Dave says "Van Halen is finished."

[ZahZoo]

There is something to be said for packing it in when you can't cut it anymore. Usually, the audience will let you know when the consensus is such by dwindling attendance.

That's a good point... although it only works if you don't apply a self-imposed packing it in prematurely without giving the audience a chance to weigh in...

The problem here with Dave and especially the Van Halens... there is so much more they could have been and even currently be doing musically. It seems they have created this self-imposed requirement that if it isn't a huge, full record release or a touring deal with 10,000+ seating capacity with the equivalent pay day... then it ain't worth leaving the house. That's utter bullshit...

Single song releases digitally without all the overhead... 2 night pay per view performances in any major venue on Earth... A simple performance in a studio or small stage recorded, videoed and posted on-line. Minimal post production... wouldn't cost a fortune to produce. The internet is your global distribution channel...

People would be eating that shit up... screaming for more and the band could do it comfortably without even all the logistics, fan interaction and nonsense. Plus people would pay happily for it... probably generating more profitable income than they see today.

Such wasted potential...

[Terry]

I give Dave an A+ on physical conditioning. He's never slacked there. He just doesn't have the voice anymore nor the band. It's father time folks. It's not Dave's fault. He's aged. The Van Halen's are going we are old. We drank a oil tanker of liquor, smoked a plantation of tobacco and snorted Peru up our nose. Now we are paying for it. A tour would be fucking hell. We just can't admit it so we will hide and we never really liked Dave anyways so screw him. Dave is like, Oh yeah motherfuckers. Well I hurt too and I have to pop the blue pill now but I got the car keys and I'm stomping on the throttle until I blow out of a curve and plow through a bean field. Hopefully the Viagra has gone active by then.

With Dave, there's no doubt the work ethic is still there, as well as the energy and the desire to still entertain.

Closing in on 50 myself, I get the desire to keep working until you can't anymore...I understand it more with each passing year, much more so than I appreciated twenty, ten or even five years ago.

But, as you said, with the Van Halens it may well be the case of them wanting to depart the stage on a relatively high note, in terms of calling it quits with their heads able to be held up high in terms of not overstaying re: waning ability. Far as I saw/heard, the Van Halens were knocking it out of the park the last 2 Van Halen tours. They still had the ability to deliver the goods. I can't say the same applied to Dave for either of those tours, depending on how low one was willing to set the bar and how many concessions one was willing to allow for age and physical decline.

Doubtless, usually age will show in a more telling way for rock singers than guitar players...but for me it got to the point where Dave's voice and vocal approach had come to sound so goddamned awful live that the fact that he is a rock legend and the fact that he fronted the only version of Van Halen that ever mattered to me and the fact that I still enjoy listening to those Van Halen records...like, all of Dave's wacky rock star stories and everything else I mentioned just...wasn't compensating for how badly the guy has been singing for the last 8 years.

I gave more than enough concessions to the decline of Dave's abilities in terms of the live vocals and the winding down of his karate showmanship antics between 1999 and 2008. Mostly because the guy never failed to entertain me during those years, partly because I realized it obviously wasn't the 1980s anymore (or even the early 1990s)...at a 2006 Roth gig I saw, he was going for a high kick, visibly lost his footing, aborted the attempt and stumbled. Like, sure, it'd be neat to see him kicking if he still can, but not at the expense of nearly seeing him take a face-plant onstage if he can't. At that point, it becomes...a bit sad.

And that's kinda how the recent round of interviews and this upcoming Vegas stint comes off to me. For the last twenty years, one always heard various people saying "Dave still thinks it's 1985" or "Dave looks silly trying to act like it's still 1985 onstage" and the like. I thought such comments were bullshit then, because Roth was still entertaining to me. Last 7 years or so, Roth has just been slipping more and more into that realm of Sunset Boulevard territory, trying to...I dunno...recreate past glories. On a business level, I understand why, because nostalgia sells. It's not like outside of the diehards the world at large is waiting for a new Roth solo venture. And how many diehards are there left, who will pay money to hear or witness anything non-Van Halen related Roth wants to do? Enough to make touring as a solo act lucrative? Enough to make recording and releasing a solo album worthwhile?

As a longtime fan, I wish the guy the best in terms of continuing to perform as long as he wants to. As Vinnie Velvet said, wouldn't be too hard to imagine Dave seeing his contemporaries out there still doing it, so why NOT him?

What Dave is able to bring to the stage, in terms of conjuring up the CVH Experience...it's...not so much, anymore.

[Nickdfresh]

...

David Coverdale - OMG, sounds really bad. Feel bad for him.
...

Why? He's a penis.

[Baby's On Fire]

Dave is a narcissists. He’s actually not that different than the guy we have for president right now. They are good at bullshitting, they love everything to be about them, they like things big and grand, they can work a crowd but their private lives tend to be lacking. They are so exhausting to be around people tend to not like to be around them unless they get something out of it. Oh they have friends but friends who kind of go, oh shit, I’m going to have to sit there and hear how great he is and how big his current project is going to be.

Dave's private life is hardly lacking. He's been there and done that many times over. Travelled the world. Climbed mountains. Literally did things no one else ever even tried before (crossing the Star Mountains in New Guinea. First white man to do it). He and David Breashers attempted the first winter ascent of a Himalayan mountain (I forget the name, but no one else ever even attempted before).

He has lived in NYC, Tokyo, kayaked in the South Pacific.....on and on. Hardly lacking......He's lived the life of 10 experienced people and is still going.

Neither you nor I know anything about his private life beyond the little bits and pieces.

To say his life is lacking is boneheaded.

[Nitro Express]

I don't believe much about what Noel Monk says. He's a bitter greedy little manager who was ousted (probably for ripping off the band if you read this protests in the book).

He said many inaccurate things in the book. Dave had numerous long relationships and almost married numerous times.

And I think he has friends from all walks of life, all over the world.

None of us know Dave and cannot believe what other people say as absolute fact. Especially Noel Monk who clearly has bitterness issues.

Dave is a narcissists. He’s actually not that different than the guy we have for president right now. They are good at bullshitting, they love everything to be about them, they like things big and grand, they can work a crowd but their private lives tend to be lacking. They are so exhausting to be around people tend to not like to be around them unless they get something out of it. Oh they have friends but friends who kind of go, oh shit, I’m going to have to sit there and hear how great he is and how big his current project is going to be.

[Terry]

Van Halen was a high energy band. Hard to do when you got stiffness and aches and pains you didn’t have before. Dave thinks he still can do it but he can’t. Maybe Ed and Alex are smart enough to leave when everyone is asking where are they instead of when people are saying please go! You suck!

There is something to be said for packing it in when you can't cut it anymore. Usually, the audience will let you know when the consensus is such by dwindling attendance.

[Vinnie Velvet]

I don't believe much about what Noel Monk says. He's a bitter greedy little manager who was ousted (probably for ripping off the band if you read this protests in the book).

He said many inaccurate things in the book. Dave had numerous long relationships and almost married numerous times.

And I think he has friends from all walks of life, all over the world.

None of us know Dave and cannot believe what other people say as absolute fact. Especially Noel Monk who clearly has bitterness issues.

I agree.

I wouldn't take Monk's words as accurate. Just his take on Dave.

But from what other folks have said about him, like John 5 for instance, Dave is a great friend. He's still friends with the old EEAS band. Heck, I believe Greg plays on those John 5 tracks.

[Baby's On Fire]

Narcissists don’t age gracefully. Dave has told plenty of stories. He did it on radio and got fired he did it on a podcast and people got tired. Dave did Vegas before with a bigger gig and he blew that. I think Noel Monk’s description of Dave was pretty accurate. Entertains in short busts and exhausting to be around long term. Never could make real friends or make a relationship work. An iron clad work ethic.

I don't believe much about what Noel Monk says. He's a bitter greedy little manager who was ousted (probably for ripping off the band if you read this protests in the book).

He said many inaccurate things in the book. Dave had numerous long relationships and almost married numerous times.

And I think he has friends from all walks of life, all over the world.

None of us know Dave and cannot believe what other people say as absolute fact. Especially Noel Monk who clearly has bitterness issues.

[Nitro Express]

Narcissists don’t age gracefully. Dave has told plenty of stories. He did it on radio and got fired he did it on a podcast and people got tired. Dave did Vegas before with a bigger gig and he blew that. I think Noel Monk’s description of Dave was pretty accurate. Entertains in short busts and exhausting to be around long term. Never could make real friends or make a relationship work. An iron clad work ethic.

[Baby's On Fire]

I can only guess, but Dave might not realize he can entertain beyond music.

He must have more stories just from his travels (both urban and wilderness) then he does from the music business.

I would love to hear all of it. He could easily fill a book and do a spoken word tour.

I never gave a fuck about Dave and Eddie having conflict and it made great music, etc. The music is great. I don't need to hear the same shit for 40 years.

Within the past year or so, there was a DLR interview (probably on this site) where the interviewer asked him about almost drowning while sleeping in a sleeping bag in the jungle. Dave acknowledged, and then briefly elaborated beifre steering awy.

He always does that whenever asked about anything related to exercise or nutrition or non-music experiences. He even avoided the topic in the 80's.

That is the DLR I want t know about. I already know about the music related shit 50 times over.

He must have endless war stories.

[Nitro Express]

Dave still has it physically. I was duly impressed with the overhead kcik in the Vegas promo video. Straight up over his head like the beginning of the Panama video.

Clearly he has been training physically.

But his voice left the building around 1993 and is not going to show up again just like Eddie isn't gonna answer the bell.

Good for Dave for wanting to work, but I wish someone would tell him he sounds horrible.

But it's his life and legacy, and good on him for staying in shape and wanting to perform.

I just hate to see him embarrass himself with his voice.

I give Dave an A+ on physical conditioning. He's never slacked there. He just doesn't have the voice anymore nor the band. It's father time folks. It's not Dave's fault. He's aged. The Van Halen's are going we are old. We drank a oil tanker of liquor, smoked a plantation of tobacco and snorted Peru up our nose. Now we are paying for it. A tour would be fucking hell. We just can't admit it so we will hide and we never really liked Dave anyways so screw him. Dave is like, Oh yeah motherfuckers. Well I hurt too and I have to pop the blue pill now but I got the car keys and I'm stomping on the throttle until I blow out of a curve and plow through a bean field. Hopefully the Viagra has gone active by then.

[Baby's On Fire]

It damn well sure is.

Hey what if Dave was lip synching like Paul Stanley?

People would still rip him for that. He can't win.

Rob Halford - still sounds ok but does not have any of the power he once had.

David Coverdale - OMG, sounds really bad. Feel bad for him.

Even Bruce Dickinson - while his range is really good, the raspiness to his vocal stylings is gone. Hear him sing the Number of the Beast nowadays compared to the 80s - very different. The rawness isn't there anymore.

If he wants to yelp, that's his business. And good for him if it makes him happy.

As a fan, I hate to see him embarrass himself.

Physically, the guy puts every other so-clled rock star to shame, and most amateur athletes too. At 65, he can still do the kick overhead exactly like in 1985.

I want to hear the real DLR more. Not Diamond Dave and all the bullshit. His best interview ever was on Joe Rogan around 2014 or 2015 or so. It was just David Roth being normal.

I want to hear about his daily routines. His exercise. His diet. His boring day-to-day life. Most of all, his travel stories. He could write 3 books just on that.

Fuck the Diamond Dave bullshit. That ended 27 years ago. He's faking it now and it isn't working.

I would rather just see nd hear from David Roth. I don't care about the music anymore, and especially don't wanna see him perform anymore, or VH.

Those days are over.

[Vinnie Velvet]

It doesn't matter if there is more than 1 take. He can still do it dumbass.

Can you? Could you ever?

In 2007 he was still doing it then he lost it. But now has it back. My point being he appears to have been training. And to regain that physicality at any age is an accomplishment.

It damn well sure is.

Hey what if Dave was lip synching like Paul Stanley?

People would still rip him for that. He can't win.

Rob Halford - still sounds ok but does not have any of the power he once had.

David Coverdale - OMG, sounds really bad. Feel bad for him.

Even Bruce Dickinson - while his range is really good, the raspiness to his vocal stylings is gone. Hear him sing the Number of the Beast nowadays compared to the 80s - very different. The rawness isn't there anymore.

[Baby's On Fire]

It doesn't matter if there is more than 1 take. He can still do it dumbass.

Can you? Could you ever?

In 2007 he was still doing it then he lost it. But now has it back. My point being he appears to have been training. And to regain that physicality at any age is an accomplishment.

[twonabomber]

Dave's contemporaries are still out there, rightfully or wrongly, so why not him?

I think that's how he may feel.

Yeah, and with Jagger going on tour a couple months after heart surgery...does it set a high bar?

Dave still has it physically. I was duly impressed with the overhead kick in the Vegas promo video. Straight up over his head like the beginning of the Panama video.

Clearly he has been training physically.

Easy to do another take if he doesn't make the kick