any upcoming interviews. If they are able to assemble some sort of tribute, maybe a one-off show, a la the Freddie Mercury tribute concert would be the way to go. Have a bunch of different performers/bands come on and do a song or two and at the end let Dave come out and prance around while he shrieks out another rendition of the anthem “Jump”.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by twonabomber

David Lee Roth has hinted that he will take part in an all-star VAN HALEN tribute project with Alex Van Halen and Joe Satriani.


When asked about the possibilities of a VAN HALEN tribute band, including Satriani, Roth said: "Ya, I wrote the songs … I was the one who named the band."

He added: "I'm only in the middle of my first retirement."

---

What I like to know is with Roth's fucked-up state of mind if he will pull another Vegas on his fans. His backpedaling is already insulting enough and if this is for the money alone he can go fuck himself with a NLAW missile launcher.


Still, I'm going to go to this - just to shit on Dave fans.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kristy

What I like to know is with Roth's fucked-up state of mind if he will pull another Vegas on his fans. His backpedaling is already insulting enough and if this is for the money alone he can go fuck himself with a NLAW missile launcher.


Still, I'm going to go to this - just to shit on Dave fans.

---

'It's all over but the shouting' comes to mind.

I can't say as I blame Roth re: the Vegas cancellation. Assuming the ticket holders at least got refunds for the venue cancellations if not their resort/travel fees (hey, covid was nearly two years old when those Vegas gigs were cancelled...yeah, laying out money for resort/travel fees only to have the gig cancelled sucks, but that's what surplus cancellation insurance fees available for consumers on plane tickets and hotel reservations are for: two years into covid had those Vegas ticket holders NOT opted to pay a little extra for said insurance, well, sucks to be them but they opted not to purchase a contingency refund package).

As to what Roth is alluding toward with his comments going forward - be it a Van Halen tribute gig/tour or another series of solo shows - I doubt even Dave knows what he's blathering on about at this point.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Heater

It appears Dave is hard at work coming up with ad libs and sound bites for any upcoming interviews. If they are able to assemble some sort of tribute, maybe a one-off show, a la the Freddie Mercury tribute concert would be the way to go. Have a bunch of different performers/bands come on and do a song or two and at the end let Dave come out and prance around while he shrieks out another rendition of the anthem “Jump”.

---

If the remnants of Van Halen ARE planning to assemble some kind of tribute to Eddie involving a live performance, doubtless if it is done on the Van Halen timetable circa-2000 to present, I doubt it will ever come to pass...because these guys will dither about for years and then, sadly, yet another CVH member will pass away...

Van Halen is done. That band ended nearly 40 years ago, for all intents and purposes. Any hopes a person had of the CVH lineup managing the seemingly insurmountable task of merely reuniting and playing the oldies one more time - keeping in mind they'd been intermittently trying (and failing) to do that since 1996 - died with Eddie.

It's over.

Rest In Peace, both to Eddie Van Halen and Van Halen.

The one classy move left at this point? Put it to rest and refrain from picking at the carcass. Leave that shit to Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Terry

'It's all over but the shouting' comes to mind.

I can't say as I blame Roth re: the Vegas cancellation. Assuming the ticket holders at least got refunds for the venue cancellations if not their resort/travel fees (hey, covid was nearly two years old when those Vegas gigs were cancelled...yeah, laying out money for resort/travel fees only to have the gig cancelled sucks, but that's what surplus cancellation insurance fees available for consumers on plane tickets and hotel reservations are for: two years into covid had those Vegas ticket holders NOT opted to pay a little extra for said insurance, well, sucks to be them but they opted not to purchase a contingency refund package).

As to what Roth is alluding toward with his comments going forward - be it a Van Halen tribute gig/tour or another series of solo shows - I doubt even Dave knows what he's blathering on about at this point.

---

I dont blame Roth but still no refund for my mars 2020 tickets.

Dave says he did a private show in Cabo. Must not have been you know where, or we would have heard about it already.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by saint

I dont blame Roth but still no refund for my mars 2020 tickets.

---

Go kick his ass.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Terry

I doubt even Dave knows what he's blathering on about at this point.

---

No one does. You cannot do that much alcohol and cocaine and not expect it to have any changes on ones behavior in their 60s. Dave fucked-up and destroyed his talent in more ways than one.

Last Saturday I saw a 60 year old Ian Astbury and a 74 year old Alice Cooper both play a great gig with absolutely no backing tapes.

Ian Astbury is still alive?

Then again, all Ian has to do is sing one song.

https://youtu.be/_SdIV5By2E0

Gawd bless that fucking limey retard.

Not anything from Electric?

That was an abomination. All thanks to Rick Rubin.

He's still an asshole but sang well.

I've seen him 3 times in the last decade and each time he spends more and more time telling the Scottish crowd that he is now Scottish because he lived here for a couple of years 40 years ago.

Fucking weird but whatever...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by twonabomber

Not anything from Electric?

---

Setlist was

Sun King
Automatic Blues
Sweet Soul Sister
Soul Asylum
Edie (Ciao Baby)
Aphrodisiac Jacket
Lil' Devil
Wild Flower
Fire Woman
Revolution
Rain
She Sells Sanctuary
Love Removal Machine

It was billed as a duel headline with Alice Cooper.

I'd go see that show.

Cult opened for Billy Idol in '87. Great show.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kristy

No one does. You cannot do that much alcohol and cocaine and not expect it to have any changes on ones behavior in their 60s. Dave fucked-up and destroyed his talent in more ways than one.

---

Thing of it is, I remained a fan of what he was doing musically, even in the comparatively lean decade of the 1990s when much of what he was putting out was barely registering a blip commercially vs. his zenith in the 1980s. As uneven as I thought ALAE and YFLM were, [Roth] was still managing to come up with music I liked. Thought his initial Vegas stint in 1995 was a bit ridiculous. Enjoyed the 1998 DLR Band album.

Once the 2000s set in, Dave progressively went sideways for me in terms of appreciation. I enjoyed the BBQ video. The Diamond Dave cd was just bunk that shouldn't have been released. His appearance and the way he presented himself during that Sam and Dave tour was cringeworthy. Ditto his Van Strumming effort.

He pulled himself together for that 2007 Van Halen tour. Much more so than I thought he would or was capable of doing.

Post-2008, he sounded consistently terrible live and his interviews no longer entertained.

I remember in 2018 when all the rumors were swirling about CVH maybe getting back together for a tour - something I personally wanted to see since 1996 when it first seemed like it could possibly happen again - and I found that it no longer mattered to me if CVH DID manage to tour in 2019, because Roth was shot: they all waited too long, wasted the opportunities of 1996 and 2007 to do it when it could have been something worth hearing, and it was over.

Those KISS opening slots of early 2020...seeing those appearances reminded me of an old punch drunk boxer who really shouldn't be in the ring anymore.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Seshmeister

Fire Woman

---

Now there is a tune you just have to turn up every time you hear it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Terry

He pulled himself together for that 2007 Van Halen tour. Much more so than I thought he would or was capable of doing.

Post-2008, he sounded consistently terrible live and his interviews no longer entertained.

---

One of the effects of cocaine is that it is acidic to human tissue linings. Now combine that with alcohol abuse and smoking. That's why Steve Nicks has holes in her skull and Dave's vocal chords are permanently damaged. Dave never did put much thought into protecting his voice like say a sensible person would with their hearing at a concert. Irreversible damage is irreversible damage. I think the damage is so intensive with him that not only can't Dave sign he can't even stay in vocal range without squelching no matter what key the band is playing in. Nowadays artist who make money solely off their voice will take breaks from touring for no other reason other then to rest their vocal chords. I know time alone and usual wear and tear takes its toll. Steve Perry no longer has the range he once did nor does Peter Gabriel although some others like Daryl Hall can belt out a song and he is in his mid-70s.

Maybe Dave thought he would never return to the stage playing under the name Van Halen to larger audiences therefore he never bothered to take care of his one musical asset. That 2015 show at Red Rocks was an embarrassment hearing Dave yelp like a beached up mammal and it was Eddie who was carrying all the weight to keep the crowd entertained which he did. With that being said I'd still go to this show is Al is playing and ticket prices are reasonable. Al was rarely appreciated as a drummer outside of his own band.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Seshmeister

He's still an asshole but sang well.

I've seen him 3 times in the last decade and each time he spends more and more time telling the Scottish crowd that he is now Scottish because he lived here for a couple of years 40 years ago.

Fucking weird but whatever...

---

Betcha you didn't know Byrne is Scottish

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._San_Diego.jpg


It's true. Just ask any Scottish person.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by twonabomber

Dave says he did a private show in Cabo. Must not have been you know where, or we would have heard about it already.

---

Id love to hire Dave for a private birthday gig. I bet the dude who's birthday it was paid a hefty sum.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Terry

Thing of it is, I remained a fan of what he was doing musically, even in the comparatively lean decade of the 1990s when much of what he was putting out was barely registering a blip commercially vs. his zenith in the 1980s. As uneven as I thought ALAE and YFLM were, [Roth] was still managing to come up with music I liked. Thought his initial Vegas stint in 1995 was a bit ridiculous. Enjoyed the 1998 DLR Band album.

Once the 2000s set in, Dave progressively went sideways for me in terms of appreciation. I enjoyed the BBQ video. The Diamond Dave cd was just bunk that shouldn't have been released. His appearance and the way he presented himself during that Sam and Dave tour was cringeworthy. Ditto his Van Strumming effort.

He pulled himself together for that 2007 Van Halen tour. Much more so than I thought he would or was capable of doing.

Post-2008, he sounded consistently terrible live and his interviews no longer entertained.

I remember in 2018 when all the rumors were swirling about CVH maybe getting back together for a tour - something I personally wanted to see since 1996 when it first seemed like it could possibly happen again - and I found that it no longer mattered to me if CVH DID manage to tour in 2019, because Roth was shot: they all waited too long, wasted the opportunities of 1996 and 2007 to do it when it could have been something worth hearing, and it was over.

Those KISS opening slots of early 2020...seeing those appearances reminded me of an old punch drunk boxer who really shouldn't be in the ring anymore.

---

Yeah true.

But the same could be said for many of Dave's contemporaries who are still out there.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kristy

One of the effects of cocaine is that it is acidic to human tissue linings. Now combine that with alcohol abuse and smoking. That's why Steve Nicks has holes in her skull and Dave's vocal chords are permanently damaged. Dave never did put much thought into protecting his voice like say a sensible person would with their hearing at a concert. Irreversible damage is irreversible damage. I think the damage is so intensive with him that not only can't Dave sign he can't even stay in vocal range without squelching no matter what key the band is playing in. Nowadays artist who make money solely off their voice will take breaks from touring for no other reason other then to rest their vocal chords. I know time alone and usual wear and tear takes its toll. Steve Perry no longer has the range he once did nor does Peter Gabriel although some others like Daryl Hall can belt out a song and he is in his mid-70s.

Maybe Dave thought he would never return to the stage playing under the name Van Halen to larger audiences therefore he never bothered to take care of his one musical asset. That 2015 show at Red Rocks was an embarrassment hearing Dave yelp like a beached up mammal and it was Eddie who was carrying all the weight to keep the crowd entertained which he did. With that being said I'd still go to this show is Al is playing and ticket prices are reasonable. Al was rarely appreciated as a drummer outside of his own band.

---

I'd say the only regret I had not seeing the 2015 tour was that Ed, Al and Wolfe were all playing quite well, and were playing a lot of deeper cuts.

I'd also say Al was quite good both in 2008 and 2012.

Ed, Al and Wolfe knocked it out of the park at the 2012 gig I saw.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Vinnie Velvet

Yeah true.

But the same could be said for many of Dave's contemporaries who are still out there.

---

The same IS said for many of Dave's contemporaries out there: I'm saying it! ; )

These aging, wheezing classic rock bands are on the whole too old to get it up.

Had to ask myself several years back, why am I continuing to pay good money for substandard performances? For the privilege of being in the vicinity of 'living legends'?

Fuck 'em. Let others fund their golden years.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kristy

Betcha you didn't know Byrne is Scottish


It's true. Just ask any Scottish person.

---

Actually I didn't know that. I see he's AC/DC Scottish™® whereby he had Scottish parents and was born in Scotland but moved to the colonies when he was a child. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Terry

I'd say the only regret I had not seeing the 2015 tour was that Ed, Al and Wolfe were all playing quite well, and were playing a lot of deeper cuts.

I'd also say Al was quite good both in 2008 and 2012.

Ed, Al and Wolfe knocked it out of the park at the 2012 gig I saw.

---

VH on the last tour we’re tight. It was the best I ever saw them play. Dave was in great physical condition but age has taken it’s toll on his voice. It was crapping out on him the whole show but I didn’t buy a ticket to see a front man. I bought a ticket to see a guitar legend tear it up which he did with a big smile on his face. That was the happiest I ever saw Ed Van Halen live and I saw that band plenty of times over the years.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nitro Express

VH on the last tour we’re tight. It was the best I ever saw them play. Dave was in great physical condition but age has taken it’s toll on his voice. It was crapping out on him the whole show but I didn’t buy a ticket to see a front man. I bought a ticket to see a guitar legend tear it up which he did with a big smile on his face. That was the happiest I ever saw Ed Van Halen live and I saw that band plenty of times over the years.

---

I saw them on their final tour, got second row seats day of show. The band WAS tight, Ed played flawlessly but he looked like he was on auto-pilot. There was minimal interaction between them, and most of it looked forced. Dave was fair to poor but probably did not care….he was on stage in front of 20 some thousand people, that’s all he was ever after.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nitro Express

VH on the last tour we’re tight. It was the best I ever saw them play. Dave was in great physical condition but age has taken it’s toll on his voice. It was crapping out on him the whole show but I didn’t buy a ticket to see a front man. I bought a ticket to see a guitar legend tear it up which he did with a big smile on his face. That was the happiest I ever saw Ed Van Halen live and I saw that band plenty of times over the years.

---

Yeah, in retrospect it wouldn't have been altogether terrible to have seen the show I could have on the last tour, strictly from an instrumental point of view.

The thing of it for me, though, was that I'd already seen a VH Mach 4 show in 2012 where Roth's voice was crapping out off and on the entire show: the Van Halens were in great form, but Dave's voice was awful to the point where it was detracting from the rest of it. So, when it came to the 2015 show, I didn't want to bother repeating the 2012 experience again. It was just time for me to admit that Van Halen wasn't worth seeing in person anymore...it wasn't worth making the effort to purchase tickets and physically go to the ampitheater and watch/listen to it, because the band were no longer capable of firing on all cylinders.

I mean, some people were evidently able to put Roth's live vocal shortcomings to one side and enjoy that tour anyway. And that's fine...for them. Like I said, with Roth's voice so strained and off-key, I didn't have a particularly pleasurable experience in 2012: Ed played great, Alex played great, Wolfgang played well...there were a few instrumental flashes here and there that lived up to the legend. So, when 2015 came around, it was going to be more of the same, and for me going to a rock concert should be a pleasurable experience, you know?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nitro Express

VH on the last tour we’re tight. It was the best I ever saw them play.

---

The best you ever saw them play? I'm guessing you never saw them from '78-'84 then.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Von Halen

The best you ever saw them play? I'm guessing you never saw them from '78-'84 then.

---

I'd have to agree, in that with all 3 of the Roth tours of the 2000s it was never really a case of the entire band firing on all cylinders.

Ed was erratic on the 2007-2008 tour.

Dave was erratic after the 2007-2008 tour.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Von Halen

The best you ever saw them play? I'm guessing you never saw them from '78-'84 then.

---

Saw them plenty in that era. They had more stage energy but in the technical music sense they played the best that last tour. I bet Alex Van Halen would agree with me. As far as a complete rock and roll presentation the early days were legendary.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Terry

I'd have to agree, in that with all 3 of the Roth tours of the 2000s it was never really a case of the entire band firing on all cylinders.

Ed was erratic on the 2007-2008 tour.

Dave was erratic after the 2007-2008 tour.

---

I think Ed went back to cocaine but what he was getting was laced with something. Probably meth. He had all the signs of a meth head. Fortunately his second wife knew how to handle him. I’m amazed Ed pulled out of it as well as he did. He got to go out on top at least. He got his dignity back.

Then you have flaky Valerie Bertinelli now wanting everyone to know she was married to Eddie Van Halen. Yeah, he seemed miserable because of you. If you were so great how come he didn’t come around like he did with Jani? Go cook your food and shut up!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Heater

I saw them on their final tour, got second row seats day of show. The band WAS tight, Ed played flawlessly but he looked like he was on auto-pilot. There was minimal interaction between them, and most of it looked forced. Dave was fair to poor but probably did not care….he was on stage in front of 20 some thousand people, that’s all he was ever after.

---

I didn’t see Eddie make one mistake or get sloppy the last tour. I was right up front in 84. Ed was more flamboyant, a bit wasted and played pretty good and Al was a drunk fish. I mean they played pretty damn well for a bunch of drunks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Terry

The same IS said for many of Dave's contemporaries out there: I'm saying it! ; )

These aging, wheezing classic rock bands are on the whole too old to get it up.

Had to ask myself several years back, why am I continuing to pay good money for substandard performances? For the privilege of being in the vicinity of 'living legends'?

Fuck 'em. Let others fund their golden years.

---

Depends. Saw Cheap Trick and they are still good. Robin Zander sings as good as ever. Saw Ace Frehley. Must have been a good night. I enjoyed it. His solos were great. Alice Cooper still worth seeing. With Ace he had a great band. He lays back and let’s the band carry him while he throws picks out but when it’s Ace do a solo time he’s still Ace Frehley.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nitro Express

Depends. Saw Cheap Trick and they are still good. Robin Zander sings as good as ever. Saw Ace Frehley. Must have been a good night. I enjoyed it. His solos were great. Alice Cooper still worth seeing. With Ace he had a great band. He lays back and let’s the band carry him while he throws picks out but when it’s Ace do a solo time he’s still Ace Frehley.

---

Doubtless some of these old rock stars have held up better than others.

On the whole? Not worth my time or money anymore.

It's just age. Whaddayagunna do, right?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nitro Express

I think Ed went back to cocaine but what he was getting was laced with something. Probably meth. He had all the signs of a meth head. Fortunately his second wife knew how to handle him. I’m amazed Ed pulled out of it as well as he did. He got to go out on top at least. He got his dignity back.

Then you have flaky Valerie Bertinelli now wanting everyone to know she was married to Eddie Van Halen. Yeah, he seemed miserable because of you. If you were so great how come he didn’t come around like he did with Jani? Go cook your food and shut up!

---

I'd say with the 2012 and 2015 tours, Ed managed to pull himself together and relearned how to play the CVH stuff well enough to do it justice live. In that sense, I suppose one could say he got to go out on top with his dignity restored. I'd have to agree that certainly from 2000 to 2006, from all appearances Ed seemed to be in free fall.

2007-2008, his playing was spotty.

He managed to pull his life together and replicate his old CVH licks. It perhaps spoke of how far he had let himself go that just managing play his old stuff was a mark of excellence - to be honest, it seemed like the bar was set pretty low in terms of expectations there - but, he did it.

He pulled out of the nose dive. Wolfgang said why his dad went out on the road in shifty shape is the family had done interventions to no avail. Ed would only go out if Wolfgang was in the band. It explains the weird situation but they figured Ed being the professional he was, would be forced to clean up. It didn’t work. It was a train wreck and ended the up with smashed guitars and monitors being thrown off stage. But understanding the situation it makes sense. Ed was a handful.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nitro Express

He pulled out of the nose dive. Wolfgang said why his dad went out on the road in shifty shape is the family had done interventions to no avail. Ed would only go out if Wolfgang was in the band. It explains the weird situation but they figured Ed being the professional he was, would be forced to clean up. It didn’t work. It was a train wreck and ended the up with smashed guitars and monitors being thrown off stage. But understanding the situation it makes sense. Ed was a handful.

---

Although there were some medical rationales given, I'm fairly sure Ed had a relapse early in the second leg of the 2007-2008 tour,

The Tampa gig I saw in 2008, Ed just came off as drunk.

By the time they played Tampa in 2008, Van Halen were...what, 40 or 50 gigs into that tour. The setlist for that tour didn't vary much, so the band were essentially playing the same songs in the same order every gig. I had seen a bunch of the 2007 gigs online, and Ed was playing reasonably well, Thus, logic dictated that if Ed was going to be slightly unsteady playing-wise in the early leg of the tour due to having to refamiliarize himself with playing those older CVH tunes again, that surely he would as a matter of course become more adept at playing them with each subsequent show. That after 40 or 50 shows, certainly Ed would be playing the tunes better than he did with the first handful of gigs.

In Tampa, Ed was okay for the first half dozen tunes, and then things went sideways. It was as if he was having trouble getting his picking hand and his fretting hand to synch up at times. I remember during his solo spot, he was having trouble playing parts of Eruption...and with Eruption, it was hardly a case of Ed having not played that bit of music since the early 1980s. The crowd was largely silent during Ed's solo spot, because it was readily apparent from what we were hearing and seeing on the jumbotron screen that Ed couldn't quite cut it. Frankly, I remember walking out of that show feeling a bit ripped off: I paid $125 a ticket to see Eddie Van Halen basically screw the pooch because he was bombed. If memory serves, the band did a few more gigs after Tampa, then cancelled a bunch of shows and resumed the tour a month later. Roth and Al carried that first reunion tour (I could barely hear anything Wolfgang was doing, and the kid had zero stage presence, and the backing vocals were clearly a combo of live vocals and piped in backing tracks).

BUT...

Ed did vindicate himself at the 2012 gig I saw. His playing was on point, and he was essaying the CVH tunes with competency and proficiency. Which, to be fair, as a concert goer, well...for $125 a pop that's kinda what I'm fucking paying for, right? So maybe vindicate isn't the right word...Ed earned his pay in 2012.

But it's perhaps too easy to say that Ed should have just stopped drinking and drugging at any given point down the line...the guy was an alcoholic and a drug addict...for a long time. A person doesn't stop that behavior unless they ultimately want to for themselves: not to make their family happy, or to satisfy their management or whoever is insuring the tour or the promoters or whoever. Ed could - and did - do plnety of buff and shine rehab stints, but none of them were gonna take until Ed made the choice that he wanted to be clean.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Terry

I'm fairly sure Ed had a relapse early in the second leg of the 2007-2008 tour

---

So, I was fortunate to get to watch the whole soundcheck at The Palace Of Auburn Hills here in Michigan on the 2007 tour. I posted about it here, at the time. It was a closed soundcheck. Not even arena staff were allowed in. I was standing there talking to Doug, the sound man, and Ed walked up. I had been briefed as to act like I belonged if I were asked. Not to panic, or act like a fan boy. Only speak if I was directly asked a question. Don't dare pull out my phone. Well, I nearly shit myself when Ed walked up. I was standing right by the legend. He was talking to Doug and then looked at me, looked back at Doug, and then asked Doug who I was. Doug simply said something about me being okay, I was with him. I thought for sure I was going to get tossed out. I never said a word. But, to your point of the relapse Terry. They brought out a 6 pack of bottled beer, and set it side stage. I saw it with my own eyes. I remember being so disappointed. Since Dave doesn't do soundchecks, Wolf sang all the songs. As I recall, I ran into some dude from this site before the show started, who was up from Tennessee. I gave him my pass and he went backstage and ended up running into Dave!