I'll always be grateful to Tommy Strazza for inviting me onto his Van Halen tribute show at Berklee in the 90s. Up until then the only VH I knew was "Jump" and the Hagar-era stuff (don't judge). But Tommy's thing was "Nope, just the EARLY SHIT, man!"
I left it to the last minute to prepare, which turned into a mixed blessing: cramming a dozen or so songs in one sitting the afternoon before the first rehearsal and soaking it all up at once, I had one of those deeply profound musical moments of "Ahh, NOW I get it."
I had the same feeling years later when my cousin Joe and I saw the David Lee Roth/Sammy Hagar tour. Hagar was goofy: waitresses onstage and plugging his "Cabo Wabo" tequila, etc. But Roth was all business: just him and a 3-piece band giving the people what they wanted, which was the aforementioned early shit. He played a bunch of deep cuts I didn't know, but again the fervor that cousin Joe and his fellow VH freaks showed for Roth was so deep and infectious that I had to give it up.
What a blessing to create something completely unique, that sounds and feels like nothing that came before it or after it and leads the way for an entire generation.
RESPECT
REMEMBER WHAT'S IMPORTANT
Be well
JM
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