It’s been nearly three decades since original lead singer David Lee Roth recorded with Van Halen. But despite years of turmoil, breakups, reunions and more breakups and reunions, Diamond Dave is back in the studio with his old bandmates. They’ll be taking their tour in support of the record to HP Pavilion in San Jose on June 5, the band announced last night.
Brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen initially hired Roth to be the vocalist for their band back in 1974, under the kind of circumstances that didn’t exactly suggest a lasting partnership—apparently Roth owned the P.A. and the Van Halens decided they’d rather let him join than pay for it. Within five years, they were on the charts with “Runnin’ With the Devil,” and by their appropriately named 1984 album 1984 they were one of the biggest bands of all time, with hits like “Hot For Teacher,” Panama” and, of course, “Jump.”
But Eddie Van Halen, by this point maybe the most acclaimed guitarist of his generation, never saw eye-to-eye with Roth. Their meltdowns finally pushed Roth to jump into a briefly successful solo career, while Van Halen found success again with new lead singer Sammy Hagar. But the situation with Hagar got equally toxic, especially after he found out that his band was secretly recording with Roth again in 1996. He quit, but alas, Roth and Van Halen couldn’t keep it together, and fans were more than a little bummed to see the band wind up with yet another lead singer, Gary Cherone of Extreme. Soon they were sinking into a sea of half-assed hagar reunions, and years of complete radio silence.
By 2007, however, Eddie Van Halen got himself into rehab after admitting many of the band’s problems were caused by his own substance abuse, and he and Roth reconciled. Most people expected their 2007 U.S. tour to blow up in their face, but it didn’t. Not only has the reunion stuck this time around, but their new album “A Different Kind of Truth” (to be released Feb. 7) has them working together on new songs for the first time in decades.
The band announced their 2012 tour last night at a performance in New York City, at the tiny Café Wha, that apparently proved them to be in top form. They’ll head out on Feb. 18 and tour until the end of June, with a show at HP Pavilion June 5 and one at Oracle Arena in Oakland on June 3.
Tickets go on sale January 14, just four days after the release of their first single from the new album, “Tattoo.”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-NshzYK9y0[/youtube]
.Van Halen To Play HP Pavilion
