 Gawd damn... HooooOOOOOoooolllllyyyyyyy dog shit!! To say that a Legendary Rock God died today is the understatement of all time. Eddie Van Halen... wow. It was probably one of the worst kept secrets in Music at this point (He had been flying to Germany for cancer treatment for years now), and David Lee Roth kind-of let the cat out of the bag about what was going on with Eddie's health while promoting his shitty residence here in Vegas, but still, when looking at a rockstars mortality in black and white on a computer screen, it all just makes you think about the precious gift of Life that we all take for granted day in and day out. Happy or sad, rich or poor, when it's your time to go it's your time to go, and there ain't nothing anybody on this big blue marble spinning around the sun can do about that. Death and Taxes. Both are inevitable. Man, what a loss.
Many is the hour I spent blitzed out of my skull hanging out on the sidewalk outside of the Ticketron office next to the Sears at the Stonewood Mall in Downey all night long, waiting along with an equally inebriated mob of buffoons for the chance to buy tickets to what was always the concert of the year, the local Van Halen gig. That was the only Ticketron office in the area that allowed overnight line ups before tickets went on sale at 10 am the next day. Oh the stories I could tell about those particular nights! 😆 Sometimes I got to see Van Halen twice in one year (I was there when they parachuted into Anaheim Stadium in '78!!) but one thing's for sure, Van Halen concerts were LIT! One of the best live bands to ever tour the Earth. Whether from the nosebleed seats to the 3rd row on the floor, it was always a good fucking time watching the band ripping shit up for me. I'm not even a guitar guy per se, but I loved watching Eddie Van Halen play live in concert, in his element, living out his dream, all while making the most glorious sounding noises from pieces of hacked up and chopped up wood and strings and jerry rigged electronics, all highlighted and marked up with spray paint and tape, I mean, that has to be a blessing of some sorts, right? LOL I mean, I kind of knew I was in a 'presence of greatness' thing, watching my generations Jimi Hendrix, so to hear of his passing, officially, just hit a raw nerve. What a tragedy. What a loss. I only saw the guy offstage once, while hanging out in front of the Coconut Teaszer club in Hollywood waiting to get into a Butt Trumpet gig. The people in line were yelling at him as he drove by in a sick red Lamborghini, telling him to come in and check out the gig. He made a monster of an illegal u turn and pulled up alongside the sidewalk and asked who was playing and when he heard the name "Butt Trumpet" he started laughing, shaking his head 'no' and speeding off. He seemed like such a normal guy, not rockstarish at all, even though he was sitting in a car that was worth more than my parents house! My condolences to his family and friends and everyone that knew him. The world is a much sadder place without him. This fucking sucks. Call me sentimental but I liked the last Van Halen album. I was looking forward to hearing more new music from the band, and now the only way that's gonna happen is by flogging a dead horse and scraping the bottom of the barrel for detritus. Lame. Today is one for the history books. Crank that shit up loud and say the magic words that the brothers in Pantera used to say when getting their party on: Eddie Van Halen!!! This date will forever be etched in time and celebrated over the years, much like the birth of Jesus Christ or the day that Kennedy was assassinated by his own government. The guy lived the life of a thousand men, and existence here on Earth just got a little less interesting and a lot less fun that's for sure. RIP Eddie Van Halen. Gawd knows you earned it and deserve it. Cheers! 🍻
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