Sammy Hagar Shows There’s More Than One Way to Rock in Tampa
Rain rolling in before showtime was not going to ruin Red Rocker Sammy Hagar’s “Best of All Worlds Tour” party at the Mid-Florida Amphitheatre on Sunday night! Unfortunately, on this 2nd show of the tour opening act Loverboy had to be cancelled due to the storm and traffic congestion arriving late at the venue. Sammy waited till 8:45 to hit the stage and the crowd of over 12,000 braved the rain and were ready. Kicking it off with “Good Enough,” from the VH 1986 album “5150”, Sammy and company took it next to 1991’s “Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” with the fan popular “Poundcake.” Joe “Satch” Satriani channeling Eddie Van Halen’s guitar riffs. Satriani is not Eddie Van Halen and he is not trying to be, he is paying tribute & respect to Eddie’s work. Joe has his own style and is one of our best rock guitarists.
Of course, Michael Anthony is on bass as he and Sammy have been working together since the Van Halen years and in “Chickenfoot” and “The Circle.” Michael’s vocals are part of the original Van Halen sound and make this tribute as close to VH as it can be. Jason Bonham is on drums with a triple drumhead tribute to his father, John Bonham, original drummer for Led Zeppelin. Jason has been playing with “Sammy and the Circle” for over 10 years and his own “Led Zeppelin Evening.” He is a force on the skins. For this tour, Sammy has brought in keyboards which are part of the VH sound, (Eddie played keyboards as well as guitar) with Australian multi-instrumentalist, Rai Thistlethwayte. Both Jason and Rai are playing on a riser above the stage. Lighting and big screen graphics are great but would expect nothing less. Let’s get back to the show…
As Sammy said this is a celebration of his musical life’s work but you can expect the setlist to be mainly Van Halen including some tunes from the Roth period with hits like “Panama” and “Jump.” I am sure some Roth diehards won’t appreciate but really this tribute is also about Eddie and Van Halen/s work across the board. Michael took on lead vocals on “Ain’t Talking ‘bout Love” from the Van Halen debut record in 1978 and rocked it! For the Satriani fans in the audience (there were Satriani t-shirts as well as VH and Sammy), Joe does a solo with “Satch Boogie” that is simply amazing. During the show, Sammy paid tribute to his friend the late Toby Keith by having the audience recorded shouting “We Love You Toby Keith” for a future tribute to Toby.
“Right Now,” had the crowd on their feet and Sammy autographing shirts being thrown up to him by fans. One of this writer’s favorites, it always takes me back to the VH video of 1991. The video is still relevant today. There is always Sammy’s classic “I Can’t Drive 55” which is a fun sing-along. Sammy honors his beginnings with “Space Station #5” from Montrose but as a huge fan I would have rather heard “Make It Last” or “Bad Motor Scooter.” The Chickenfoot tune “Oh Yeah” was included, from the 2008 supergroup with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Satriani, Anthony & Hagar. Sammy and band concluded the show with Van Halen’s 1988 “When It’s Love” from “OU812.” Sammy’s voice was in fine form and this show is a Redhead’s dream! This is a not-to-miss tour this summer! Check out all the ticket info at Ticketmaster
Vicky Sullivan Photos