Bass instincts

Michael Anthony goes on road at same time as ex-Van Halen bandmates

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By David Burke | Thursday, October 25, 2007 4:06 AM CDT | () comments

It was bad enough for Michael Anthony that he was replaced as the bass player on Van Halen’s current tour.

But to add insult to injury, every visual reference to Anthony on the band’s Web site was replaced by Wolfgang Van Halen, the new bass player and 16-year-old son of guitarist Eddie Van Halen.

“That really zapped me,” Anthony said in a telephone interview from Dallas. “I was part of the history, and it was sad to see them think otherwise.”

While Van Halen criss-crosses the country on its own tour — bringing back original lead singer David Lee Roth — Anthony is on tour with Roth’s onetime replacement, Sammy Hagar.

That tour stops Tuesday night at the i wireless Center in Moline.

Anthony, 53, said he checked out reviews of the re-formed Van Halen’s early shows, but he hasn’t looked at them lately.

“It’s not like I’m reading reviews thinking, ‘I hope they suck, I hope they’re bad,’ ” he said.

A combination of factors — Eddie Van Halen wanting his son to join the group and Anthony’s allegiance with Hagar — were the likely causes of his being snubbed, Anthony said.

He said the 2004 tour, which came to the former Mark of the Quad-Cities, ended in disharmony.

“I can’t for the life of me understand why he’d be mad because I’d never do anything to degrade the band or tarnish the band’s name,” Anthony said of Eddie Van Halen. “I’m not going to talk smack about him. It is what it is.”

The current tour finds the bass player stepping into the lead singer’s role for 30 minutes a night as the frontman for the Mad Anthony Express.

The three-man band plays some early Van Halen music and “covers of stuff we really like,” he said.

The band first played together on Hagar’s annual cruise. Anthony said he didn’t want to be just a backup for Hagar and put together his own band.

“It went over so well that Sammy just wanted to roll that into part of the show,” he said.

Anthony said it’s different to be a lead singer instead of a backup player.

“It’s more work,” he said. “You’ve got to pace yourself a little bit better because you’re not just playing an instrument and singing background. You’re lead vocals now and you’ve got to take care of yourself a little bit better.”

Songs in the set include “Running With the Devil” and a few Van Halen album cuts. That comes from the David Lee Roth years, but Anthony doesn’t do an imitation of the flamboyant lead singer.

“I feel comfortable singing Dave’s stuff, but some of this stuff — let’s face it — Dave’s the only guy who could sing it,” he said. “I don’t even want to touch those songs.”

The Mad Anthony set is followed by Hagar and his band, the Wabos, with Anthony returning sometime later in the night alongside his former bandmate.

“After that, anything goes. I hover around the stage because you never really know what’s going to happen,” he said. “That’s what makes it great. You’re never gonna see two of the same show on this tour.”

The tour, which is set to continue well into next year, is a re-creation of Hagar’s 60th birthday party at his Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo, San Lucas.

“The only thing we’re missing is the sand and the ocean,” Anthony said.

Anthony said he does not think the split with Van Halen, the band he was a member of for 25 years, will divide fans. But he recognizes that there may be a choice of buying a ticket for one concert or another in many markets.

“In this day and age, with ticket prices and the whole bit, it’s not like everybody can afford to go to every show,” he said. “Dave and Ed haven’t been on stage for 20-plus years, so I know a lot of fans are wanting to know what that’s all about.”

Anthony said the split is indefinite, but it may not be permanent.

“At this point, I really do not see myself playing with those guys again,” he said. “But The Eagles have shown us all that hell freezes over, so you never know. I’ve always been the never-say-never guy, but I’m not going to hold my breath.”

David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.

ifyougo

What: Sammy Hagar & the Wabos (see story, Page 3) and the Mad Anthony Express

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30

Where: i wireless Center, Moline

How much: $47 and $32

Information: (309) 764-2000 or iwirelesscenter.com

On the Web: madanthonycafe. com and redrocker.com