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Sammy Hagar
Wednesday night
Budweiser Stage
RATING: ***1/2 (three and a half out of four)
If one half of Van Halen — post original frontman David Lee Roth-era singer Sammy Hagar and original bassist Michael Anthony — goes on tour for the first time in a couple decades and mostly plays Van Halen material (even a few from Roth’s time), why not have two accomplished musicians do it with you?
Especially given original guitarist Eddie Van Halen died from cancer in 2020 and original drummer Alex Van Halen seemingly has decided to call it a day musically and has a new book coming out in the fall about his relationship with his talented brother.
In the case of Hagar and Anthony, that has meant being joined by lightning-fast guitarist Joe Satriani and thundering drummer Jason Bonham, son of Led Zeppelin’s mighty John, with the quartet showing up at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage on Wednesday night with The Best of All Worlds Tour.
Helping the on-stage alchemy was that Anthony and Satriani have previously played with Hagar in Chickenfoot and Anthony and Bonham with him in The Circle.
England’s Bonham himself reminded the crowd his 17-year-old self had gone to see Van Halen 40 year ago and if you had told him one day he’d be behind the drum kit — with photos of his famous dad plastered all over it — playing with Hagar and Anthony: “I would have said you were as mad as a hatter.”
They’ve also enlisted legendary Australian musician Rai Thistlethwayte on keyboards and backing vocals so you have someone handling those legendary synth intros from the ‘80s.
But the Hagar era of Van Halen, stretching from the mid-80s to the mid-’90s (and a brief reunion tour from 2003-05), meant the two-hour show, which had the audience on its feet from the start with opening song Good Enough, consisted of a lot of Van Hagar material with standouts like Best of Both Worlds, Right Now, Why Can’t This Be Love and When It’s Love.
Still, there were Roth-era songs too, such as Panama and Jump.
But a genuine surprise like Anthony singing lead vocals on the very early Van Halen song Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love — with a brief shout out to his former bandmate “Let’s do it for Eddie!” — proved potent as Hagar left the stage for the only time.
Initially wearing a Red Rocker Lager T-shirt — advertising his just-released-in-Ontario new beer that he told me backstage he came up with as a cross between Mexican and Japanese beer — Hagar physically defied his 76 years on the planet as he effortlessly handled vocals and occasionally guitar playing.
“I like to strap on a guitar to make Joe sound better,” joked Hagar, who also popped open several cans of Red Rocker Lager on stage, exclaiming: “Surf’s Up!” during the first one before tossing them to fans in the front to finish off.
His tequila was also flowing during the party-hearty song Mas Tequila, and another crowdpleaser proved to be the early Hagar solo hit I Can’t Drive 55.
Opening Wednesday night were Canadian ‘80s rock survivors Loverboy with frontman Mike Reno’s red headband still firmly in place alongside original members Paul Dean on guitar, Doug Johnson on keyboards, Matt Frenette on drums, and Ken “Spider” Sinnaeve replacing the late Scott Smith on bass.
The band took the delighted audience through eight songs over 45 minutes including hits like The Kid is Hot Tonite, Loving Every Minute of It, Turn Me Loose, and Working For the Weekend.
It proved to be the perfect warmup for Hagar and company.
HAGAR SET LIST
Good Enough
Poundcake
Runaround
There’s Only One Way to Rock
Judgement Day
Panama
5150
Summer Nights
Ain’t Talkin’ ‘bout Love (Michael Anthony on lead vocal)
Top of the World
Best of Both Worlds/Celebration
Satch Boogie (Joe Satriani cover)
The Seventh Seal
Right Now
Why Can’t This Be Love
Eagles Fly
Mas Tequila
Heavy Metal
I Can’t Drive 55
ENCORE:
Space Station #5
Big Foot
Jump
When It’s Love