Bad Company / David Lee Roth

Tues. August 3, 1999 - San Jose Arena - San Jose, CA

The reunion that many had waited for had finally happened, and ventured into the San Jose Arena in San Jose, CA on Tues. August 3, 1999. The legendary Bad Co. had put aside their differences and reunited as a whole unit with vocalist extroidinaire Paul Rodgers. Unfortunately, this meeting of the musicians may have happened a little late in the game as the half-filled capacity of the San Jose Arena showed that perhaps waiting over 15 years to see the greats was expecting a bit much for most original fans. Sure, there had been a version of Bad Co. continuing through the 1980s with a different singer, but the soulful joy of the band had always been with Paul Rodgers helming at the voice.

The tour itself was a brief one to showcase the release of "The Original Bad Co." box set, a fine collection of all the very best as well as four new songs that sound as though the band continued right from where they left off.

Opening the shows on the tour was another early innovator, David Lee Roth of early Van Halen fame. While Van Halen still trudges on with sounds that have completely turned off most of the early fans, Diamond Dave has vowed to wow audiences with a return to his roots and play a set of primarily just early VH songs along with a scant selection of his early solo material. A nice collection it was, featuring such songs as "Atomic Punks", "Ice Cream Man", "Jaime's Cryin'", "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love", and many more. It was nice to see Dave perform in the stripped down version that was reminiscent of when Van Halen first started appearing in clubs and high schools.

That is where the praise stops. All in all, while it was nice to see the Diamond one back in action on an arena stage, especially after all the wonderful reports and reviews about "Dave is back, better than ever!", it was so obvious that he is much older, and very tired. One would have to wonder about reviews, including one other one about this very show, that claimed that David Lee Roth was "jumping higher than ever", "in true form" and "total action" if they were in the crowd. Although Dave's singing was on par and sounded fine, his performance left much to be desired with his elderly scoot across the stage (being second to Ozzy's "old man in the bathrobe getting the phone" shuffle), his poor attempts at flight (knees bent, barely able to get off the ground when making most jumps), and the forgetfulness of being his age when fondling the microphone (the idea of men over 50, playing with their phallic symbols just doesn't seem as cool as when they are 20 or 30).

The best way to describe David Lee Roth's show was: Watching a Jerry Springer show about a guy dressing in his trailer trash wife's animal print lounge suit. "Older men who like to hang out with young boys in bands and rehash their youth playing cover songs - NEXT on Jerry." A bad scene. Not to mention the guitarist who had the feel of being scared to play Eddie Van Halen's guitar parts. He was a bit overtly cautious in his approach and it showed. The scary thing is: Could there actually ever be a reunion between bitter Dave and a health-conscious whining Eddie for a Van Halen tour? Would that even be worth seeing? Who knows.

So, after the intermission, the lights dimmed for Bad Co.'s return. Here is a band who, after so many years and several wrinkles later, has returned and sounded as though they had never left. The music was tight and it is always a joy to hear Paul Rodger's voice crooning through the classic numbers. Although Bad Co.'s songs may seem a little slow and tired to some by comparison to many of today's musical trends, the classics never die and such songs as "Feel Like Making Love", "Rock Steady", "Bad Co." and others are always nice to hear to remind us of when music was written from the heart. The band played with bluesy bravado churning out one hit after the next, and the crowd appreciated every moment. When the new numbers were performed, it was as though everyone was already expecting to know the words as they sounded so familiar. Bad Co. even broke into a nice rendition of "Youngblood" which the crowd sang along to. The show was simple but tasteful. Simplicity is key many times to bring mood across and it worked here with such subtle effects as a star-filled backdrop. Whether or not Bad Co. will ever work together again, as the original band, on a full album or tour remains to be seen. Paul Rodgers is very happy with his own solo project and fine musician collective. It is nice to know that many of the past differences have been buried with the band, but it might not be enough to bring them back around. In the meantime, is was nice to be able to witness a legendary band with all original members playing the songs that have remained so memorable.

Following the show, we spoke with Paul Rodgers for a short while about the band, his own projects and how one maintains the healthy glow that he exudes.

Written by and all Photos © 1999 Philip Anderson