Three and a half years after announcing his retirement, David Lee Roth is back.
The former Van Halen frontman will be touring the United States this summer from coast to coast, including two regional dates.
On Friday, Aug. 8, he’ll be appearing at Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena in Atlantic City, and the following Sunday, Aug. 17, at Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem.
General on-sale to the public starts Friday at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster, with a host of pre-sales in the lead up.
In 2021, Roth announced a Las Vegas residency that would begin on New Year’s Eve and stretch through until the middle of January 2022. He also revealed the nine shows would be his swan song.
“I am throwing in the shoes. I’m retiring,” the frontman told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “This is the first, and only, official announcement.”
Before the shows took place, however, all the gigs were cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances” having to do with COVID.
They were never rescheduled, and it was assumed by the majority of music fans that Roth had called it a day without a proper farewell.
That made it all the more surprising when he was announced as a headliner to the M3 Rock Festival, which took place last weekend in Columbia, Md.
Roth performed a 16-song set of all Van Halen classics — including deep cuts — and received rave reviews for what was his first public appearance onstage in five years, since he was in the support slot for a leg of the Kiss farewell tour, which was halted in 2020 due to COVID.
Coincidentally, that’s the last time the diamond one was in the area, opening for the grease-painted rockers at the PPL Center in Allentown.
Prior to that, he came through with Van Halen in 2015 at a Camden stop when the venue was still officially known as the Susquehanna Bank Center.
Never the best vocalist in the traditional sense, Roth had been widely criticized over the years for refusing to sing in a lower key and using Van Halen backing tracks to supplant his live shows.
Yet at the M3 Rock Festival, he showed up with a retooled band, which included four male backup singers who added depth to his vocals while filling out the sound nicely during the performance.
Clad in an all-black suit and a short, brushed-back haircut — conjuring the Elvis Presley “’68 Comeback Special” — the 70-year-old Roth is no longer doing his patented “Air Dave” jump splits off the drum riser 15 feet in the air, but he still delivered a commanding stage presence as he tore through VH hits like “Panama,” “Hot for Teacher” and “Jump.”
He also dug into the deeper album cuts “Drop Dead Legs,” “Atomic Punk” and “Romeo Delight.”
Adding to the chorus of those impressed with Roth’s performance was Kiss co-founder Paul Stanley, who took to social media to heap on the praise.
“I watched Diamond Dave’s return at M3 Festival and LOVED IT!” he said. “Looks Great. Great staging. Great band. Great vibe. The whole thing was cool. Back-up posse too. Check it all out on YouTube. Welcome Back Dave!!”
Roth isn’t the only former singer from Van Halen paying homage to the group’s legacy these days.
His replacement in the group, Sammy Hagar, is currently in the midst of a Las Vegas residency as part of a continuation of last summer’s “The Best of All Worlds” tour, where he’s playing cuts from his entire career, but leaning most heavily on his time with VH.
He’s also got the benefit of having original Van Halen bassist and backup singer extraordinaire Michael Anthony in his band.
Vinyl of the Week
Keep an eye on this spot as each week we’ll be looking at new or soon-to-be-released vinyl from a variety of artists. It might be a repressing of a landmark recording, special edition, or new collection from a legendary act.
This week, it’s one of the most popular Genesis recordings and last to feature their original singer.
“The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway: 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition”
Throughout the lengthy and highlight-filled body of work from Genesis, “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” is a landmark record.
Originally released on Nov. 22, 1974, at the pinnacle of their early success, it came at a pivotal point in the band’s history and today is rated as one of the greatest albums of its era and one of the most influential progressive rock albums of all time.
A conceptual prog-rock opus of the highest degree, the double LP “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” came together amidst tensions between frontman Peter Gabriel and the rest of the group.
The singer would depart Genesis following the tour in support of the record, leaving drummer Phil Collins to step into the vocalist role.
To celebrate the five-decade mark of the work, Rhino has released “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway: 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition.”
It’s the album’s definitive compendium, following the arc of the project’s creation and tour.
Seeing input from all of the band members involved in the record — Gabriel, Collins, Tony Banks, Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford — it comes in various configurations, including five-LP/Blu-Ray Audio, four-CD/Blu-Ray Audio, and digital, including Dolby ATMOS.
All provide a deep dive into the music and visual elements, making for a true celebration of a remarkable album that embraces the groundbreaking music, giving the whole band’s insight alongside evocative imagery and unseen photos.
The original album mix was remastered at Abbey Road Studios by Miles Showell from the 1974 analog tapes. A Blu-ray audio disc includes the remastered 96kHz/24-bit high-resolution audio and Dolby ATMOS mixes of the studio album done by Bob Mackenzie at Real World Studios under the supervision of Gabriel and Banks.
Also included in the set is “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway: Live at The Shrine Auditorium,” from Jan. 24, 1975.
The live show is remastered and includes two encore tracks, “Watcher of the Skies” and “The Musical Box.”
This is the first time the full live show, including the encore tracks, has been released in its entirety. Three never-before-released demos from the legendary Headley Grange Sessions are included as part of a digital download card with the full audio from the set.
A 60-page coffee-table style book with Alexis Petridis liner notes features interviews with all five band members, who tell the story of the LP from the writing sessions to live performances, which is believed to be the only time this has happened since its original release.
The book also features images from Armando Gallo, Richard Haines and other noted photographers. Finally, there are reproductions of ephemera like the 1975 tour program, a replica ticket and a poster.
“The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway: 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition” can be found online and from all respectable retailers who carry vinyl.
To contact music columnist Michael Christopher, send an email to rockmusicmenu@gmail.com. Also, check out his website at thechroniclesofmc.com.
Source: Berkshire mont
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