David Lee Roth states no band could successfully open for Black Sabbath and Journey like Van Halen did

David Lee Roth states no band could successfully open for Black Sabbath and Journey like Van Halen did

Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth was recently interviewed by Jason Bracelin for the Las Vegas Review-Journal as the singer was promoting his upcoming Las Vegas residency at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, which is taking place in January and March 2020, and starting on January 8th.

With respect to Van Halen‘s early years and legacy, Roth stated:

“When I was music director for Van Halen, the first seven years — when I left, that’s when the music changed as well as the vocal — I bullied, harassed, threatened and insulted till I got my way and we sold 14 million records. I’m sorry. I officially apologize. But what we also officially bolted into place, inexorably and until the last syllable of time, is a universal sound. Even on that first tour, 40 summers ago, we opened for Black Sabbath in England and two weeks later, quite successfully, opened for Journey at the height of Steve Perry. That’s a billion-dollar sound each way. There is no other band that you can think of, right now on this call, that could successfully do that, can you?”

With respect to what it takes to make it in Vegas, Roth opined: “You have to actually be a fan of everything from Mediterranean to french fries. You gotta enjoy and know what to order at the all-you-can-eat Elvis buffet, open all night, (imitating Elvis) thank you very much. And you have to be able to speak a little Japanese, and I don’t mean ‘Hi,’ because there’s a lot of great Japanese to be had in your neck of the woods. (Speaks Japanese briefly.) You have to be equally comfortable around bull riding as you are around March Madness. You have to be equally comfortable at EDC and know the music.”

You can read the rest of the article / interview with David Lee Roth at Las Vegas Review-Journal‘s website.