Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth was interviewed on Australia’s Today Show Friday morning to promote the band’s April 20 headlining slot at The Stone Music Festival in Sydney.
The visit marks Van Halen’s first concert in the country since 1998 and the first ever with Roth, which he referenced during the session.
“A long time? Is that metric? It’s been freaking forever,” began Roth. “As you may have noticed, it’s a little difficult – its like trying to pry a manhole cover with a tongue depressor – getting this rock band to move past American shores, but we keep threatening and [it] looks like this time we’re going to deliver.”
Roth has been making headlines lately as he does media interviews for the group’s 2013 live shows, which – so far – only includes the Australian date, three June concerts in Japan, and a headlining gig at the Rock USA festival in July in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
The singer has been pushing for the group to tour outside of North America since he rejoined the band in 2007; on Monday, he told SiriusXM’s Opie & Anthony that Van Halen would be touring extensively later this year.
“We’re going to be playing Europe,” Roth said. “Probably 50-60 shows outside of the United States starting at the end of this year and then come back around the US.”
On Tuesday, Irving Azoff – manager of Eddie, Alex and Wolfgang Van Halen – later denied Roth’s remarks, saying that no plans were in place for any further live dates.
Read more about the controversy here.
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