Dear Eddie,
As someone who has lived just up the street from you for close to a decade, we’ve crossed paths numerous times and you’ve never been less than completely friendly and outgoing. The fact that you offered me a shitload of unused acoustic studio foam and soundproofing some years back was a kind gesture that took me quite by surprise.
So, it is with heavy heart that I write this letter.
Dude, get Michael Anthony back in the band. To ostracize him and prevent him from being a part of the band during this reunion with David Lee Roth is just about as wrong a thing as you can do to someone who has spent their entire adult life being the bass player for Van Halen. Sure, heÁ¢€â„¢s many other things in addition to this, but part of being Van HalenÁ¢€â„¢s bass player has been being there when the band needed him.
How many times has he failed to be there for Van Halen?
None?
ThatÁ¢€â„¢s more than one could say about you, Ed. With the groundwork already laid for a summer Á¢€â„¢07 tour, it was you who ended up being the no-show. Turns out your shit wasnÁ¢€â„¢t as together as it needed to be and a lot of peopleÁ¢€â„¢s lives got put on-hold. Of course, one could also say the last ten years have been a waiting game for you to get your shit in order. The band has suffered and, most important of all, the fans have suffered.
Anyone who paid money for Van Halen 3 will attest to this.
Sure, you had cancer. That can take a lot out of you, can dominate your life in ways nobody else can imagine. I had cancer, too, Ed. I also never missed a day of work the whole time. Still, I understand youÁ¢€â„¢ve been through a lot. I understand the thinking that nobody else gets you, nobody else can understand, and that whole trip. I went through it and I tried getting away with it, but the people close to me did one of two things; they either walked away, or they called me on my bullshit.
IÁ¢€â„¢m calling you on your bullshit, Ed, because it doesnÁ¢€â„¢t look to me like anyone else has the guts. Come on, Ed. What on earth could Michael Anthony have possibly done – short of tea-bagging Valerie right in front of you – to be deserving of complete banishment from the Van Halen camp?
The fans want to know. The fans deserve to know. Even more important than that, though, Michael Anthony deserves to be forgiven (if the situation warrants it) and welcomed back. I can tell you that I have looked forward to a Van Halen tour with Roth for years, but the machinations resulting in AnthonyÁ¢€â„¢s continued absence are such to keep me from buying tickets.
You can still make it right, Ed.
Seriously,
Darren
Comments