More VH talk from Eddie Trunk

[FORD]

A double bill with Van Halen opening for AC\DC or even Aerosmith would be great...That will never happen because AC\DC doesn`t need VH to attract a stadium crowd...still one can dream.

Well, that would depend on if AC/DC even tours, or what they're calling a band if and when that happens. Suposedly the long running "Back in Black" lineup of the band is back together in the studio, assembling an album from tracks that Angus & Malcolm recorded several years back before Malcolm's brain stopped working correctly. But Brian Johnson singng in the studio is different from him singing live, as far as his medical issues goes. And Cliff WIlliams supposedly retired, so he might not want to tour again. Angus had the previous tour booked before he lost half the band, so if he had to book another tour with some other psuedo-band like AxlDc was he might not be able to get a stadium deal himself.

As far as Aerosmith goes..... I'm only interested in seeing them if they don't play anything they recorded after 1985 or so.

[So this is love]

VH will need to open for a bigger act if they want to do any stadium...at this point in their career they could open for Taylor Swift lol, other than this I cannot even see them filling the arenas as in 2007 and 2012 by themselves. It will take a marketing genius to have them on a bigger scale than a 2015 like summer tour.

[Terry]

VH will need to open for a bigger act if they want to do any stadium...at this point in their career they could open for Taylor Swift lol, other than this I cannot even see them filling the arenas as in 2007 and 2012 by themselves. It will take a marketing genius to have them on a bigger scale than a 2015 like summer tour.

I think part of the problem is that Van Halen is now bumping up against what KISS eventually encountered after multiple reunion tours, in that after 3 of them in the last decade, most people who have wanted to see Van Halen with Roth have done so: the idea of Roth with Van Halen is no longer special or unique.

The other part of the problem, sad to say, is that - at least as far as the media coverage goes - from 2012 onward Dave's declining abilities have been commented on with increasing frequency.

I could see the current version doing venues around 10,000 seats next year with the current lineup without much of a problem. Any ambitions beyond that, short of a package tour it will be the CVH lineup that makes the next tour special.

[twonabomber]

KISS wasn't even stupid enough to think they could fill stadiums on their farewell tour.

I see the KISS shows are starting at 7:30 pm but haven't seen word of openers.

[Seshmeister]

Isn't Aerosmith doing their farewell tour?

I wouldn't want to sit through an Aerosmith set to get to VH.

Surely Aerosmith are waaaay bigger than Van Halen at this point?

[twonabomber]

I dunno. When was Aerosmith's last collection of originals? Say what you want about ADKOT but at least VH didn't hire flavor of the month to co-write.

I doubt Aerosmith could fill a stadium on their own at this point.

[Terry]

I dunno. When was Aerosmith's last collection of originals? Say what you want about ADKOT but at least VH didn't hire flavor of the month to co-write.

I doubt Aerosmith could fill a stadium on their own at this point.

I'd tend to think Aerosmith couldn't fill a stadium on the sole draw of their band name, either. Even if they announced a farewell tour.

I've never really thought of Aerosmith as a stadium act, anyway: I know they've played stadium gigs, but - again - it's one thing for Aerosmith to headline the Texas Jam going on at the end of the day after a half dozen other name bands have played.

[chuckjitsu]

Sweet! Another trip to the "Van Halen is doing something!!!" rumor mill! This seems appropriate at this juncture-

And yet, here I am offering my (unsolicited) opinion on the matter! As has been said, I don't see them doing stadium gigs by themselves. I don't think they could have pulled that one off even in the peak of the original Roth era let alone now. And if it is part of some multi band deal, I can't really think of any bands that I have any interest in seeing, either because I don't care to see them or I've seen them before. I don't think even a CVH reunion would be enough to pull me in to some sort of multi band stadium monstrosity.

I always figured if they did anything again, with or without Mike, they'd do a summer shed/amphitheater circuit with Wolf opening the shows. If they brought Mike back and I was convinced that Dave could get what's left of his vocal cords in to some semblance of '07-'08 shape, I'd probably be willing to drag my ass to the nearest shed to see the show.

Guess I better start planning now as Van Halen rumors always end up being true!

[Nickdfresh]

I agree that even in the blazing trail (that ultimately hit the wall) of 1984, Van Halen couldn't fill a stadium on their own. I think two more big albums with Roth, then maybe...

[ZahZoo]

Hmmm appears the consensus is that none of the major bands from the CVH era can support a stadium tour on their own... Sad affair... but Rock just hasn't had the draw that pop and country can pull in.

[Nickdfresh]

Well, what is the list of "stadium acts"? I know that the Stones are. U2 are. The Grateful Dead were. One Direction played the stadium here, but probably couldn't now. Selling out at least 60K seats on a regular basis is daunting to say the least. I guess there are country acts, but fuck me if I know one...

[twonabomber]

Garth Brooks is playing stadiums this summer.

Back to VH...Bassplayer says "not so fast!"

Michael Anthony Downplays Van Halen Reunion Rumors

Former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony is throwing some ice water onto rumors that he's rejoining the iconic band he helped build for a reunion tour next summer.

On the heels of David Lee Roth's comments about playing Yankee Stadium in 2019, Eddie Trunk related additional speculation that Alex and Eddie Van Halen were interested in again working with their former bassist.

Premiere Radio Networks, a division of iHeartRadio, reached out to Anthony on Wednesday as the rumors caught on. Van Halen fans aren't going to like what he said.

"The only comment I have is that I haven't spoken to any of the guys since we last played together back in 2004," Anthony told Premiere.

He added that while he did run into Alex Van Halen "a few years back," the two didn't get into anything more than small talk.

Anthony last performed with Van Halen in 2004. He was replaced in the band by Eddie's son Wolfgang in 2006.

Trunk made it clear that what he related on his radio show was merely a rumor, but he added that it was from a source within the music industry.

"The rumors from reliable sources — but still rumors that are unconfirmed — is that the band will tour in 2019 with the original band, which would mean the return of Michael, and that there is gonna be some sort of stadium package," Trunk said at the time.

Van Halen last toured in 2015. Trunk says that there have been unfounded rumors of a new tour each year since then. While he acknowledged that what he's heard this year seems more credible than what he's heard in the past, he did not dive into why the Van Halens might be considering bringing back Anthony.

Since leaving Van Halen, Anthony has been busy collaborating with Sammy Hagar on a number of projects, including Chickenfoot and the pair's latest band, Sammy Hagar & The Circle, which will release its debut album, Space Between, in January.

Hagar lobbied for a Van Halen reunion including himself, Anthony and Roth for years. He said last year, however, that he had given up trying to communicate with the Van Halen brothers after they didn't reach out to him on his 70th birthday.

https://sixxsense.iheart.com/content/2018-12-27-michael-anthony-downplays-van-halen-reunion-rumors/?fbclid=IwAR2EinjbqPZUzBG2nyb5LKgJsmxyqnW0Q74Dbf3_9KCgF6g8_dNeiGOKd0U

[Nickdfresh]

Garth Brook and a giant tape machine. Nothing against Brooks, I actually like him. But that shows you how god fucking awful and sad Country is - the guy had ONE (ghost written) hit!

[FORD]

Garth Brooks had a Hell of a lot more than one hit. He was the biggest performer of the 1990s in any musical genre, and he's somehow sold more records than Elvis Presley - though admittedly there's some cheating involved with those numbers, since he re-released his first 6 albums in a box set, with one track added to each disc (but the price was only $30, so it was a big seller). He later did the same thing with the second half of his career, and then a third box set which was all cover songs, again for a cheap price.

And "Friends In Low Places" ain't even his best song. Hard to narrow it down to one, but I'd probably go with "We Shall Be Free".

I still haven't seen the video of that Notre Dame show, but I'm hoping if he did lip sync that (or added canned vocals in post production, or whatever it was) that it was an isolated event for the TV network, and that his actual live performances are still, in fact, LIVE.

I would definitely see him in concert again, if he can still bring it like he did in 1997. Especially if the tickets are still cheap, compared to the standard arena prices of the day.

[Terry]

Well, what is the list of "stadium acts"? I know that the Stones are. U2 are. The Grateful Dead were. One Direction played the stadium here, but probably couldn't now. Selling out at least 60K seats on a regular basis is daunting to say the least. I guess there are country acts, but fuck me if I know one...

I mean, it isn't a slam against Van Halen that they can't fill stadiums, because as you pointed out there aren't many acts who still can.

The Who used to be able to, but for the last twenty years or so when they came around here - here being Florida - they were playing 10,000 seat venues.

The Stones and U2 still fill stadiums, indeed. G n R did the last time around, although initially they only booked one Florida date in Orlando...which was smart, because it was centrally located in terms of the state, thus the location and only having the one show ensured filling the stadium. I think The Stones, if I'm not mistaken, are doing Miami and Jacksonville next year. Then again, it's the Stones: they could have probably added Tampa and Orlando as well and sold all four stadiums out.

I'd tend to think if either Metallica or Foo Fighters did a single Florida date, they could sell out a stadium. A reunited Led Zeppelin could sell out stadiums. Garth Brooks, as mentioned, could sell out stadiums. Maybe Taylor Swift, or Bruno Mars: neither are really my cup of tea (although I like some of Mars's stuff), but both are very popular.

Guns And Roses