Alex Van Halen Cleans Out His Warehouse for Historic Auction

The auction event will feature rare music memorabilia including iconic tour and studio used gear and personal items direct from the private collection of Alex Van Halen.

Houston, TX - May 22, 2024 – Backstage Auctions is proud to present one of the most iconic and historical auction events featuring the personal collection of legendary drummer Alex Van Halen. With over 350 lots, the auction offers a wide array of memorabilia, such as drum kits, snare drums, kick drums, road cases, drumheads, cymbals, gongs, sticks & mallets, personal items, record awards, autographed pieces, and so much more. 

“I kept all these drums, cymbals, heads, and all other kinds of gear, instruments, and road cases in my warehouse for decades and it will bring me great pleasure to see them end up in the hands of my fans and fellow drummers,” says Alex. “A portion of the proceeds will go to the Ride On Therapeutic Horsemanship charity to further support the services they provide to those in need.”

Each piece featured in the auction is essentially a highlight item, but to select a few standouts, we must mention the legendary 5150 Tour kit, the 2015 Tour kit (and the last kit Alex ever used in concert), his personal collection of vintage RIAA record awards, the exceptionally rare rosewood snare drums that helped define his signature sound, the eye-catching and iconic gongs, a kick drum from the early backyard party days, and even a piano from the Van Halen family home. 

“It is an unbelievable honor to represent one of the greatest rock drummers of all time and we could not be any more excited. Alex is the reason why so many people picked up a pair of drumsticks and this auction is a fantastic opportunity to see so much of his instruments and gear go to new homes. All of these pieces have a thick layer of magic “Al” dust and we can only hope that it will bring boundless joy and thrills to their future owners,” comments Backstage Auctions owner Jacques van Gool.

The auction is a celebration of a 40-year career that saw Van Halen sell nearly 100 million albums worldwide, making them one of the best-selling groups in the history of music. Alex Van Halen’s place in the pantheon of rock ’n’ roll drummers is legendary. The incredible body of work that he created alongside his brother Eddie is memorialized in Van Halen’s historic catalog of genre-defining music.

Preview the entire online catalog now before the auction begins. The auction bidding will open on June 1st, 2024, and will close on June 9th, 2024. The auction is open to fans and collectors worldwide. For more information and to register for a VIP All Access Pass visit: www.backstageauctions.com . 

“I always have pursued the best possible sound, which drove me every single day, every single album, and every single tour to be on top of my game,” comments Alex. “I hope that passing on all these pieces will inspire current and next generations to be the best they can be. Now, let’s have some fun – Van Halen style!” 

BACKSTAGE AUCTIONS – A boutique online auction house specializing in authentic music memorabilia direct from the personal collections of legendary musicians and entertainment professionals. Every auction event is unique, reflecting the artist’s legacy and legendary career. 

ALEX VAN HALEN - Alex Van Halen and his brother Eddie Van Halen formed a band called Mammoth in Pasadena, California in 1972, then renamed it Van Halen.  Alex’s drumming skills and powerful drumming style helped define Van Halen's sound. Van Halen was one of the biggest rock bands in the world and was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2007.  Alex Van Halen shares his personal story of family, friendship, music, and brotherly love in a remarkable tribute to his brother and band mate with his upcoming book Brothers. The book includes never-before-seen photos from the author’s private archives and is scheduled to be released in October 2024. 

RIDE ON THERAPEUTIC HORSEMANSHIP – Ride On teaches adaptive horseback riding to children and adults with physical and cognitive disabilities and we provide Physical, Occupational, and Speech and Language therapy specializing in using the movement of the horse to improve specific medical conditions.  Ride On’s mission is to promote the welfare of people with any type of physical, intellectual, or cognitive disability and of at-risk youth by means of equine assisted activities and therapies; and by providing instruction and education for all in equestrian-related social, vocational, and recreational activities.  https://www.rideon.org

Auction Dates: June 1 - 9, 2024 / A special VIP Preview of the entire auction catalog will begin on May 22nd. Register today for your VIP All Access Pass. 

Historical Drum Kits Up for Auction in March

All Access - The David Frangioni Collection

VIP Preview Dates: March 9 - 15, 2019

Auction Dates: March 16 - 24, 2019

Backstage Auctions upcoming March auction event will feature a wide array of music memorabilia direct from the personal collection of award-winning audio engineer, author, and collector David Frangioni. The auction will go live on March 16, 2019 with a special VIP preview of the entire online catalog beginning on March 9, 2019.

One of the many highlights of the auction is the amazing selection of drum kits being offered up by Frangioni. Each kit has it's own history and unique collectible attributes.

Carl Palmer's Warm Up Kit:  Palmer is unlike most drummers in many ways, having established himself as an iconic drummer, being inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1989. Also unlike most drummers, he had a custom-made Drum Workshop warm-up kit for practice backstage while on tour in the 1990s with Asia and ELP. The kit consists of two 22 inch single headed bass drums, 12, 14, 16 and 18 inch single headed toms, with 16 and 18 inch toms are signed by Palmer. This kit is still in great shape, and was directly purchased by David Frangioni from Carl Palmer.

Carmine Appice’s Slingerland Cactus Kit: Appice’s Slingerland Leopard kit was created custom for him, with maple shells featuring a custom leopard lacquer finish -  showing off his love for the print highlighted with gold-plating.  David Frangioni purchased this kit directly from Carmine, after it was played in performances with Cactus and The Vanilla Fudge from 2004 to 2008. The set was made by Slingerland in Conway, AK, and features 9-inch by 12-inch and 10-inch by 13-inch rack toms mounted on a floor stand, 16-inch by 16-inch and 16-inch by 18-inch floor toms, and two 16-inch by 22-inch bass drums with the Cactus logo. 

Eric Singer KISS Kruise Kit:  Each year since 2011, KISS unites its fans on the high seas by hosting its annual KISS Kruise. This Pearl drum kit was created custom for Eric Singer to be played on the 2015 Kruise, designed to match KISS’s 1975 “Alive” album. It’s a relatively simple configuration for Eric, with five single-headed concert toms, two floor toms, and two bass drums all in a black gloss finish with the snare drum in green sparkle. The bass drum head features the KISS logo and is signed by all current members (Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer).   The drum kit consists of an 8, 10, 12, 13 and 14 inch single headed concert toms, 14 x 14, 16 x 16 and 16 x 18 inch floor toms and two 18 x 22 inch bass drums (one extra), and it comes with four 19 inch crashes, a 20 inch ride, 17 inch china, and a pair of hi-hats and a LP chrome cowbell. 

Gil Moore’s Triumph Tama Imperial Star Kit:  Gil Moore played this custom Tama Imperial Star 13-piece drum set during with Triumph in 1981 on the tour for the Allied Forces album. It was an early piece for the then-young Tama brand, and can be seen in the promo video for the album, denoted from the high-gloss black wrap and black dot heads that look like bull’s-eyes. The set includes 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 inch single headed concert toms, 16 and 18 inch floor toms, two 22 inch bass drums and a 14 × 5 inch chrome snare drum. 

Mike Portnoy Dream Theater "Siamese Monster" Kit:  Mike Portnoy played this custom Tama logo kit from 2002 to 2004 with Dream Theater. When working with Tama to design the kit, Mike imagined two conjoined drum kits and so it was rightfully nicknamed the “Siamese Monster.” It’s one of the largest and most-recognizable kits, and can be heard on with Dream Theater on the “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence” album and seen on the 2002 “Six Degrees / World Tourbulence Tour” and the 2004 “Train of Thought Tour.”   The kit comprises 19 individual drums: Four deep shelled octobans (6 inch diameter, single-headed melodic toms) on the left side of the kit and two shallow shelled ones on the right. An LP Tito Puente timbale is on the far left side of the kit. From left to right the rack toms measure 8 x 8, 9 x 10, 10 x 12, 10 x 14 and 9 x 13 inches. A 6 x 10 inch time tom sits between a 5 ½ x 14 inch wood snare drum on the left and a 5 x 12 inch hammered steel snare drum on the right. The floor tom measures 16 x 18 inches, and the gong bass drum behind it has a 22 inch drumhead stretched timpani-style over a 20 inch drum shell. The two large bass drums are 18 x 22 inches and the smaller one is 16 x 20 inches. With the exception of the timbale, all of the drums feature black gloss decorated with Dream Theater logos in purple. 

Terry Bozzio Drum Workshop Collectors Series Kit: Terry Bozzio flexed his impressive drumming chops with this custom Drum Workshop Collectors Series Maple kit for the U.K. 2012 Reunion Tour. At the time it was assembled, this kit cost $65,000.00 and took over 30 hours to be built from scratch by Victor Salalzar, the former owner of Vic's Drum shop in Chicago. The maple drums have custom chrome wrap, with two woofers, one snare drum, five piccolo toms, and ten assorted rack toms and floor toms all signed by Terry.   The kit is so big that it barely fit on stage, featuring 50 Sabian cymbals from the Radia series that Terry himself developed with Sabian, of which the majority are autographed by Terry. 

Gregg Bissonette’s Pearl David Lee Roth Band Skyscraper 1988 Tour Kit:  Gregg Bissonette played this custom Pearl kit on the David Lee Roth Band’s 1988 Skyscraper Tour. This kit was designed with a “skeleton effect” intended to surprise audiences, where all of the drum shells would appear to disappear when bathed in colored white, and only the stark white hardware would show from the stage.

Gregg played the set used early in his legendary career, most notably during David Lee Roth’s 1988 “Skyscraper” tour and the “Just Like Paradise” and “Stand Up” music videos. This set went around the world with him on tour, and while it still sounds amazing, it shows wear-and-tear with a few chips and nicks on the black lacquer finish and the bass drum. Gregg continued to play this kit in personal practice after it was finished touring with him in 1989, and was purchased directly from him by David Frangioni.

The configuration includes 8" × 8", 10" × 10", 10" × 12", 11" × 13", 12" × 14", 12 × 15", and 14" × 16" rack toms; 18" × 18" and 18" × 20" floor toms; one 8" × 14" Pearl Free Floating snare drum; one 16" × 24" gong bass drum; and two 36" × 24" bass drums.

The All Access David Frangioni Auction begins with a PREVIEW of the catalog on March 9, 2019, and is open worldwide bidding from March 16 to March 24, 2019. The auction will be accessible here: Backstage Auctions

For more information and to register for your VIP All Access Pass visit: Backstage Auctions 

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David Frangioni is an award-winning veteran of the music industry, with expertise ranging from being a drummer and producer himself, to an audio consultant, technologist, integrator, and recording engineer. Starting out as a drummer at age 2 and then established his own audio consulting business put him on the map with Aerosmith and led to his work with music icons including the Stones, Ringo Starr, Elton John, Sting, Bryan Adams, Journey, Styx, Phil Collins, Shakira, Rascal Flatts, Ozzy Osbourne, and Chick Corea, to name a few.  David has authored two books under his company Frangioni Media including his books Icon and Crash published by Insight Editions, and continues leading the industry at his company Audio One as well as All Access IDA and his non-profit Frangioni Foundation.

David Frangioni Press Contact:
Laura Shubel
Caster Communications
frangioni@castercomm.com

401-792-7080



BACKSTAGE AUCTIONS is a boutique online auction house specializing in authentic rock memorabilia and exclusively representing legendary musicians and entertainment professionals directly. Every auction event is unique, reflecting the artist's legacy and chronicles their legendary career. Backstage Auctions has represented dozens of notable and very talented musicians, producers and managers in the music industry.
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