behind the white box that shows the one "like" and Rick Derringer's "love"..

Derringer opened for Van Halen here in Wichita Falls on VH's first LP tour.. Something like '78? Anyways, I was covering the show for the local newspaper (I was in high school, but they let me cover the rock shows) so had backstage passes and whatnot..

So, at the time, Van Halen's LP had just dropped and the guitar solo "Eruption" was just a HUGE deal.. Everyone thought - and rightfully so - that EVH was the guitar hero of a lifetime because of Eruption, and nobody knew how he was making all those sounds.. They had also just released "you really got me" as the first hit single off the LP..

So, Derringer is opening the show.. Its his last song, and what does he do? Why he whips out Eruption, note for note, blows the crowd away, and then launches into "you really got me".. I'm standing on stage left right behind the mains (PA speakers) with my jaw on the floor.. He finishes the song and I pat him on the back as he walks to the dressing room.. Coolest thing I have ever seen anyone do.. Apparently, from what I understand, VH treated Derringer like crap, so he got even.. and boy, did he get even that night.. I had always assumed he was fired from the tour after that, and found out later he was.. You can google Derringer Eddie Van Halen feud and find a little bit about it.. but I was there and saw it in the flesh..

So, Derringer somehow saw my post - we do have a mutual friend - Dee Francis - that I used to date in high school briefly, and I'm sure that's how he saw it.. she was the person who also "liked" the post.. No doubt Derringer remembered the event, and probably was tickled somebody remembered it and posted about it 40 years later...

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Friendship is like peeing your pants.. Everybody can see it, but only you can feel the warmth..