Guitar legend Eddie Van Halen once auditioned for Limp Bizkit and the story had the weirdest of twists, involving a real-life actual tank through the streets of L.A. The story was covered on Andrew Bennet's Eruption in the Canyon: 212 Days & Nights With The Genius of Eddie Van Halen.
After guitarist Wes Borland's departure from the band in 2001, the band were conducting auditions for a new guitarist. The opportunity to audition with Van Halen came up, so Fred Durst met the legendary guitarist at a party where an executive of their record label suggested them to join forces.
The audition was at Durst's home, where Van Halen stood up to his name, as he is mostly known for two things, his virtuoso guitar skills and his obsession with guitar gear. As such, he showed up with several guitars and amplifiers and so the jam began. The resulting jam session saw Eddie Van Halen get less than he expected from a band that was as successful as Limp Bizkit, as they were loafing around and smoking weed. Van Halen went as far as to say that the jam felt like being "a scholar among kindergartners."
And so he left Durst's house, feeling quite upset and leaving all his equipment behind in the process. The morning after, he drove the assault vehicle he bought in an auction and drove it through the streets of LA up to Durst's house where he got off, pointed a gun at the singers head and asked him to give back all of the equipment. On the book, Bennet quotes Van Halen:
That asshole answers the door, I put my gun to that stupid fucking red hat of his, and I said "where's my shit, motherfucker?" That fucking guy just turned to one of his employees and starts yelling at them to grab my shit...
This is probably the craziest audition in history of nu metal, and a clash of eras that feels like seeing horse-drawn carriages on the road with cybertrucks.
