Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted was the first one who had leaked the news of a possible Van Halen tribute show last April, yet no progress has been announced on the issue since then. In his following interviews, Wolf Van Halen didn’t seem willing to organize a show due to the band’s problematic inner dynamics. The rocker again reflected on the matter in his recent chat with Classic Rock, sharing that he got closure by paying tribute to his late father at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert.
“I think I already did it with Taylor,” Wolfgang said when asked if a Van Halen tribute show was still on the table. “I feel closure because my part of the show was a tribute to my father. When it comes to Van Halen and entities surrounding the band, it’s unfortunate, certainly compared to Foo Fighters, who have their shit together with interpersonal relationships.”
Further commenting on Van Halen’s complicated inner dynamics, the frontman noted, “I don’t know what it is with some bands, but certain personalities just can’t get over themselves to work collectively for one purpose. That’s been the curse of Van Halen for its entire career.”
Wolf continued, “So my playing at the Taylor shows delivered that catharsis without the stresses of dealing with the Van Halen camp and the players involved. Their camp is very dysfunctional – everyone! Hell, it was difficult to make plans even when the band was active.”
Thus, the rocker thinks he had the best possible Van Halen closure at the recent Taylor Hawkins tribute show by singing his late father, Eddie Van Halen’s songs. Wolfgang is glad he didn’t have to deal with the remaining Van Halen members since it was pretty hard to arrange something with this group of people. The singer also believes that Van Halen could have had a more stable career if they had achieved to work collaboratively by putting aside their personal differences.
