Van Halen’s Break

There’s nothing uncommon about tours getting canceled or postponed but, when it comes to why Van Halen dropped their dates past June, everybody wants to weigh in.

The often-contentious dynamic between singer David Lee Roth and the Van Halen brothers has been known since the band started writing music in the late ’70s. With that as backdrop, it’s easy for everyone – from established industry insiders to the most casual of internet commenters – to come to conclusions as to why Van Halen suddenly has its summer free.

“They’re hard people to get along with, those brothers,” second VH frontman Sammy Hagar recently said. “Otherwise, I’d still be in the band.

“I’m surprised it took this long” for the tour to experience major difficulties, he added. “I predicted this was going to happen a lot sooner. I lost money on that bet!”

The sentiment mirrored a source that told Rolling Stone the bandmembers were not getting along. Of course, there’s something rock ’n’ roll about band infighting, even though the days of touring in a van are long gone and they can each afford personal space.

There’s also something rock ’n’ roll with what was soon put out there to counter the speculation – that the band has been rocking so hard it needed to take a break to keep the shows fresh. So said one source on double-secret background, followed by Roth on a video post, noting the band was getting along swimmingly, ready to head overseas and will be rocking to 2013.

“As usual, we bit off way more than we could chew when it came to scheduling,” Roth said. “The band is winning, but our schedule has been sidelined for unnecessary roughness.”

Meanwhile, some sources have noted to the press that business has been uneven.