The Van Halen Boys Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love

It’s on! The Van Halen reunion tour with David Lee Roth is finally on! I’ve only been waiting for this since May 18, 1981 when a Roth-led Van Halen played my hometown of Rochester, NY. However I was far too young to attend a concert since my parents were firm believers that such ear-splitting devil music was an "audile gateway drug to Satan’s cauldron of rock and roll hell." Whatever that's supposed to mean.

Van Halen also played Buffalo’s Auditorium 7-31-81, The Carrier Dome in Syracuse 10-9-82, and the "Aud" again on 3-22-84. Ancient Van Halen fans might remember the original lineup destroying Manley Fieldhouse in Syracuse, NY on 5-17-79 and again the next night in Rochester, NY at the War Memorial.

But wait, “Didn’t they play here in 1980?” Well, yes they did. Pat yourself on the back because you didn’t burn that brain cell after probably chugging a dozen Schlitz talls and puffing pounds of pre-show pot in the parking lot.

Anyway, just a week after David Lee Roth was charged with a misdemeanor in Cincinnati “For complicity in inciting others to violate the fire code,” Van Halen played the Buffalo Memorial Aud on May 5, 1980 (which now sits empty and is sadly scheduled for demolition) and the next night in Rochester at the War Memorial (now the Blue Cross Arena).

Oh yeah. The photo up top there. It’s circa-1959 Amsterdam. That’s Alexander Arthur Van Halen on the left eating a cookie and playing a xylophone and Edward Lodewijk Van Halen on the right taking over drums from his brother.

A decade and a half later, Eddie Van Halen would turn the guitar world on it’s ear after forming the greatest party band of all time in Pasadena, California with a cocky playboy singer named David Roth. And don't forget that Alex's powerhouse drumming totally kicked ass too.