“That was not necessarily one of their better moments”: Triumph’s Rik Emmett on Van Halen’s 1983 Heavy Metal Day performance

Triumph’s Rik Emmett has been looking back at the iconic 1983 Heavy Metal Day festival, which saw performances from Mötley Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest and many more. And he’s not been shy in sharing his thoughts about headliners Van Halen’s set.

• READ MORE: Paul Gilbert: “All the David Lee Roth-era Van Halen records were monuments of excellence to me”

In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Emmett has some choice words about the band, who had an underwhelming set.

“I think the consensus was [Van Halen] didn’t have a great day because maybe there had been too much partying over the course of the long day – back in their pavilion and their enclave. So, by the time they got out late at night, that was not necessarily one of their better moments.”

He goes on to discuss the comments that “Triumph stole the show that day”.

“So, as far as ‘stealing the day’…this is what I think about that – after all these years. We were the outlier band,” he explains. “All these other bands were, like, really heavy. Mötley Crüe was on the rise up and they were definitely a kind of ‘live-for-today party band.’ And there was kind of a heavy quality to everybody – including the headliner.”

In more Van Halen news, Wolfgang Van Halen has named David Lee Roth as the reason Van Halen’s final album A Different Kind of Truth is not available on streaming sites.

He explains that the band’s 2012 album – the only Van Halen record he’s played on – does not appear on streaming platforms because of “some people involved” who “do not like that record”.

Van Halen then went on to hint that the “people” in question was in fact David Lee Roth.

“I hate to say it, because people will think I’m making stuff up, but it’s, like, man, I’d love to have the record back up there,” he continues. “But he doesn’t like it and he’s not working with us to get it back up there. So I hope people who like it have a physical version of it.”