Flashback,1986: David Lee Roth leads the marching band at Kinnick Stadium

The date was Saturday, September 14th, 1986.

There was a football game at Kinnick Stadium that day with the Hawkeyes and the Cyclones. But we're not here to talk about football. Instead, we're talking about the awesome spectacle that happened during the halftime show.

David Lee Roth had just played a concert the night before in Ames. His next stop was in Cedar Rapids, as his solo band was headlining the Five Seasons Center. I'm not sure how it was lined up, but Roth was in Iowa City that Saturday before his Cedar Rapids concert to perform with the marching band!

I spoke with Rob Brooks, sideline reporter for the Hawkeye Radio Network who was at the game that day. He told me, "It was so cool, Roth performed with the marching band and it was awesome! He was in the press box during the second half and I was able to say hello. It something I'll never forget!"

I found a Sports Illustrated story that talks about the performance. The article said Roth came out with a white safari hat, a ripped up gray t-shirt and tight stretch pants. The story also talked about a flag girl that Roth "grinded on."

Her name was Laura Uhl, a freshman at Iowa. She was interviewed by Sports Illustrated after the halftime show ended. She said, "I thought, Oh, God, that's me he's doing it to. I'm so embarrassed...And I had even written to my parents and told them to watch the game because the band might be on TV.

To read the full story from SI, you can visit this link.

The marching band played Roth's big song at the time, Yankee Rose. It sounds like he just danced around and was like the conductor of the band that day. I couldn't think of a better band leader, and it sounds like the fans absolutely loved it.

Man, what a great day this must have been! Imagine being in the stands and D.L.R. comes out to jam with the marching band! It's times like these I wish I had a DeLorian that could take me back to that day in 1986.

Cool things like this never happen anymore. And to be honest, gone are the days of shows in Ames and then Cedar Rapids the next night. The reason it happened in 1986 is because "Arena Rock" was crazy at that time. Bands were selling out every night and it didn't matter if the next spot was only 90 miles away. It was a different time.

The Hawks won that game easily that day, 43-7. But people don't care about the score from a football game that happened 34 years ago.

If they were there, they remember Diamond Dave.

The man who stole the show that afternoon.

[Source: Sports Illustrated]