David Lee Roth and Alex Van Halen will appear together publicly this Thursday, July 30th, as part of the virtual TEDxFargo event. It marks their first shared stage since Van Halen’s final concert at the Hollywood Bowl on October 4, 2015.
The two will join visual artist Robert Vargas for a conversation that was originally announced with only Alex Van Halen’s participation. Roth was added to the lineup recently. The talk will be recorded in one room, but TEDxFargo says it won’t be posted on YouTube for public viewing until several weeks later.
Roth’s availability opened up after he cancelled the bulk of his summer tour earlier this year, with only an August 7th gig at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally still scheduled. No reason was given for the cancellations, though multiple reports cited low ticket sales.
The reunion arrives during a period of selective retrospection for Alex Van Halen. His recent book Brothers omits Van Halen’s Sammy Hagar era entirely and repeatedly emphasizes Roth’s role as “the driving force” of the band. Both he and Roth have publicly feuded with Hagar in recent years. Thursday’s talk will be their first joint appearance without a full band context—a smaller stage, but a rare one.
