Dave: "I'm Retiring"

[Kristy]

T cell lymphoma will do that you like it did Joey Ramone. Roth made vague reference to death no "slowing down" in his retirement package to his fans. You all need to face the cold reality

[Seshmeister]

I don't think he has any life-threatening illnesses. Although he has a number of chronic conditions.

Just my thoughts.

Who knows but I think that's most likely.

[ELVIS]

What, that those are his thoughts ??

[wolfsbane]

I think physically Dave just cant do it anymore.

You really have to put in perspective the toll that Dave put on his body throughout the years. I mean the guy was basically a superhero on stage doing these Spider-Man like moves and so on.

No one was doing shit like that. Splits jumps off the 12 ft drum riser 100 shows every tour is mind boggling.

High endurance and high impact performers like Dave are very much like sports athletes. They have no choice but to slow down and stop.

I agree. Just listened to the end of his message. Sounds like he cannot risk the physical damage to his body anymore.


Do I hear him maybe saying that AVH is going to be his drummer? Wishful thinking.

[ZahZoo]

I have a bad feeling we might not even get the final shows. I think Dave will either not be around by then or they will be postponed and Dave won’t be healthy enough to perform, and in typical late fashion we will find out Alex and Mike were both ready to do it….. too little too late as always. I hate to be pessimistic, but it looks like VH is ready to do the Ramones thing where every member drops dead one by one consecutively. Ed’s dad died at age 66…Ed was 65 three months shy of 66… Dave’s dad died at 67….. Dave turns 67 in a week….

Anything is possible... but... making firm, booked plans 3 months out like this is a clear indication Dave doesn't have 1 foot in the grave. It would be much more concerning if Dave had said he wasn't taking any chances and doesn't buy green bananas anymore...

The lifespans of Ed and Dave's fathers is interesting... but statistically both Ed and Dave should have had a much higher probability of living longer than their dads did. My dad lived 91 summers... I'm still on track to outlive all you fuckers...

[Jérôme Frenchise]

Dave doesn't have 1 foot in the grave.

It's Dave or the grave anyway.

[Terry]

I can imagine a one time tour with multiple guitarists paying tribute to Ed...

I couldn't imagine anything I'd be less interested in seeing than a one-time Van Halen gig - even if the tour had Roth, Al and Mike - with a bunch of different guest guitarists paying tribute to Ed.

The point was to have CVH reform, and to hear Ed play the licks alongside the rest of the CVH lineup. Obviously, that can never happen again now. If I want to see multiple guitarists playing Ed's licks - and I don't - I can watch that on youtube.

I'd rather Wolfgang just put out whatever CVH audio/video he has possession of than see a non-CVH Van Halen with Not Eddie playing Eddie's licks.

Plus, seeing guitarists playing Eddie's licks was impressive back in the 1980s. 40 + years on, seeing someone other than Eddie playing Eddie's stuff...not so much.

What I'd rather hear these days is someone playing their own stuff, and have their own stuff be as impressive as Eddie's licks were. And that ain't gonna happen with Van Halen Mach 5: Tribute To Eddie tour.

[WARF]

I think I’m handling the news of Dave retiring even worse than when I heard Ed passed away. I don’t think Dave has much longer to live. He made the same cryptic messages when Ed was dying. That scar on his head when he shaved his head bald has a whole new meaning now, but I suspected he was sick when I saw that as well. Dave said he thought the Marlboro man would live longer … is that a reference to lung cancer?

[twonabomber]

No, he said he thought the Marlboro Man would get him.

[ELVIS]

Same thing...

[Seshmeister]

Fatalities from smoking cigarettes is a curved graph, if you smoke 1 a day you are very very likely to be ok, smoke like Steve McQueen and you are more likely than not to be killed by it.

It has always, at least publicly, seemed like Ed smoked way more than DLR. Publicly it seemed like Ed smoked more than anyone else ever.

[twonabomber]

Weren't there reports of Dave's radio studio reeking of cigarettes?

I remember one EVH interview mentioned the control room at 5150 smelled like smoke and stale beer.

[Nitro Express]

You know Wolfgang is using his dad’s rig that was used for the Cafe Wha? Show on his current Mammoth tour. Ed had a little pedal board made up because the stage at The Wha? Is so small.

[Nitro Express]

Dave has had seven back surgeries. I think the man is retiring on top. Wolfgang said Van Halen had some great stuff planned with Mike being back on bass and Mammoth would open and Dave would sing and maybe Sam and Gary do a few songs (I could do without). Ed just came down sick and they had to put things on hold. I think when Ed passed Dave and Al started talking and both decided it’s time to hang it up. There’s nothing left to top. You can’t have Van Halen without Eddie Van Halen and Dave was the first and last singer of that band and it pisses Sam off. Dave rode with Ed off into the sunset. Fuck you Sammy!

[Nitro Express]

Cocaine works faster. Problem is there’s no good coke anymore. Fuck. You might end up snorting fentanyl , Ajax, meth or whatever.