By LESLIE GRAY STREETER
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

SUNRISE -- "We heard you missed us!" David Lee Roth smirked through a canary-eating grin during Wednesday's Van Halen reunion show at the BankAtlantic Center. "We're back!"

In a lot of ways, it was as if Roth, the original lead singer of the guitar-grinding, sexually charged legends, had never left.

There he was, criminally taut abs blazing, making fetchingly inappropriate finger gestures as a shirtless Eddie Van Halen wailed on guitar next to him, with Alex Van Halen slapping the heck out of the drum kit and making those weird-intense faces.

Of course, the guy on bass wasn't with the band back in 1984, when Diamond Dave left, because Michael Anthony was still in the lineup and because he hadn't been born yet. But Wolfgang Van Halen, son of Eddie, not only made the band's name more appropriate with his presence but is a pretty good bassist.

I still miss Michael Anthony.

But you can't have everything.

What original recipe Van Halen fans did get on Wednesday, during the band's second area appearance in two weeks, was all the loud, crunching guitar, furious percussion and amped-up, nutty energy. It wasn't the same dirty circus of the band's MTV heyday - Roth no longer dangles from the ceiling or does huge jump splits from the drum stand.

But he does still give all lead singer wannabe's a lesson in charisma - from the time he took the stage to You Really Got Me, dressed like a rock 'n' roll matador, Roth was eating up the spotlight with that aforementioned grin. He still sells the excess of Running With the Devil, the silly-sexy double entendres of Ice Cream Man, the high yell of Jamie's Crying and the snark of Hot for Teacher.

But Roth's not the only star - Eddie Van Halen looks amazing, sounds amazing, is amazing. To think that not long ago he was ailing in rehab and now he's lean, clean and once again nimble of finger.

The energy was pretty consistent, but really amped up toward the end, with the explosive Panama, which ended in a mondo Eddie guitar riff. The hair is shorter and the leg kicks aren't as high, but Van Halen and David Lee Roth are back.

And, yeah, we did miss 'em.

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