Joe Satriani is set to honour the legacy of the late Eddie Van Halen when he embarks on a tour with Sammy Hagar this Summer.
The run of shows will see Satriani join forces with Hagar on ‘The Best Of All Worlds’ Tour across North America, beginning in West Palm Beach, FL on July 13.
Sammy Hagar has assembled an intriguing line up for this tour, which also includes Jason Bonham on drums, and original Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony.
On delving into Van Halen territory for this tour, Joe Satriani said this, “My task right now is trying to unravel the mystery of Eddie Van Halen’s strange guitar playing”.
“I spent decades voiding how to learn this stuff so I wouldn’t copy it, and now all of a sudden I’m doing a crash course on the idiosyncrasies and the genius of his guitar work. I know these songs but I’ve never actually played them. It’s a task”.
“it’s so exciting”
The tour which lasts for 28 dates in total, will see the band perform tracks from the Van Halen and David Lee Roth years.
While the set list is coming together, Joe Satriani also added, “I was so happy when Sammy said he wanted to do The Seventh Seal, which I thought is such a great, progressive Eddie Van Halen song, so different from Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love and Panama – although when you play Panama live with a band, it’s so exciting”.
He continued, “I can’t think of a (Van Halen) song that doesn’t put a smile on my face – it’s just a question of figuring out how to play them. What I can guarantee is they’re gonna see someone who’s hell-bent on being the most respectful guitar player to the legacy of Eddie and his playing”.
“I’m busy creating workarounds. I have every intention of nailing everything, and when I can’t I’ll wink to the audience and they’re gonna know that one’s just gonna slip by”.
“one of the most energetic people I ever met”
Elsewhere, Joe Satriani also revealed that he has been a fan of Eddie Van Halen from the day he heard his band’s debut album in 1978.
He also admitted that he only met Eddie Van Halen once, while he was recording his album ‘The Extremist’ album in LA three years later.
“He showed up at 11 in the morning, just going a million miles an hour, one of the most energetic people I ever met,” Satriani recalls. “In walks Eddie and he’s all smiles and happy and, ‘Hey, Joe, how’s it going? Play me something!'”.
Satriani also revealed that he had been grappling with one of the tracks, adding that the late musician: “gave me some really great comments – and then (co-producer) Andy Johns come in and took him out and the whole day was lost ’cause they went out partying”.
“I never got to talk to him and say, ‘I’m a fan. You’re amazing,’ ask him about a song or something like that, so it was a very brief encounter. But even in those few minutes where we got to hang out, I could tell his energy was extremely special”.
Check out the tour dates below.
ALL dates announced:
Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and Jason Bonham are heading our way for the BEST OF ALL WORLDS TOUR with special guest Loverboy!
Tickets on sale this Friday at 10am. pic.twitter.com/ECv0MLYtnO
— Mitch Lafon (@mitchlafon) November 14, 2023
Last year, the guitar used by Eddie Van Halen on the music video ‘Hot For Teacher’, was sold for just under $4 million under the hammer.
