Van Halen rocks the cradle in Sac Town

Everybody still wants some! A sober, older Van Halen rocks out.

Last night I finally saw something I thought I would never see - Van Halen with David Lee Roth. My wife and I went to the Arco Arena to see 3/4ths of the original band hit the stage. As with all things VH, it isn't controversy free as longtime bassist Mike Anthony was replaced by Eddie Van Halen's teenage son Wolfgang. Our seats were in the nosebleeds but because Arco is a smaller arena than, say Oakland, we still could see pretty well. The audience was mostly drunk but hey, it's Van Halen. It couldn't be any other way.

The opening act was someone who seems to be decended from Bob Marley. The Marley dude gave an energetic performance and showed a good amount of talent if reggae is your thing. Naturally, the biggest response came when he covered Bob Marley's biggest hits, "No Woman No Cry" and "I Shot The Sheriff".

Once the stage was cleared, it revealed a somewhat plain platform highlighted by an ascending "S" shaped ramp that ran from the middle of the front seating section to the rear of the stage. The lighting effects were suitably and effective, but also a bit modest. A far cry from the overblown sets of their glory years with endlessly high drum risers and a giant wall of Marshall amps. The amps were still there, but again a bit modest.

The band hit the stage in the dark in classic VH manner with a flurry of drum rolls and guitar squeals. The opening riff to "You Really Got Me" started and the lights came up to reveal David Lee Roth at the top of the "S" ramp waving a large red flag. Roth wore tight leather pants and a sort of Michael Jacksonish decorated coat. Eddie Van Halen looked homeless in worn jeans, no shirt and a grey beard. His son, Wolfgang Van Halen, had an appearance consistent with who he is: an overweight teen in long hair and a hoodie. Alex Van Halen sported his classic look, no shirt and a white bandana.

"You Really Got Me" kicked off the show to a rousing start even though the background vocals were low and atonal. After "Got Me", the background vocal mics had effects added to heighten and double the backing vocals. But the band sounded tight, with Eddie blazing away while Wolfgang revealed a Jack Bruce influenced bass style. Wolfgang was given more space than Mike Anthony ever had, his playing was aggressive and gave a muscular, thumping bottom to the material. Alex seemed to lose a half step with age, but not to the point it affected anything.

From "You Really Got Me" they went straight into "I'm The One" with their trademark high speed shuffle and Roth delivering the first of a handful of spin kicks he would deliver. In place of the Doo Wop break the band stopped for Roth to announce their return and for the members to make the first of many affectionate displays to each other (no, not that kind of affectionate display. I know what you're thinking, they just hugged a lot). Wolfgang and Eddie sat on the floor to trade licks until Wolfgang walked to the top of the ramp.

At the top of the ramp, Wolfgang held up his bass under spotlight to play the opening bass line to "Runnin' With The Devil". The band was in full attack mode and I was in a state of disbelief as to how good this was going. Roth put on a red top hat (he had a few in different colors like Stevie Nicks) and led the audience through a sing along of this classic anthem.

And that's when I realized the difference between then and now. On bootlegs, Roth was always too wasted to remember most of the words to his songs and led the band into rambling monologues that mainly consisted of random insults and slurring. While Roth did a random insult to an audience member early on, he seemed sober and in some control of himself. Eddie also seemed sober and happy. While this Van Halen may not scale the previous heights of excess, they were much more consistent.

"Devil" led to "Romeo's Delight" and the audience was in a frenzy at this point. Following some inspired harp playing by Roth, VH kicked into "Somebody Get Me A Doctor" to keep up the nonstop barrage of energetic rock. Somewhere at this point included some jamming between a scatting Roth and Eddie Van Halen along with a bit of the Who's "Magic Bus", the first of many references to their influences.

"Beautiful Girls" came next and again the audience tried to keep up with Roth's slap happy verses. The love for Van Halen II continued with the hit "Dance The Night Away" allowing Roth to cut loose with his dancing.

In another surprise, the band launched into "Atomic Punk" with the group jamming in the middle of the stage as Roth raced around the stage twirling his mic stand and then acting like he was going to throw it as a spear.

The tribal drums started up for the intro to "Everybody Wants Some!!". Eddie Van Halen started to move around the stage more, running and spinning about more like his former self. The hip surgery showed in his limited mobility but that didn't stop him from some of his trademark scissor kicks and hopping about. Roth and Eddie did some more jamming, this time on Cream's "Born Under A Bad Sign".

A little bass solo from Wolfgang started off the Fair Warning hit "So This Is Love?" and Alex showed he still has it. A faithful rendition of "Mean Streets" came next.

"(Oh) Pretty Woman" maintained the momentum but the band seemed to tire a little bit. Another difference from the good old days, these guys get a little winded now. Fortunately, Alex Van Halen bought the rest of the group time with an extended drum solo that included bits of "Outta Love Again".

Next up was my all time favorite Van Halen track, "Unchained". It was fun to see Roth try to help Wolfgang with the chorus lyrics and give the bassist the classic line "Give Me A Break, Dave". Wolfgang delivered the line with an ironic pause for laughs.

In another surprise, the band's "forgotten" hit "I'll Wait" came next. The icy synths and Eddie's smooth playing brought back memories of the mid 80's and Miami Vice. Roth worked the front of the "S" stage throughout the song.

A stellar version of "And The Cradle Will Rock" came up next before the band tore into "Hot For Teacher". The band was on fire again and went into the last surprise, Van Halen I's "Little Dreamer".

"Little Dreamer" was the highlight of the night as Roth stood at the top of the "S" in cool blue light delivering a strong vocal (his voice sounds better now than a few years ago). "Dreamer" reminded me of the first time I heard Van Halen I, on a hot summer night in my room with a tape I borrowed from a friend. Roth was then given some monologue time with his guitar as he spun stories of wild ex girlfriends, teenage drug use and Pink Floyd records.

"Ice Cream Man" blew the doors off the place. "Jamie's Cryin" kept the crowd's energy up with another sing along. The big hits kept comin' as the band ripped through "Panama".

Eddie Van Halen was given his solo space that was lengthy but inspired. He played bits of all his famous solos including "Spanish Fly", "316", "Cathedral" and "Eruption".

The band came back to life with "Little Guitars" from Diver Down as Eddie finally broke out his famous Frankenstein guitar. They closed the set with the rousing "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love".

Returning for an encore almost as soon as they left the stage, the opening strands of "1984" led into the mega hit "Jump". Predictably, the band members jumped all over the stage and Roth sported his baton twirling skills during the synthesizer solo. Confetti fell from the lighting rig and Roth carried a giant microphone baloon to the middle of the stage.

And that ended the show, the house lights popped on shortly after the band left the stage. I was reportedly smiling from ear to ear, which I believe because it was a dream come true to see them live. The car ride home I can't say the same about because I managed to dump half of a King size Diet Coke into the drivers seat of my car. But the concert itself was great. It wasn't as great as if I saw them 23 years ago but the band definitely still rocked. Thanks for the birthday gift honey!