Skid Row Received Free Amps and Mouth Kisses on Van Halen Tour

Skid Row guitarist Dave “The Snake” Sabo fondly recalled the V.I.P. therapy his band obtained when opening for Van Halen in 1995 — together with a very affectionate and beneficiant Eddie Van Halen.

“They treated us so great,” Sabo lately advised radio host Trevor Joe Lennon. “I would see Eddie every day. I made sure — I wanted to see the sound check every day, ’cause I’m just such a fanboy. And I wanted to be around him and his playing as much as I could while we were out on the road. And I used to walk onstage right before his sound check, and he’d walk over to me and we’d hug each other, and he’d give me a kiss on the lips and ask me how I’m doing. And he was just such a sweetheart.”

Sabo mentioned he and fellow Skid Row guitarist Scotti Hill additionally obtained unimaginable presents from Van Halen on that tour. “We were talking about his amps, and at the time he was working with Peavey and doing the 5150 amplifiers through Peavey and doing the Wolfgang guitars through Peavey as well,” he defined. “And I’m like, ‘Those amps are just incredible.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, really? OK, cool.’

“Well, reduce to a few days later, we’re enjoying in Camden, New Jersey at an amphitheater, and we have been all nonetheless dwelling in Jersey presently,” he continued. “And so we drove our personal vehicles down there. It was simply actually cool to have the ability to pull up in our personal autos, and a bunch of household and mates have been there. And so we’re coming within the again space and he sees Scotti and me. He goes, ‘Hey, hey, guys, come right here. I acquired one thing for you. And he had two of the 5150 combos there ready for us as presents. And I used to be like, ‘You’ve acquired to be kidding me, man. Eddie Van Halen is giving us his signature amplifier. It’s simply loopy.’ And so my coronary heart will all the time have a particular place [for Eddie].”

While Sabo said he also “spent a while” with Sammy Hagar and Alex Van Halen, he especially hit it off with Michael Anthony. “Behind his amp line, he would have a bar arrange again there known as Mad Anthony’s Cafe,” he recalled. “And we might return there and do pictures with him in the course of the present, of Jack Daniel’s and stuff. And it was simply a variety of enjoyable. And I might go {golfing} with him every so often. To at the present time, once more, he is simply right down to earth and humble and only a sweetheart of a man. So, my recollections are nothing however full of admiration and respect and gratitude.”

READ MORE: Skid Row Guitarist Says Sebastian Bach Reunion Could Be ‘Toxic’

Skid Row Releases Live Album Amid Search for New Singer

Skid Row recently released their first official live album and concert film, Live in London. Filmed at the O2 Forum Kentish Town on Oct. 24, 2022, Live in London captures Skid Row on the heels of their latest studio album, The Gang’s All Here, which came out earlier that month. The album features singer Erik Gronwall, who sang on The Gang’s All Here and amicably left the group earlier this year.

Since then, Skid Row has played a handful of shows with Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale on lead vocals and is still searching for a proper replacement. “We are taking a look at some folks. We’ve acquired a pleasant checklist of folks that we’re gonna sit down with,” Hill recently said. “Lots of people are getting in contact with us and a few of them are actually good. Some of them aren’t actually good. But with YouTube and Instagram and such, you’ll be able to exit and discover folks fairly simply. It wasn’t just like the outdated days the place you needed to put an advert in each music paper within the nation and phrase of mouth and all that stuff, pre-internet. It’s a lot simpler now.”