Van Halen’s back on tour -- with the Hagar lineup

If you see David Lee Roth this week, don’t mention the V-word. Van Halen returns this Friday as the titular brothers, guitarist Eddie and drummer Alex, join bassist Michael Anthony and lead singer Sammy Hagar -- not Roth -- on stage in Greensboro, N.C., for the start of a summer tour that will wind its way toward Southern California with an Aug. 16 show at the Arrowhead Pond and the tour’s finale, a hometown show at Staples Center on Aug. 19. It’s the band’s first tour since 1995 and comes after plenty of melodrama.

Roth, of course, was the flamboyant frontman from the band’s start in local shows and its major label debut, 1978’s “Van Halen” album, which made the band instant arena heroes. By the 1986 album “5150,” though, Roth was out and former Montrose singer Hagar was in. Hagar logged more time with the band than his predecessor, but in the early 1990s he either quit or was fired, depending who you ask. The revolving door kept spinning (Roth back in, Gary Cherone in, etc.).

The band is also back with a single that rock-radio promotions veteran Fred Jacobs said will likely get plenty of airplay, even if it’s not the band’s best. “I think people wish it had a better hook or had vocals that were more out front,” Jacobs said of “It’s About Time.” “But they will give it a chance and some time, and the tour timing is great.”

On July 20, the band’s catalog will be mined on “The Best of Both Worlds,” a two-disc album with 36 tracks culled from the band’s different chapters -- well, most of them: “Van Halen III” with Cherone on board is not represented. The album also features Hagar singing some of the Roth-era hits live in concert, which no doubt will rankle Diamond Dave. Roth has made no secret of his thoughts on the revived “Van Hagar.” Van Halen with Hagar on vocals, Roth has said, is like “a beautiful chick with bad teeth.” Perhaps we shouldn’t expect Roth to be at the Staples show.

-- Geoff Boucher