Van Halen's David Lee Roth Still Has It Says Vai

K. Wiggins | 03-09-2020

Eat 'Em And Smile cover art

Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth's original solo band guitarist Steve Vai had high praise for his former bandmate after witnessing him perform at the L.A. stop of the KISS farewell tour.

Roth joined KISS as the support act on this current North American leg of their End Of The Road Tour and Vai shared his thoughts on Roth's performance at the Staples Center last week.

Vai says that despite some recent criticism about his voice, Roth "delivered like a boss" at the show. He tweeted, "Decided to go out last night and see KISS and David Lee Roth at the Staples Center. I'm sure glad I did. [My wife] Pia and I were in nostalgic bliss.

"I first saw KISS when I was perhaps 14 years old at the Calderone Concert Hall on Long Island. When 'Kiss Alive' came out in 1975 it was as if the gods of rock and roll theatrical entertainment manifested them from our wanting imaginations. We were all gobsmacked.

"It's interesting to imagine what life would have been like without certain artists being born. Imagine your world without Queen, or Jimi Hendrix, or Led Zeppelin, etc. Those are a few that hit the mark for me, but KISS!!! They owned a particular space in the pantheons of rock. I know my life would have had a lot less color in it without them. And they delivered spectacularly. It was the most over the top, sensational rock show I've seen. After so many years, they still deliver in the most authentic of ways.

"And it was great to see Dave Roth and his band. They did a powerful set of all the classics. The band was exceptionally tight and Dave looked and sounded great.

"Sometimes these early audience videos of the first few shows of a tour can be unfair and when those first few came out of Dave's Vegas shows, I knew it was unfortunate, but I also knew he could sing better than that, and this was obvious to us at last nights show. He delivered like a boss and the audience loved it. So glad I decided to go out."

Van Halen's David Lee Roth Still Has It Says Vai

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