In a recent interview with AL.com, Jason Isbell talked about the invitation he got to open for Eddie Van Halen at their Nashville show and disclosed his unfulfilled last request regarding the late Van Halen.
The singer recalled having the chance to perform with Van Halen and said:
“We [Isbell and his 400 Unit band] were supposed to open at least the Nashville show and maybe more than that, I don’t know. But they just asked me if it was something I wanted to do, and of course, my agent and my manager knew that was something I would want to do.”
The Excitement And Disappointment
He continued, expressing his emotions at the moment:
“So I was very, very excited. And then, you know, Eddie got sick, and that was that. And that’s really all that I ever knew about it.”
Jason concluded his words:
“But yeah, that was a huge moment for me to be invited to do that, and we were extremely excited. And it didn’t happen, but yeah, it would have been nice.”
The ‘Kitchen Sink’ Tour Concept
Isbell referred to a Van Halen tour called “Kitchen Sink,” which included David Lee Roth, former bassist Michael Anthony, and vocalists Sammy Hagar and Gary Cherone. The tour was canceled before it was formally announced in 2019 since Eddie’s health started to deteriorate at the beginning of the summer season.
In an interview with Howard Stern Show in 2020, Wolfgang Van Halen reaffirmed that the tour will happen. Since 2015, he has talked about the prospect of getting back together with his father. He offered to have Mike return and open for them. After giving it some thought, Eddie agreed to play with him. Noted by Wolf:
“But as time went on, he [Eddie Van Halen] warmed up to the idea – I got him excited about it. And at a certain point, it turned into what we joked was the ‘kitchen-sink’ tour. ’Cos after he was OK with that arrangement, it was like, ‘F*ck, let’s get Dave and Hagar, and even Cherone. Let’s just do a giant, f*ckin’ awesome thing.'”
Sammy Hagar also stated in a 2020 interview with Eddie Trunk of SiriusXM that he was aware of the possible reunion and thought it will happen even though no one had confirmed it. He said he was hesitant to perform alongside David Lee Roth since he felt Roth to be challenging to work with. In spite of this, he was looking forward to it because it would have fulfilled a goal of his.