David Lee Roth lived up to his rock star reputation during his visit to the Brantford area last month.

After being treated in a Brantford hospital for a severe allergic reaction to nuts, the Van Halen singer took two nurses to a nearby bar and performed on stage with St. Catharines-based band Phatstick.

"He came late near the end of the night at about one o'clock with a couple of the nurses from the hospital," said Cheri Welsh, owner of Brantford's Liquid Lounge. "And he actually got up at the end of the night and performed a song with the band that was there."

Welsh said she wasn't there at the time, but met Roth the next night when he returned looking for his cellphone. She chatted with him for about an hour at the bar and smoked a cigarette with him in the parking lot before he left. Welsh said Roth never drank alcohol on either of his visits.

"Once people started to recognize him, he started to get uncomfortable," she said. "He was very eccentric, wearing clothing that you couldn't buy around here -- white shirt, coloured scarves, hat and some kind of alligator white and black shoes that probably cost a couple of thousand dollars."

The rocker's visit to the area hit the news this week when it was learned provincial police caught him driving erratically near the hamlet of Oakland, south of Brantford. The officers discovered Roth was suffering from an allergic reaction to nuts and rushed him to hospital.

Dean Hajas, a local songwriter and record producer, says Roth is an old friend and stayed at his Oakland home for three weeks in May and June. Hajas says he met Roth while working in Los Angeles in 1993.

"Yeah, I gave up the master bedroom for him because I think that's the hospitable thing to do," Hajas said. "He showed up in a navy blue Alfa Romeo car."

Hajas said Roth's visit was a fairly quiet one, although he did visit the surrounding towns of Simcoe, Waterford and Port Dover.

grockingham@thespec.com

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