Before Eddie Van Halen’s passing there was talk of EVH and Alex Van Halen putting together ‘The Kitchen Sink Tour.’ It would have included David Lee Roth, the return of bassist Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar and perhaps even Gary Cherone (Extreme). Needless to say it didn’t get off the ground. EVH’s cancer returned and he ultimately passed in October of 2020.
A couple years after Eddie’s passing it came out in 2022 interview with Jason Newsted (formerly of Metallica) that he had been contacted by Alex Van Halen about doing a tour as a tribute to EVH. The band was to include Newsted on bass, Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth and Joe Satriani on guitar. They actually got together to rehearse. Once that was leaked by Newsted the whole thing dissolved. Van Halen fans have been chomping at the bit to get a chance to hear the VH classics. The first to strike was Sammy Hagar who assembled a band that is capable of tackling not only the Hagar era VH classics but The Roth era and the Hagar catalog. More on that in a bit but first Loverboy.
Loverboy kicked off the night with “Notorious,” a scorcher of the song from their 1987 ‘Wild Side’ album. Mike Reno and Company look a little worse for wear, aside from drummer Matt Frenette who carefully climbs up on the kit plays the percussion intro to “Turn Me Loose” just like he has done since they started performing the song in the set, decades ago. The first thing that crossed my mind was, “he’s still doing this?!” and not because I’m being mean spirited, but because he could break his hip! We’re all getting older. As you might expect the Loverboy set also included staples, “Lucky Ones,” “Queen of the Broken Hearts,” “The Kid Is Hot Tonite,” “Lovin’ Every Minute of It,” “Hot Girls in Love,” and the set closer “Working for the Weekend.” Loverboy to their credit with a lot of mileage logged, still sound great and perform the material like you recalled and like they have for decades. I’d love to ask Mike Reno about his mic technique, it’s one of the most unorthodox things I have ever seen.
“I’m a lover, man. Just keep me in love and I’m the happiest guy in the world and I don’t need anything else,” said Sammy Hagar in the fall of 2023 during his appearance on The Howard Stern Show on Sirius XM. Hagar was joined by bassist Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani and drummer Jason Bonham to announce the summer tour which was branded as ‘The Best of All Worlds.’
The Red Rocker and his band mates made their way to Ridgefield, WA and they delivered a set filled with Van Halen Hagar era classics. Also in the set were Hagar solo classics, a medley that included a Chickenfoot tune and a Montrose staple.
The group also performed two full David Lee Roth era Van Halen tunes, “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love” with Anthony on lead vocals and “Panama,” as well as a little of “Jump” as part of a three-song medley with Montrose’s “Space Station #5” followed by Chickenfoot’s “Bigfoot” which recently replaced the unremarkable “Oh Yeah!” then “Jump” wrapped up the medley.
Sammy Hagar is performing songs that he’s done in sets on recent tours with The Circle and with Chickenfoot. Absent from this set were “Three Lock Box” from his solo career, Van Halen’s “Finish What Ya Started,” Montrose’s “Rock Candy,” “Bad Motor Scooter,” a great deep cut “I’ve Got the Fire,” there was nothing from The Circle, perhaps because guitarist Vic Johnson is sitting this out. The Circle released a strong album ‘Space Between’ in 2019, that featured “Trust Fund Baby” which was a ‘reworked’ version of Montrose’s “I’ve Got the Fire!” That’s the Hagar die-hard geek in me and there’s just no way at this point in his career that Hagar can fill everyone’s requests.
When Hagar put this tour together, he envisioned ‘going deep’ into his era of Van Halen while including material from his solo career. He dug deep into the 1986 classic ‘5150’ which as you’re aware was his debut with the band. Representing ‘5150’ were concert opener “Good Enough,” “5150,” “Summer Nights,” “Best of Both Worlds” complete with Cool and The Gang chorus of “Celebration” led by Bonham and “Why Can’t This Be Love.” The band performed the tunes true to the album versions that you’ve known and loved. Satriani should be praised for not deviating from the studio versions, if he improvised like Eddie Van Halen did in the live setting, it just wouldn’t have worked. Staying true to the studio recordings did. It was a brilliant move to give Satriani the spotlight during the show, not to replicate “Eruption,” but to perform “Satch Boogie.”
You had the usual suspects like a blazing rendition of “Pound Cake,” “Judgement Day,” “Runaround,” “Right Now,” and “Top of The World” from ‘For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge. There was only one song representing ‘OU812’ that was set closer “When It’s Love” and another from ‘Balance’ and it was a good one in “Seventh Seal.”
There was also the inclusion of some songs from The Red Rocker’s solo years, “There’s Only One Way to Rock,” “Eagles Fly,” and “Mas Tequila.” The latter two could have easily been cut, for something else, but the show was about a fun time, and they fit the vibe of the night. Hagar could not leave the stage without performing “Heavy Metal” and “I Can’t Drive 55,” and when they did, the fans went crazy.
It was all smiles from Hagar, Satriani, Michael Anthony, Bonham and the ‘secret weapon’ Rai Thistlethwayte who provided vocal support for Hagar, keyboards and additional guitar to thicken up the sound. No real drum solo for Bonham this time around, he stayed true to the VH classics, complete with chrome Alex Van Halen inspired kit complete with kick drums that depicted the likeness of his father John Bonham. This show was a ‘celebration’ of the Hagar catalog, the Van Halen catalog, Michael Anthony’s longtime friendship with Hagar, newer musical collaborations and friendships with Satriani and Bonham, a tip of the hat to EVH and a huge ‘Thank you’ to the fans. Satriani pulled out a replica of EVH’s ‘Franken Strat’ for the last four songs of the set to cheers of approval from the Ridgefield crowd.
The jury is out as to if this tour is an ‘unofficial’ semi-retirement for Hagar from touring on this scale. It seemed like it during this celebration. Remember the quote from Hagar earlier “Just keep me in love and I’m the happiest guy in the world.” He sure seemed to be just that, the happiest guy in the world.
Hagar and company took me back in time to the ‘5150’ and ‘F.U.C.K.’ tours, both filled with incredible memories, judging by the audience reaction I wasn’t alone. If you missed this tour, no question you really fucked up. This was one of the best concerts I have ever seen.