2015-08-27 Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20150829_Van_Halen__A_good_night_for_guitar_fans__not_so_much_for_David_Lee_Roth_s_voice.html

Van Halen: A good night for guitar fans, not so much for David Lee Roth’s voice
Steve Klinge, For The Inquirer
Posted: Saturday, August 29, 2015, 3:01 AM

‘Help me out here,” Van Halen’s David Lee Roth said just before reaching the chorus of “In a Simple Rhyme” during Thursday night’s performance at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden. Instead of being a jovial request for crowd participation, Roth’s statement was a genuine plea for help from his bandmates to step in and carry the high notes. He needed it.

Of Van Halen’s revolving cast of lead vocalists, Sammy Hagar has his fans (and Gary Cherone doesn’t), but David Lee Roth is the archetype. He was voice of the signature tunes from their first six albums, from “Running with the Devil” and “Ain’t Talkin”Bout Love” from their 1978 debut to “Panama” and “Jump” from 1984′s 1984. The quartet performed all those songs during their two-hour hit-filled set, but Roth struggled throughout the night.

Roth’s cartoonish persona and energetic showmanship have been his hallmarks, and at 61, “Diamond Dave” is still a loose and limber performer, sliding across the stage and constantly mugging for the crowd and camera. But he’s in much better physical than vocal shape. Although he can still whoop enthusiastically, he’s lost his high notes, and, at times, his timing.

His melodies got lost in “Everybody Wants Some!” and “Somebody Get Me a Doctor,” leaving the songs to become demonstration pieces for Eddie Van Halen’s phenomenal guitar prowess and his impassive brother Alex’s thunderous drums. Even the Kinks’ virtually indestructible “You Really Got Me” got derailed by Roth’s flat vocals and out-of-sync phrasing. He apologized in the middle of “Jump” – the last song of the night – when he couldn’t hit the climactic “Can’t you seen what I mean?”

“Beautiful Girls” and “Hot for Teacher” fared better because Roth’s rapid, declamatory vocals didn’t need to stretch as much, even though the songs’ adolescent sexism was anachronistic coming from the three sexagenarians on stage (plus Eddie’s son Wolfgang, 24, who ably replaced original bassist Michael Anthony). And the joyful anthem “Dance the Night Away,” propped up by Eddie and Wolfgang’s on-point backing vocals, was a treat.

Van Halen has always been as much about Eddie’s guitar tones, technique, and hooks as about the songs, however, and he was a marvel to see and hear. He fleetly finger-tapped a solo showcase; he toyed with the classic riffs in “Ain’t Talkin”Bout Love”; he took wild detours into sustained peals of sound in “Little Guitars,” smiling in delight, it seemed, at the noises he produced.

It was a good evening for guitar fans: Kenny Wayne Shepherd opened with his flashy brand of Southern blues, bending notes and playing loud and rapid solos behind vocalist Noah Hunt. His 60-minute set built to a climax with impressive covers of Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile.”