Sammy Hagar recently announced The Best Of All Worlds 2024 tour, on which he'll be joined by rock heavyweights and longtime bandmates Michael Anthony (bass, backing vocals), Jason Bonham (drums) and Joe Satriani (guitar).
Ultimate Guitar's Justin Beckner sat down with Satriani, who points out some of the biggest challenges of playing Eddie Van Halen's parts, and reveals what he'll have to practice the most before the tour starts.
Justin Beckner: "I would imagine you're getting plenty of exercise with that right now in doing a bit of a deep dive into a lot of Van Halen stuff. Are there some songs of Eddie's that you have found most challenging?"
Joe Satriani: "I think the main thing is that for the last five decades, I've tried so hard to be myself and not copy anybody. I've been lucky to have a solo career since the late '80s. So I really had a job that forced me to be myself as much as possible. I made a point not to play like anybody.
"But it happens eventually when you're having fun. You're at a party and someone says, 'Oh, can you play this song' and you realize… I have no idea how to play that song. I love that song. I've listened to it a million times. I don't know what the guy's doing. Then you've got to learn it. You go, 'Wow, that's really weird.' It feels so awkward for me to be like this. It's not the parts because I can hear the chords and I know what everything is when I hear it. It's just the sensibility of timing. If you're so deep into your own thing, it's really hard to get out of it and try to properly emulate somebody else.
"If you gave a guitar to Eddie and you said, 'Okay, Eddie, we want you to play 'Summer Song' note for note.' He'd say, 'I don't play like that. I don't do that. I just kind of do this.' Of course we'd love it no matter how he did it. It would be fun. But it wouldn't be exactly the same.
"When I was young, and I was in cover bands, I knew what it was like to try to get as close as possible. It was Zeppelin and Sabbath, the Stones and stuff like that, that's what we played. But eventually, you'd have to go, 'I don't play like that. That's not my vibrato.'
"If I go to play AC/DC, there's no way I can do Angus' vibrato. He has his own vibrato. If you're going to try to play someone like Jeff Beck – his playing is so personal. You can play the notes and remind people of this part he did, but not gonna sound quite the same.
"If we heard Eric Clapton trying to play 'Since I've Been Loving You' by Led Zeppelin, there's no way it would sound the same. To me, it would be great, but it wouldn't sound the same. So, what I noticed right away was that I really have to figure out the songs. So here are a couple of things I've noticed…"
Read more at Ultimate-Guitar.com.
Produced by Live Nation and featuring special guests Loverboy, the 28-date tour will commence on July 13 in West Palm Beach, FL and will conclude on August 31 in St. Louis, MO. For tickets and more details, go to RedRocker.com.
The tour follows on the heels of the chart-topping success of The Collection II, the box set released October 6 featuring newly remastered versions of the four consecutive #1 albums released during the Hagar era of Van Halen: 5150 (1986), OU812 (1988), For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991), and Balance (1995). A reminder to fans of the arsenal of hits, many which haven’t been played live since the band’s 2004 reunion tour. Collectively, Anthony, Satriani and Bonham have played together in nearly every phase of Hagar’s career including Van Halen, Chickenfoot and The Circle, so fans can expect a setlist which draws from some of the biggest rock anthems of the last 4-decades, including, "Finish What Ya Started", "5150", "Your Love is Driving Me Crazy", "Best of Both Worlds", "Poundcake", "Sexy Little Thing", "One Way To Rock", "Right Now", "Good Enough", "Eagles Fly" and more. They’ve also enlisted legendary Australian musician, Rai Thistlethwayte on keyboard and backing vocals. The tour represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see this band of brothers deliver one of the most legendary hits-packed live shows of their career.
Tour dates:
July
13 - West Palm Beach, FL - iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
14 - Tampa, FL - MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
16 - Alpharetta, GA - Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
19 - Charlotte, NC - PNC Music Pavilion
20 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live
22 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Broadview Stage at SPAC
24 - Bridgeport, CT - Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
26 - Mansfield, MA - Xfinity Center
27 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
29 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom Music Center
31 - Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage
August
2 - Clarkston, MI - Pine Knob Music Theatre
3 - Tinley Park, IL - Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
9 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena
11 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
13 - Spokane, WA - Airway Heights, WA BECU Live at Northern Quest
14 - Ridgefield, WA - RV Inn Style Resort Amphitheater
16 - Wheatland, CA - Toyota Amphitheatre
17 - Concord, CA - Toyota Pavilion at Concord
19 - Los Angeles, CA - Kia Forum
20 - Phoenix, AZ - Talking Stick Resorts Amphitheatre
22 - Dallas, TX - Dos Equis Pavilion
23 - Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
25 - Rogers, AR - Walmart AMP
27 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center
28 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
30 - Noblesville, IN - Ruoff Music Center
31 - St. Louis, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
(Photo - Timothy Morris)
