Michael Anthony wants Van Halen fans to wait a bit before criticizing Joe Satriani.
In a new chat with Ultimate Guitar, the interviewer recalled when Joe received backlash for playing the start of ‘Mean Street’ on The Howard Stern Show. Anthony responded by saying:
“Yeah, I think I remember reading on Instagram somebody had commented like that. And I answered back to them. I said, ‘Well, wait ’till we have a couple of rehearsals under our belt, and check it out then.’ Because that was basically the first time that Joe probably ever played that. He was probably just kind of going off memory.”
Anthony Is Sure Satriani Will Do A Great Job
The bassist went on to defend Satriani for his take on the Van Halen songs:
“Joe’s such a polished guy and pays attention to detail. In Chickenfoot, I don’t think I ever heard him play a wrong note when we played live. So I’m sure once he gets in there and he starts working all that stuff out, it’s going to be… And obviously, he’s not going to play it exactly like Eddie. And we don’t expect him to, because he’s Joe Satriani. Of course, there’s certain lines, certain melodies that he’ll have to play because that’s something that’s trademarked to the song. But I’m looking forward to hearing Joe’s spin on all the Van Halen stuff.”
Another Musician Also Supported Satriani
Anthony, Satriani, Sammy Hagar, and Jason Bonham have an upcoming summer tour where they will perform Van Halen classics. Previously, Nuno Bettencourt also defended Satriani against the backlash after his performance at the Howard Stern Show. He told Jeremy White in an interview:
“The one thing that I learned recently of seeing Joe or anybody — me, Joe, anybody — if we’re gonna take a risk and we’re gonna play an Edward anything, especially on Howard Stern or anything like that, where you know you can’t get it back, good luck. That’s all I’m saying is good luck. Why? Because you’re going now into hallowed ground.”
The guitarist added, explaining why he was mad at Hagar:
“So, look, you’ve gotta give Joe a bit of a pass on this one, because it’s Joe doing Edward. I’m more pissed at Sammy [Hagar] for allowing him to do it. ‘Cause Sammy’s, like, ‘Man, that’s why I got Joe. Nobody can do this stuff.’”
The Best of All Worlds Tour starts on July 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Their last show is scheduled for August 31 at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in St. Louis, Missouri.