With the upcoming Sammy Hagar “Best Of All Worlds” tour less than four months away, Joe Satriani says he’s still working hard to capture the unique guitar style of Edward Van Halen. A task he admits is quite daunting.
Below is an excerpt from Satriani’s recent interview with Classic Rock‘s Gary Graff.
Joe Satriani is in the midst of a tour with longtime friend, and former guitar student, Steve Vai — with whom he’s just released their first ever single together, The Sea of Emotion, Pt. 1. But when they’re not on stage the two players are busying themselves preparing for their next gigs — Vai with Adrian Belew’s King Crimson-saluting Beat and Satriani deep diving into Van Halen territory with Sammy Hagar’s The Best of All Worlds tour in North America, which gets underway on July 13 in West Palm Beach, FL.
“My task right now is trying to unravel the mystery of Eddie Van Halen’s strange guitar playing,” Satriani tells Classic Rock. “I spent decades avoiding 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.”
The Hagar crew — which also includes Jason Bonham and drums and original Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony (also part of Chickenfoot with Satriani and Hagar) will play 28 dates during the tour (full dates below), surveying all of Hagar’s career but with a particular emphasis on Van Halen, both the Hagar and the David Lee Roth years. The song list is coming together, but Satriani notes that, “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.
“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.”
Read The Entire Classic Rock Interview With Joe Satriani
Watch “Joe Satriani @ G3 2024 – Opening Night, Tucson, AZ”