Former Van Halen Sammy Hagar’s band The Circle suffered an injury recently when guitarist Vic Johnson broke his leg after falling offstage, but in the vein of Dave Grohl, continued to play seated. Now legendary former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony has taken a fall onstage, though he seems to be already. Times Online reports:
Hagar smiled throughout his Highmark Stadium show Wednesday, not trying anything wildly imaginative, just delivering a good old-fashioned rock-concert fun, where musicianship, hit songs and an enthusiastic personality were the driving forces.
There was a constant threat of rain, and while some fell, it wasn’t a big deal at all. The biggest drama came when bassist Michael Anthony, working the far corner of the stage, took a tumble. You heard a loud bang, and then he disappeared, leaving Hagar to ponder if his longtime bandmate had fallen off the stage (guitarist Vic Johnson is still wearing a protective boot since breaking a bone in a stage fall a few weeks ago). Maybe these guys need to start working with a net.
Undaunted by Anthony’s temporary absence, the band kept playing, as the former Van Halen bassist emerged a minute or two later with a sheepish look, checking his fingers a few times to make sure they were OK, then jumping back into the fray to provide meaty bass grooves and effective vocal harmonies.
“Right Now” is one of the ‘Van Hagar’ era of Van Halen’s most famous songs, and it is arguably one of Van Halen’s best songs ever, even taking into account the David Lee Roth era. Sammy Hagar now says it took more than six months to write the song.
Hagar told the story in a radio interview, saying Eddie Van Halen had written the piano part, but they couldn’t agree on a vocal melody for the track. He says it was “four months, five months, six months later” when he finally came up with a melody that works. He called the song “one of our most adventurous pieces”.
