By David Glessner

The mullets were minimal and the spandex was scarce when Van Halen returned to "1984" Thursday night at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.

Reunited with singer David Lee Roth and shirtless when they should be saggy, the middle-age men of Van Halen rocked the cradle off the hinges with a greatest hits list laced with nuclear guitar solos and plenty of strut.

Playing to a rowdy crowd that reached to the rafters, Van Halen was lacking the Farrah Fawcett locks of yesteryear but still had loads of licks, high kicks and mike stand tricks while running like the devil through such classics as "You Really Got Me," "Everybody Wants Some," "I'll Wait," "Somebody Get Me a Doctor," "Panama," and "Jump." Like a barroom brawl at Mardi Gras, the hits just kept on coming.

Fueled by the guitar of Eddie Van Halen and his drummer brother, Alex Van Halen, the family franchise now includes Eddie's teen son, Wolfgang Van Halen on bass and backup vocals. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members worked the "S" shaped stage like Barnum & Bailey backed by amplifiers while the overhead video screen captured every goofy grin. It also brought the audience up-close and personal to the guitar god's gnarled, Yoda-like fingers.

Ringmaster Roth, of course, still brings a contact high. When he wasn't balancing a top hat on his crotch or doing his Bruce Lee moves, he was strumming acoustic guitar and telling childhood make-out tales while introducing "Ice Cream Man." By the time he asked if everyone was having a "reasonable time," the eruption was deafening.

All told, Van Halen unchained a thriller.

The set list:
- "You Really Got Me"
- "I'm the One"
- "Runnin' With the Devil"
- "Romeo Delight"
- "Magic Bus"
- "Somebody Get Me a Doctor"
- "Beautiful Girls"
- "Dance the Night Away"
- "Atomic Punk"
- "Everybody Wants Some!!"
- "So This Is Love?"
- "Mean Street"
- "Oh, Pretty Woman"
- "Unchained"
- "I'll Wait"
- "And the Cradle Will Rock ..."
- "Hot For Teacher"
- "Little Dreamer"
- "Little Guitars"
- "Jamie's Cryin'"
- "Ice Cream Man"
- "Panama"
- "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love"
- "Jump"

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