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Dweezil Zappa on meeting Eddie Van Halen

March 8, 2009 39 Comments

Dweezil Zappa is currently touring with an ensemble performing a show dedicated to his late father’s work, called “Zappa Plays Zappa”. On February 26th of this year, during a stop at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix, Arizona, Dweezil took the opportunity to tell a short, funny tale of meeting Edward Van Halen for the very first time, when Zappa was but a mere teenager. He then finishes the story by playing a worthy rendition of Van Halen’s classic “Eruption” guitar solo.

Filed Under: Eddie Van Halen, Van Halen
  • Top Jimmy

    you know what would be really cool is if dweezil could call eddie and tell him how to get his tone back.

  • steveziegler

    Dweezil is great in his own right like his father and pulled off the best cover of eruption i have seen. Eddie would be proud.

  • EDWARDisTHEbest

    nice one jimmy, i agree

  • Corey

    man, his tone was so good, it sounded just like ed playing it back in the day. and how fuckin cool would that be to have eddie van halen come to your house. that lucky guy.

  • Jezzer

    That had to be probably the best rendition of eruption I ever heard!!!

  • Eric

    I cannot disagree either.

    BTW that was sweet.

  • DANOOOSH

    I SURE GET A KICK OUT OF ALL YOU SAM FANS THAT THINK YOU KNOW VAN HALEN..SAM SHOULD TRY OUT FOR AMERICAN IDOL..

  • HideYourSheep

    That was great. I remember a video in the 80s where Dweezil played his red/white stripped 5149.5 Shammar guitar.
    I loved the guy after that for being such a shameless VH fan. :-)

  • Karl

    Cool story and very good rendition of Eruption. Oh, and DANOOOSH, stop being a prick.

  • http://www.501stlegion.org Daniel

    That was a dang good version. I wish I could play it even half as smooth.

  • SCAR

    The only thing these EDVH haters have proven is that they are living proof that manure can sprout legs and walk!!! Fast Eddie is getting ready!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Rocko

    This is the best I’ve seen from Dweezil Zappa!!!

  • http://vanhalennews anita nutt

    you cant get it any closer than eddie himself showing you how to play it.

  • B

    Honestly, it would have been VERY cool if Eddie would have joined in about half way through from off stage, then walked out with shit-eatin’ grin on his face just for the fun of it.

    That’s the diff between Eddie and Sammy, other than Eddie being a better guitarist, is that had Dweezil broken into any Hagar or VanHagar tune and Sam was in town he would have come out to have a little fun… not so much with Ed.

  • http://www.bellapop.com Bran Halen

    I don’t think that I have ever heard anyone cover Eruption as well as Dweezil. That sounded great!

  • Erick

    Good version! Nice guitar.

    Keep up the good work VHND! More VH, less sam and his chicks.

  • http://www.davisfamilydental.com Brian Davis

    “Ah, Come on Dave give me a break!” is actually Ted Templeman’s voice on the song, “Unchained”!!!

  • Elina

    Wasn’t it Ted Templeman who said that line in Unchained?

    Anyway, pretty nice cover.

  • Peedah

    Cool story! Great version of Eruption. For those of you doubting Ed’s tone go get your ears checked pronto.

  • SCAR

    The only thing a doctor will say to the posers after checking their ears is that he is very sorry that he can’t help them. There simply is no cure for stupidity. Too bad Karl, Bort and Greg I guess you’ll remain dumb and shit out of luck – again. I’ll quote the great Carlos Mencia for you three clowns. “DEE DEE DEE”.

  • http://www.headcaseradio.com DJ Meatwad

    Zappa Plays Zappa is absolutely amazing … any of you out there who like Frank Zappa’s music at all owe it to yourself to go see them, if you can get a ticket.

    When they were here in Seattle, someone in the crowd shouted out “Hot For Teacher” – at that point, Joe Travers (the drummer for ZPZ) played AVH’s drum intro to Hot For Teacher – perfectly. It was very, very cool.

  • kydtsoos

    Planning on seeing Zappa Plays Zappa with Dream Theater this summer. It will be amazing.

  • DANOOOSH

    KARL,BEN PEEDAH,ERICK ILL SEE YOU AT THE VH SHOWS THIS FALL!!

  • Erick

    Yep Danoosh, I’ll be there this fall. I’ll pay 100-150 to sit in row 8 or 10. No problem. As long as it’s Van Halen and not Van Hagar.

  • Scottso

    I don’t care if they tour with Dave or Sammy (although I prefer DLR), I will NOT attend any VH concert unless Michael Anthony is the bass player!

  • Erick

    Mike on bass or Wolfgang on bass. Doesn’t matter to me. I might even consider being okay with Sammy on bass, as long as he keeps his mouth shut.

  • Ben

    cool story, had read it before.
    Dweeez plays it amazing, the tone comes from the EVH Charvel guitar!

  • Joe

    No, the tone comes from years and years of practice! Great clip, great version. Thanks for posting.

  • Richard Snyder

    I’ll settle for a new Van Halen CD showing up a my front door.

  • Matt

    Asides from the run down in the middle, that was bang on. Best Eruption cover I’ve ever heard. Dweezil’s great and so is his Zappa does Zappa tour! And for the record, the tone does not come from the EVH Charvel Ben….it comes from his fingers, the way he approaches the solo just like Eddie did, plus the sound setup he had going, including the famous phase 90 effect.

  • Fernando Z, Quiz, PhD

    Long live CLASSIC ROCK!!! THIS RAP MUSIC OF TODAY REMINDS ME OF THE DISCO MOVEMENT OF THE EARLY EIGHTIES, TIME FOR A REBIRTH OF CLASSIC ROCK!! MAYBE IT WILL HAPPEN WITH THE NEW VH MATERIAL THAT IS ON THE WAY!!

  • Mitch

    That was cool! Saw Zappa plays Zappa last year great show! Why can’t Ed get that tone now?

  • peteG

    Magnificent.

  • http://www.charliehamill.com charlie hamill

    WOW. I have played eruption in bands for years, but I have never come close to nailing it that good. Glad to know there are people out there who have it worse that I do LOL

  • Rob

    wtf he achieved the VH tone…. it sounds the same as the original… I knew that Dweezil is VH freak, by the way he sounds and plays great!

  • dave

    That was great. Not as fast as Ed but damn close. Always cool to hear from a true VH fan.

  • Phil

    Sweet. Though, I’d rather of heard what Frank and Ed had to say to each other than eruption.

  • http://none J5149.5

    wish guys that play in bars and bedrooms would stop feelin the need to post negative comments about revolutionaries.ed could of called it quits after the first tour and his place in rock and roll history would have been secure.believe me hendrix would have been overjoyed with eddie’s playing because he welcomed anyone that was good.so let’s get real here.

  • Phydeaux

    Did you VH fans notice, Eddie wanted to meet Frank.

    LONG LIVE FRANK ZAPPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!