2002-08-05
From: quarryfan1

The latest article from Van Halen's website
has Sammy pretty ticked at Dave. I knew they
would'nt become friends but the things Sammy
said in the article surprised me. I wonder
if they will finish the tour. And another
thing: Why hasn't Mike Anthony jammed with
Dave ???
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/showbiz.today/music.ontheroad/0208/02.html

Friendly competition between Roth 'n' Hagar
By Marc Balinsky
CNN

August 2, 2002 Posted: 3:35 p.m. EDT (1935 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- In what is one of the more unlikely pairings on the
summer tour circuit, former Van Halen frontmen David Lee Roth and Sammy
Hagar have hit the road together. The two, who have traded insults for
almost two decades, have declared a cease-fire long enough to complete
their co-headlining summer tour.

Roth fronted Van Halen from 1978 to 1985, during which time the group
released its first six albums - all of which went platinum. In 1985, when
the flamboyant vocalist had a falling out with the group, Hagar stepped up
to the mike. The group went on to release four studio albums and a two-
disc live compilation, all of which also went platinum.

While you won't find them on stage together on this tour, the two rockers
did appear side by side to talk to CNN, and to address the rumors of bad
blood between them.

CNN: What was it like when the two of you met?

Sammy Hagar: For me it was a little bit uncomfortable just because I've
never met Dave and I heard he was a pretty unpredictable character.

David Lee Roth: Yeah, but look who told you.

Hagar: That's a really good point. But I was a little uncomfortable if it
was going to be friendly and stuff cause I'm an easygoing guy, and I like
to have fun. Fun is my number one thing. And so it was five minutes
together and I said, this guy entertains me. I said to Dave that "I feel
like I should probably have to pay you every night to be involved with
this." I get to hang around with this crazy dude and let him entertain me.

Roth: There is a little bit of a rivalry. Hey, anybody who's got two legs
in his pants and does the same thing for a living is going to compete.
Rivalry brings out the best in anything. And you get the audience in
between us, you've got the best performances of either of us that you can
ever want.

Hagar: We still have that little thing, I have it inside of me and I'm
sure Dave's got it as well, but I'll speak for myself, that I still what
to prove that I'm the greatest rock and roller on the planet and I think
that's healthy. I'm not afraid of that and I don't think Dave's afraid of
it. It'll bring out the best in each other.

I'm certainly going to try harder playing with Dave. I haven't played with
another act since I left Van Halen, and to me this is the first time I
have to go out there and play for somebody else's fans, and be as good as
I can possibly be and that makes me a little nervous and gives me a little
thing in my stomach and I like it.

Roth: Sam was the only headline act I could find to play with me that
wasn't suing me.

CNN: So, which one of you has the bigger ego?

Hagar: Oh, Dave. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Roth: I think it's confidence. I think once you've been around for a
while, what's the length of a career these days, three and a half summers.
Maybe three and half summers long. And between us we have close to a
hundred million record sales, how many hits -- you count one right after
another.

Whether you've heard our records, own them or not, you're familiar with
us. Whether at the baseball game, you can't get through a sporting event
without listening to one of us singing to you about "driving 55" or
"jumping" somewhere. It's about time we show up and do it live.

P.S. Anthony stated recently that he will try to squeeze some playing time in
w/ Dave before the tour is over.

Regards,

Russ Blomstedt
http://blomstedt.jwdx.net