Diamond Dave and Friends
Recently us here at Random Ramblings got a letter to the editor, saying that while the first posts were entertaining, they seemed to be fixated on the 80’s. Our response: we are no longer accepting letters to the editor.
Last week our entire staff witnessed one of life’s miracles: David Lee Roth on stage with Van Halen for the first time since the mid 80’s. The band rocked our faces off for 2 hours (Panama was the best song of the set, for those keeping score). DLR (or Mr.Roth if you’re nasty) was his usually hammy self, keeping the crowd entertained inbetween fret outbursts by Eddie Van Halen. DLR is like that cheesy uncle that you may have, who always has a quip or pun at the ready. Of course, chances are that your cheesy uncle did not snort 1/2 of Columbia’s finest off of models in the 80’s like Mr. Roth did, but that is besides the point.
Eddie is still a machine, showing the world that he is personally responsible for all that tapping done in the 80’s by countless cheap imitations. (Perhaps you did not know that it has been mathmatically proven that if you deleted tapping and the phrase “cuts like a knife” from songs in the 1980’s, you would only be left with “Too Shy” by Kajagoogoo and “Let’s Go All The Way” by Sly Fox).
Wolfgang Van Halen seemed more than capable, filling in for the absent Michael Anthony. It’s a shame he wasn’t invited: somewhere in a lonely warehouse he must be swinging from a wire, with his Jack Daniel’s bass in his hands, singing falsetto. And Alex Van Halen is still rocking the bandana headband, and still has the gong behind him, which he did not use once during the show. When (not if) I’m in a world famous band, I am going to have countless items on stage that I never use. Triangle, rhythm sticks, barbecue grill, yogurt. It adds to the mystique.
I didn’t mind that Mr. Roth can’t hit all the high notes anymore. I didn’t mind that Michael Anthony’s signature backing vocals were in absentia. All I know is that I was transported back to 1984, when I was at Skate Night and would race out to the skating rink floor when the intro to Panama cranked up. Now excuse me while I book my flight to Columbia.
