NEW UPGRADED VAN HALEN STARTS TOUR WITH DAVID LEE ROTH

Eddie Van Halen talks about his excitement in performing with his son Wolfgang, his brother Alex and his new brother David Lee Roth.

Van Halen started their tour on September 27th in Charlotte, North Carolina and the for the first time in 22 years the band once again features original lead vocalist and consumate showman, David Lee Roth behind the mic. From Eddie Van Halen’s opening guitar riff on ‘You Really Got Me’ to the bands encore ‘Jump,’ it was clear Van Halen are back and having fun together in one of the hottest selling tours this year. As expected, Van Halen tore through material from their classic 1978 debut album, ‘Van Halen’ with songs ‘Runnin’ with the Devil,’ ‘Jamie’s Cryin’ and ‘Aint Talkin’ Bout Love’ all the way to hit songs ‘Hot For Teacher,’ ‘Panama’ and ‘I’ll Wait’ from their seminal album ‘1984.’

Fan’s of ‘Van Halen II,’ ‘Women and Children First,’ ‘Fair Warning’ and ‘Diver Down’ won’t be disappointed to learn songs from these albums weren’t forgotten as well and Eddie Van Halen lived his dream of performing together with his 16 year old son, Wolfgang, who takes over on the bass and background vocals for Michael Anthony. Wolfgang obviously has music in his genes and he brings a young energy to the band, even at an early age.

“There’s a whole lot of change going on. O.K? There’s an update. We upgraded the same way they moved the mustang into the future back when a little bit there and that’s what you expect. You don’t want to see the same old band, the U2 guys with the mullets and you know, doing etcetera. You want something that delights, entertains and astonishes and that’s by the second song.”

At the press conference announcing the tour, lead vocalist David Lee Roth talked about the changes the band made and the upgraded version of Van Halen.

The first leg of Van Halen’s North American Tour will conclude in San Jose, California on December 16th. Look for the band to announce additional legs of the tour as they look to take one of the most anticipated reunions in rock history overseas before getting back into the studio to record an album of all new material, which as of press time is the band’s plan.