Diamond Dave played with Van Halen Thursday night at the 250-seat Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village.
David Lee Roth’s 92-year-old uncle, Manny, founded the club. Jimmy Fallon and John McEnroe were among those in the crowd.
Judging by these videos, they sounded rough but ready to rumble. The band will tour in 2012 and has a new album out next month.
Here’s an excerpt from a piece by Andy Greene of Rolling Stone, who was in the house.
I stood a good five feet in front of Eddie Van Halen (dressed in ripped jeans and a black t-shirt) and the man played absolutely flawlessly. It was a beautiful sight. Before the start of a Van Halen tour you never know what Ed you’re getting. The 2004 Van Hagar Ed was a drunken, shirtless mess. The 2007/08 reunion Ed was cleaned up and together, and that clearly is the case today. While Roth ordered drinks from the stage and took some shots, Ed restricted himself to bottled water and a couple of Red Bulls.
About half a second after the end of “You Really Got Me,” Wolfgang Van Halen played the opening notes of “Running With The Devil.” By that point that crazy reality that we were seeing Van Halen in a tiny, sweaty basement club began to kick in. These songs (not to mention the performers) were programmed to rock massive baskeball arenas. Seeing that all that energy crammed into a basement club was surreal. It’s a shame so few fans outside of the press were able to witness it.
It was clear that Dave’s voice isn’t quite as strong as it was back in the day, but he more than compensated for that with incredible energy and charisma. It must be said, however, that original bassist Michael Anthony’s backing vocals were sorely missed. They need them now more than ever, and as talented a bassist as Wolfgang clearly is (especially for a 20-year-old), it was a real lame move to push Anthony out of the band.
Here are the tour dates:
February 18 – Louisville, KY @ KFC Yum! Center
February 20 – Detroit, MI @ The Palace of Auburn Hills
February 22 – Indianapolis, IN @ Bankers Life Fieldhouse
February 24 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
February 28 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
March 1 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
March 3 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena
March 5 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
March 9 – Buffalo, NY @ First Niagara Center
March 11 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden
March 15 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
March 17 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
March 21 – Ottawa, ON @ Scotiabank Place
March 24 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Boardwalk Hall
March 28 – Washington, DC @ Verizon Center
March 30 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Consol Energy Center
April 1 – Rosemont, IL @ Allstate Arena
April 10 – Fort Lauderdale, FL @ BankAtlantic Center
4/12 – Tampa, FL @ St. Pete Times Forum
April 14 – Orlando, FL @ Amway Arena
April 16 – Jacksonville, FL @ Jacksonville Arena
April 19 – Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena
April 21 – Greensboro, NC @ Greensboro Coliseum
April 25 – Charlotte, NC @ Time Warner Cable Arena
April 27 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
May 1 – Tulsa, OK @ BOK Center
May 5 – Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome
May 7 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
May 9 – Calgary, AB @ Scotiabank Saddledome
May 11 – Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place
May 17 – Winnipeg, MB @ MTS Centre
May 19 – St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center
May 22 – Kansas City, MO @ Sprint Center
May 24 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center
May 27 – Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena
June 1 – Los Angeles, CA @ STAPLES Center
June 3 – Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena
June 5 – San Jose, CA @ HP Pavilion
June 12 – Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center
June 14 – San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena
June 16 – Phoenix, AZ @ US Airways Center
June 20 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
June 22 – San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center
June 24 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
June 26 – New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Arena
