By David Menconi, Staff Writer

 

GREENSBORO — It’s always a cool moment when the lights go down and a roar goes up. But there are certain shows where that anticipatory energy is just overwhelming, which was definitely the case Saturday night at Greensboro Coliseum. At long last, after 22 years of estrangement, original hambone lead singer David Lee Roth is back in the Van Halen fold and it’s about damn time.

“We came here to entertain you…I’m the one, the one you love,” Roth sang on the second song of the set, and there was not a person in the room who doubted it.

Of course, it’s easy to be skeptical or even cynical about this much-ballyhooed reunion tour, as well as creeped out by the cash-in aspect — and disappointed that original Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony has been seemingly excised from the band’s history, replaced by guitarist Eddie Van Halen’s teenage son Wolfgang. Nevertheless, there’s just something so right about seeing Roth up there where he belongs again, even without the mane of hair he used to sport.

By the end of the very first song (a crushing “You Really Got Me”) Roth was scatting his vocal and Eddie Van Halen was duplicating it syllable for syllable on his guitar. That goofy sense of fun is exactly the dimension Van Halen lacked during those long, dark Sammy Hagar years.

From Eddie’s opening guitar salvo, the band came rampaging out of the gate at a pace that would have been impossible to maintain — and things did flag a bit midway through. This was the second show of the tour and Wolfgang is still getting his sea legs as Van Halen’s bassist and backup vocalist. So there were some rough spots, especially on the songs requiring a lighter touch (“Dance the Night Away,” “Jamie’s Cryin’”).

Still, there were only a handful of clunkers, and virtually the entire soldout crowd stayed on its feet for the entire two-hour show. It was classic in every sense of the term, right down to the extended drum- and guitar-solo interludes. And here’s one aspect where having Wolfgang rather than Anthony in the band is an advantage: no bass solo. Wolfgang did fine, by the way, although he’s not exactly overflowing with stage presence. You just sort of lost track of him for long stretches, which was fine because he was anything but the focal point.

When Roth departed Van Halen in 1985, there were some hard feelings that seemed to deepen over time. So the singer’s onstage interactions with his old bandmates were as much a point of interest as his singing. He and Eddie both seemed to be having great fun, even hugging a few times (and drawing roars of approval). It seems like only a matter of time before old tensions emerge. But given the fact that Roth has the most to gain from this reunion, one might hope for the best there. Roth pulled off just about every song credibly, even though his voice has undeniably lost some of its higher range. But he hasn’t lost a thing in the showmanship department.

Roth’s saving grace has always been that he’s onto himself, which is even more important now that he’s starting to look like your skeevy older uncle who likes to tell dirty jokes and flirt with girls young enough to be his daughter. He’d be creepy if he weren’t so funny. The great thing about Roth being back in Van Halen is being reminded all over again that he and Eddie Van Halen both make each other funnier. Some of the most amusing jokes of the night were skronky noises on guitar.

The set list concentrated on Van Halen’s early glory days, 1978-84, peaking with a couple of for-the-ages classics, “Hot for Teacher” and “Panama.” The former song was almost speed-metal, multiples faster than it used to be. And on the latter song, Roth hit those high-pitched yelps just right and it felt like 1984 all over again.

For a couple of hours, at least, it was.