Tool fan asks fellow gig-goer to take his picture, fails to realize it’s Eddie Van Halen
Guitar god turns photographer for clueless fan
Asking a stranger to take your photo is a fairly common occurrence. But when said stranger is Eddie Van Halen and the subject has absolutely no idea… well, that’s a pretty unusual scenario, especially at a rock gig.
Yet that’s exactly what happened when one fan handed his phone to the electric guitar legend at last night’s Tool show in Los Angeles.
The unlikely scenario was shared by Eddie’s son, Wolfgang, on Twitter, who named it the highlight of that evening’s concert.
“A guy asked my dad if he could take a picture of him with the stage behind him, having no idea who he just asked, and that was my favorite moment from the Tool show last night,” he said.
A guy asked my dad if he could take a picture of him with the stage behind him, having no idea who he just asked, and that was my favorite moment from the @Tool show last night. pic.twitter.com/tA1lywM0yfOctober 22, 2019
In addition to that utterly priceless encounter, the show gives us an encouraging glimpse of EVH out and about amidst reports surrounding his returning throat cancer treatment, which is rumored to be the reason David Lee Roth has declared Van Halen “finished”.
Tool guitarist Adam Jones must have also been thrilled to note EVH’s attendance at the show, being a huge Van Halen fan himself - and as it turned out, he even met the man himself after the gig.
Oh, and this happened… these guys and I got to see Adam’s box. #toolband #rocknroll #adamjones #eddievanhalen pic.twitter.com/U3wEkv8TilOctober 22, 2019
“I’m not Eddie Van Halen, but I try to figure out other things I can do that are mine,” Jones told GW in his mammoth cover feature.
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“I love Eddie and I wish I could play like him, but it’s kind of been done and that’s also kind of the point!”
On a side note, we’re pleased to see Eddie’s attendance at a show from a band formed post-1986, the year he claims he stopped buying - or even listening to - albums.

Mike has been Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com since 2019, and an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict for far longer. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and 15 years' experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. His writing also appears in the The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock as Maebe.
