Wolfgang Van Halen has recalled the spectacular memory that took place at a Tool concert last October, in which a Tool fan failed to recognise that Eddie Van Halen, was, well, Eddie Van Halen.
The late rocker made a rare public appearance at a Tool concert in Los Angeles last year. After the concert finished, an eager Tool fan asked Eddie if he could capture a photo of him with the stage in the background.
Wolfgang slyly captured the whole debacle as it unfolded, taking to Instagram to share a photo of the wholesome faux pas.
“A guy asked my dad if he could take a picture of him with the stage behind him,” Wolfgang wrote, “having no idea who he just asked, and that was my favorite moment from the Tool show last night.”
View this post on InstagramLove Music?
Get the latest news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox.
During a recent appearance on The Eddie Trunk Podcast, Wolfgang shared a heartwarming anecdote, delving into the incident.
“It was so funny, man. While I was at a Tool show with my dad and my uncle Patrick [Bertinelli], my mom’s brother – and it was an amazing concert, first of all,” he recalled.
“It was very fun to bring dad to that so he could really see the music I really, really like. And it resonated with him, in a way, because the first thing he said was like, ‘Fuck, that bass player, man, that was the shit!’
“And I was like, ‘Yeah, Justin Chancellor is one of my favorite bass players of all time.’ It was so great for dad to be like, ‘Fuck yeah!’ about that.
“But we were waiting after the show, just kind of standing there because their tour manager was the same as ours, we were gonna go back – and we ended up meeting the guys.
“And while we were waiting, some kid walked up to dad, and I was like, ‘Oh…’ He’s been recognized a couple of times that night, I thought it was just some guy who’d take pictures with him.
“But instead, he handed him his phone – ‘Here, I’m gonna go over here, can you get the picture?’ And I think a lot of people misunderstood my tweet to a certain extent – because it wasn’t like, ‘How dare you not recognize Eddie Van Halen?!’
“Dad just looked like a dad, you know? People’s imagination of Eddie Van Halen is, like, long, flowing hair, so of course, you wouldn’t recognize him. He [the fan] was a young dude.
“But it was just so funny to be like, ‘Wow, if he knew who he just asked to take a picture of just him and the stage, he would’ve probably regretted not saying, ‘Hey, can you get in that picture too?’.’
“And so the second that happened, my uncle Patrick and I were like, ‘Oh my god!’ And that picture I took was the one I posted, and it blew up – so funny.”
Eddie Van Halen passed away on October 6th following a lengthy battle with lung cancer. He was 65.
Following his death, Wolfgang Van Halen unveiled his debut solo single, ‘Distance’. The track is a homage to his father and was penned in the throes of Eddie’s cancer battle.
“I never intended ‘Distance’ to be the very first piece of music people would hear from me, but I also thought my father would be here to celebrate its release. This is for him. I love and miss you, Pop,” Wolfgang shared in a statement at the time.
Check out ‘Distance’ by Wolfgang Van Halen:
