Man, who cares about an overpriced Tequila bar in Fresno? If we're talking about music, which I think is the case, DLR vs. Van Hagar is no contest. VH only rocked with DLR and still only rocks with DLR.

Sammy's a clown and Van Halen had no business doing power ballads.

Sammy's a clown yet Dave was humping a huge inflatable mic in one of the Ohio concerts (check youtube). Yeah makes sense to me.

Sammy seems a down to earth guy, Dave just cares about Dave. And seriously the lounge lizard act is old.

Gary Cherone has my vote.

We have seen Van Halen and/or Sammy on several occasions. The last time we saw David Lee with them we were embarassed for him. To say he sucked is an under-statement. And due to the fact that almost everyone in the auditorium began leaving as he continued to perform, I don't think that we are the only ones that had that opinion. Sammy has always put on a terrific show, either on his own or with Van Halen.

Sammy has always put on a great show either with Van Halen or by himself. Roth sucked the last time we saw him and everyone else must have thought so because they began leaving as soon as he started performing. He needs to hang it up. Is one foot jumps don't make it.

The last time I saw VH with DLR in Fresno, he got so drunk on stage that he forgot the words to a song. Sammy's always been a class act, and has always put on great shows (25 songs one night), even before he salvaged Van Halen from Dave's aftermath.

Here is the reality of it all. No matter who fronts the Band, Sammy or David, the have both contributed succesfully to the band. It simply comes down to Eddie! He is the real reason we all go see Van Halen and thats the bottom line.
His disticnt guitar sound is so well known that when you hear it you know its Van Halen. So this Thursday when they hit town and Eddie cranks that thing wide open with "you Really got Me" David will just be the Icing on the cake!!

DLR is a clown but he's the kind you laugh with, not at. Well, aside from recent on-stage bumbling and some rough times there. But let's stick to the music here!

Sammy-era Van Halen material is weak, regardless of performance. The songs are just lame. On the other hand you've got six great albums with DLR to choose material from. Obviously this is a matter of opinion but it's hard to deny the impact the first few VH albums had on rock music.

Dave's in great shape now, and while I doubt his range is 100%(Sammy is 60 now so let's not fool ourselves into thinking he can hit all his high notes) he still has THAT voice. Most of the songs, not counting the squeals, don't require much range anyway.

EVH is the reason Van Halen matters, but the tour wouldn't be nearly as successful without a lovable, in-shape DLR. Van Halen's about guitar innovation and fun, and you'll get more of that with DLR up there.

Dave hands down. That is the sound of classic Van Halen. Van halen had the better more timeless songs with Dave . They may have hit # 1 with Sammy but ,they sold more records with Dave.VH 1 AND 1984 alone out sold the entire Van Hagar catalog combined.As dave once said. We came here to entertain you , you say we aggarivate you , don`t you know it means the same to me. That pretty much sums up what Rock and Roll is all about.

My vote is for Diamond David Lee Roth . Dave`s voice and Eddie guitar are the perfect combination. They had some good songs with Sammy , But the songs Eddie wrote with Dave are will forever represent what was exciting and dangerous about R&R .Sammy sings about food(up for breakfast) Dave sings about the Raw Big Rock..(I heard the news baby all about your disease). Can`t wait 3 more days !!!!

Yo Dogg.Does`nt surprise me that fresno likes Flabby Hagar .Fresno also love Garth Brooks..I rest my case..Fresno does`nt understand Dave cause He`s jewish and Fresno only likes there thing white and pure..

SAMMY NO QUESTION.... the last time I saw DLR he was HORRIBLE. I just felt bad for him. Back in the day he was pretty good but he always looked like a lech & I wanted to take a shower after I saw him. I can't wait for cabo wabo to open. Hopefully Sammy will come visit it.

Dave's favorite person is Dave, he doesn't need the fans, he showed us that last time he was in Fresno when he acted as if he was urinating with Jack Daniels on us. He appeared to be mad about something and his performance was terrible. If you listen to the rehearsals for the upcoming concert, he doesn't hit the notes and we can only hope that Eddie will drown him out with an amazing guitar riff or Alex will cover those sour notes with a kick ass double bass. Sammy ALWAYS puts on a great show and he likes his fans, he has fun and doesn't talk crap about us. Dave should stick to being a paramedic and sing karaokee in front of the mirror at home so no one has to suffer; DLR's hair probably isn't even real. Some are probably too young to remember when DLR did actually sound good or maybe just too high to remember, but one thing that hasn't changed...DLR is still his biggest fan. Michael Anthony stay were you are, you definately in a better place with the a great musican and a really nice guy, see you in Cabo San Lucas.
Respectfully,
Central Valley Redheads (we remember...been there - done that!)

If we're talking 'which is the real Van Halen,' (with Roth or Hagar fronting?, the answer is easy.
'Van Halen' is/was/always be Roth.
'Van Hagar' was Hagar.

'Van Hagar' had some good songs (don'g get me wrong,) But I never really cared for Sammy's voice,
-when he fronted the band they went from being a bar-band version with an incredibly heavy sound?
-to being more shrill hair.
(-but they had a few good songs, can't take that away from them, and he did keep the name alive.)

Van Halen is noted for two things,
Memorable frontman with a powerful voice and more swagger than a bull-moose in heat, (who smelled only slightly more presentable,)
-and incredible guitar sounds.
-The balance required 'good,' playing, (bass/drums) but nothing too spectacular.

Roth out of the picture, VH became too frilly.

(A good test?:
Van Halen with Roth: -Stacks up there with Aerosmith, Judas Priest, Foghat and you could see clear influences of such guitar gods as Zepplin, Purple, Sabbath, (etc.)
--except they were a arena/bar metal-hair band.)

-Pull Roth, and plug in Hagar?
They could get trounced by Poison or Quiet Riot, (completely obliterated by Motley Crue, and you start to have this protection instinct start to kick in, like even Journey might beat them up or something.)

Entire albums done by the orig. Van Halen line-up, were nothing short of brutal and built everything that Hagar rode on.

-Van Hagar?
Yep, talented, (had his own band, etc. etc.)
But basically yeilded A few (pretty-poppy) power anthems that could be easily ingested by any orig. VH album,
and then left in the scat of their skinniest pencil-necked roadie. (-no problemo-)

If Roth is a total idiot on stage these days?
That would be a real shame.
The guy is (an RN) by now? had served for quite some time as an EMT,)
-you'd think he'd avoid such things just seeing day in and day out what it does to you, and with Eddie being as sick as he was, you'd have thought it would have shown him something...

We shall see.

My hat goes off to Dave for bringing the band to the point when Sammy took over. However, even as hot as Van Halen was in the afterglow of '1984', Hagar took them to a higher level that Roth ever could have. Most Roth fans want to ignore the commercial aspect of VH's success during the Hagar era. That's fine because, commercial or critical response aside, the music got better anyways.

I loved Sammy years before he ever joined VH and noticed how much more depth VH's music had with him in the group. The group collectively got better, and Sammy even said that he "became a better singer and a better musician within 5 minutes of being in the band." Go watch the videos and see for yourself, Ed has said that the way Sammy would collaborate and contribute vocals and lyrics took them to levels he never thought possible, saying it was "magic".

That all came out before the bitter break in '96, but what's on film is on film and that was Ed speaking the truth. Sammy has proven himself as a huge rock entity in his years in and out of Van Halen and even at 60 years old, he's still as vibrant as ever.

In summary, as much as I love some of the classics like 'Unchained' and 'Mean Street', the beefed up sound and clearly superior vocals evident on "Why Can't This Be Love' and 'Poundcake' put Sammy on top. The one thing I am truly thankful for on this tour is that we won't hear Roth screwing up a Hagar song because everybody knows he doesn't have the chops to sing them.

I lost all respect for VH when they did not show up to recieve the Hall of Fame award. And I lost even more respect when they announced their tour and Michael Anthony found out they were touring through the news and he was being replaced by wolfgang. Sammy and Michael showed great sportsmanship at the award show, and I saw Michael the next day on Sammy's Annual Cruise to Cabo and he carried that trophy around for 3 days he was so proud!!!! Alex and Eddie need to grow up and act like men and get over whatever their beef with Sammy is. And now that they take it out on Michael too, I will never spend a penny on a VH concert no matter who the lead singer is. All my fun money is spent on Sammy, because he is a class act!!!!

In response to "DLR enthusiast"......you're wrong because Sammy can still hit the high notes. He's not a chain smoker like Roth was in his day and even in recent years. That fact is mentioned by Ted Nugent on Sammy's "Long Road To Cabo" DVD which followed the Sam/Dave tour.

Sammy is an example to follow in the rock world as musicians enter their "senior" years. He doesn't have to do this anymore but he does it out of love of performing and loyalty to his fans. Dave is doing this for nothing more than a paycheck, and that is FACT. Sammy doesn't charge for his Birthday bash shows because he says if you're gonna wait in line for days for tickets, he's not charging! He always has his fans in mind and that's why Fresno loves him back. Why else would he have chosen Fresno to put only one of 3 locations in all of the United States? FRESNO? Are you kidding me? He could have gone to Miami, Vegas, and Dallas or some other commercial places that would make much more sense but his fans love him so he's giving them a Cabo Wabo. Name one thing DLR does for his fans other than sweat on them in concert and blind them with spandex!!

It's fine that you want to support DLR, that's the spirit of this. But don't come claiming that Sammy can't do this or that just because he's 60. Sammy has proven that doesn't have to account for anything as he wows crowd after crowd with Michael Anthony by his side. Those two go out there night after night and kick ass for their fans and the love of music. When this VH tour is done, you may be lucky enough to get a new CD with Roth on it and maybe another tour. If there isn't a HUGE paycheck involved though, you can bet this tour will be the end......

Sammy no question is the better voice for Van Halen. DLR was great for his time and its great hes back for a tour to give the fans the classics from 78-84. But in the end, Sammy brought them to new audiences and dominated the charts.

I love all Van Halen regardless of who's singing, but alwyas have preferred Sammy over DLR.