Van Halen sets reunion tour

The boys from Van Halen, most notably mercurial guitarist Eddie Van Halen, showed up as promised at a Los Angeles news conference Monday to announce their fall tour with original singer David Lee Roth, starting Sept. 27 in Charlotte, N.C., and stopping Nov. 20 at Staples Center in Los Angeles before wrapping Dec. 11 in Calgary, Canada.

Eddie Van Halen, who squashed an earlier reunion attempt this year when he entered rehab, exchanged hugs and kisses rather than brickbats with Roth, who quit in 1985 for a solo career.

Although relations between Roth and the other band members have been stormy over the years, Eddie Van Halen said Monday, “We’re getting along better than we ever have.”

And to the debate in hard-rock circles over the use of Eddie’s son Wolfgang on bass for the 25-date tour rather than the band’s founding bassist, Michael Anthony, Roth said, “Michael Anthony is part of this band’s history. This band has many alumni. I am one of them.”

Group members said the tour wasn’t a reunion, but the start of a new band. “We’re not rockers with walkers,” Roth said. “Meet us in the future, not the pasture.”

Tickets for the first batch of shows go on sale Saturday.