Official 5/27 Las Vegas Meetup/Review Thread

[katina]

Wow, AWESOME !!!!

[perrin29]

http://www.lvrj.com/neon/lusty-roth-...155225665.html

Lusty Roth, Van Halen show no shortage of staying power

BY JASON BRACELIN
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Posted: May 28, 2012 | 9:41 p.m.
A pheromone in tight, sparkly pants, David Lee Roth smiled like he was auditioning for an Aquafresh commercial when he spotted a woman in the crowd snapping a shot of him on her cellphone.

"Take my picture, hot stuff," the Van Halen singer instructed, freezing himself in place, one of the few times his movements ceased over the course of a two-hour show.

"Does that thing do video?" he wondered. "I made my first sex tape in 1982. I've slept with every good lookin' woman with two legs in her pants."

He then noted that he had also once bedded an amputee.

A stranger to the act of blushing, Roth has been giving lust-lacquered voice to the male id for more than four decades now.

It's what's made Van Halen's hard-rock histrionics ageless: When will the pursuit of sex ever become a forgotten act?

Some time around never.

As such, the pursuit demands a suitable soundtrack, right?

Providing as much has kept Van Halen in business, and business remains booming judging by the packed house Sunday at the MGM Grand Garden.

The reason why this band still sells out arenas is the reason why people continue to board roller coasters: Their appeal is thoroughly sensate and almost completely devoid of subtext.

Van Halen is all about in-the-moment thrills, and they continue to excel at providing them.

For his part, Roth leads by example, working the stage hard, undulating with the perpetual jiggle of a dashboard hula girl, riding his mic stand like Major Kong astride the atom bomb in "Dr. Stangelove."

He can still hit the high notes, but he does so selectively.

He paces himself, picking his spots, delivering the verses with less gusto on "I'll Wait" and "Runnin' with the Devil," which was more of a leisurely stroll with ol' Beelzebub.

Forever chattering like a beat poet of raunch, Roth frequently ad-libbed lines in songs, though mostly played it straight when it came to the four new numbers the band performed from their latest disc, "A Different Kind of Truth," their first with Roth in 28 years.

Though tunes such as "Chinatown" and "She's the Woman" might have been released earlier this year, they registered with vintage Van Halen bombast, all serrated guitar riffs, extraterrestrial soloing, double bass drumming that approximated the rumble of stampeding livestock and the band's distinctive harmonized backing vocals, handled in large part by big-shouldered bassist Wolfgang Van Halen, whose burly physique matches the heft of the rhythms he plays.

Those touchstones were alive in the many Van Halen jukebox staples they aired on this night as well. Beer-in-the-air anthems such as "Hot for Teacher," "Cradle Will Rock" and "Panama" also rang out like battle cries in a war against chastity and understatement.

There were some lesser-known album cuts played ("The Full Bug" and "Hear About It Later" from "Diver Down" and "Fair Warning," respectively), but mostly, this night was about serving up large, gooey portions of what could be considered hard-rock comfort food.

Clearly, the band reveled in the fact that they could still do it with the requisite energy and aplomb of old even with three-fourths of the group in their 50s.

Toward the end of the show, Roth hunched his shoulders over, gripping an imaginary walker as if he needed help with his movements, then shook his head "no" and did the splits.

Frequently, he'd pause to admire one of his many spinning leg kicks, projected in slow-motion replay on the massive video screen that served as the backdrop to the stage.

"I'd like to think that you're a better person after a Van Halen show," he said at one point, his words as outsized as his motions.

Maybe so, Mr. Roth, but the true fun of a Van Halen gig is that thinking is, well, an afterthought.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.

Good review. About time one of these ass-clowns figured it out. His counter-parts could learn a thing or two about rock and roll and a proper concert experience from this guy.

[jhale667]

Good review. About time one of these ass-clowns figured it out. His counter-parts could learn a thing or two about rock and roll and a proper concert experience from this guy.

No kidding - at first read that was like "Wait - who let a FAN write a review??"

[ZahZoo]

I'm still trying to figure out Dave's temper tantrums on this tour. I've watched a lot of the 2007-08 tour footage in recent years and I don't recall even one outburst by Dave towards a roadie. On this tour, he's blasting one on almost every gig !!

I've speculated that maybe it's just Dave acting like a rock legend bad ass --- but I'm starting to think he has a very caustic relationship with this road crew and it's not getting better.

It's not really in Dave's nature to belittle the roadies in front of an audience --- leave that immature BS up to true assholes like Gene Simmons or Axl Rose.

My gut feeling tells me this road crew just doesn't get along with Dave and often ignores his orders --- and Dave gets frustrated because he wants a tightly-scripted show to maintain quality control. I think he's lost patience with the roadies and because he can't fire them until 11pm on June 26 his only recourse is to lash out at them during the shows. I've had the experience of being "the boss" in charge of lazy, unmotivated dipshits who only wanna collect their paychecks and go home so I can empathize with Dave. However, I think these public insults during gigs is rubbing some fans the wrong way and may hurt ticket sales for the subsequent legs.

The only solution seems to be fire this crew and hire a new one once the tour resumes --- or maybe Dave needs to attend anger management classes during his summer break LOL.

Maybe it's a product of who's really at the helm with the band and the shows... Wolfgang Van Halen.

Like a 3 year old adolescent, low in the family pecking order... all Dave can do is boss around the dog and the cat and put them into time-out to throw his muscle around...

[katina]

Good review. About time one of these ass-clowns figured it out. His counter-parts could learn a thing or two about rock and roll and a proper concert experience from this guy.

I agree with you.
I like Dave´s words "I´d like to think that you´re a better person after a Van Halen show".

[ELVIS]

you think so? it hurts to hear him struggle on "Hot for Teacher"

I skipped over that one...

Damn, his mid-range register is getting worse...

I still say thats why he cant sing songs like DTNA so he goes for the extra high cringe inducing sounds...

I sure hope the postponement is for Dave to have something done with his vocal cords...

[Angel]

I skipped over that one...

Damn, his mid-range register is getting worse...

I still say thats why he cant sing songs like DTNA so he goes for the extra high cringe inducing sounds...

I sure hope the postponement is for Dave to have something done with his vocal cords...

Couple of spots there sounded painful. I don't mean to my ears, I mean my throat started to actually hurt empathizing with the guy. Owie...

[jhale667]

"HFT" I think was the one where he sounded like he was having trouble...the rest of it sounded fine.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

we were swingin' swayin'...

[PETE'S BROTHER]

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Never get tired of watching that....

NEVER....

[PETE'S BROTHER]

he sounds sooo good, these tubes do no justice....

[PETE'S BROTHER]

[sadaist]

Stop making fun of Daves voice or he'll fuck your girlfriend!

[PETE'S BROTHER]