VAN HALEN Drummer Alex Van Halen On Reunion Tour - "Everything Is Shaping Up To Go Later This Year"
June 4, 2007, 17 years ago
The following VAN HALEN "report" is courtesy of a fan posting at the World Famous Metal Sludge Gossip Board:
"It's the morning of Memorial Day and I'm waiting to be seated at this local deli down the street from my house. The place is mobbed and as I look to my left I notice the guy in front of me with his baseball cap pulled down low standing with his son. I do a double take and realize its Alex (Van Halen)!" I said, 'excuse me but are you Alex?' He smiles and says yes, and then I say 'I've been a fan for 25 years.' He says thank you and then I ask him, 'what is the status of the reunion?' Alex says, 'well everything is shaping up to go later this year.' 'Is Dave still in,' I ask? He says 'absolutely! We had to put everything off because of Ed's health. If we would've tried to tour with Ed in the shape he was in, he might have died.'So I say something like, 'thank God!!! I was afraid that personal issues had come up again and you had once again had a falling out with Dave.' Alex then goes on to say that things with Dave have never been better. He's been 100% supportive of Ed and very understanding of the situation. I go on about how great the band was with Dave and how it was the BEATLES of my generation. He thanks me again and around this time the hostess come to seat him so he shakes my hand and goes to the back of the restaurant.
Now my head is spinning!!! I'm thinking about what I wanted to ask that I didn't. Then I realize, I forgot to ask about Mike Anthony! So as luck would have it, this place is not a fancy, formal eatery. You don't pay the waitress when you get your check, you go up to the cashier. After him and his son were done eating and he goes up to pay his check and leave, I cornered him again. By the way, the guy was so friendly and cool to me I didnt think twice about bugging him. I said, 'one last question Alex? So he smiles and says 'sure.' 'Is Mike in or out?' He says, 'Mike is out! Mike is with Sammy and as much as I like Sammy, he's very calculating. There's personal issues with Mike as well and we will never get on stage with the guy again.'"
