Here's a Chickenfoot thing that's not from Music Radar, for a change...
...Austin...
'Burying the Hatchet' tour to feature Van Halen, Chickenfoot
LOS ANGELES - It's finally happening. In what is certainly one of the most surprising moves in rock 'n' roll, VAN HALEN has announced a fall 2009 U.S. tour with support from newly formed supergroup CHICKENFOOT.
"Van Halen has patched things up with its former members, and this tour -- 'Burying The Hatchet', we're calling it -- is a reflection of that," said guitarist EDDIE VAN HALEN.
Eddie's current bandmates include his son, bassist WOLFGANG VAN HALEN, original vocalist DAVID LEE ROTH, and drummer ALEX VAN HALEN, and they will be touring in support of a forthcoming greatest hits package.
Chickenfoot traces its origins to the short-lived supergroup PLANET US -- NEAL SCHON and DEEN CASTRONOVO of Journey, SAMMY HAGAR and MICHAEL ANTHONY of Van Halen, and solo guitar virtuoso JOE SATRIANI -- and will be releasing its self-titled debut album in Best Buy retail stores across the United States on June 9.
The Chickenfoot album features the lineup of Hagar, Anthony, Satriani, and RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS drummer CHAD SMITH, but the band has different plans for the tour.
"With its tours over the last two years, Van Halen fans have shown that they're comfortable with change," says Hagar, who replaced Roth as lead singer in 1986. "They kicked me out of the band in 1996, and Mikey was forced out a few years later. It's about time we did something just as crazy."
Just how crazy? Satriani's 17-year-old son Z.Z. will be playing bass with the band.
"When I first heard that Wolfgang would be playing bass in Van Halen a few years ago, I have to admit I was shocked," says Satriani. "But then I realized my son is just about the same age. If Eddie's OK with it, I should be fine with it as well."
Satriani's son is no stranger to performing, having played sax on his 2008 album, Professor Satchafunkilus And The Musterion Of Rock, and bowed bass on the song Bamboo, from 2004's Is There Love In Space? (Another track from that album, If I Could Fly, made headlines recently when Satriani sued the band COLDPLAY, saying their song Viva La Vida infringes on his song.)
Not only have Van Halen and Chickenfoot both recently fired their bassists, but they also have something else in common: Roth and Hagar toured together in 2002.
Former Van Halen and Chickenfoot bassist Anthony won't be left out in the cold this fall. His side project, the MAD ANTHONY XPRESS, will be opening select shows on the "Burying The Hatchet" tour.
The Van Halen greatest hits collection, BEST OF: VOLUME II, is scheduled for release September 15 on Warner Bros. Records. It spans the Roth-led years, 1978-1984, and will only feature the songs from the Roth era that are already available on both 1996's BEST OF: VOLUME I and 2004's BEST OF BOTH WORLDS.
Chickenfoot's album will be re-released the same day, in every retail outlet in the U.S. excluding Best Buy.
Ticket prices range from $19.84 to $51.50 and go on sale April 1, 2009.
