Roth’s reliance on old material mars concert

Spencer Patterson

Monday, June 16, 2003 | 8:12 a.m.

The musicians were all right, but that lead singer sure was a dead ringer for David Lee Roth.

Actually, it was Roth. The 47-year-old former King of Rock is back on tour with an act that's equal parts hair metal thunder and Vegas lounge shtick.

It also tries its darnedest to sound like old-school Van Halen.

Though Roth has released a half-dozen solo albums since exiting the band in 1985, his show drew heavily from the VH catalog. Thirteen of the 19 numbers were from that period, ranging from hard-rock classics such as "Runnin' With the Devil" and "Dance the Night Away" to album cuts like "Unchained" and "Somebody Get Me a Doctor."

Roth's band is also a fair representation of what Van Halen once looked like, save for the second guitarist in the new configuration. The musicians have long hair and wear loud shirts, open in the front to show off their bare chests.

Think lead guitarist Brian Young sounds a bit like Eddie Van Halen? He should, having spent years playing the legendary axeman's riffs in Van Halen tribute band the Atomic Punks before signing on to play with Roth.

Saturday night, Young played Eddie's solos note-for-note as they appear on Van Halen's albums. And while Young possesses the fast fingers required to handle guitar workout "Eruption," his rendition lacked the electricity that comes from simply having Eddie Van Halen in the building.

Overall, the sound was too loud and too muddy, as bassist James LoMenzo regularly drowned out his mates. The pumped-in keyboard part to the night's encore, "Jump," was too cheesy for words.

As for Roth himself, the flamboyant frontman did everything he could to live up to his reputation for wildness and hard partying.

He wore tight black leather pants, a black coat with sequined patterns and a bright blue scarf. He drank Jack Daniels all night, cracked crude jokes about two women standing offstage and splashed whiskey on fans near the front from a bottle dangling -- where else? -- from his crotch area.

And the crowd of around 1,100 appeared to love it all. Or at least, as long as Roth cranked out songs they could sing along to, the audience of mainly 30- and 40-somethings seemed willing to forgive the rest of his outdated routine.

There was plenty to forgive, chiefly Roth's insistence on talking to the crowd in the middle of his songs. Four or five times during the concert, rocking numbers slowed to a crawl, as the band quieted down and played background music while Roth went into lounge singer mode.

He spoke in grandiose riddles and rhymes, not unlike Don King promoting a heavyweight fight. He put his hand on his side and swayed his hips suggestively, strutting around the stage. And he told bad, bad jokes.

"Don't tell me. You were going to be a rocket scientist, but your legs were too damn long?" Roth asked one female fan near the front early on.

Later, upon announcing it was drummer Ray Luzier's birthday, he asked his bandmate, "How old are you?" Then, "Is that what you told the judge?"

Roth also told a lengthy story about wrecking a rental car his last time in Vegas, though the punchline was too muffled to draw the desired laughter from the crowd.

Fortunately, Roth's voice sounded as strong as it has in years, allowing him to hit most of the many high notes in his repertoire. Though it waned noticeably midway through the show, the singer rallied toward the end, just in time for a rousing version of "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" to close the main set. Roth also appeared healthy and fit. His bleached-out blond hair, which hung just past his shoulders, looked much fuller on top than it did in his last major public appearance with the Van Halen brothers, on 1996's "MTV Video Music Awards."

Strangely, Roth played just one song from his upcoming album, "Diamond Dave," instead sticking to tried-and-true material such as "California Girls" and "Just Like Paradise" when he dug through his solo work.

This was actually one case where new material would have been welcome, since Roth's "new" compositions are actually reworkings of tracks by the Beatles, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix and others.

By sticking to the oldies, Roth proved he has become little more than a nostalgia act. Given that, he might as well go all the way, bury the hatchet with the Van Halens once and for all and give the people what they really want: the real McCoy after years of imitations.