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September 1, 2009
A Little Bit of Chickenfoot And A Little Bit of Van Halen
Gibson, maker of some of the most-recognized guitars in the world of rock, recently interviewed Chickenfoot frontman Sammy Hagar. In addition to the guitar talk that would be expected, Hagar was asked some questions about his thoughts in the differences between his experience with Van Halen and his experience with Chickenfoot.
Hagar has gained himself a reputation as someone who does not hold back when it comes to his opinions, and this interview was no different. Regarding his motivation to start up a new band, the most influential factor seems to be that he wanted to “to play with the best players in the business.” He then goes on to refer to each other individual member of Chickenfoot as “the best” at what they do.
Those kinds of comments are somewhat reminiscent of his infamous statement made during the lead up to the group’s public debut when he said they could “rival Zep.” A statement Hagar later blamed on the consumption of a little to much tequila.
Everyone has their preference, but referring to to his band mates as “the best” comes across more like bravado and less like reality. Has Hagar never heard of Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio, Geddy Lee, Jack Bruce or Stevie Ray Vaughan? That’s partly a rhetorical question since he actually mentions Jack Bruce and Stevie Ray Vaughan during the interview.
No Hagar interview would be complete without a few words about Eddie Van Halen, whom Hagar refers to as slow compared to guitarist Joe Satriani when it comes to writing. Although he regards both Satriani and Van Halen as “phenomenal” players, in the end he says he thinks Satriani comes out on top when it comes to “a straight-up player, who can play anything, and plays perfect every time.”
You can read part one of the interview at the Gibson website.
Van Halen is in the news again for reasons that may not please them very much – to say nothing of their fans. According to the Wall Street Journal, the group became involved in Ticketmaster’s efforts during 2007 to increase their profits by teaming up with ticket brokers (also known as “scalpers”) . It was also reported to be an effort by Ticketmaster to thwart concert prompter Live Nation’s plans to enter the ticket business.
Ticketmaster’s CEO, Irving Azoff, also happened to be managing Van Halen, which created an opportunity for Ticketmaster to test their new strategy. During the fall of 2007, as many as 500 of the best seats for 20 Van Halen shows were not offered on the Ticketmaster system and were passed on to the brokers for sale to the public.
The brokers were able to keep 30% of the inflated price of the tickets they were allotted while the remaining 70% was shared between Ticketmaster, Van Halen, and their organization. The band reportedly netted at least an extra $1 million as a result. There was nobody available for comment from the Van Halen camp.
Since then Ticketmaster has decided they didn’t care to share a bed with the brokers and have decided to go to war against them instead, using new software that it hopes will make life difficult for them by blocking automated processes that some brokers use to obtain tickets in the highly competitive online grab for tickets the second they are made available for sale.
July 15, 2009
Strong Start For ‘Supergroup’ Chickenfoot
Things appear to be going well for Chickenfoot. Despite some early boasting on the part of frontman Sammy Hagar, the group seems to be shying away from referring to themselves as a “supergroup.” Surely, some fans disagree, and just as certain, there are those that consider the new group anything but “super.”
Like so many other things, whether or not Chickenfoot is a good band is a matter of opinion. Just about every rock fan has his or her own ideas regarding topics such as “best rock band in the world” and the like. There’s no question that the guys in Chickenfoot can play. Whether the stuff they play is good and whether or not they have good chemistry will be decided by those that decide to take a listen.
Speaking of which, I wonder if Eddie Van Halen has had a chance to hear the group yet. Last we heard from EVH was they he doesn’t listen to anything, which seems a little strange, but I suppose you never know.
Opinions aside, the statistics indicate that there may be a bright future for Chickenfoot. Their debut album sits at number 21 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, which isn’t too bad. They are even stronger on the Billboard Indie Albums chart, occupying the number 2 position.
The group is a little over two weeks away from launching their North American tour which they will start with a show at Citadel Hill in Halifax, Nova Scotia. From there they will do one more show in Canada at The Sound Academy in Toronto before heading south for a bunch of dates in the U.S. The tour will wrap on September 27th at The Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.
The group’s first tour of smaller venues was reported to have sold out quickly, so it will be interesting to see if this group can fill the seats at some larger venues.
June 19, 2009
Michael Anthony Talks Chickenfoot And Van Halen
Could any interview with any member of the new “supergroup” Chickenfoot be complete without some explanation regarding that crazy name? When the group’s bassist, Michael Anthony, talked with Detroit radio station WRIF recently, that was the first issue that came up, and much to everyone’s surprise, there actually is some logic behind the name choice.
Anthony admits that nobody seems to care for the name, but as he rightly points out, once you hear it you know who it is. It turns out the name was originally chosen when Anthony, Sammy Hagar and Chad Smith were jamming down at Hagar’s club. Since there were three of them, and a chicken’s foot has three prominent toes, the guys –- likely in the midst of a tequila-fueled evening – gave birth to the name that everyone seems to hate.
Anthony admits that they did spend some time researching other names and getting a bit frustrated when they plugged various selections into Google and discovered that another band was already using the name. When Google informed them that there were no results for any bands using the name "Chickenfoot,” Anthony goes ahead and admits that they “were just stupid enough to take it.”
Anthony also explains that the logo that they came up with for the band actually makes sense for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it kind of looks like a chicken foot and secondly, the peace sign, which closely resembles the logo, was referred to as “the footprint of the great American chicken” by some U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam era.
So, it appears that there is a little bit of history behind the choice of the name, although Anthony admits it was recognized only after the name had been chosen.
These days we also expect to hear something about the recent war of words that has been going on between Michael Anthony and Eddie Van Halen, and this interview did not disappoint. Anthony maintains that he never quit the band, despite Van Halen’s recent comments to Rolling Stone that he did. Don’t expect a lot of vitriol and insults directed towards Eddie however. Anthony doesn’t seem like that kind of guy and sounds like he would just like to move on and stop rehashing the past drama of his years with Van Halen.
Although he does not come right out and say it, Anthony does hint that life in Van Halen was a bit like living under a dictatorship. He seems quite happy with the way things work in his new band, and describes his later years in Van Halen as a more “choked,” indicating that he didn’t have the creative input that he may have liked and was more-or-less told what to play.
According to Anthony, the creative process at work inside Chickenfoot is much more democratic and each member is free to run with his own ideas and freely inject as much creative input as he wants.
There’s a lot more to listen to in this interview, including a little chat that the jocks have after they get off the line with Michael Anthony where they basically side with Anthony over the whole Van Halen thing. Going on my own gut feeling regarding that issue, I’d say that I have to agree with them.
Check out the full audio interview at WRIF.
June 8, 2009
Chickenfoot Makes Network Television Debut
Friday night gave fans their first glimpse of the new supergroup Chickenfoot performing on national TV. The group performed “Oh Yeah” from their just-released debut album on NBC’s Tonight Show, which is now hosted by Conan O’Brien following the departure of Jay Leno from the program the previous week.
Despite the fact that the word “supergroup” has been thrown around quite liberally where this group is concerned, apparently frontman Sammy Hagar would prefer it if that were not the case. This, according to a recent piece in the Winnipeg Sun, seems like quite a reversal from what Hagar said some months back when he suggested that his new group might be comparable to Led Zeppelin. Hagar has since revised that statement, and claimed his original statement was made while under the influence of a little too much Cabo Wabo tequila at the time.
“We’re kind of like the underdogs of the supergroups,” Hagar said. “Joe’s not the most famous name out there. Michael Anthony got thrown out of Van Halen. I’ve done everything. Chad is in the Peppers. But when you think of the Peppers, you think of Anthony and Flea — so we’re kind of like the backbone of all these bands and a little under the radar. I love it because I don’t like the word ’supergroup’. I don’t like the pressure of it.”
So much for the supergroup.
Currently the group is in the middle of a tour which is focused on getting them in front of small audiences in more intimate venues. Hagar does not think the group, or their potential fans, are ready for them to start playing in front of arena-sized crowds just yet, and does not think it’s a good idea to introduce new material to such large live audiences. Or maybe they just want to see if they can pack a few clubs before they go out on a limb and try filling an arena.
Hagar admits that he’s happy to see that fans are not showing up with Van Halen T-shirts, but says that those are the fans that should be coming out to see them. “This is the best thing they can have is go see a Chickenfoot show or buy a Chickenfoot record because that is what they’ve been waiting for from Van Halen. It is Van Halen without Ed and Al,” Hagar says.
Hagar is clearly quite high on this new union and sounds no less confident than he did since he first started talking about it. Calling their experience in the studio “magic,” I guess it will ultimately be up to the fans to decide. The numbers will tell the story on whether Hagar should go back to using the word supergroup and Chickenfoot in the same sentence.
Check out all of Hagar’s comments in the Winnipeg Sun.
May 18, 2009
Vancouver Critic Not Impressed With Chickenfoot Show
The new supergroup Chickenfoot has hit the road to showcase material from their forthcoming CD, and at least one music critic was not at all impressed with the show at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom. Steve Newton, writing for Straight.com, was particularly disappointed with Sammy Hagar’s performance, and was not particularly impressed with former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony either.
I don’t normally headline a music critic’s opinion here, since the whole professional critic thing is of questionable value if you ask me. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” an old adage that holds true for just about everything. 
While one rock fan may think the Rolling Stones are the greatest rock band in the world, another may think they suck. We all have our own opinions and they are neither right or wrong. The same rule applies to critics – music or otherwise.
What made this review interesting is that it was the first one I have seen for Chickenfoot. In addition, there were a few readers who came to the group’s defense without holding too much back. Overall, it appears that the Chickenfoot defenders outnumbered those who agreed with Newton.
Newton’s main problems with Chickenfoot seem centered around Sammy Hagar’s vocals, suggesting that Hagar “grab himself a bottle of that premium tequila he so proudly promotes and head off into the Cabo sunset.”
Newton says he was a Hagar fan during his time with Montrose and even liked some of the material he did with Van Halen, but apparently feels it is time for the 61-year-old to put down the microphone for good.
There was high praise for guitarist Joe Satriani, who, in this case is considered too accomplished to be on stage with the aging Hagar and the “lowly” Michael Anthony. Certainly something that dedicated old school Van Halen fans may take issue with. Newton predicts that Satriani will tire of wasting his talent on Chickenfoot and leave the group so he can “go back to being an adventurous axeman of the highest order…”
There’s been a good bit of hype surrounding the birth of this new group, and people are not forgetting Hagar’s comments a while back about rivaling Led Zeppelin, although he did back away from that statement later, saying he had been tipping the bottle before making that statement and admitting it was “stupid” thing to say.
As Chickenfoot continues on their tour, we will surely be hearing from other critics, and it will be interesting to see how their take on the new group compares to Newton’s.
You can read Steve Newton’s review at Straight.com.
