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REUTERS/VARIETY
May 31, 2002

Ex-Van Halen singers launch concert tour
Fri May 31, 5:57 PM ET
By Gary Graff

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio (Reuters) – A decade ago, a joint concert tour by
deposed Van Halen frontmen David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar was as likely as an invitation for Saddam Hussein (news – web sites) at a White House state dinner.

But on Wednesday night at the Blossom Music Center outside Cleveland, the
two singers launched a 4 1/2-week summer package celebrating the music of
the hard-rock group, which sold nearly 70 million albums during Roth and
Hagar’s separate tenures in the band.

“I think this is as close to the authentic version of this music you’re ever
gonna hear,” Hagar said prior to the first show. “I’m not sure there’s ever
going to be any kind of Van Halen reunion with anyone.”

The flamboyant Roth co-founded Van Halen in 1974 and fronted the band for
six multi-platinum albums that included hits such as “Jump,” “Panama” and
covers of the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” and Roy Orbison’s “(Oh) Pretty
Woman.” He departed acrimoniously in 1985 over creative differences.

Hagar, a veteran with a successful solo career of his own, was tapped to
fill Roth’s spot. Despite verbal sparring in the press between the two,
Hagar’s 11-year tenure in Van Halen included four consecutive No. 1 studio
albums before he left in a disagreement over a 1996 greatest-hits set.

Roth rejoined Van Halen for two new songs on that collection, but the
reunion didn’t stick. Van Halen is now inactive after an abortive experiment
with a third singer — former Extreme member Gary Cherone — and guitarist
Edward Van Halen’s battle with cancer.

The group recently parted ways with its longtime label, Warner Bros.

Both Hagar and Roth’s ambivalence toward their old group was evident at the
tour opener. Roth made nary a mention of Van Halen during his 80-minute set,
which drew all but one of its 19 songs from his Van Halen repertoire.

Hagar, meanwhile, slapped the head of a cardboard cut-out figure of Edward
Van Halen during his boozy 90-minute set, which featured eight numbers he
recorded with the band.

He referred to Roth as “my buddy” but acknowledged the two engaged in a bit
of damage control earlier this year when they met face-to-face — for the
first time ever — to discuss the tour.

“We got together and we actually got along pretty good,” Hagar said. “The
first thing we brought up was, ‘Hey, look, there’s been a lot of stuff said
back and forth. Let’s just start from here. Nothing ever happened. Nice to
meet you.”‘

The two are quick to add that while far from becoming fast friends, they
have achieved a truce and even hold out the potential that they may join
each other onstage at some point of the tour to perform a song or two
together. Hagar said Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony also is likely to appear for some of the shows on
the tour.

“When you hear about Roth/Hagar, Sam and Dave, it makes all the positive
sense in the world, particularly now when you watch CNN and see all these
more major conflicts going on around the world,” Roth said. “What’s more
unifying than Roth/Hagar, right? Next stop, Palestine!”
Reuters/Variety

YAHOO NEWS/LAUNCH
May 30, 2002

David Lee Roth & Sammy Hagar Tour Gets Underway
Thu May 30, 4:57 PM ET

(5/30/02, 5 p.m. ET) — David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar might not be fond of Van Halen these days, but they’re certainly–and justifiably–proud of the music they made during their separate tenures fronting that band. Thus, it wasn’t surprising that Van Halen songs were the stars of the show when the two singers opened their joint summer tour on Wednesday (May 29) at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

With fans turning out in vintage Van Halen tour T-shirts–and at least one
whose back read “Who the F#@! is Eddie Van Halen?”–Hagar kicked the night
off with an energetic 90-minute set that was also designed to remind the
crowd that he had a career of his own both before and after his 11 years
(1985-96) with the band.

Following a 15-minute highlights film, a yellow-clad Hagar led his band, the
Waboritas, to the stage, which was flanked by two grandstands of concert
winners. While on stage, a pair of scantily clad “waitresses” served Hagar
drinks throughout the show–which he, in turn, shared with fans in the front
row, even mixing his own margarita (er, waborita) at one point.

Eight of Hagar’s 17 songs came from his days with Van Halen, with the
Montrose classic “Rock Candy” dropped from the setlist because of time
restrictions. Hagar sampled liberally from his solo albums, ranging from
1977’s “Red” to the speed limit protest “I Can’t Drive 55” and the more
recent “Mas Tequila,” the latter of which ended with Hagar breaking a pinata
shaped like one of his Cabo Wabo tequila bottles.

Hagar did refer to Roth as “my buddy” during the set, but he made his
feelings about Van Halen known when presented with a cardboard stand-up
figure of Edward Van Halen, which he proceeded to slap in the head.

With strained vocals and a four-piece band that never quite seemed to lock
in as tightly as it should, the high-kicking Roth didn’t quite pick up
Hagar’s gauntlet, but he had the benefit of great material, including a
large selection of vintage Van Halen songs that haven’t been heard by
audiences in years. Playing just one solo selection, “Yankee Rose,” in his
80-minute, 19-song set, Roth dazzled the crowd with metallic renditions of
“Panama,” “And The Cradle Will Rock…,” “Dance The Night Away,” “Beautiful
Girls,” “Unchained,” and “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” as well as Halenized
covers of the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” and Roy Orbison’s “(Oh) Pretty
Woman.”

But Roth really sent the Halenheads over the top with the album tracks he
pulled out, such as “I’m The One,” “Little Dreamer,” “Ice Cream Man,” and
“Atomic Punk” from Van Halen’s 1978 debut, as well as seldom-heard fare like
“So This Is Love?” and “Everybody Wants Some.”

Guitarist Brian Young did a good job of replicating Edward Van Halen’s
best-known licks and solos, while Roth spoke sparingly with the crowd and
didn’t reference his former band by name at any point.

The Hagar/Roth tour continues Friday (May 31) at the DTE Energy Music
Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan, and since the two singers are alternating
spots, Hagar will close that show.

The full opening night setlists included:

Sammy Hagar
“Red,” “Runaround,” “Three Lock Box,” “There’s Only One
Way To Rock,” “Give To Live,” “Top Of The World,” “Why Can’t This Be Love,”
“5150,” “Poundcake,” “Finish What Ya Started,” “Eagles Fly,” “Little White
Lies,” “I Can’t Drive 55,” “Heavy Metal,” and “Mas Tequila,” with the
encores “Dreams” and “Right Now.”

David Lee Roth
“Hot For Teacher,” “Panama,” “And The Cradle Will Rock…,” “Mean Street,” “Dance The Night Away,” “Runnin’ With The Devil,”
“I’m The One,” “You Really Got Me,” “Beautiful Girls,” “So This Is Love?”,
“Atomic Punk,” “Little Dreamer,” “(Oh) Pretty Woman,” “Yankee Rose,” “Ice
Cream Man,” “Everybody Wants Some,” “Unchained,” and “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout
Love,” with the encore “Jump.”
— Gary Graff, Detroit

VH1 ONLINE
May 30, 2002

David Lee Roth Shakes It In Spandex, Sammy Hagar Bashes Eddie At Tour Debut

Former Van Halen frontmen go heavy on shtick, VH tunes at first date of
joint tour.

By Christina Fuoco

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio – The pervading feeling between dueling former Van
Halen frontmen David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar may never be love, but fans
showed a lot of it Wednesday at Blossom Music Center.

Vintage Van Halen T-shirts peppered the fiery crowd. Fortysomething women
fashioned the Van Halen symbol with their hands as they shook their
shoulders to songs such as “5150” and “Panama.” A group of teenage boys
wrote with marker “f— Eddie” on their arms, referring, of course, to VH
guitarist Eddie Van Halen.

The admiration was mutual between the crowd and Roth and Hagar. Mop-haired
Hagar opened the show at 7:15 p.m. – the singers are alternating set order
during the tour – with a video retrospective that included interviews, clips
of magazine stories and Van Halen photos. It hit a snag midway through, and
kicked back to the beginning of the film. When it finished, a curtain was
drawn to allow a select number of fans to stand on risers behind the band in
an effort to maintain Hagar’s tradition of creating a club atmosphere
onstage.

Bathed in red lights, Hagar kicked off his set with the apropos “Red.”

“We’re gonna turn this whole f—ing place red,” screamed Hagar, who was
wearing a yellow T-shirt from his Cabo Wabo club that said, “Got Tequila”
across his chest. He quickly went into the Van Halen hit “Runaround,” which
prompted the sea of fans to collectively mimic Hagar, who was whipping his
arm around in a circular motion.

At times, Hagar was a little too chatty between songs, often using long
stories to segue into the next tune.

“It’s still daylight and I’m going to get drunk,” Hagar said. He yelled
“Waitress!” and in response, a scantily clad woman arrived onstage to pour
him a margarita. “It’s my first of the day, so make it a double,” he
instructed.

He coaxed the woman, a “calendar girl” from a local radio station, to imbibe
with him momentarily. “It’s OK to drink on the job. As a matter of fact,
it’s mandatory.”

After wrapping up “Top of the World,” Hagar admitted that he was somewhat
nervous.

“I didn’t know what to expect today because, well, you know why,” he said,
referring to his tempestuous relationship with Roth. “All I got to say is
this is: f—ing killer. This is the sh–. That’s what I’m talkin’ about.
Waitress!”

Hagar took a potshot at Eddie Van Halen, who is now reportedly healthy after
receiving treatment for cancer. Among the groups of fans onstage was a
cardboard cut-out of the axeman, whose head the red rocker smacked after
saying, “You don’t have nothin’ to say? Didn’t think so.”

He further revved up the crowd by hitting a Cabo Wabo Tequila bottle piñata
with his guitar after singing “Mas Tequila.” When the bottle opened, a
mop-haired green worm popped out.

Vocally, Hagar rose above a hoarse-sounding Diamond Dave, who needed a bit
of polishing. Hagar’s voice soared to impressive heights during songs such
as “Eagles Fly,” “Dreams” and the closer, “Right Now.”

Roth was the antithesis of Hagar, who used videotapes of topless women at
one point as a backdrop for his show. The flamboyant original VH frontman
opted for a more “artsy” approach with his videos, repeatedly showing
different variations of cat-suit-wearing women and an armed Roth searching
the halls for those unknown. Interspersed with those scenes were shots of
Roth doing martial arts.

He couldn’t measure up to Hagar’s charisma, however. Aside from a few kicks,
Roth exchanged personality for shaking his spandex-covered lower body toward
the audience. His stage banter was minimal; he let his body and lyrics do
the talking for him. Roth, who botched the words to “(Oh) Pretty Woman,”
used a bottle of Jack Daniel’s to mimic a sex act and, upon “completion,”
splashed the liquor on fans sitting close to the stage.

Using suspenders to keep up his spandex pants, Dave ended his set with a
martial-arts-style, baton-twirling number during an instrumental part of Van
Halen’s hit “Jump.” He bowed with the stick tucked under his arm, looking
like a majorette in a high school band.

Van Halen fans’ “Sammy vs. Dave” battle clearly had a winner Wednesday
night: Right here, right now, Hagar was on “Top of the World.”

Sammy Hagar set list:
* “Red”
* “Runaround”
* “Three Lock Box”
* “There’s Only One Way to Rock”
* “Give to Live”
* “Top of the World”
* “Why Can’t This Be Love”
* “5150”
* “Poundcake”
* “Finish What Ya Started”
* “Eagles Fly”
* “Little White Lies”
* “I Can’t Drive 55”
* “Heavy Metal”
* “Mas Tequila” encore:
* “Dreams”
* “Right Now”
* David Lee Roth set list:
* “Hot for Teacher”
* “Panama”
* “And the Cradle Will Rock”
* “Mean Street”
* “Dance the Night Away”
* “Runnin’ With the Devil”
* “I’m the One”
* “You Really Got Me”
* “Beautiful Girls”
* “So This Is Love?”
* “Atomic Punk”
* “Little Dreamer”
* “(Oh) Pretty Woman”
* “Yankee Rose”
* “Ice Cream Man”
* “Everybody Wants Some”
* “Unchained”
* “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love”
encore:
* “Jump”

Launch/Yahoo News

Hagar And Roth: Tour Partners, But Not Necessarily Friends

Thu May 30, 2:57 PM ET
(5/30/02, 3 p.m. ET) — Even without a catchy name like Sans Halen or Sam &
Dave, former Van Halen frontmen Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth launched
their summer tour together on Wednesday (May 29) near Cleveland. The
unexpected tour has united two men who engaged in intense verbal sparring in
the mid-’80s, when Roth left Van Halen and Hagar took his place.

However, Hagar tells LAUNCH that just because they’re touring together
doesn’t mean they’re friends. “Well, I don’t necessarily like this guy now.
He’s just entertaining to me. If it weren’t for the fact we’re doing this
tour, we’d never, like, be friends, hanging out,” he says. “He’d wouldn’t be
a guy I’d call up and, ‘Hey man, what are you doing tonight? Let’s get
together and go out and hang.’ He’s just a whole different kind of cookie,
man. He’s not anything like I am. The only common bond we have was, ‘Hey,
we’re both two extremely successful versions of Van Halen. We both were kind
of stabbed in the back by the brothers.'”

Edward and Alex Van Halen have not publicly commented on the Roth/Hagar
tour, which continues Friday (May 31) at the DTE Energy Music Theatre in
suburban Detroit.

— Gary Graff, Detroit

________________________________________

YAHOO NEWS/LAUNCH

Former Van Halen Lead Singers Hit the Road and Share the Stage
by John Soeder
Plain Dealer Pop Music Critic

They have next to nothing in common, other than the fact that they did
separate stints handling lead vocals for Van Halen.

So what are Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth doing together on the road?

On some level, they’re probably eager to stick it to their ex-bandmates. But
Hagar and Roth seemed even more intent on upstaging each other when they
launched a 21-date national tour last night at Blossom Music Center.

They each had 90 minutes to strut their stuff in front of 6,000 fans.
Compared with these two hard-rocking rivals, Mike Tyson and Evander
Holyfield are old pals.

Hagar, 54, went on first. He got down to business with a lesser-known blast
from his solo past, “Red.”

“Top of the World,” “Why Can’t This Be Love” and the twangy “Finish What Ya
Started” were among the highlights from his Van Halen days. Hagar dipped
deep into his solo catalog, too, dusting off “Three Lock Box,” the power
ballad “Give to Live” and his pedal-to-the-metal anthem “I Can’t Drive 55.”

He was accompanied by the Waboritas, featuring guitarist Victor Johnson,
keyboard player Jesse Harms, bassist Mona (just Mona, thanks) and drummer
David Lauser.

Hagar’s voice soared during “Eagles Fly,” although he was straining a bit by
the time he wound down with “Dreams” and “Right Now.”

“Are we having fun yet?” the eager-to-please Hagar asked from time to time.
His bright yellow T-shirt read: GOT TEQUILA?

He was full of bonhomie. His co-headliner, on the other hand, was full of
himself – in a most entertaining way.

The 46-year-old Roth literally jump-started his performance with a swinging
version of “Hot for Teacher,” punctuated with plenty of his trademark karate
kicks. He was lucky he didn’t split his form-fitting golden pants.
His equally tight backing trio included drummer Ray Luzier, bass player
James Lomenzo and guitar ace Brian Young, who turned in a reasonable
facsimile of Eddie Van Halen’s signature “Eruption” solo and had legions of
grown men playing air guitar along with faithful renditions of “Panama,”
“Unchained,” “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love” and other Van Halen favorites.

Roth proved he’s still one of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest hams.

“At this point in time, the devil should be runnin’ with me,” he said by way
of introducing “Runnin’ with the Devil.” Satan would’ve been hard-pressed to
keep up.

Roth pulled out all the stops for “Jump,” during the tune’s piped-in
synthesizer solo.

Hagar had an edge in the vocals department. Roth was the better showman.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t put aside their differences long enough to team
up for even one duet.

Ain’t talkin’ ’bout love, indeed. All the same, you had to love this clash
of two titans.