The Underground Thieves' Nick Perri on ignoring directives from Eddie Van Halen, and why he's more satisfied with his tone than ever before

(Image credit: Austin Nelson)

Imagine you’re 20 years old and your band is on tour supporting Van Halen - essentially living the dream of every young American rock and roller. Now imagine that your hero, Eddie Van Halen, suddenly sends his people over to your people and asks that you not perform a spotlight guitar solo during your nightly set anymore. Talk about a potentially dream-squashing moment. Nick Perri, guitarist and frontman of the Underground Thieves, doesn’t have to imagine this nightmare scenario, as it’s exactly what happened to him when his band Silvertide was touring with Van Halen in 2004.

“I think the first emotion I felt when I heard about it was that I was bummed out,” Perri says. “But then I realized something - that I didn’t have to say yes to this request. I mean, if Eddie Van Halen was that age and one of his heroes asked him not to solo, he probably would have said, ‘Fuck you.’ Now, I didn’t say it quite like that, but I did politely refuse to stop playing my solos - and I think Eddie respected that.”

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