Great tribute to Eddie . . . R.I.P.!!

The new Van Halen song is pretty average. The video is even worse as David Lee Roth looks silly as an old rocker.

It’s not quite geezer rock, but Van Halen with original front man David Lee Roth is definitely a blast from the past. But in today’s fragmented music scene, the older legends still command plenty of attention as they can attract both older fans and young kids to sell out arenas and stadiums. That’s even more true overseas.

We don’t know all their plans for 2012, but it looks like Van Halen is gearing up for a big year that will feature a new album along with a monster tour. According to Rolling Stone they are planning a sneak peak this week:

Journalists across New York have been invited to a Van Halen concert at the Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village this Thursday. Though nothing is official, word is the band are going to perform a 45-minute set. The group hasn’t played in public since the end of their 2007/’08 reunion tour with original frontman David Lee Roth, though they have been rehearsing for their upcoming world tour at the Roxy in Los Angeles for the past few months. A new album is in the works, and a new image released by the band has the date 2.7.12 on it. A new video and single is expected to hit sometime this month. The tour goes on sale January 10th.

Van Halen will definitely be one of the touring acts that gets a lot of buzz in 2012 and you can get concert tickets here and see who will be touring. Roger Waters is another classic rocker who will be jamming venues in 2012. Hopefully it will be a great year for concert fans.

It’s almost a year away, but that didn’t stop the folks at Rolling Stone from throwing out the names of a few potential acts to follow in Bruce Springsteen’s footsteps.

It’s a tall order to fill: applicants must be legendary but still active, rocking but not raucous, and as big as the game itself. So who’s left? Oddsmakers are already lining up favorites for next year’s Lombardi Trophy (The Patriots? Really? No love for your new champs, the Pittsburgh Steelers? Your loss, Vegas.), so we thought we’d set the odds for next year’s halftime show. The NFL could go country (Tim McGraw? Taylor Swift?) or pop (Kelly Clarkson will soon return to us), but you have to presume they’ll stick with what works — big rock from big names. We have, of course, completely pulled these names and numbers out of thin air, plus gambling’s illegal just about everywhere, so keep your money in your wallet.

The Who
Pros: Legendary band with a sound louder than the game itself.
Cons: None. They’re the Who.
Odds: 3/2

In addition to the magazine’s suggestions — The Who (solid), Bon Jovi (solid), AC/DC (too hard), John Mellencamp (solid), Metallica (too hard), Van Halen (maybe), Nickelback (why?), Green Day (big enough profile?), Foo Fighters (see Green Day), Jay-Z (didn’t he retire?) — I’ll throw a few out there as well: Bob Seger, Neil Diamond, Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton, the Black Crowes, the Eagles and the Steve Miller Band.

Who do you think should provide the halftime entertainment next year?

It used to be that “55” was the number most associated with Sammy Hagar, but wrap your head around this figure: the Red Rocker is now 61 years old. Not that it’s stopped him from rocking and / or rolling, you understand. Hagar has just released a new album, Cosmic Universal Fashion, and he’s making the press rounds to promote it, which is how Bullz-Eye came to speak with him.

Bullz-Eye asked Hagar about life as an elder statesman of rock, his thoughts about Van Halen, and playing in a new band with Chad Smith and Joe Satriani, and he offered up stories of being denied the right to change the lyrics to a Beastie Boys song, of how he screams to prepare for shows, and how he once tried and failed to win over an audience when opening for KISS.

“The worst experience I ever had was opening for Kiss. For some reason, it just didn’t work. I got booed off the damn stage. I had to bust my guitar up and say ‘fuck you’ to people and I left…and it was Madison Square Garden! But it was their first hometown gig after they made it ,and they came back and played Madison Square Garden for four nights for the first time. And I was on the bill and I played first, and I said to the guys, ‘Bye-bye! You guys can do this on your own; you don’t need me as a whipping boy.’”

Check out the chat here, or by clicking on the below image: