At around five o clock, Sammy hit the stage all in green on a virtual re-creation of the Cabo Wabo cantina (complete with a huge line of lucky fans standing in the background ON THE STAGE). Kicking off with a partial run-through of "Cabo Wabo" (without drums), the full band led right into the official (and odd) opener "When The Hammer Falls." An obscure tune, but it seemed well-recieved by so many in the front row singing along.
Sammy kept material from his last two solo efforts (the excellent "Red Voodoo" and the brilliant "Marching To Mars") to a minimum and instead kept the brightest sparks from his almost thirty-year career coming. Along with solo hits like "There's Only One Way To Rock" and "I'll Fall In Love Again" came representations of Hagar's first band Montrose ("Rock Candy") and, of course, the mighty Van Halen. Hagar's band rocked the house with VH favorites like "Dreams," "Top Of The World," and especially the show-closing "Why Can't This Be Love." Hagar still continues to dwarf his old band-mates (as well as any of their other lead-singers).
Sammy is really the consumate showman. He posesses one of the very finest and most powerful voices in rock (which years of performing has not dulled the edge off of), has a back-catalog of great, brilliant rock songs, is in better physical condition than most people half his age, has more energy than the entire crowd, and manages to establish a real rapport with the crowd. Its an old rock n roll cliche, but Sammy really DOES manage to make the whole show seem like a party he's hosting. And he's got such a great vibe about him that's warm and genuine and still very funny and totally rock n roll. Hagar is the man.
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