Leon Russell is one of the all time greats in the history of rock and roll, so when I saw an opportunity to see him perform at the now defunct B.B. King’s Blues Club in the heart of Times Square , I grabbed my buddy, Mr. Nut, and we headed into Manhattan on a Tuesday night in March, 2006 to catch a legend.

Mr. Russell was a unique talent who had performed as a sideman to some of rock and roll’s greatest acts, as well as recording extraordinary solo works that stand up to this day. Mr. Nut and I had a table to the right of the stage and when Leon Russell carefully entered the room, cane in hand, he appeared heavy yet frail. I had read somewhere that Leon was pretty much broke in those days and needed to perform for the money. Russell, apparently not in the best of health, did not move through the crowd very fast but once he sat in front of the piano he showed that he could still play. I remember thinking at the time that it was somewhat of a short set, but to see him perform live in a club setting was a privilege. I believe I had attended another Leon Russell performance at Westbury Music Fair at some point in the past, and sometime after the B.B. King Blues Club performance, my wife and I caught a show at the Beacon Theatre where Elton John and Leon Russell performed a set together. Russell was a hero of Elton John and when John heard that Leon was down on his luck, Sir Elton made an album with Leon to help him get back on his feet; the appearance at the Beacon was part of that strategy. The collaboration was memorable and the last time that I would see Leon Russell perform in concert.

Tight Rope

Rock on!

GQ

Ok, so let’s get out of the way; we have all seen the YouTube videos of recent David Lee Roth performances and they are a train wreck. My wife and I had gotten ourselves sucked into the David Lee Roth YouTube vortex on numerous occasions and it is borderline addictive. The voice is shot but the band is competent, while the all male background singers carrying the classic Van Halen tunes for Roth were serviceable and oddly comical at the same time. The online videos portrayed an iconic rock god who refuses to see the end of the line and hang it up; we decided we had to see it live.

On Sunday, June 7, 2026 The Roth Show pulled into Huntington and we had 4th row left center seats at the Paramount. The concert was not sold out; I think Roth has played there somewhat recently and I believe the YouTube videos scared many away from making an investment on what was already a tough sell being that it was a Sunday night. It was advertised as an 8 o’clock start and at 7:45 the place looked about half empty. The stage was set up very heavy metal rock and roll with a big drum riser and no indication that there might be an opening act. At approximately 8:25 Roth and the band hit the stage; David Lee looking fit in a rockin’ vest that showed off his elaborate tattoos. The tight band tore through the early Van Halen catalog (LOUD), Roth’s voice was not as bad as I was expecting (my expectations were very low) but his energy was high. You would be hard pressed to find any front man work a stage as hard as Roth, and it was extremely entertaining (and LOUD) from beginning to “Jump”. It was an extraordinary performance by an aging superstar who clearly still loves to be center stage. A buddy of mine sent me a text from a friend of his who said he left early and that it was one of the worst ten concerts that he had ever attended. I emphatically disagree as the performance was thoroughly mesmerizing.

David Lee Roth gave the audience everything he had for two hours, and for me, that was more than enough on this night.

Speaking of “worst shows”, three that came immediately to mind when I saw that text: Stevie Nicks solo at Nassau Coliseum (endless stories between songs had the crowd around us screaming “sing the song” and we left early), Kansas at Westbury (I talked my son into going with me and it was so bad that I apologized to him afterward), and the Genesis final tour at Madison Square Garden (which was like a progressive rock Spinal Tap with bad smoke machine effects, we left early and effectively ate the expensive tickets that evening).

Unchained

Rock on!

GQ