Michael Anthony talks…

http://www.news-herald.com/arts-and-entertainment/20170622/michael-anthony-talks-latest-band-with-hagar-rocksino-bound-the-circle

Michael Anthony talks latest band with Hagar, Rocksino-bound The Circle
By John Benson, For The News-Herald
Posted: 06/22/17, 1:18 PM EDT

If you think about the members of Van Halen as food, David Lee Roth would be a fiery crème brûlée, Eddie Van Halen an exotic sushi plate and Sammy Hagar a spicy red pepper dish.

That leads us to longtime bassist Michael Anthony, who is kind of like the cheeseburger of Van Halen. You know, a regular-looking dude who in some way resembles one kid who attended your high school.

The best part of that analogy is Anthony wouldn’t have it any other way. These days, now that his services are no longer needed for Van Halen, the hard-rocking musician keeps busy playing music with the classic-rock band’s former lead singer Sammy Hagar. In addition to supergroup Chickenfoot, the latest endeavor is called The Circle, which also features Hagar, solo guitarist Vic Johnson and drummer Jason Bonham.

After releasing 2015′s “At Your Service,” a concert recording of Van Halen, Led Zeppelin and Hagar solo tunes, the outfit started touring. Sammy Hagar and The Circle comes to Northeast Ohio for a show June 24 at Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park.

The News-Herald talked to Anthony about Swingos, The Circle and what it will take for a Van Halen reunion.

Q First of all, what are your memories of Cleveland?

A In the early days, there used to be a place called Swingos. And we used to always just party it up to no end when we stayed there. In fact, when we would stay there, the first thing they’d do when you came in the door was give each band members a box of matchbooks. They were personalized in black with gold lettering. I know I still have a box somewhere around here. So let’s just say there’s a small part of Swingos history that involves me.

Q How exactly did The Circle come together?

A Sammy was doing some food thing in Florida on the beach with his buddy (celebrity chef) Emeril Lagasse. He wanted to put together a little band and play some songs, so he called me and grabbed his guitar player Vic Johnson. Then he said, “You know who lives out here in Florida close by to where we’ll be doing this thing? Jason Bonham.” So he gave Jason a call, and Jason said he’d come out and jam. That’s basically how the whole Circle thing started. And it’s pretty much the same way Chickenfoot started, which will be back, by the way, at some point, if we can ever get our drummer (Chad Smith) off the road with The Chili Peppers. With The Circle, it’s almost like going out on vacation. You get to fly around on Sammy’s jet, which, come on, right there … then we get on stage and play the hits for a couple of hours.

Q Speaking of hits, it seems as though a no-brainer tune, especially during the summer, is Van Halen’s “Summer Nights.” Yet that’s not on recent setlists.

A (laughs) Ah, you know what, maybe I should tell the guys we should throw it in.

Q Regarding the possibility of a Van Halen reunion, you recently commented the time was right. Why?

A Well, I mean, partly because you obviously see all of these other bands doing it these days. And also for Van Halen’s fans. Maybe some kind of proper closure or something. I’m not sure. Everybody in the band is still relatively healthy and alive. So there’s one thing right there. And Sammy has brought it up quite a few times in interviews he’s done. He’d be open to doing a tour with him and Dave (Lee Roth) singing.

Q More so, Hagar and Roth already toured together more than a decade ago.

A Yeah, that tour started kind of harmoniously, but didn’t finish up that way. I went out and guested with Sammy on a handful of those shows and things got maybe a little strained. But at this point, I personally am through with all of the drama that comes with everything. I want to go out, play music and have a good time. I want to go to my grave a happy guy.

Q No matter the era of Van Halen, you always appeared to be the guy who audience members could relate to the most. They could see themselves hanging out with you, getting a cheeseburger and drinking a beer. Why?

A Every band has to have somebody who’s normal in it. Let’s put it that way. I’m the normal guy. All of us in The Circle are that kind of guy. If The Circle is in town and there’s a day off, you go to the nearest mall, and I guarantee you’ll see Jason walking around.

Q So what you’re saying is fans should check out local malls when The Circle comes to Northeast Ohio?

A Yeah, I’d say Swingos, but it’s not there anymore. I don’t even consider myself any kind of a rock star or anything like that anymore. I mean, I’m a musician — I play music, and I have a great time doing it. I’m so blessed I’ve been able to do it for so many years, and I’ll do it as long as I can. It’s so much fun when we don’t have a big entourage with bodyguards and all of that stuff. We can just go out and tour and be ourselves. I’m the guy if you see on my street, we’ll go get a beer and a cheeseburger.

When: 8 p.m. June 24.
Where: Hard Rock Rocksino, 10777 Northfield Road, Northfield.
TIckets: $85 to $187.50.
INfo: ticketmaster.com