‘We must be spot on’

Submitted image

A rock and roll summer comes to an end Friday with Best of Both Worlds doing their Van Halen tribute.

The music begins at 8 p.m., Riverview Park, Independence.

There’s also an opening act. Budokan, a Cheap Trick tribute, takes to the amphitheater stage at around 6 p.m.

Admission is $5 per person, but that gets you into both shows. Children 10 and under are free.

Last week, the Polk County Free Press emailed Best of Both Worlds some questions. Dirk Ward (Alex Van Halen) provided the replies:

Who is in the band, what instruments do they play, who is their Van Halen equivalent?

Danny Deane, vocals (David Lee Roth), David Nelson, vocals (Sammy Hagar), Jim Smoltz, lead guitar (Edward Van Halen), Harry Bower, bass guitar (Michael Anthony), Dirk Ward, drums (Alex Van Halen).  

How did Van Halen influence band members’ formative years?

Everyone in the band is a huge Van Halen fan.

Jim Smoltz started a female-fronted Portland based VH tribute band back in 2005 called Drop Dead Legs. Jim was the obsessed musician in the band.

Danny Deane was in his early years of being a David Lee Roth clone, he could sing and sound just like him.

Harry and Dirk started another Portland based VH tribute band called Unchained.

Jim eventually joined Unchained. Fast forward to now where these musicians finally found each other and determined that a Sammy and Dave VH tribute band would be a success, and thus Best of Both Worlds was formed.  

What’s your earliest Van Halen memory?

I think the entire band was blown away by hearing Van Halen's debut album in 1978 including the guitar mastery piece, “Eruption.”

How would you describe your show?

High energy, authentic to the studio recordings, visually appealing, entertaining.

Was the intent always to have two singers?

The intent was always to have two lead singers because we knew we would get more fans to our shows. There's some David Lee Roth fans and some Sammy Hagar fans.  Some both. This way everyone can hear their favorite VH song replicated as close as possible to the original.  

You perform as both Van Halen and Van Hagar.

Who are your singers, and how did you discover them?

Danny Deane was a long time Aerosmith tribute band lead singer (he was Steven Tyler). They were uber successful and one of the best Aerosmith tribute bands in the nation. The rest of the band knew him through his performances at our local Canby festival, Harefest.

When a new lead singer was needed, they turned to Danny to become the new David Lee Roth (he replaced the previous singer in what was known as Unchained at the time).

David Nelson was recently recruited and joined the band in July of 2024, due to the previous Sammy Hagar needing to step away. David was discovered while performing as the lead singer for a Cheap Trick tribute band. Our drummer Dirk saw him perform and thought he'd make a great Sammy Hagar, and he was 100 percent correct.

Both Danny and David bring authenticity to their roles. 

In a sense you’re doing two tribute acts. How difficult is that?

We are the same musicians with a different lead singer.  We just have to know more songs than your typical tribute band. It's not hard once you've gotten the music nailed. The most difficult part of being in a band with two lead singers is making people believe they are back in the era when these songs came out.

What we wear is significant of that time.  However, what someone remembers David Lee Roth wearing in 1982 may be weird if he's wearing it during Panama, which came out in 1984.  So our wardrobe is always a challenge to get right.  

How do you determine what songs make your setlist and what songs don’t?

We try to play songs that are the most familiar to fans.  We try to stay away from B side songs, but sometimes we play them to change things up.  

Any close encounter with any Van Halen member?

None of us have ever had a chance to meet or perform with any member of VH.  

What is the role of a tribute act?

A tribute act should have the fans thinking they are listening to the real band. It's not easy to make people believe. We work hard on capturing the music exactly, but we can't forget that we have to act like our counterparts that we're trying to be. I need to smile and jump throughout the show, that's what Eddie did. If I don't, people won't believe and hence may not enjoy the show as much. That's our job, and we must be spot on.