David Lee Roth shares some vintage Van Halen tour stories on the latest edition of The Roth Show.
In the episode entitled “Black Christmas Tree”, the rocker recounts tales of how the band and road crew worked together to keep the party going long after the concert ended.
Van Halen were legendary for their post-show parties back in the day, as they built their own portable road gear to ensure the fun offstage matched the intensity of the on stage appearance wherever they were.
Roth hired a “Recreational Director” to organize post-show events, and when a specialist wasn’t available, the road crew would step up.
“Rudy the guitar tech invents ‘The Later’, kind of a fruity drink loaded with rum or vodka or something,” explains Roth. “We called it ‘Later’ because you’d be later for the dance than you ever thought you’d be.
“We would have these parties, especially if you’re playing multiple nights in a city – two, three nights at the local arena – and after the first night we’d have a big party. And then Rudy invented the “Super Laters”, because they’d make you later for the dance than even ‘the Laters’ would make you late.
“This gets complicated. We had to build him a special road case, like six-and-a-half feet tall; it opened up like a closet with three big sections containing three industrial strength blenders, circuit breakers, a car stereo, mixing gear, disco lights and an ice bucket. It was called ‘Raving Rude’s Libation Station.’ The biggest road case anyone had ever seen, and we would set up a tent in the open air and have a rompin, stompin’ BBQ.”
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