Skid Row Received Free Amps and Mouth Kisses on Van Halen Tour

Skid Row guitarist Dave “The Snake” Sabo fondly recalled the V.I.P. treatment his band received when opening for Van Halen in 1995 — including a particularly affectionate and generous Eddie Van Halen.

“They treated us so great,” Sabo recently told radio host Trevor Joe Lennon. “I would see Eddie every day. I made sure — I wanted to see the sound check every day, ’cause I’m just such a fanboy. And I wanted to be around him and his playing as much as I could while we were out on the road. And I used to walk onstage right before his sound check, and he’d walk over to me and we’d hug each other, and he’d give me a kiss on the lips and ask me how I’m doing. And he was just such a sweetheart.”

Sabo said he and fellow Skid Row guitarist Scotti Hill also received incredible gifts from Van Halen on that tour. “We were talking about his amps, and at the time he was working with Peavey and doing the 5150 amplifiers through Peavey and doing the Wolfgang guitars through Peavey as well,” he explained. “And I’m like, ‘Those amps are just incredible.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, really? OK, cool.’

“Well, cut to a couple of days later, we’re playing in Camden, New Jersey at an amphitheater, and we were all still living in Jersey at this time,” he continued. “And so we drove our own cars down there. It was just really cool to be able to pull up in our own vehicles, and a bunch of family and friends were there. And so we’re coming in the back area and he sees Scotti and me. He goes, ‘Hey, hey, guys, come here. I got something for you. And he had two of the 5150 combos there waiting for us as gifts. And I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me, man. Eddie Van Halen is giving us his signature amplifier. It’s just crazy.’ And so my heart will always have a special place [for Eddie].”

While Sabo said he also “spent some time” with Sammy Hagar and Alex Van Halen, he especially hit it off with Michael Anthony. “Behind his amp line, he would have a bar set up back there called Mad Anthony’s Cafe,” he recalled. “And we would go back there and do shots with him during the show, of Jack Daniel’s and stuff. And it was just a lot of fun. And I would go golfing with him once in a while. To this day, again, he’s just down to earth and humble and just a sweetheart of a guy. So, my memories are nothing but filled with admiration and respect and gratitude.”

READ MORE: Skid Row Guitarist Says Sebastian Bach Reunion Could Be ‘Toxic’

Skid Row Releases Live Album Amid Search for New Singer

Skid Row recently released their first official live album and concert film, Live in London. Filmed at the O2 Forum Kentish Town on Oct. 24, 2022, Live in London captures Skid Row on the heels of their latest studio album, The Gang’s All Here, which came out earlier that month. The album features singer Erik Gronwall, who sang on The Gang’s All Here and amicably left the group earlier this year.

Since then, Skid Row has played a handful of shows with Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale on lead vocals and is still searching for a proper replacement. “We are looking at some people. We’ve got a nice list of people that we’re gonna sit down with,” Hill recently said. “A lot of people are getting in touch with us and some of them are really good. Some of them are not really good. But with YouTube and Instagram and such, you can go out and find people quite easily. It wasn’t like the old days where you had to put an ad in every music paper in the country and word of mouth and all that stuff, pre-internet. It’s much easier now.”