The people spoke and the people wanted this: Eddie Van Halen with David Lee Roth. Even the critics who never liked them to begin with -- busy as they were with their Elvis Costello records -- wanted it. The reunion would be a 20-year wait, during which the fans saw bad blood between old friends, the tragedy of cancer and alcoholism, Sammy Hagar, Gary Cherone, divorce, rehab, bad talk radio, on-again, off-again, more rehab, trouble all around.

Finally, on Wednesday night, fans got what they wanted -- Roth and the Van Halens, together in Mellon Arena. The lights went down, Eddie hit the crushing power chords to "You Really Got Me" and the "three-quarter-original, one-quarter inevitable" version of Van Halen was back in business.

How was it?

Eh, it was all right.

Something was missing from Van Halen.

Maybe it was bassist Michael Anthony, pushed aside in favor of Wolfgang, spawn of Eddie. But no, Wolfgang was fine.

Maybe it was all that flowing hair that used to be on top of Eddie and David Lee. Now, it was cropped. And when Roth unbuttoned his shirt and thrust out his chest ... shaved!

Or ... maybe it was the fact that Roth just doesn't bring it. Let's face it, he never was the world's greatest singer. Why do you think he did all those effects-laden screams? Now -- maybe because he's talked so darn much -- he's lost a good bit of the high register, and it's enough to suck some of the life out of Van Halen. Safe to say, his leg kicks were flying higher than his notes. To his credit, Roth, obviously tighter with his personal trainer than his vocal coach, still has some swagger, despite looking vaguely like Cosmo Kramer.

If Diamond Dave has the swagger, Eddie has the sizzle. The nice thing about playing guitar is that he'll be able to play those thunderous riffs and dazzling, finger-tapping solos until he's 70-something. And brother Alex is still a beast on the drums. (Yoi. Think of all the singers in this future.)

On a relatively no-frills and rather bland stage (for such a major tour), they played a 25-song set all drawn from the seven years (1978-84) they recorded together. They plowed through hits like "Runnin' With the Devil," "Dance the Night Away" and "Everybody Wants Some" while tossing in such deeper album cuts as "Mean Street" and "Little Dreamer." Roth's crooning on "I'll Wait" is certainly not what we waited for.

In the latter stages, Alex took a flashy solo and Roth had his moment on the acoustic guitar intro to "Ice Cream Man." And, after "Panama," Eddie, looking like a member of Jimmy Buffett's band in his plaid shirt and white pants, did an ear-splitting, skull-crushing solo, hitting on "Eruption" and "Cathedral," blending atmospherics and killer speed.

The crowd, made up of people who saw them there in '82, was oddly subdued, even during faves like "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love." There were only a few high-five-your-buddy moments and they all belonged to Eddie, like when he mimicked the sound of a hot-rod engine revving on guitar.

Roth, 53, did a salacious rap about a rendezvous Tuesday night with an old fan from Pittsburgh he called "Marge." He may still be hot with ladies like Marge, but on Wednesday night, he wasn't firing on all cylinders.

It was nostalgic, though. And an instrumental powerhouse, to be sure. Will it make the Van Halens erase Sammy Hagar from the speed dial? Probably not.