Fair Warning: Van Halen Bringing Kool & The Gang To United Center Show

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 12, 2012 5:30PM

I'm gonna come out and say that, when it comes to Van Halen, I lean toward the "Van Hagar" camp. The David Lee Roth era, especially the first four records (Van Halen, Van Halen II, Women and Children First and Fair Warning) rank among the best four record stretch in rock, but in Sammy Hagar, Eddie Van Halen had a songwriting partner who was down for any left turn and riff he could create musically.

But the Roth-era VH fans are rabid and loyal, likely because the band's output from that era evokes a time of cheap muscle cars, cheaper drugs and AR radio that actually mattered. Which is why we find the band's new single "Tattoo" (video below) serving as a bridge between the Roth and Hagar eras. The music— especially the plodding rhythm section—wouldn't have been out of place on the Hagar-fronted For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge or Balance albums. YouTube is flooded with cell phone videos of the band's performance of "She's the Woman," an early track from the band that's been available as a bootleg for decades, at New York City's Café Wha? that also will be on their upcoming A Different Kind of Truth.

Both of those songs, and the presence of Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang on bass in place of the exiled Michael Anthony, don't have us necessarily reaching for our wallet to buy tickets to Van Halen's Feb. 24 gig at the United Center. What might is the odd choice of Kool & the Gang as the opening act. Actually, we shouldn't say it's an odd choice. During the Roth reunion tour in 2007-08, Bob Marley's son Ky-Mani opened select dates. If Kool & the Gang sticks to their harder, pre-"Celebration" funk and VH mines deep from the Roth catalog, this could be a sleeper concert. We'd approach with caution.

VIP and American Express pre-sale tickets are now on sale. The rest of the tickets to Van Halen's United Center concert go on sale 10 a.m. Saturday at Ticketmaster.