During the early years of my childhood, my mom owned a 1982 Toyota Tercel with a functional radio and CD player. It wasn’t rare for the radio to be played in the car, but usually a CD from my mom’s collection would be the soundtrack to our drives. This collection was the foundational building blocks of my early music influences, and one of these CDs happened to be the 1978 self-titled album by Pasadena’s Van Halen. Easily the most used CD in the car, you knew it was playing when the sirens on Running With The Devil would start. It was a true testament of how much my mom loved this band, and how I would follow in her footsteps. In 2007, it was announced that Van Halen would be going on a reunion tour, and my mom bought two tickets. Unfortunately, I was only nine years old and with my mom being a single parent, she realized that going to Vancouver with me for the show would be too difficult to do alone. Because of this realization, she reluctantly let the tickets go unused. I couldn’t imagine how defeated my mom must’ve felt. This feeling of regret was only amplified in 2020, when it was announced that Eddie Van Halen, the legendary guitarist of the group, passed away after a long battle with cancer. The chance to see a band I grew up listening to in my mom’s car had officially vanished, or so I thought.
Coachella 2026 arrives and, like usual, I’m taking part in Couchella. You know, when you sit on the couch and flip between stage streams? It’s so much fun every year. While flipping through the different streams, I noticed Teddy Swims was on the main stage. I knew he was popular but didn’t listen to much of his music. Regardless of that, I decided to switch to the main stage and I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was David Lee Roth of Van Halen with Teddy Swims, on stage, singing Jump. Immediately, I called my mom to tell her what I had just seen. Moments after the performance, David Lee Roth announced his Don’t Love Me, Rent Me World Tour. However, at the time, there was no Canadian Dates. Once again, the feeling of defeat was experienced. However, it wasn’t long for that feeling to change completely when in the middle of June, Tyson messaged me saying we got offered to cover David Lee Roth on July 13th. While I played it cool in the messages, I was in a state of shock. I rushed to David’s Instagram account to find that he announced three brand new dates; Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. About two weeks after that message from Tyson, we received an email, which confirmed media coverage for the Vancouver show. There were no words to explain how excited I was. I shared the news with my mom, where she was just as excited as I was. Unfortunately, with all this news being discovered too late, my mom was unable to attend the show. It was sad knowing my mom wouldn’t be there, but I wasn’t going to let both of us down and miss a member of Van Halen again. Tyson and I had all eyes on Vancouver.
We stepped into The Vogue Theatre, where rows of seating were set up all along the floor. I was in the third row on the right side, which had a pretty good view of the entire stage. Beside me was a fan from Seattle, who travelled to see the show because there was no Seattle or Portland date. She shared some stories with me about her love of Van Halen, including the time she was in a record shop in Pasadena, and David happened to walk in. Knowing I had my own experience, I felt very much at home amongst the other fans. The clock struck 8:00, and in the blink of an eye, the lights dimmed. The band came out and ensured their gear was all working. All the sudden, they start playing Panama and out comes David Lee Roth.
Without a moment to lose, he’s at the front of the stage posing for photos as he begins to sing. He didn’t sing the entire time, I mean in the words of Diamond Dave himself, he’s thirty-five times two. If it wasn’t him singing, then it was his back-up singers taking the lead, which incredibly enough, sounded a lot like Van Halen. Mid-way through Panama, Dave began to speak with the crowd, where he shared a story about his time in Vancouver at The Nelson Place Hotel. Now called Hotel Belmont, David remembers recording an album in the day and partying in the hotel at night. After this story, he went right back in to finish the song. Throughout the rest of the set, it wasn’t uncommon for David to break into story or crowd discussion. For example, during Hot for Teacher, the third song of the night, David asked the crowd which cartoon and TV characters they wish they could have sex with. For David, it was Betty Rubble and Lt. Uhura. Things you would never know about the rockstar, and I’m not saying you would necessarily ask, but now you know. The first half of the set was filled with some more heaters including Ain’t Talkin’ Bout’ Love, Atomic Punk, Jamie’s Cryin’, and You Really Got Me. Through it all, David was doing the limbo under his mic stand, dressing up in different hats and clothes, and as mentioned before, telling stories.
Things started to slow down at the middle mark of the set, where an acoustic guitar was brought out, and the band slowly walked off stage. David began tuning the guitar in preparation to play Ice Cream Man. However, the song didn’t start for at least 10 minutes because Dave was talking about Gilligan’s Island. You might be wondering what I mean by that, but that’s exactly what it was. Talking about the show, talking about how the theme has the same chords as stairway to heaven, and much more. I really didn’t know what to say, though I’m not sure anyone else knew either. I just found it so funny, and I think that was what Dave was going for. I should also note that in the last few minutes before David began the song, he noticed this five-year-old in the crowd and decided to give him some advice; smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. Again, not too sure what to say or how that info would benefit a five-year-old, but then again, David at one point thought the kid was twelve, so who knows what was going through the rockstar’s mind. Finally, the song began to play and the party was back on.
After that acoustic guitar performance, the second half of the set continued the same way as the first. Songs like Dance The Night Away, I’m the One, Little Dreamer, and Drop Dead Legs filled up the second half. There was also a Blues Jam, which included Rock My Plimsoul. David finished the night with Jump, where he wielded his microphone stand like a sword during the synth breakdown. Truly a perfect way to end an incredible experience. As we walked away from the venue, smiling cheek to cheek mind you, I noticed how the entire night featured Van Halen songs. There was no David Lee Roth songs performed like California Girls, Just a Gigolo, or Just Like Paradise. I don’t think this was necessarily a bad choice, but shocking nevertheless knowing those three songs were also very popular during David’s solo years. All in all, I got to experience an artist I’ve been longing to see since my childhood; I was finally able to close a chapter of my life.
David Lee Roth has always been a wild rock star and for that reason alone, I think he is worth seeing. Sure, he isn’t the twenty-three-year-old who could belt out vocals anymore, but he’s still got that same sparkle in his eye and for that, he is still an incredible performer to experience during what could be his last run on the stage. Also, his band is also a very important reason to see him live. The backup singers sounding like Van Halen, the guitarist playing like an Eddie Van Halen carbon copy, plus the bassist, drummer, and keyboardist were fantastic being able to hold notes for as long as they did while Dave would tell stories. A powerful band, a legendary singer, and ultimately, a night I will never forget.
To close, I remember sending my mom an up-close video of David Lee Roth singing Panama at the start of the night. By the end of the night, I noticed she responded with hearts, and it really reminded me how lucky I was to gain all this music knowledge from her at an early age. I wouldn’t be passionate about music if it wasn’t for her. I was sad to know she wasn’t there, but I kept my ticket stub to give to her as a souvenir and as a thank you for the knowledge she raised me on. What would we do without moms, am I right? And what would we do without bestfriends? While I didn’t get to see the show with my mom, I got to experience this show with one of my best friends, and I think that is pretty cool. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a whole week of Van Halen listening planned and it’s all thanks to Diamond Dave.
