Van. Freakin'. Halen.

The 1984 album came out came out and I stole my sister's copy when I was a freshman in high school and living four hours from the nearest arena. By the time I graduated, they'd become Van Hagar. I kinda liked "Why Can't This Be Love," but otherwise, I had no use for them without David Lee Roth.

We bought tickets for the reunion tour six months ago. Our original tickets were for March 5, but the show was postponed twice due to Eddie Van Halen's health issues.

I had freelance work to do today, but I was too excited about tonight's show. Steve, who's from England and has no respect for Van Halen (though his 16-year-old son does; that's my boy, Baby Bear!) asked me what I was planning to wear. Then he asked, "What, exactly, does a middle-aged woman wear to a classic rock show these days?" He ducked.

Way back in the day, say last year, I would have dressed up to go. Unfortunately, I've been out of work for six weeks and have gone feral. Got out of bed from my nap at 6:30, half an hour before the kids met here. Took a quick shower and dried my hair, but couldn't be bothered to put on makeup or even close-toed shoes. Threw on comfy clothes and flip-flops as the kids pulled up and off we went to the RBC Center.

We bought our $8 beers and went to our awesome seats on stage left. My rock star friend Melissa and her producer buddy met up with us. The world's worst opening band started playing. Seriously. The singer looked like Corey Glover and had a great voice, but they were playing what sounded to me like Christian rock. "Are we at Van Halen or Praise 2008?," I asked Mel. Laura and I couldn't take it and went outside to smoke.

At long last, that band stopped playing. The six of us chattered in total anticipation: We ranged in age from 35 to 39 and we were as excited as teenagers waiting to see the Rock Gods of our youth, as there are no real Rock Gods anymore. A huge, remote-control blimp with the VH logo circled the stadium and we all squealed.

Then the house lights went down. From our side-stage seats, we could see them walk out behind the drop-curtain. And we could totally see them standing in position through the first strains of "I'm the One."

The curtain dropped and Diamond Dave came out strutting and swinging the microphone stand. He was sporting short hair and a total rock star getup of a sparkly, rhinestone jacket and leather pants. He's shaved his chest hair, which inspired a lot of fantasies in me when I was 10, but the effect of it showed off his six-pack. OMG, that man is the greatest front man ever.

Seriously. He didn't do as many martial-arts jumps as he did in the 80s videos, but he pranced and danced and got the crowd into a frenzy. He totally entertained the crowd between songs. At one point early on, he was joking about the band's age and said, "It takes three of us to lift a flat-screen television to throw it out a hotel window these days." And his voice... phenomenal.

Melissa's friend joked that Eddie Van Halen was dressed like he worked at Old Navy in his plaid shirt and cargo pants. But he looked great. Healthy. And when he did his nearly 10-minute version of "Eruption," we all knew we were witnessing greatness.

That little Wolfie Van Halen's bass was decorated like the guitar his dad made famous. I can't believe he's the same age as my baby bear. He's obviously going through an awkward physical time, but he worked that stage like he'd been performing for 25 years. When he took to the top of the platform around the stage and DLR pointed him out as he thumped out the first few notes of "Running With the Devil," I completely forgot he was just a baby.

When's the last time you went to a show with a drum solo? When's the last time you saw a huge gong behind a drummer? Melissa is a drummer, so she truly appreciated and rocked out during the interlude. I went and got another beer.

During "Ice Cream Man," a kid who looked like one of the characters in "Dazed and Confused" rushed the stage and started hugging Eddie Van Halen. Before the bodyguards could get there, David Lee Roth totally jerked the kid by the neck and got him off Eddie. How rock star is that?

I got to hear all my favorite old Van Halen songs, including "Jamie's Cryin'," "And the Cradle Will Rock," "Little Dreamer," ad nauseum. They closed with "Jump," and glitter confetti fell from the rafters and we all felt like kids again, watching the best rock show ever and forgetting about all the things we worry about from day to day. Things that make us feel old.