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Right here, right now: Van Halen still 'Runnin' With the Devil'
By John Lamb,The Forum
Published Sunday, October 31, 2004
In Van Halen's early heyday, the rock group's "bigger is better" approach to sound and stage show epitomized the extravagance of the 1980s. Even their backstage antics were legendary, over-the-top displays of excess.
Like the time former lead singer David Lee Roth trashed a dressing room, racking up $12,000 in damages after finding a brown M&M. The quartet's concert contract banned the colored candy, listing the offense as reason enough to cancel a performance.
Such eruptions have passed since Roth left the band in 1985. Lately the biggest storms were tour dates that repeatedly crossed paths with tropical hurricanes last month in Puerto Rico, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.
Neither rain nor sleet nor snow can slow down the durable quartet's desire to kick up some dust.
"It's under circumstances like that when people really want to get out and party," says Alex Van Halen from Los Angeles.
The drummer, his guitarist brother, Eddie, and bassist Michael Anthony have been touring since June, reunited with singer Sammy Hagar.
The lineup makes its area debut tonight at the Fargodome.
A Halloween show is only appropriate for a band known for such an assault on the senses. When asked if he's planning anything special for the performance, Alex laughs, suggesting an evening of AC/DC songs.
"Another brother band," he says, referring to classic hard rock comrades Angus and Malcolm Young.
Hagar left in '96 and later took to the road with verbal sparring partner Roth for a short-lived tour dubbed "The Sam and Dave Show."
At the same time, Van Halen trudged on with the less dynamic and ultimately forgettable front man Gary Cherone. The former Extreme singer's three-year stint isn't reflected on the group's recent 36-track greatest hits collection, "Best of Both Worlds."
The reunion with Hagar, Alex says, isn't as noteworthy as the music they're playing.
"We're old buddies, man. What's important to remember is that Sam, Ed, Mike and I have spent over half of our adult lives together."
He stresses the point about their "adult lives," saying life with Roth around was more adolescent.
"We had a delayed growing-up period, but we were actually starting to turn into adults," the 51-year-old says of Hagar's first stint. "It made for a much more deep and involved and diverse relationship ... The stresses were rather intense. Having said all that, now getting back together and making music is great."
Writing songs again
Now back with Hagar, the group is writing again and included three new songs on the recent collection. Writing with Roth wasn't always as cohesive of a group effort.
"To put the four of us in a room it was like a breath of fresh air to be able to make music for music's sake. Everybody spoke at the same time," Alex says of working with Hagar. "Music is like a dialogue and when you get everybody into the same room and you can have this dialogue together and it ends up being a song, it's just incredible … It's something that wasn't there before."
"Diamond Dave was more raw and heavier," says Kydd Ballou, afternoon disc jockey for 107.9 The Fox. "It was more polished, but lyrically a lot different with Sammy."
Hagar established himself as a solo act before joining the quartet and the addition of the Red Rocker pushed the group to another level, Ballou says.
Alex credits Hagar with shaking things up, saying there was no set list when Hagar joined, as opposed to Roth's reign when everything was well-rehearsed.
"Live, to keep things interesting, Ed will jump into anything at any given moment when you least expect it. There's plenty of room for improvement and error," the drummer says. "The last things I want to do are play the same songs every night. It becomes stale, stagnant."
Raised as pianists
Growing up with a musician father, the brothers Van Halen were raised as classical pianists until being seduced by the power of rock like Led Zeppelin.
Fans held their breath when they heard Eddie play keyboards on "1984" that year. The keys were featured heavily on "I'll Wait" and the group's biggest hit, "Jump."
"The band from beginning to end has always been based on Ed's guitar playing," Alex says. "If you can make music with a rubber band you can do that. As an artist you're not just limited to a guitar."
Initially it was Alex who played guitar while Eddie took to the drums.
"Oh, we'd all be pumping gas," Alex laughs, explaining what would've happened had they not switched. "You have to be honest with yourself when you pick up an instrument. You know when you're cutting it and you're not. When I picked up a guitar it was a piece of wood with metal strings on it and I knew how to put my fingers on to make chords. When Ed picked it up, he made music."
He considers drums not only his instrument, but his voice. Listeners often detect a Van Halen song by Alex's distinctive waves of cymbals.
"There's a reason for that," he explains. "Ed and I were in a three-piece band and to change colors and textures you fill up the spots with cymbals."
While the cymbals may be his audio calling card, his elaborate drum kits are a trademark of stage shows. The back of the album "Diver Down" features a shot of the drummer behind a kit propped up by four bass drums which was later outdone with 12 bass drums on the "Monsters of Rock" tour in the late '80s.
"It's a little bit of everything. It's a little bit of eye candy, a little bit of fun, it's a sense of humor," he says. "You get people who take themselves too seriously and it defeats the purpose of what the music is about. You play music, you don't work it. You work in the studio."
Older by two years, Alex doesn't worry about his little brother, watching him run around the stage from behind his drums.
Three years ago Eddie released a statement through the group's Web site announcing he was fighting cancer. A year later he declared himself cancer free.
"There's one thing I learned: You cannot tell other people what to do," Alex says, adding his brother is "living in the moment."
Or, to co-opt the title of one of the group's biggest hits, he's living for "Right Now."
Readers can reach Forum reporter
By John Lamb,The Forum
Published Sunday, October 31, 2004
In Van Halen's early heyday, the rock group's "bigger is better" approach to sound and stage show epitomized the extravagance of the 1980s. Even their backstage antics were legendary, over-the-top displays of excess.
Like the time former lead singer David Lee Roth trashed a dressing room, racking up $12,000 in damages after finding a brown M&M. The quartet's concert contract banned the colored candy, listing the offense as reason enough to cancel a performance.
Such eruptions have passed since Roth left the band in 1985. Lately the biggest storms were tour dates that repeatedly crossed paths with tropical hurricanes last month in Puerto Rico, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.
Neither rain nor sleet nor snow can slow down the durable quartet's desire to kick up some dust.
"It's under circumstances like that when people really want to get out and party," says Alex Van Halen from Los Angeles.
The drummer, his guitarist brother, Eddie, and bassist Michael Anthony have been touring since June, reunited with singer Sammy Hagar.
The lineup makes its area debut tonight at the Fargodome.
A Halloween show is only appropriate for a band known for such an assault on the senses. When asked if he's planning anything special for the performance, Alex laughs, suggesting an evening of AC/DC songs.
"Another brother band," he says, referring to classic hard rock comrades Angus and Malcolm Young.
Hagar left in '96 and later took to the road with verbal sparring partner Roth for a short-lived tour dubbed "The Sam and Dave Show."
At the same time, Van Halen trudged on with the less dynamic and ultimately forgettable front man Gary Cherone. The former Extreme singer's three-year stint isn't reflected on the group's recent 36-track greatest hits collection, "Best of Both Worlds."
The reunion with Hagar, Alex says, isn't as noteworthy as the music they're playing.
"We're old buddies, man. What's important to remember is that Sam, Ed, Mike and I have spent over half of our adult lives together."
He stresses the point about their "adult lives," saying life with Roth around was more adolescent.
"We had a delayed growing-up period, but we were actually starting to turn into adults," the 51-year-old says of Hagar's first stint. "It made for a much more deep and involved and diverse relationship ... The stresses were rather intense. Having said all that, now getting back together and making music is great."
Writing songs again
Now back with Hagar, the group is writing again and included three new songs on the recent collection. Writing with Roth wasn't always as cohesive of a group effort.
"To put the four of us in a room it was like a breath of fresh air to be able to make music for music's sake. Everybody spoke at the same time," Alex says of working with Hagar. "Music is like a dialogue and when you get everybody into the same room and you can have this dialogue together and it ends up being a song, it's just incredible … It's something that wasn't there before."
"Diamond Dave was more raw and heavier," says Kydd Ballou, afternoon disc jockey for 107.9 The Fox. "It was more polished, but lyrically a lot different with Sammy."
Hagar established himself as a solo act before joining the quartet and the addition of the Red Rocker pushed the group to another level, Ballou says.
Alex credits Hagar with shaking things up, saying there was no set list when Hagar joined, as opposed to Roth's reign when everything was well-rehearsed.
"Live, to keep things interesting, Ed will jump into anything at any given moment when you least expect it. There's plenty of room for improvement and error," the drummer says. "The last things I want to do are play the same songs every night. It becomes stale, stagnant."
Raised as pianists
Growing up with a musician father, the brothers Van Halen were raised as classical pianists until being seduced by the power of rock like Led Zeppelin.
Fans held their breath when they heard Eddie play keyboards on "1984" that year. The keys were featured heavily on "I'll Wait" and the group's biggest hit, "Jump."
"The band from beginning to end has always been based on Ed's guitar playing," Alex says. "If you can make music with a rubber band you can do that. As an artist you're not just limited to a guitar."
Initially it was Alex who played guitar while Eddie took to the drums.
"Oh, we'd all be pumping gas," Alex laughs, explaining what would've happened had they not switched. "You have to be honest with yourself when you pick up an instrument. You know when you're cutting it and you're not. When I picked up a guitar it was a piece of wood with metal strings on it and I knew how to put my fingers on to make chords. When Ed picked it up, he made music."
He considers drums not only his instrument, but his voice. Listeners often detect a Van Halen song by Alex's distinctive waves of cymbals.
"There's a reason for that," he explains. "Ed and I were in a three-piece band and to change colors and textures you fill up the spots with cymbals."
While the cymbals may be his audio calling card, his elaborate drum kits are a trademark of stage shows. The back of the album "Diver Down" features a shot of the drummer behind a kit propped up by four bass drums which was later outdone with 12 bass drums on the "Monsters of Rock" tour in the late '80s.
"It's a little bit of everything. It's a little bit of eye candy, a little bit of fun, it's a sense of humor," he says. "You get people who take themselves too seriously and it defeats the purpose of what the music is about. You play music, you don't work it. You work in the studio."
Older by two years, Alex doesn't worry about his little brother, watching him run around the stage from behind his drums.
Three years ago Eddie released a statement through the group's Web site announcing he was fighting cancer. A year later he declared himself cancer free.
"There's one thing I learned: You cannot tell other people what to do," Alex says, adding his brother is "living in the moment."
Or, to co-opt the title of one of the group's biggest hits, he's living for "Right Now."
Readers can reach Forum reporter
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