Van Halen at an Indian Casino

I hesitated about seeing David Lee Roth at an Indian Casino here in Oregon, since the casino circuit seems like an acknowledgment of “has-been” status, and a show there more of a curiosity, or a nostalgic journey. Even Roth’s website disguised the fact, listing the concert location at “Portland” when Spirit Mountain Casino is about 90 minutes away, about a half hour west of where I live, in Salem. But my friend Melissa, who’s the only one I know who loves music as much as me, told me I was thinking too much, as I do, and to just go. I’m a glad I did.

David Lee Roth was the singer for Van Halen, the biggest rock bank of the early-1980s. When he was fired he formed a “dream team” band, including bassist Billy Sheehan and guitarist Steve Vai, and had a huge hit solo album. I never saw Van Halen in concert, but I did see Roth on the solo tour, where he played a sold-out stadium and had everybody on their feet. Roth was known at the consummate entertainer, for his rapport with audience and with his flying martial-arts gymnastics on stage.

So the venue at the casino—a “conference room” or hall, with seats in rows like we were attending an event for real estate salespeople—was kind of sad, if not humbling. Where are all the rockers of yesteryear? My estimate is there were about 2000 seats, 90 percent filled. I was in the back risers, but could easily see the stage. There were two large screens on either side of the stage, which gave close-ups of Roth. I had to force myself not to look at the screens at first, and just enjoy the show on stage, though there were a couple moments, when Roth was doing a spiel, where seeing his facial expression was nice and added to the humor.

Amazingly, no merch was sold—no $30 t-shirts or anything else. I’d thought merch sales were how artists made money these days. The only promotion was in the warm-up music before the show, with spots for The Roth Show (a podcast) and Dave TV.

I’d wondered what kind of show we were going to get—whether some rock, more material from his solo albums, or more like the “Just a Gigolo” Vegas lounge-lizard version of Dave. But it was all Van Halen songs, all high energy rock ‘n’ roll. The radio hits, plus some deeper cuts I hadn’t heard in decades.

When they opened with “Panama” I was uh-oh—Roth forgot the lyrics, and wasn’t hitting the high notes. This was the second date of the tour, so I think there was some working out still going on, and by the third song Roth hit his stride. And in a lot of songs, Roth would signal the band to bring it down for him to go into an improvised spiel. As the night went on, Roth got more comfortable and gave some extended funny, charming talks.

The band was good. I can’t find info on who the guitar player was, but he was great, playing all the Eddie Van Halen licks note for note, while adding his own Van Halen-esque solos during the improv sections. Most notable were the back-up singers. At first I thought Roth was doing a James Brown stunt by coming on stage with a bunch of black dudes as bodyguards, but they held microphones, five of them, and singing, in harmony, all the Van Halen song choruses. Their voices were amazing, and added to the energy. But if Roth’s voice was a little weak, he chose wisely in having these guys for always-strong sing-along choruses.

At 72, Roth is skinny now. Or skinnier. He doesn’t have the powerful leg muscles anymore, there were no flying jump-splits. His arms, though, are still lean and muscly, and at one point he got out a sword and demonstrated his Chinese martial arts chops by twirling that thing in circles all around his body, reminding me that during the Van Halen years, while the Van Halen brothers were partying it up, Roth at least had that discipline. Makes me wonder if he wasn’t and isn’t the party animal that he personifies on stage.

The high point of the concert wasn’t any song, but an extended “speech” Roth gave in one of the break-down moments. In the relative silence he spoke these words: “Dancing makes me lose track of time.” He then went into some personal history, about how some music can change us forever, like when he saw James Brown perform on tv. And how The Twist made dancing by oneself possible. He made light fun of the Van Halen brothers for headbanging. He returned at the end to say again, “Dancing makes me lose track of time.” I almost got a little misty. Damn Dave, you’re right, I should be dancing. I don’t think any of the women in the audience needed any convincing, but for one of the most iconic manly-men rock singers in the world to make the case to a bunch of old American white guys for the importance of dance—that was risky, and brave. And effective.

Roth’s setlist of all Van Halen songs, plus his anecdotes about Eddie Van Halen, made me feel that this tour was a tribute to Eddie Van Halen. Maybe a tribute to the Van Halen days in general. But, for all the bad-mouthing the Van Halen brothers gave Roth over the years, Roth came across as a gentleman. And a friend. No bad blood on his part. Just a celebration of rock ‘n’ roll, past and present.