Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times reports:
For VAN HALEN, the stars seemed aligned for a triumphant 2007. Next month, the group will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the plan was to follow that with a summer reunion tour that would feature David Lee Roth back at the mike for the first time since the Reagan years.
But, once again, the backstage soap opera of VAN HALEN is the story of the day.
The VAN HALEN tour has been “shut down,” according to a top official at Live Nation, the huge concert promoter that finally surrendered in the face of the chaos surrounding guitar hero Eddie Van Halen. Roth, meanwhile, says he is unsure whether the mercurial guitarist will even travel to New York for the Hall of Fame induction on March 12.
“We have fragile politics in VAN HALEN; please accept that as a partial answer,” Roth said. “But I don’t know if the Van Halens are going to go….I hope they do, but right now, I just don’t know. Hope springs eternal.”
Eddie Van Halen declined interviews through his publicist and girlfriend, Janie Liszewski. Conversations with the business team behind the tour paint a picture of a rock star who is somewhere between Axl Rose and Michael Jackson on the music industry scale of eccentric recluses. The result is that the VAN HALEN venture imploded before takeoff, even as THE POLICE, THE EAGLES and GENESIS have efficiently geared up for lucrative reunion tours.
“I cannot tell you how frustrating and completely nuts this has been,” one key business figure in the tour said while asking not to be identified on the outside chance that the reunion might be salvaged. “Right now, I have to say, I don’t see that happening.”
Read the entire article here.
First, if you’re not aware: I was born and raised on Van Halen. My sister was named after the song “Jamie’s Cryin'”. I have my dad’s original, worn vinyl. I wouldn’t say I’m a crazy Van Halen fan of any kind, but I acknowledge them for being a large part of my youth.
That being said, it would be better for all involved if Eddie Van Halen had died tragically somewhere around 15 years ago. For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge was the last album that had any meat to it, and since then, they’ve only managed to continually hurt their image.
Dont’t even get me started on booting Michael Anthony from the band. As if Sammy Hagar’s “firing” wasn’t the death knell, Eddie Van Halen’s son playing bass effectively seals the casket under six feet of cold soil.
The funny thing is, up until the end of the Gary Cherone debacle, the public didn’t hear much about the craziness that is Eddie. It’s easy to look at David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar if you’re looking for a pompous jerk that would cause band rifts.
Then came the mouth cancer. Eddie Van Halen, dedicated 800-pack-a-day smoker, lost part of his tongue to cancer. This is when Eddie began telling people that it wasn’t cigarettes that gave him cancer. No, it had something to do with all the sound waves and metallic vibrations he’d been exposed to over the years. I’m not sure if he managed to also implicate space aliens and George Bush, but it’s clear that it could not possibly have been tobacco that was the problem.
Things only got weirder from there. Bizarre interview after bizarre interview, crazy tales from Hagar that were so out there that they absolutely had to be true, and his wife of many years getting the hell out of their marriage. All culminating in Eddie putting his son Wolfgang on bass. Now, I don’t know Wolfgang and haven’t heard him play, but Eddie himself has said he’s been playing for less than six months.
And suddenly, Roth and Hagar weren’t looking like such prima donnas anymore.
Recently, it was announced that Van Halen would be inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. Which is, honestly, as it should be. This was followed by the announcement that Roth would be joining them to perform at the induction ceremony. Old school Van Halen fans started to salivate, and then the moment was announced: yes, they would go on tour with Roth. With Wolfgang on bass, of course.
Even with all of this solidified, dates booked, and tickets sold, few doubted the inevitability of some sort of issues within the Van Halen camp. Although most probably would have thought an implosion wouldn’t happen until at least a few shows were played along the journey, it can’t possibly be surprising to anyone that this tour may be disintegrating before it could think about starting.
If you listen to the voices speaking for Van Halen, they’ll tell you that the troubles at the moment are issues with details and booking, not implosion. Then there are the rest of us on this planet who believe that about as much as we believe Lindsay Lohan is sober. It’s walking, talking, even smelling like a duck. We’ve heard the stories over the years and we’ve repeatedly watched this band go through meltdowns. Don’t play us for fools, guys. Don’t talk to us like we have four brain cells, all occupied by beer.
The tour was a nice thought, though. And if the guys do manage to pull things together and get this boat off of the dock, it should be fun while it lasts. Nobody’s holding their breath, but if they can prove us cynics wrong, maybe they’ll be able to fix their legacy after all.
