Some sources have said that the former Van Halen frontman is in Axl Rose and Vince Neil territory—aka a shell of the frontman he used to be. But while David Lee Roth’s voice has undoubtedly diminished with time, Diamond Dave was still Diamond Dave at his first Tampa Bay show in one month shy of 10 years at the Hard Rock Event Center on Sunday night.
While the 70-year-old ended up leaving most of the challenging vocals to a four-piece collective of backup singers (Roth would have absolutely butchered the few bars of “You Really Got Me” he croaked out if not for their aid), he still draped himself in leather, twirled a red mic stand around, and even committed to saving most of his snooty, guy-talk banter for the middle of songs, similarly to the rock anthems he once immortalized with Michael Anthony and the original band’s namesakes.
His voice slightly improved as the hour-and-a-half set carried on—especially on “Mean Street”—but Roth’s four-piece backing band blended with the vocal quartet established a far more polished, true-to-the-original-recordings sound than you’d expect at a gritty, stadium rock show. And obviously, there’s a time to stop, but face it: At least he’s not lip-syncing, and as Ozzy showed us, at least it seems to be on his own terms.
See Ryan Kern’s photos above.
