Black Keys Drummer Blasts Van Halen for Replacing Michael Anthony
Looks like not everybody had as much fun attending Van Halen's current tour as we did. Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney said he didn't enjoy himself "at all" when he attended one of the legendary group's shows, and went on to question why Van Halen were performing without their original bassist.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, the alt-rock star explained, "I just saw Van Halen without Michael Anthony. I'm not a very big Van Halen fan but it was such a f---ing bummer. Like what the f--- is the point? I mean, sure, Eddie Van Halen's son (Wolfgang) is a pretty good bass player and he's a 20-year-old kid and that's cool, but like, what the f--- is that? That's f---ing retarded. If someone is able to be in a band for 30 years and then people are okay with replacing him with a 17-year-old, they're obviously motherf------ a--holes, right?"
In his defense, Eddie Van Halen has said publicly in recent interviews that without his son's energy and organization, there would be no version of Van Halen at all right now. The band re-emerged from a nearly-decade long absence with Wolfgang taking Anthony's place about five years ago, and has gone on to deliver two well-received tours and a critically acclaimed new studio album, 'A Different Kind of Truth.' Anthony is currently a member of hard rock supergroup Chickenfoot.
Carney went on to say that while he likes some of Van Halen's older music, he finds much of their work to be "exceptionally awful." It's not the first time in recent months the Black Keys have taken public shots at one of their older peers, with guitarist / singer Dan Auerbach quoted in another Rolling Stone story mocking Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro: 'You're doing it wrong!"
To which we can only say, despite what former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar sings, there's more than one way to rock, fellas.