Sammy Hagar makes 'colour me surprised' face at Van Halen cancellation

Van Halen have pulled all their summer tour dates. Sammy Hagar goes 'well, duh':

"They're hard people to get along with, those brothers," Hagar told The Associated Press on Friday. "Otherwise I'd still be in the band.

"I'm surprised it took this long" for the tour to experience major difficulties, he added. "I predicted this was going to happen a lot sooner. I lost money on that bet!"

I do like the subtle suggestion that 'hey, I'm probably the easiest-going guy in the world, and even I couldn't keep on with them' there.

Hagar is currently touring with Chickenfoot, and is using the tour - in part - to help raise support for food banks across America. Which is probably more important than anything he did with Van Halen.

Van Halen, for their part, are denying that there's any animosity involved in the cancelation (which they call a postponement, but isn't until they announce new dates):

The Van Halen News Desk now has some answers form our trusted and proven sources. Other than those Summer dates having to be moved, it’s actually good news.

First off, no one in the band is sick. No health problems.

Second, we knew right away that Rolling Stone’s “source” is completely wrong, and can not possibly be a person with actual inside knowledge of the tour, because all four band members have been getting along splendidly throughout the entire tour. Roth and the Van Halen’s talk every day, and they are all smiles on stage. Everyone who’s seen the tour or even youtube videos can confirm that.

In fact, the band is on such a high from playing together this year and they were really taken aback by the Rolling Stone quote. They’re older and wiser and haven’t had any issues with one another.

Or at least the USD93million they made from the last tour soothes a lot of trouble.

The official line is that the band are just keen that the second leg of their tour be "as awesome" as the first, and for that, they need to take a little break. Because, obviously, people who've been playing in bands for well over forty years would be surprised at the workload involved in live gigs and wouldn't realise until a few weeks before the dates that it might be too much for them.

Stretching the definition of "supergroup"

Meet Chickenfoot, a sort-of-supergroup:

Sammy Hagar recently started a new "supergroup" with ex-VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony, guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani and RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS drummer Chad Smith. The band, tentatively called CHICKENFOOT, will enter the studio to begin recording its debut album this summer.

It's not so much supergroup as doing something interesting with leftovers, is it?

Still, Hagar is not without ambition for his bunch of pirate-types:

"We've written eight, nine songs...When people hear the music, it's LED ZEPPELIN. It's as good as that. I know that's a mighty bold statement...We could rival ZEP."

Well, yes, you could, potentially. Or Tin Machine. Maybe you should start by trying to best Tin Machine.

Eddie Van Halen emerges from rehab; starts his engines

If you have a map showing the whereabouts of the rock gods, you should move the Eddie Van Halen pin from rehab and stick it in Phoenix, where he's due to do something connected with NASCAR drivers, a guitar company and Subway's sub-Quiznos subs. Unfortunately, the press release is such a mess of brand names and trademark acknowledgements we can't really make out what it's all about:

"Rock and roll, fast cars and guitars, I can't think of a better combination. Fender is proud to partner with our friends, Eddie Van Halen and PIR, for this great occasion." said Matt Janopaul, President & COO of Fender Musical Instruments Corp.

We can think of better combinations - rock and roll and guitars and no fast cars, for example. But we're sure the comination will sell lots of sandwiches.

Go ahead and jump: Van Halen split before reforming

The much ballyhooed reunion of Van Halen with Dave Lee Roth looks like being the shortest reunion in history: The Rocky Mountain News reckons that it's now not going to happen. In fact, the paper claims the band won't even share a stage for their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.

They could at least have had the good grace to get to one gig for an embarrassing public climbdown.

Skeleton news service

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