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STEVE VAI Says Reunion Of DAVID LEE ROTH's 'Eat 'Em And Smile' Lineup Is 'On The Radar'

October 26, 2016

Guitar legend Steve Vai has confirmed that there are still tentative plans for VAN HALEN singer David Lee Roth and the band for his debut solo album, "Eat 'Em And Smile", to reunite following the cancelation of their November 2015 reunion attempt at the Lucky Strike Live in Hollywood.

Roth's "Eat 'Em And Smile" reunion at the Lucky Strike Live was called off at the last minute by the fire marshal. The show would have marked the first time in 30 years that Roth joined bassist Billy Sheehan, Vai, drummer Greg Bissonette (RINGO STARR & HIS ALL-STARR BAND),and keyboardist Brett Tuggle to perform some of the hits from the classic LP. Also scheduled to join the band on stage was STEEL PANTHER vocalist Ralph Saenz (a.k.a. Michael Starr).

Speaking to Ultimate Classic Rock, Vai stated about the Lucky Strike Live near-performance: "When we got there, they had crammed 1,700 people in a 350-seater, and the line was literally three or four people thick all the way down [the street] and around the block. I've never seen anything like it. And then Dave got out of the car, and people just went apeshit."

According to Vai, plans for the reunion came together casually — "a very innocent kind of thing" involving an open-mic night. "Billy was telling me about it, and he said, 'What if we just showed up and played a few songs?' Like 'Shyboy' and 'Yankee Rose', you don't need to rehearse those," he explained. "So I said, 'Yeah, let's do that.' And then I thought maybe Dave would be interested. So I just floated it out there and he was. We didn't do a proper rehearsal, but Dave came over to my house before we went there, and we reviewed it all and we just kind of went over it so that there was a comfort level."

While the fans were disappointed that the show was called off, there is still hope the "Eat 'Em And Smile" might reunite at a later date.

"We tasted a little bit of the forbidden fruit there," Vai said. "We all decided that it would be nice, why not? It was a great era. It was a great record, we were a great band. So it's on the radar. It's just a matter of getting everybody's schedules to align. That's the tough part."

"Eat 'Em And Smile" was the first of two Roth albums to feature the duo of Vai and Sheehan on guitar and bass.

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