Tell Hagar, Roth: The Times They Are A-Changin’

One fan at the Sammy Hagar-David Lee Roth concert Monday at the Universal Amphitheatre sported a T-shirt that summed up the capacity crowd’s attitude: “Who the ... is Eddie Van Halen?”

Of course, most of the audience knew that Van Halen is the guitarist whose inventive harmonics, two-handed tapping, whammy-bar flash, etc. made his namesake group the hard-rock band of the late ‘70s and ‘80s.

But on Monday, all that was left of those glory days were the hot chicks, high kicks and familiar licks associated with each erstwhile frontman’s Van Halen tenure.

There wasn’t any interaction, let alone a sign of rivalry, between original vocalist Roth and Hagar, who replaced him in the mid-’80s.

Yet each singer offered a slightly musty variation on the rock ‘n’ roll party-animal theme that did nothing to bolster whatever legacy the band has.

Both 90-minute sets went like clockwork, in that neither was very spontaneous. But Hagar proved marginally more engaging, partly because he has amiable, nimble-fingered Van Halen bassist Mike Anthony in his band.

Hagar’s hard-drinking, bikini-girl-appreciating (but sensitive!), regular-guy approach wasn’t much more appealing than Roth’s demented, Vegas-y mugging, and his performance often felt like a giant commercial for his Mexican beach bar and tequila brand.

But Hagar did genuinely enjoy himself while enthusiastically running through “Dreams,” “Finish What Ya Started” and the anachronistic solo hit “I Can’t Drive 55.”

Though distinctive in its time, Eddie Van Halen’s sound nowadays can be mimicked by any wannabe as credibly as Roth’s guitarist did while blustering through “Runnin’ With the Devil,” “Jump,” “Panama” and myriad other VH classics.

Though never that technically gifted, Diamond Dave was in pretty bad voice, and his comedic talents were subdued at best.

And he really should rethink the bleached long hair and chest-baring spandex outfit.

He’s in decent shape at 47, but the look only underscored visually how ungracefully this music has aged.