During their debut in 1978, Van Halen immediately rewrote the rules of rock guitar and hard rock in general. Guitarist Eddie Van Halen redefined what electric guitar could do, developing an unbelievably fast technique with a variety of self-taught two-handed tapping, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and effects that reminded you of machines and animals. Eddie's style was wildly creative and over the top, equaled only by the charisma and presence of vocalist David Lee Roth, who brought the role of a metal singer to near-performance art principles. Roth wasn't blessed with great technique, unlike Eddie, but he had a flair for showmanship. Together, they made Van Halen the most popular American rock & roll band of the late '70s and early '80s, and, in the process, became instrumental in setting the outline for many hard rock bands to come.

During the '80s, Van Halen's instrumental technique on records ranged from the heaviest metal to soft pop. Roth's irony-drenched antics were copied by singers who wanted to be identical. One of these was Sammy Hagar, an arena rock veteran from the '70s who replaced Roth after the vocalist had a falling out with Van Halen in 1985. Hagar stayed with the band longer than Roth, helping the group top the charts through the late '80s and early '90s. On the other hand, the group's sales began to slide in the mid-'90s, just as tensions between Hagar and Eddie began to arise. In one of the most disastrous publicity stunts in rock history, Hagar disappeared and Roth was brought back on, seemingly as a permanent member, but only for two songs on a greatest-hits album. He was later replaced by Gary Cherone, a former member of Extreme. Not long after the release of Van Halen 3, Cherone was dropped from Van Halen. This led to the reunion of Hagar and Van Halen, three new songs on a double-disc greatest hits in 2003 along with a tour, followed by another break-up.

This leads us to the present era of Van Halen. The year is 2008, the 30th anniversary of Van Halen, and shockingly, the return of Roth to Van Halen. They quickly began to tour the world late last year, which brought another visit to Chicago on Friday evening, May 30th. It was almost perfect to have Roth back as the singer, but his return was slightly overshadowed by the arrival of Wolfgang Van Halen (Eddie's son) on bass rather than the original bassist, Michael Anthony, who chose to stick with Sammy Hagar's band rather than Van Halen.

As for their recent concert at the Allstate Arena, Van Halen put on an impressive performance, which took crowd participants back to the Roth era lasting from 1978 to 1984. Starting off with songs from their debut album "Van Halen" and finishing off with songs from "1984", Eddie, Alex, and Dave showed that they were far from finished. While Wolfgang jammed on his bass guitar, Roth repeatedly reminded the audience that this kid will "get laid tonight" as Wolfgang would respond with "C'mon Dave, give me a break," most notably during the classic song "Unchained." Roth continued his typical tactics of sticking his butt in the camera, stroking the microphone stand, and taunting any of the fans he laid his eyes upon in the front row.

During the drum solo, Alex Van Halen proved that he could be the most underrated drummer of all time. With unimaginable speed and astonishing technique, Alex was able to blow the minds of every bystander, a trait not uncommon among Van Halen's most loyal fans. Eddie did not fail to impress his audience, switching from speed to trick after trick, as he stuck to the basics of the early days such as "Cathedral" and "Eruption" rather than the newer style of "316". Above all, Alex and Eddie were two veterans, possibly the greatest drummer/guitarist duo ever, revealing their most polished performance since they were together with Roth in 1984. Van Halen fans everywhere can only hope that the legacy of Van Halen will only continue into a new album in the near future.