Rumor: Van Halen to Play Yankee Stadium in 2019??
There is a whole, very deep world of Van Halen message boards and online communities that are rife with constant rumors, gossip on band in-fighting, fan speculation, etc. etc.
I am not a part of that, but I bring it up because there is clearly some backstory here to which I am not privy judging by the way Diamond Dave talks in a new interview with Vulture about a rumored Van Halen show at Yankee Stadium next summer. And not only that, but the world’s greatest Bar Mitzvah band leader alludes that other huge bands could be involved as well. Here’s how the bizarre exchange went down:
Speaking of your time in Japan — about five years ago, you starred in a mysterious short film called “Tokyo Story” in which you murder three poker players. What was the backstory on that?
“It is the test run for a parallel project that I’ve been working on. Those characters from the short are in a script that has now been worked into a graphic novel. And it is by our accounting the world’s first graphic novel with a full soundtrack. I’ve been working on it for four years. I called Colin Smith, who’s written, I don’t know, 15 books on how to use Adobe Photoshop. He’s been over at my shop three times a week. Working with stellar talents is part of the luxury of being Diamond Dave. I’m smart enough to know these folks, so how much smarter do I need to be? And it’s art-centric. We don’t think about the price. Because, you know, next time my rock band will be playing the same place that the Yankees play. Okay?”
Are you telling me that Van Halen will play Yankee Stadium next summer? You promised four New York copy editors free tickets today.
“Yeah, but I can’t … If I say something on tape here and everybody goes, “Oh, this leaked…” But, the band will be — I can’t say.”
Come on.
“Well, I don’t know how far this privacy actually goes. But the band is solvent. And I can say that I contacted colleagues about being part of the show — Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Jason Aldean, the Foo Fighters, Church, and Stapleton. And they all said that, if everything happens, they would certainly be involved.”
So this would be a festival?
“No, all I talked about was a phone call.”
Wait, WHAT? It’s not a festival, but it’s actually a phone call in which all of those specifically named bands will be involved? Did Dave just spill the beans and then try to backtrack? I love the line about Van Halen being “solvent;” no term could more accurately sum up the bandmembers’ current relationships with one another — business only.
I, for one, would absolutely be interested in seeing Van Halen at Yankee Stadium. Fucking A right. Their 2008-ish reunion tour was PHENOMENAL, and the time I saw them again a few years later slightly less special. But in a stadium, outdoors, under the lights? Fuck yeah, count me in, even without all those other bands.
All of this could, of course, amount to absolutely nothing. Rumors come and rumors go.
Stay tuned.
[via Metal Insider]
