When the Best of All Worlds tour was announced back in November, there were many questions asked. Two of them that stood out were, could Joe Satriani pull off playing the songs and notes that Eddie Van Halen did with ease and also what would the setlist consist off?
Well, both of those questions were answered in spades on Saturday in West Palm and on Sunday in Tampa as I attended both of the shows in different capacities but as a fan at both.
Opening night in West Palm, Loverboy opened the show with a 8 song set of their greatest hits. As they took the stage at 7pm sharp at the I Think Amp, a sweltering heat engulfed the band and the fans in the packed outdoor venue. The feels like was 105 degrees with zero breeze.
Loverboy started their set with “Lucky Ones” and afterward, singer Mike Reno said hello to the crowd. Reno was solid under the conditions and seeing that it was opening night he and the band were superb and had the fans dancing and singing in their seats during “The Kid Is Hot Tonight” & “Loving Every Minute of It.”
The “Boys” from Canada continued their set with “Hot Girls in Love” & “Turn Me Loose” with drummer Matt Frenette kneeling on top of his kit and keyboardist Doug Johnson wailing on the saxophone. They concluded their set with their biggest hit in “Working for the Weekend” which gave everyone a reprieve to go get water and some towels for their drenched faces.
It was great to see Loverboy once again and unfortunately for the fans in Tampa the following night, they would not perform. This was due to another weather situation as a monsoon came across Hillsborough County and drenched the whole area which almost caused the whole show to be cancelled. A positive occurred from this as the temperature was near 80.
Thankfully as they say “The Show Must Go On” with the Tampa performance starting at 8:45 instead of 8:20 in West Palm. “Stand Up and Shout” played over the house speakers with many in the crowd not realizing this was a Sammy Hagar song and only knowing it from the Rock Star movie soundtrack with Jeff Scott Soto on vocals.
A collage of videos of Sammy’s illustrious career played on the video screens which got cheers, a tear and a laugh from the crowd especially when the Simpson’s Sammy character was shown. They also included a picture with Vinnie Paul who last performed with Sammy at Sammy’s 70th Birthday Bash before passing away a couple months later.
The lights dimmed across the venues as Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony and Jason Bonham donned their respected instruments. Sammy then grabbed the audience’s complete attention as he addressed them with “Hello Babyyyyyyy” from “Good Enough.” This was also the first song from 5150 which was Sammy’s debut with the band in 1986.
Sammy then addressed the crowd in West Palm and welcomed everyone to the first show of the tour and how the band was pacing with anticipation in their dressing room.
Joe Satriani then broke out the electric drill for you guessed, “Poundcake” which had only been played by Sammy a few times at special events since 2015. Joe passed the drill to Sammy and pointed it at the crowd and at his groin which got another big laugh from both crowds.
Pink neon images of the words “POUNDCAKE” and “DOWNHOME” accompanied a female silhouette on the video screen behind Jason Bonham’s elevated kit.
After “Runaround” from Van Halen’s FUCK release, the band played the first of four Sammy Hager solo songs in the set with “There’s Only One Way To Rock” as Sammy joined Joe Satriani on guitar. Other solo material played throughout the evening included the fan favorite “Heavy Metal” “I Can’t Drive 55” and the emotion grabbing “Eagles Fly.”
Getting back to the setlist question, the band then performed 4 songs that hadn’t been played live in many years. These included a personal favorite in “Judgement Day” (2015), “Summer Nights (2006), 5150 (2010) and a first time performance by Sammy’s solo band in “Panama.”
Hagar then took a jab at David Lee Roth and introduced the “second best singer in Van Halen in bassist Michael Anthony. In West Palm, Anthony broke out his signature Jack Daniel’s bass and took center stage to sing “Ain’t Talkin About Love” with Hagar taking a break off stage. Funny thing is that in Tampa, Anthony used his “We Don’t Fuck Around” (WDFA) bass.
Anthony was amazing vocally during both performances with Jason Bonham and keyboardist and guitar player Rai Thistlethwayte assisting him with the harmonies.There is no doubt that without Anthony, Van Halen might not have achieved their legacy as one of the best American bands of all time.
Joe Satriani fans in attendance got a big surprise when Sammy got another short break when Joe busted out “Satch Boogie” from his ground breaking and highly influential introduction album in Surfing With The Alien. This album has always brought smiles to my face and is the reason I put Joe on my list of favorite guitar players.
After another deep cut in “Seventh Seal,” Sammy and the boys played “Right Now” which has always been very special to so many and showcased Rai on keyboards. They have played this in the Circle and with Sammy’s solo band but usually not with a key board player as they used tracks. As the song concluded, Sammy said that they were “keeping it alive” meaning Eddie and Van Halen’s legacy.
Throughout both performances, Hagar put on various clothes, banners and hats thrown on the stage by fans and then signed all of them. In West Palm he put on a Panthers jersey etc. In Tampa, a Derrick Brooks jersey and even a red “Sammy Hagar Makes Van Halen Great Again” hat.
I have never seen a performer do this before and if you have a seat near the stage, grab a hat and toss it up there to possibly get yourself a special piece of memorabilia.
After the aforementioned “Eagles Fly,” Sammy and Michael got the party officially started by breaking out the Santo tequila for the Wabos “Mas Tequila” song. Sammy’s guys passed the cups out to the fans to have them join in the party. Joe Satriani played a red and white EVH Frankenstein guitar during this and also during “Heavy Metal.”
They also performed ‘Space Sation #5 from Sammy’s time in Montrose then went into “Jump” from 1984 and finished off their set with “When It’s Love.”
“Thank You” lit up the video screen as the band took a bow and left the stage. It was perfect as Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You” played over the house system as a tribute to John and Jason Bonham as the crowd departed.
Before I close, let’s address the elephant in the room. Was this tour initially supposed to be a celebration of Van Halen and Eddie or more like a celebration of Sammy Hagar’s career? I guess It really all depends on what interview you read or heard and when it occurred. Judging by the past two shows I attended, it was both. Sammy said “It was a celebration of his career leaning really heavy on the VH” during “Best of Both Worlds.”
Sure, most of the people that prefer the Dave era over the Sammy era left a bit disappointed by them only playing 3 songs from that time period. I myself was a bit surprised at the set especially with the amount of Hagar’s solo material near the end but I loved hearing the VH deep tracks that I haven’t seen throughout Sammy’s solo career and with the Circle.
If the set list keeps you from seeing this tour then I believe that you are doing yourself a disservice if you are a fan of Van Halen. Satriani plays Eddie’s material flawlessly and doesn’t stray from the original material (that I was able to notice) and Jason Bonham crushes the drums and is perfect to play Alex’s drum parts.
But if the set list does keep you away, keep an eye on https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/sammy-hagar-23d6802b.html as they may change it up throughout the tour.
The band has said they have rehearsed many more VH songs and have them in the vault ready to go and once again are primed to be standing on “Top Of The World” once again at least for a little while.
1. “Good Enough”
2. “Poundcake”
3. “Runaround”
4. “There’s Only One Way to Rock”
5. “Judgement Day”
6. “Panama”
7. “5150”
8. “Summer Nights”
9. “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love” (Michael Anthony on lead vocals)
10. “Top of the World”
11. “Best of Both Worlds”
12. “Satch Boogie”
13. “The Seventh Seal”
14. “Right Now”
15. “Why Can’t This Be Love”
16. “Eagles Fly”
17. “Mas Tequila”
18. “Heavy Metal”
19. “I Can’t Drive 55”
20. “Space Station #5” / “Oh Yeah” / “Jump”
21. “When It’s Love”
