Joe Satriani says he almost played with Van Halen last year in NY

The virtuoso guitarist Joe Satriani said in an interview with Q104.3 (Transcribed by Blabbermouth) that he almost performed with Van Halen at the New York City “Homecoming” concert in 2021, that marked the return of the city to some normality after quarantine and social distance that had to be done because of the Pandemic. However, the musician said that some problems inside the Van Halen camp prevented the “reunion” to take place during that event. He also said that he met the drummer Alex Van Halen but he doesn’t know what the future holds for this project anymore.

Joe Satriani says he almost played with Van Halen last year in NY

“I get a call out of the blue from Alex Van Halen, who I’d never met until then, and he poses the unimaginable to me, which is to go out with a Van Halen tour, playing guitar. And as I’ve told other people, I heard my voice saying, ‘Yeah, I’ll do that,’ before my brain really thought, ‘Don’t say ‘yes.’ That’s an impossible thing to do. You can’t replace Eddie Van Halen. Nobody can.’ But I had such a good conversation with Alex, and just getting to know him on a few phone calls.”

“He brought Dave into the loop, who I’d met before but I can’t really say I know the man… And we came close to doing that sort of coming out show that New York City was holding [in Central Park] last year. That would have been frightening, ’cause it was only three weeks away. And I was still listening to the Van Halen stuff, but still working on [my latest solo] album. So it wasn’t like we were prepared. There was no bass player. They hadn’t really told me who was gonna play bass. And then there was the whole controversy about who should actually be in the band. And I was on the outside; I’m just some new guy.”

He continued:

“I was the one saying, ‘Who’s playing bass, by the way?’ And, ‘Is Sammy (Hagar) gonna come by?’ And, ‘Did you talk to Mike (Anthony)?’ So, conversations kept going on and on. I met with Alex at one point when I went down to L.A. But I think there’s some internal stuff that needs to get worked out with the family. Then the Van Halen band family, which is kind of big. Again, I feel like I’m not close to the top of that queue. And many times I’ve told Alex, ‘Are you sure? Me?’ ‘Cause I don’t perform like Eddie. I’m just a superfan. And I can certainly play the stuff. But Eddie was such an original — just the way he ran around on stage and sang and played. It’s amazing,” Joe Satriani said.

Recently Eddie Trunk, the famous radio host, who also famously fronted the VH1’s “That Metal Show”, revealed that a reliable source told him that the classic Van Halen vocalist David Lee Roth is the one who is holding up the reunion of Van Halen.