Van Halen Says: "..It's Kool."

VAN HALEN: Everything Is Kool

Kool and the Gang's "Robert "Kool" Bell isn't worried about turning off the crowd when they open select dates on Van Halen's tour. He says, "We had big hits in the '80s, and so did they. They've been kind of like a party band on the rock side, with their audience, and their audience is 60 percent female, and we have songs like 'Ladies' Night' and 'Celebration'... and our audience is at least 80 percent a pop audience. Most of the time we have a crowd that's 80 percent white." And it's really old hat -- over the years, Kool and the Gang have shared stages with Def Leppard, Meat Loaf, Elton John, Chicago and Uriah Heep.

Kool and the Gang's touring with Van Halen was David Lee Roth's idea after he saw them perform at last year's Glastonbury festival. The tour starts Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky.