I saw Van Halen three times in the Diamond Dave period, once with Sammy, and twice in the Wolfgang years. They were basically three different bands.
I also saw DLR on his first solo tour with Steve Vai, Billy Sheehan and Gregg Bissonette. That was the tightest band ever, and they musical pyrotechnics were quite a sight. Full disclosure: I'm a biased Zappa fan and Vai is a guitar legend.
What many people didn't know, was that the Van Halen support staff went with Dave...producer Ted Templeman and the live stage crafting left the VH camp. For example. Here is the 1982 stage...
...now here is 5150 (pretty boring)...
....and Dave in 1986...no comparison...
I will say that Dave's Achilles was that he didn't know when to stop interrupting the flow of the VH shows in the 80s. Rapping to the audience a little is fine...but by 1982 it felt like Dave HAD to interject in the middle of every song. I totally understand why he was fired. Ironically, he was less of a talker in 1986.
The 1986 DLR vs Van Hagar shows were a rock and roll acid test on who was the main ingredient in Van Halen...and while I love Eddie and his innovations and Michael Anthony's background vocals (Alex is meh) and Sammy is an outstanding rocker, it was clear that Dave Was Van Halen.
The Wolfgang shows were ok, but Wolfe had nothing to do with the decay (and his haters should take a long walk off a short pier)...Dave was simply a sad shadow of his former self. I mean, they played some deep cuts and Eddie was still awesome, but the Sun had clearly Set on VH after 1984.
Was Dave a ham? Yes. Was he over the top? Of course. Was he obnoxious? Uh huh. Was he the best frontman ever? You betcha.