There’s nothing wrong with Eddie Van Halen.
Nothing.
After undergoing a thorough two-hour examination by thousands of people at a nearly sold-out Manchester Verizon Wireless Arena on Wednesday night, Van Halen has been given a clean bill of awesomeness.
Maybe Eddie is a dry drunk hanging on by a thread. Maybe he’s got some rare neurological illness that induces vertigo, as the message boards have suggested. Maybe he just wanted to reschedule a dozen dates to re-energize Van Halen’s buzz-less tour.
Whatever the never-explained reason for the band’s March tour interruption, it was undetectable throughout the guitarist’s “after-Jimi-there’s-only-me” six-string histrionics.
The band hasn’t changed its show since the start of its reunion tour - except for the subtraction of “Little Guitars” and few more bars of “Crossroads” during the break in “Somebody Get Me a Doctor,” the set list of hits and album favorites was exactly the same as it was at the TD Banknorth Garden gig last year.
But the show had a different vibe thanks to Wolfgang Van Halen’s and David Lee Roth’s performances.
Eddie’s kid, 17-year-old bassist Wolfgang, has a hipper haircut, a few new funk-rock chops (which he added nicely to “Romeo Delight” and “And the Cradle Will Rock”) and a bigger role filling in the harmony vocals of his bassist predecessor, Michael Anthony.
Roth, on the other hand, is worn out. Not lazy or out of shape, just worn out. From the get-go, “You Really Got Me,” through “Running With the Devil” and mid-set numbers “Dance the Night Away” and “Atomic Punk,” the prodigal frontman struggled physically - his kung-fu twirl kicks were tired and perfunctory - and vocally. At points he was so adrift he abandoned melodies and lyrics for rudimentary grunts and vague mumbling.
But it wasn’t all Roth’s fault.
Halfway through the show Roth walked to the side of the stage, threw down his microphone, tossed the sound guy a “man-I’m-dying-here-and-you’re-what’s-killing-me” look and grabbed a new mike. From then on his voice was much improved.
No, he’s not the Diamond Dave of 1978 who came roaring out the chute like Mick Jagger, Louis Prima and Bruce Lee riding a fire-breathing bull; he’s a 53-year-old classic rocker with enough remaining chutzpah to sell the raunch of “Everybody Wants Some” and “Hot For Teacher.”
But as the tour winds down, it’s increasingly clear that this is Eddie’s show. Dave’s the world’s best lovely assistant, and Wolfie and drummer Alex Van Halen play their roles well, but Eddie’s the magician pulling lightning-strike hammer-ons, atomic tremolo dive bombs and other worldly squawks from his sleeve.
During the “Somebody Get Me a Doctor”/“Crossroads” mashup, the intro to “Mean Streets” and the harmonics on “Panama,” Eddie tapped (not just literally) into something no one else can. Fast and furious, piercing and perfect, the genius never slipped into the tacky tasteless, soul-less schlock of false-peers Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Yngwie Malmsteen. When he unloaded his requisite 10-minute unaccompanied guitar solo (which amazingly never gets old, such is his singular talent), every minute of the dervish diversion fret board pounding on “Eruption” was smartly balanced by a minute of the coolly-paced, sparse volume-knob experimentation of “Cathedral.”
With Eddie strong and seemingly sober and Roth exhausted, what’s next? Yes, a live DVD from the tour is in the works. But as good as these guys are after 25 years apart there needs to be more. Send Roth to vocal rehab and give him a month of sleep. Then get the band in the studio with original producer Ted Templeman for the seventh Van Roth album the fans deserve.
VAN HALEN
