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Nearly a month after Van Halen abruptly postponed more than 30 dates on its reunion tour, the band's leader is refuting claims of infighting among members and offering an explanation for its decision.
On May 17, just two months into the tour, Van Halen shelved plans for 30 shows with no explanation provided by the band or the tour promoter.
Now, guitarist Eddie Van Halen tells USA Today, "We bit off more than we could chew. This record ("A Different Kind of Truth') took a lot out of us. And we went on tour earlier than we wanted to so we could play Madison Square Garden (in March, before a renovation), and that threw the schedule out of whack."
The band will have completed more than 40 shows on this leg, and "a lot of the canceled dates were in cities we already played," he told USA Today. "So in November, we'll hit Japan, and in the new year, we'll possibly do something special, but I can't talk about it."
His comment are in sharp contrast for the reason cited a month ago in Rolling Stone. The venerable rock magazine reported that Van Halen's members "hate each other," quoting a source as saying "the band is arguing like mad. They are fighting."
The tour is in support of “A Different Kind of Truth,” Van Halen's first studio album with singer David Lee Roth since 1984.
Eddie Van Halen told USA Today, "Dave's the same as he's always been, funny, witty ... Sometimes I can only take that in small doses, because he just goes on and on."
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