“I don't know how he's doing this”: Sammy Hagar can’t believe how good Joe Satriani sounds playing Van Halen songs

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Sammy Hagar has continued to talk up Joe Satriani’s Eddie Van Halen chops, with the wheels of their highly anticipated Best of All Worlds now well-greased.

The former Van Halen and Montrose vocalist has picked up where David Lee Roth’s failed EVH tribute left off in 2022 – which saw Michael Anthony and, strangely, Jason Newsted in talks to play a role – by piecing together a band to perform a Van Halen-centric setlist.

As reported last week, well over two-thirds of the 21-song set performed by Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and Jason Bonham consists of DLR and Hagar-era Van Halen material.

Having previously said that “a million guys” could have stood in Eddie's shoes for the makeshift Van Halen reunion tour, he added that Satch is the only guitarist on the planet who “knows where it's coming from.”

Now, appearing on SiriusXM's Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, Hagar has continued that narrative.

Asked about playing Van Halen with Satriani [transcribed by Blabbermouth], the vocalist said: “Oh, I gotta tell you, Joe is a scholar. I can't tell you how good of a musician Joe Satriani is. He's as good as any musician on the planet.

“He's got his own style. It's a little different than Eddie's. Joe's got his thing. Joe went into the woodshed, and since the announcement [of the tour] he's dialed it in.

“What [Joe has] done, for any of you guitar players out there that wanna come and see what Joe's doing… he has taken the essence of Eddie's guitar solos and parts and he plays the necessary parts to make sure it sounds just like the record, the way it's supposed to.

“The solo on Jump… he plays it like the record. And then he'll go off in the middle somewhere. He'll do a little tiny thing. He'll do little things that say, 'No, this is Joe Satriani playing Eddie,' but he's doing Eddie right. No-one could complain.

“He's hitting all the right notes that make the essence of what Eddie invented. And he puts his own heart and soul into it, which makes it so much different and so much better, in my opinion, than a guy just mimicking him exactly.

“And his tone is different. It's kind of like Eddie's, but I don't know – Joe's just so good. I don't know how he's doing this. I really don't know how he's doing this.”

Satriani’s time in the woodshed extended far, far beyond the remit of simply learning the songs, having previously said he'd never learned to play Eddie's music so his style didn’t seep into his playing.

He linked up with 3rd Power Amps for a custom amp that nailed his favorite Eddie Van Halen guitar tone – from 1986, when the band was transitioning between its DLR and Hagar chapters.

He’s also modded a wealth of guitars, from an EVH Frankenstein – and jokingly said he fears Eddie will haunt him for what he’s done to it – through to several of his Ibanez signature guitars.

Further still, Satriani has revamped his pedalboard as he’s delicately toed the line between sounding like Eddie, and not losing his sense of self in the process.

Funnily, Hagar says the band are playing more Van Halen songs on this tour than the real Van Halen did while he was in the band.

“This setlist is deep, brother,” he says. “We're playing two hours and 20 minutes. We're only playing like five of my songs, one Chickenfoot and one Montrose. The rest is Van Halen. Get out of here, man.

“In Van Halen, we didn't play as many songs as we're playing, 'cause Eddie did a big 20-minute solo, Al [Alex Van Halen] did a 20-minute solo, Mike did a 15-20-minute solo, and I did Eagles Fly by myself. So, you add that together, we did about 12 songs.”

Reflecting on the shows so far, he concludes: “Honest to God, I haven't felt like this about a show since walking off the stage at some of the greatest Van Halen shows in my life.

“I've been having fun, but now I've stepped it up and Mike and I, we look at each other every night walking off stage, and we hug backstage for about 20 minutes. It's just fantastic. The whole band – they came to the party. The people are happy, we're happy, and I just never felt like this walking off stage since Van Halen. I can say that. I can honestly say that.”

Head to Sammy Hagar for details regarding the remaining tour dates.