You set the music section up with Pamela Anderson, and we reward you with a Payback Time T-shirt, two CDs off the Straight 's Top 50, and two tickets to a Live­Nation club show taking place in Vancouver within the next four weeks. Here's this week's winning whine.

Dear Payback Time: After reading Steve Newton's review of Van Halen's concert in last week's issue, I can see why he will never be mistaken for his namesake, Sir Isaac. While I amazingly agree with much of his review of the actual concert, his claim that "It would have been cool to hear Roth tackle a tune or two from Van Halen's Hagar era" borders on verbal diarrhea. Fans would have torn Diamond Dave and the boys new corn chutes if they had attempted a Van Hagar ditty such as "Right Now". Halen fans have always been split down very definite lines–those that like Dave and those that like Sammy–and never the two shall meet. The Vancouver show might not be what you or I were waiting 20 years for, but VH delivered almost exactly what the other 10,000–plus fans wanted.

> Michael Irvine

Steve Newton replies: Dearest Michael–So you "amazingly agree" with much of my review? Don't be so hard on yourself! A fine, upstanding lad like yourself shouldn't find it shocking that we share the same highly regarded ability to view concerts with the ingenious eye of the world-class music scribe. So what if it took me 25 years of supreme effort to achieve my well-known status as rock journalist extraordinaire, and you just happened to wake up one morning as David Fricke. On the other hand, your first foray into our esteemed profession isn't without its serious missteps. You make an ASS out of U and ME if you assume that nobody who likes Dave also appreciates Sammy. I adore Roth-era Van Halen tracks like "Unchained" and "Little Dreamer", but I'm also wild about Hagar-era ditties like "Dreams" and, especially, "Finish What Ya Started" (which Roth would have sounded great singing at GM Place). Sure, if I had to choose between owning all the VH albums released up to 1984 or the ones that came after, I'd go with the early stuff, but let's not forget one thing: Sammy's a helluva singer. I learned that back in 1973 when a monumental (yet shockingly overlooked) hard-rock LP called Montrose hit record stores. That eponymous debut would become the template for Van Halen's own debut in '78: a simple guitar-bass-drums lineup, a flashy guitarist who favoured overdrive (Ronnie Montrose), and a howling young vocalist (Hagar) with a serious desire to rock the nation. Heck, both albums were even helmed by the same producer, Ted Templeman. So the next time all you pro-Roth, anti-Hagar hooligans feel like slagging the Cabo Wabster, try blasting Montrose and shutting the hell up!

For taking the time to abuse us, Michael Irvine might just get lucky and score Led Zeppelin's Mothership . Voice your impotent rage by snail mail or by sending an e-mail to payback@straight.com .