Van Halen Tear Through ‘Panama’ at the Billboard Music Awards
Following the "let's go on first and get the %$#@ out of here" model established by AC/DC at this year's Grammy Awards, Van Halen successfully hit it and quit it by kicking off the Billboard Music Awards with a sharp performance of "Panama."
With Taylor Swift in the crowd "rocking out" in a manner that seemed carefully calculated and well-rehearsed, David Lee Roth fearlessly mixed a plaid suit with scuba gear and nonchalantly invited hip-hop star Nicki Minaj to "ease the seat back." More importantly, his band mates – Eddie, Alex and Wolfgang Van Halen – proved they are already fully warmed up for their upcoming summer concert dates.
Van Halen kick off that North American tour on July 5 in Seattle, Washington at the White River Amphitheater. They recently released their first-ever live album with Roth on vocals, Tokyo Dome Live in Concert. This marks the group's third television appearance in support of the upcoming trek, as they previously appeared on both the Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Ellen DeGeneres shows.
We'd like to buy whoever came up with the idea of letting the classic rock folks go on first during these interminable awards shows several expensive beers. We're outta here. Enjoy your backing tracks and nonsensical mash-ups, modern pop fans! We're gonna crank 1984 and maybe Fair Warning while we're at it.
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