Ex-Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony recently joined Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstong and Mike Dirnt’s side project The Coverups to play a set of covers.
Last Saturday (April 20) The Coverups played a gig at the Costa Mesa’s Tiki Bar in Costa Mesa, California. Anthony was brought on stage as a surprise guest. Armstrong took a moment to introduce the former Van Halen member, telling the crowd: “I wanna say thank you Michael for an unbelievable catalogue of music that has changed the history of rock ‘n’ roll.”
Anthony was the bassist and backing for Van Halen from 1974 to 2006. He performed on Van Halen’s first 11 albums and was their longest-tenured bassist. He has collaborated with his former Van Halen bandmate Sammy Hagar for the supergroups Chickenfoot and Sammy Hagar and the Circle.
The group then went on to perform a cover of KISS’s ‘Rock And Roll All Nite’ with Armstrong on bass and Green Day’s Tré Cool on drums. They also performed Van Halen’s ‘Dance The Night Away’ and ‘Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love’.
The Coverups performed a 28-track setlist with fan favourites from Nirvana, the Pretenders, Bryan Adams, David Bowie, The Clash, The Strokes and more.
The Coverups Performed:
‘A Million Miles Away’ (The Plimsouls cover)
‘I Wanna Be Sedated’ (Ramones cover)
‘Ever Fallen in Love’ (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) (Buzzcocks cover)
‘I Think We’re Alone Now’ (Tommy James & the Shondells cover)
‘Message of Love’ (Pretenders cover)
‘Summer of ’69’ (Bryan Adams cover)
‘American Girl’ (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover)
‘I Fought the Law’ (The Crickets cover)
‘Dancing With Myself’ (Generation X cover)
‘Rockaway Beach’ (Ramones cover)
‘Love is for Losers’ (The Longshot cover)
‘Ziggy Stardust’ (David Bowie cover)
‘Suffragette City’ (David Bowie cover)
‘One Way or Another’ (Blondie cover)
‘Rock and Roll All Nite’ (KISS cover)
‘Dance the Night Away’ (Van Halen cover)
‘Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love’ (Van Halen cover)
‘I’m So Bored With the U.S.A.’ (The Clash cover)
‘Neat Neat Neat’ (The Damned cover)
‘Drain You’ (Nirvana cover)
‘Last Nite’ (The Strokes cover)
‘Fox on the Run’ (Sweet cover)
‘Teenage Kicks’ (The Undertones cover)
‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’ (The Clash cover)
‘Surrender’ (Cheap Trick cover)
‘Ready Steady Go’ (Generation X cover)
‘Where Eagles Dare’ (Misfits cover)
‘All the Young Dudes’ (David Bowie Cover)
“How are you guys doing?” said Armstrong, arriving on stage. “We’re The Coverups, we play cover songs. This is the kind of stuff that we do at home. We’re just friends who get together and we hang out, and it’s just glorified karaoke.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, Courtney Love,” invited Armstrong, before the grunge icon took the mic and replied: “Thank you, Billie Joe. My name is Courtney Love – you may not remember me. I’ve been living in a cave in Birmingham for about nine years. We’ll give this a fucking try, right?”
She and the band then tore into a spirited rendition of ‘He’s a Whore’ by Cheap Trick before a take on ‘Even the Losers’ by Tom Petty. Love would later return for a cover of ‘Surrender’ by Cheap Trick. Leaving the stage she offered: “Later… I’ll be back in Hole”.
In other news, Sean Dyche – the manager of Premier League club Everton – has recently said that everyone should go see Green Day, no matter what kind of music they’re into.
The post Watch Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt play covers with ex-Van Halen bassist who has “changed the history of rock ‘n’ roll” appeared first on NME.
