The foursome did a good job of capturing the look of the mighty Van Halen with Roth (Ernie Berru) wearing a sparkling robe and EVH (Derek Fuller) sporting the red/white overalls with a red bandana around the neck. Michael Anthony (Andy Catt) had the same odd-looking shirt the Mikey wore in the “Jump” video and Alex (Michael Thompson) had the trademark shades.

The song selection was all A-list stuff. “Unchained,” “Panama,” “Jamie’s Cryin’,” “Hot For Teacher,” and “Ice Cream Man” were all included as well as many other huge songs from the catalog. The Jack Daniels bottle made an appearance and DLR and EVH surveyed the crowd prior to “Pretty Woman.” A lot of the VH schtick was delivered spot-on, including Dave’s strut and the familiar posture of Edward.

The songs alone made for a wonderful night out, but the presentation made it bigger than life. Not like the original band, of course. You can’t get that stuff no more. But faithfully and skillfully executed, bringing the fun, party-time atmosphere that Van Halen was known for.

The finale couldn’t have been any better. The played the “Jump” video on the big screen while the band played the song. It was a festive feeling like you would get a big arena show. The nearly-full house reveled in the song, the band and the era.

I saw VanHalen on the 1984 tour in Orlando, Florida and that is almost certainly the best show I have ever been to. Van Halen was a live act like no other and on that tour they were absolutely monstrous. I don’t go to a tribute band show expecting to get the exact same thing, it’s not possible. But this was a fantastic ride through the good times. The last several months I’ve seen quite a few tribute bands and I’m sure I have plenty more in my future. The originals aren’t in the best of shape these days and a lot of them are gone for good. I’ll take one of these when I can get it. Fan Halen exceeded all expectations.

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Of course, Diamond Dave was great and the show featured a heavy dose of the Van Halen catalog along with his new stuff. The opening band was Cinderella and they were completely unknown to me walking into the arena. They were an absolutely fantastic live band and the sound made a huge impression on me. I got Nightsongs the very next day and have been a huge fan ever since.

So here’s my look back on another great San Diego concert, another great night of DLR live and some memories from 37 years back:

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When Van Halen toured, they played the crap out of the album they were touring for and on this night, they played all of Diver Down except for “Dancin’ In The Streets” and “Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now.” And they nearly played Side One of the record in order.

After opening with “Romeo Delight,” always a crowd favorite, they hit the audience between the eyes with “Unchained.” Then came a drum solo, followed by the first Diver Down song, “The Full Bug.” My memories of this show mostly involve the energy and the crowd response, which was to absolutely lose its mind. I locked in on Edward Van Halen for long stretches and he delivered his usual dazzling performance.

Looking at the setlist, I remember the two opening songs pretty well and “Little Guitars,” which was the seventh song. Song number eight was the beginning of the extended Diver Down run with “Where Have All The Good Times Gone” followed by a bass solo that went into “Hang ‘Em High.” They continued with “Cathedral” and “Secrets” before “Everybody Wants Some!!,” saving “Intruder” and “Pretty Woman” for a little bit later.

It was a tour de force, with a ton of hits and crowd favorites still left, despite the band only being five albums into its career. “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” “Dance The Night Away,” and “You Really Got Me” all got played and they did four songs total off of Van Halen II.

The mighty Van Halen at that point in time was a force of nature. No matter what was going on behind the scenes, they played live like they invented it and there wasn’t any other band out there that could put on the kind of show they did. Blue Oyster Cult and Triumph had incredible laser light shows, Ted Nugent was a crowd-pleasing maniac and KISS was KISS. But Van Halen had its own vibe and a unique energy and with all that going on, they were hit-makers that delivered killer song after killer song that whipped audiences into a frenzy.

This was the second of my five Van Halen shows and my next go-round with them would be on the 1984 tour. These first three, all in the first Roth era, were my idea of a great time. I wasn’t disappointed by any of the other bands that I saw live during this time period because Van Halen was my favorite band and nobody else was supposed to be putting on that kind of show. It was theirs, alone.

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I, myself, have no good excuse for why it didn’t hit me at the time. When it came out, I bought it immediately, and I played the first half of the record quite a bit. After a couple of months, I bailed on this record and only had a couple of spots strong in my memory.

That was a huge mistake.

Here’s a video where I explain what I thought then, what I think now, and what a doofus I am for not catching on in 2012. The lead single, “Tattoo”, was something I didn’t care for at all from the first time I heard it, but that isn’t any excuse. There is enough good songwriting and brilliant guitar from the master himself to enjoy this record.

There’s plenty of clever, silly David Lee Roth commentary throughout and it was still a big deal that he was back again, even after all of the back-and-forth that went on between the band and its lead singers.

But this is a great, great, great guitar record. Riffs, hooks, leads, the great Edward Van Halen gave us a treasure trove on this album. It doesn’t sound that much like the first six records with Roth and it is quite a bit longer than any of those at 50:12. It is different, indeed. But it’s a great look at what Edward Van Halen was up to at that point, with Roth on vocals and his son in the band on bass.

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