David Lee Roth impersonator dupes Ontario residents
by Elizabeth Bromstein
The good people of the Brantford, Ontario area sure have been had.
Maybe you saw the recent news stories: Two OPP officers saved the life of rock star David Lee Roth who was suffering a severe allergic reaction to peanuts while driving on a country road near Brantford.
Well, the Hamilton Spectator says the story isn't true. "Newspapers -- the Brantford Expositor and the Hamilton Spectator -- even had a followup to the original wire service story about how the Van Halen singer, dressed in flashy rock-star duds, strutted into a Brantford bar with two nurses after spending the evening recovering in Brantford General Hospital," the article says.
Then it goes on to quote Roth's personal publicist, Elaine Shock. "The story is completely false," she said. "I don't even understand where that came from. David doesn't drive himself. He has a driver. And he doesn't dress flashy unless he's onstage."
Also, the night it was supposed to have happened, May 23, Roth was performing at Madison Square Garden with Van Halen. He issued a statement himself saying "The only thing I'm allergic to is criticism."
The news surprised the two OPP officers who entered the name David Lee Roth in their report and later spoke about it on CTV news. The Spectator says they didn't ask for ID when they stopped him for erratic driving, apparently being far more concerned with the fact that he was in medical distress. Wait though, it gets better. The officers weren't the only ones duped. The Mystery Dave also fooled club patrons, hospital employees, hair stylists, music producers and performers.
After being treated in hospital he took two nurses to the nearby Liquid Lounge, where he got up and performed with a local band! And had his picture taken. You can see the pic on the Spectator website. I guess it kinda, sorta looks like Diamond Dave. If you squint a bit.
Club owner Cheri Welsh said "I can't understand his motives. It's not like he was getting free drinks or anything. He was putting money on the table."
And he stayed in town for a while, going to the U Are Beautiful salon in Cambridge several times over a two-week period for tanning treatments, haircuts and dye jobs. The salon even gave him a free treatment when he said he was going on MuchMusic.
Meanwhile, the Spectator says Dean Hajas, a local songwriter and recording engineer, is apparently still certain the man who stayed at his house for three weeks is the real David Lee Roth.
"He just phoned me out of the blue and asked if he could come over and do some work," Hajas said. "He's got some of my music ... I talked to him on his cellphone yesterday and he said his publicist would be issuing a press release (today) to clear this mess up."
Poor guy. No such release has been issued yet. What Shock did say is "He doesn't stay in places like this (someone's house). Dave is a Four Seasons kind of a guy."
Wow. That dude on my couch better be the real Kanye West or I'm not letting him win any more games of Connect Four. I mean it.
