Sammy Hagar, currently on his Best of All Worlds tour made a stop through Ridgefield, WA on Sunday and it was an evening filled with nostalgia and the legendary rock music that we all know and love. Opening for the evening was Loverboy. They played the hits they’re best known for, as well as a few lesser known tracks as the RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater quickly filled to near capacity.
When Sammy and the gang took the stage, it was a Taylor Swift Era’s-like tour through the history of Van Halen’s very iconic vision of rock ‘n’ roll. Nearly two dozen songs, the majority of which came from the Van Halen catalog, spanning both the David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar periods filled the amphitheater through the duration of the evening. Sprinkled throughout were a few of the Sammy Hagar exclusives such as “There’s Only One Way To Rock” and “Eagles Fly”, but the over-arching theme for the evening was clearly “This music is for you” which focused on the Van Halen legacy.
There’s been a lot of articles and speculation about Alex (Van Halen’s) lack of interest in being a part of the project, but there didn’t seem to be any animosity, at least on stage, from Sammy’s perspective. Although Sammy repeatedly shouted “This is a celebration”, I felt that more could have been done to honor Eddie’s legacy and contribution to the music that we were all there to celebrate. Sammy did share a brief recollection about a time he walked in on Eddie playing this killer guitar riff and how he felt nobody else could ever play that, but Joe (Satriani) said he could play it so Eddie’s fingerstyle “Why Can’t This Be Love” live intro was added to the set. Also, during “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love”, Michael (Anthony) shouted “This one’s for Eddie!” But, aside from those small mentions, very little else was said about the man that shaped the Van Halen sound and much of the rock guitar we hear today.
Despite the fact that Sammy is in the exclusive septuagenarian rockstar club, he still moved around like a man 40 years his junior. And there’s no doubt that the man still has a lot of party left in him as he signed autographs throughout the set and shared some of his own brand of Red Rocker lager and Santo Blanco tequila with Michael and the crowd.
Joe Satriani’s virtuosity on the guitar was evident as he played through each of the tracks in the set with ease nearly “cloning” EVH’s tone and expression. Jason Bonham on the drums looked at home behind the kit as well, with his bass drum skins proudly displaying his father’s image. Since the original band wasn’t available to make this tour happen, Sammy assembled a great group of musicians in Satriani, Anthony, Bonham, and keyboardist Ray Thistlethwayte.
Although there are only a few more dates on this Best of All Worlds tour, here’s to hoping they add more dates or bring this around for another spin.
