Credit: Neil Zlozower
Eddie had his guitar, Dave had his mic. They also had a phone, which they put to very good use back in the day.
During a recent appearance on the Booked On Rock podcast with the VHND’s Eric Senich, Great White guitarist Mark Kendall shared a conversation he once had with David Lee Roth. It was at a time when Van Halen was a constant presence on the live backyard party and club scene. Kendall, who grew up in Huntington Beach, California, wondered how Van Halen was able to land more gigs than any other band around. He finally had the chance to find out.
Kendall said: “I posed the question [to Dave before the band started playing], ‘How do you get your gigs?’ He said, ‘[Me] and Eddie just get on the phone and call and say, ‘Hey, can we audition?’ So, they started playing clubs and then when they got in Hollywood, they became like the house band at Gazzari’s. By that time, they had enough originals to where on the weekends they would go play showcases.”
It was clear that Van Halen would not only play whenever the could, but wherever. Kendall once saw the band perform at a junk yard.
“[That was] three blocks from my house,” said Kendall. “We walked there and paid one dollar to get in. They had kegs of beer and stuff. [I came to see] the guitar player ‘cuz my friend had told me how great he was and this dude’s, like, outlandish on guitar so I wanted to see [Eddie].”