From SomethingElseReviews: For drummer Gregg Bissonette, as a youngster, Van Halen was the pinnacle. There was one problem, of course. “My dream was always to play in a rock back — and to me,” Bissonette says in the Vic Firth video below, “there was no other rock band than Van Halen. I loved Van Halen.” The problem, of course, was that Van Halen already had a drummer — … [Read more...]
Van Halen Kicks Off Japan Tour in Nagoya! (Videos, Photos & Setlist)
Updated with the two pre-show Eddie photos below: Today (June 18th) Van Halen kicked off their Japan 2013 tour at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya, Japan! (Showtime was 7PM in Japan, which was 3AM Pacific time) This morning, Wolf tweeted, "Show day in Nagoya", followed by "We're almost ready for ya, Nagoya. Just gotta tune up real quick... " with … [Read more...]
VHND’s All Access Photo: Happy Father’s Day!
Happy Father's Day! To celebrate, this week's All Access Photo is a picture of Eddie and his father, Jan Van Halen. Early on, Jan and Eugenia Van Halen impressed upon their sons a love of music that originally meant classical training. In Alex's case this meant playing classical guitar. He didn't take to it, though, and preferred playing his brother's drums. When Eddie … [Read more...]
Jerry Cantrell Recounts Van Halen VS Alice In Chains Prank Battle
In a recent interview by Jim Dunlop, Alice In Chains lead guitarist Jerry Cantrell recounts the prank battle between Van Halen and Alice In Chains as they toured together in 1991: "A lot of pranks get pulled on stage, it’s kind of a tradition to fuck with each other at the end of the tour, especially the opening bands. I remember the Van Halen guys got us like four times in … [Read more...]
Anniversary of Van Halen’s 1981 Oakland Shows: Watch Highest Quality Footage!
From June 11-13th, 1981, Van Halen performed three shows in front of sold out crowds of 11,300 people each night at California's Oakland Coliseum. The Oakland '81 shows have become legendary, thanks to the band deciding to preserve some of their performance to film. The footage was edited into three videos which aired on MTV as promos for the Fair … [Read more...]
David Lee Roth’s Tokyo Hi-Power Style Radio Show #3
Episode 3 of David Lee Roth's Tokyo Hi-Power Style Radio Show has arrived. You can listen to or download the show here. Want more episodes of the radio show? You can also check out Episode 1 and Episode 2. … [Read more...]
20 Years Ago: David Lee Roth’s ‘DLR Band’ Released
Twenty years ago this week, David Lee Roth released what we think is one of his very best solo albums... (if not THE best!) ... DLR Band. Released on June 9, 1998, DLR Band was his fifth full-length album, and has to be his most Van Halen-sounding solo album since 1986's Eat 'Em And Smile. DLR Band was recorded and mixed in ten days, a similar technique to 1979's Van Halen … [Read more...]
VHND’s All Access Photo: Ready to hit the Stage!
This week's photo is a never-before-seen candid taken backstage by a roadie in 1982. “All Access” Van Halen photos is a weekly feature at VHND.com. Every weekend we will be posting a photo from a roadie, friend, or band insider. Many will be exclusives that have never been seen anywhere before, and some will be supplied with new captions from David Lee Roth. Tune in every … [Read more...]
Wolfgang Answers Van Halen Questions on Twitter
The other day, Wolfgang Van Halen decided to do an on-the-spot Q&A session on Twitter. Here are the VH related highlights: Fair Warning or 1984 RT @thismusicsux: ok you've prob been asked 1000 times.Which is your fav VH album 78-84? — Wolfgang Van Halen (@WolfVanHalen) June 5, 2013 Balance RT @mr_bobmurdock: @wolfvanhalen What about Sammy era? — Wolfgang Van Halen … [Read more...]
Van Halen = Hot Lava?! David Lee Roth Explains
Lead singer of Van Halen, David Lee Roth, and Jay Mohr sit down with Opie & Anthony today (June 5th) and reminisce about David's childhood and playing the game 'hot lava'. David discusses the competitive and risky nature of the game and how it has developed into his band's current life; Van Halen trying to expand their parameters and pushing the edge during their … [Read more...]
Announcement: ‘Women And Children First’ Page Now Live!
As we have done for Van Halen's debut album and Van Halen II , VHND is unveiling our NEW PAGE dedicated entirely to Women and Children First. The new page is full of everything there is to know about the album. Features include: the recording of the album, sales information, photos from the cover shoot, never-seen photos, and more! This is a must-read for any Van Halen … [Read more...]
VHND’s All Access Photo: Marvin Hamlisch’s Beach House
Another never-before-seen photo! Here's Eddie Van Halen sitting at the white Yamaha grand piano of the late Marvin Hamlisch's beach house in Malibu. Ed rented the house during the spring/summer of 1983. At one point, Eddie experimented with new sounds by trashing the piano. He threw everything he could find into the piano and raked various items across the strings, including … [Read more...]