Eddie Van Halen’s Replacement Got ‘Cold Feet’

Joe Satriani recently explained the reason he accepted Sammy Hagar’s offer to play on the “Best of All Worlds” tour. He revealed that he had second thoughts about participating in Alex Van Halen’s ill-fated Van Halen tribute , noting how it was “a friend calling about a retrospective of his whole career.”

Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Jason Bonham, and Joe Satriani have been successfully scratching that long-unscratched Van Halen itch with their “Best of All Worlds” tour lately. However, the project was never meant to be an actual tribute.

Before The Red Rocker decided to take matters into his own hands, however, Alex Van Halen was brewing his own all-star tribute to his late brother Edward, which sadly fizzled out in the early stages of planning.

Joe Satriani talks about the matter

Joe Satriani, who was also supposed to be involved in Alex’s ill-fated tribute project, tells Guitarist in a new interview with Guitar that he had serious qualms about accepting:

“‘No way. I can’t do this. This is too hard'”, Satriani recalls telling Alex Van Halen. Nevertheless, the legendary drummer eventually convinced him to get involved:

“But he convinced me that I could do it, and then another couple of weeks later, it was the same kind of thing. I thought, ‘Man, some of these songs are… they’re just not me.’ Eddie played in a completely different way. Where he put his timing… it’s so different from what I cultivated in my playing for decades. So that was the hardest part; I was just always pushing like Eddie did, and I was always trying to find the deepest pocket.”

Instead, Satriani maintained that if a Van Halen tribute were to be staged in any official capacity, Eddie’s son Wolfgang should play the guitar. As for why he ended up taking Sammy Hagar’s offer for the “Best of All Worlds” tour after getting cold feet with Alex’s project, Satriani said:

“Because it was a friend calling about a retrospective of his whole career. It did happen to involve anywhere from 15 to 20 Van Halen songs – and they were different from the songs that Dave and Alex wanted to do. Dave was not going to do any Van Hagar stuff, anything from after he left the band.”

“When Sammy joined, Eddie went through a real shift. He became far more progressive, a different world for me to jump into. But I also reminded myself, ‘That’s not the show. This is not a Van Halen tribute. This is a tribute to Sammy’s legacy that happens to include this huge chunk of music by Van Halen.”

It might better suit the looser nature of “Best of All Worlds” but Satriani notes how he never tried to outright copy Eddie’s playing on those gigs. Similarly, he also notes how he’s not the only guitarist on Earth who could’ve done the late and great Eddie Van Halen justice:

“I’m not the guy who says, ‘I’m the only [one] that can do it.’ None of that bullshit. I want to do it right. I spent all this money on gear and want to make it a great night to celebrate these songs. And I think everybody gets it.”

“I’m throwing in all the stuff I normally would. But I’ve added some things I never really did because I thought, ‘Well, that’s Eddie. I’m not gonna copy that.’ It doesn’t come naturally to me, but I’ve made it work. Though I’m not copying the parts; that’s not me, I’m not in a tribute band.”

Reflecting on the overall atmosphere of the “Best of All Worlds” tour, Satch said:

“The vibe on tour has been great. It’s a party, but everyone expects everybody to play their best each night. There’s this beautiful anticipation before every show to celebrate the legacy. And the fans’ reaction has been heartwarming.”

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