Van Halen’s David Lee Roth era — the first six albums, the arena-scaled swagger, the guitar solos that seemed to bend physics around the fretboard — ended in 1985. The musicians in Jump, the Toledo, Ohio-based tribute act playing Tag’s Summer Stage in Big Flats on Saturday, July 25, were born a decade or more after that chapter closed. They’ve rebuilt it from bootleg recordings of Van Halen’s 1978-to-1984 live performances, sourcing not just the music but the stage banter, the pacing, the one-liners. The sold-out rooms across multiple states and touring engagements in Canada and Australia suggest the reconstruction is doing something right.
About the Show
Jump works exclusively in the David Lee Roth era — no Sammy Hagar material, no accommodation toward the post-1984 catalog. Their two-hour set draws from the first six Van Halen albums, hits and deeper cuts alike, with live skits and one-liners sourced directly from bootleg footage of the original band’s performances between 1978 and 1984. It’s a more methodical approach to tribute work than most acts take: they’re not simply replicating a setlist but attempting to reconstruct the texture of a Van Halen show from that period — the shredding guitar solos, the rhythm section, the vocal work, the David Lee Roth stage persona.
The band has played sold-out shows across multiple states and secured international touring engagements in Canada and Australia, including appearances at Foxwoods Resort Casino’s Premier Theater and a Musikfest Café date in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania — the latter the night before this Big Flats show, suggesting this is part of a Northeast summer swing. Their 2026 schedule runs through November, with confirmed dates in Portland, Maine; Wilmington, Delaware; and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Reviews of the live show describe the band as “the closest to the original band you’ll get,” with particular attention to the energy and the singer’s command of what one attendee called “the DLR isms” — the gestures and vocal mannerisms that were as much of Roth’s appeal as the voice itself.
Venue & Logistics
Tag’s Summer Stage — ticketed on this date as the Mich Ultra Summer Stage at Tags — is an outdoor venue in Big Flats, in New York’s Southern Tier, with a 7,500-person capacity. The open-air setting suits the material: the DLR-era catalog is summer music, built for volume and for crowds large enough to make the call-and-response land. Tickets for this show went on sale in December 2025.
Tickets
No ticket pricing was available at press time. Tickets are available through the Tag’s box office. Buy tickets