David Lee insists they are now a new, permanent (?) band

By Damara Popoola

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 8/13/07 – Confirming reports of their new North American tour, Van Halen seems to have even bigger plans for this year. “This is not like the Police,” lead singer David Lee Roth said, referring to another big-name band that recently overcame personality differences to play a one-time-only reunion tour. “The idea is that this will continue on and on and on.”

‘”On and on” can mean anything from a world tour to a new album, with Roth, guitarist Eddie Van Halen and drummer Alex Van Halen all on board. The original lineup is not intact, however, since Eddie’s 16-year-old son, Wolfgang, recently replaced bass player Michael Anthony. Whatever misgivings some might have, Roth insists the young bassist “brings a young energy and a spirit to this that’ll knock you out of your socks.”

As to why Anthony is absent, the band wouldn’t say, but Roth reiterated that the upcoming Van Halen tour “is not a reunion.” He said, “This is a new band. … Usually when a band comes back like us it’s rockers with walkers and this is everything but. Meet us in the future, not the past.”

The new tour will no doubt please devoted fans that have been waiting with bated breath since 1985 for original singer Roth to rejoin the brothers Van Halen. “We think we got it right this time,” Roth said, even going so far as to invite crowds to “come and judge the performance harshly, please. I beg you, come on down and see.”

The reconciled group was intended to hit the road earlier this year, but the schedule was scrapped when Eddie entered rehab in March. Later that same month the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The tour begins September 27 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and wraps up December 11 in the Canadian city of Calgary with key stops in Chicago (October 16, 18), New York City (November 13) and their native Los Angeles (November 20).