Thanks to Ron Higgins and Jamie Braun (or is that Jody ;)) for these pictures!

“There’s only one way to rock” goes one of Sammy Hagar’s most popular songs.

Really. Tell that to Sonic Youth, the Chemical Brothers, Public Enemy, even Janet Jackson (or rather, her producers, Jam and Lewis), all of whom have come up with new ways to rock an have kept the music breathing with excitement.

That is not to suggest that Hagar’s music lacks excitement or even that his brand of rock is the purest and most traditional. But his music is rock at its most un-reconstructed–an act that’s difficult to keep interesting.

Miraculously, Hagar managed to keep things interesting at his Eagles Ballroom show Friday night. In fact, when he burst forth with “There’s Only One Way to Rockl” as his second song, it covered the room with a wall of noise, rocking more fiercely and dangerously than on record. Nothing that followed matched its intensity, but Hagar’s enthusiasm more than made up for it.

Actually, it’s slightly surprising hearing such reactionary sentiments like “there’s only one way to rock” coming from Hagar. This is, after all, the rocker who’s covered Van Morrison, Patti Smith, Donovan and Paul Revere and the Raiders during his solo career after a stint with hard rock dinosaurs Montrose. Would Ozzy Osbourne attempt covering such a mixed bag? Best of all, his eclectic tastes extend to his own band members, too.

On stage with Hagar were a hippie drummer, a burned-out keyboardist, an African-American guitarist (perhaps the only African-American in the room) and a bassist who resembled a motorcycle mama version of Tura Satana–the Japanese-Apache cult star of “Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill!”

Not your typical hard-rock ensemble.

At times, Hagar seemed to have a need to explain his “progressivism.” He told the crowd that some people have questioned his choice of a woman as bassist, then let her prove herself by giving her a solo turn.

Nonetheless, Hagar’s interaction with the audience is what saved the show from heavy metal tedium. After he spilled a front-row fan’s beer, he got a roadie to bring him a fresh one. He even sang to some lucky couch potato via a cell phone that was passed to him from the audience.

Rather than express bitternessover his messy breakup with Van Halen, Sammy Hagar was overjoyed just to be still rocking– even if he only knows one way to do it.


Thanks to Ron Higgins for transcribing this review.

We arrived at the MetroCentre a little before 6:00pm. We knew there would be 7 of us for the MnG, and had emailed each other getting details of where to meet up. I spotted a big black limo, and knew right away that was Bridget & Rick’s. Stu and I crossed the street to the limo, and from there Dave and Lisa found us, and Tim came over to see what was going on. The Limo was a perfect meeting place for us. We were all *so* nervous. It was fun to meet up in person with the other SHML – I like being able to put a face with the name.
We all went to the WillCall Window to get our passes together, and everyone’s was there. The guy told us to wait, and someone would be by to get us. The waiting was the hardest part. But after what seemed like a *long* time to us, we were escorted back to a dressing room. We all had something we wanted autoghaphed – and we all had our cameras (ok for the MnG, but we did not smuggle our camera in to the concert- didn’t want to chance losing it to a guard after getting all those cool mng pix!!)

Sammy entered the room and I think we all swooned just a bit – I had told Bridget if I faint, drag my butt up against a wall for at least one pic with Sammy. He started signing all the stuff, when he walked by me I got to give him a hug & kiss on the cheek. I never thought I’d do something that impulsive — sure glad I did. Stu didn’t get a picture of it – he said I should have told him in advance I was going to do that and he would have been ready – so I can’t send anybody a picture of that particular moment – but there will be plenty of pics getting passed around I’m sure cuz we all did have the cameras flashing. Sammy was all smiles, and energetic as hell — took the time to deal with all of us. He is just soooo cool. (ok, I won’t get started on this – I’ll never stop – I still haven’t come back down to earth yet. Just call me one of those swoony, drooling over-16yr old girls that the guys on the list tend to slam…. 🙂

We brought our poster of an eagle flying for Sammy to sign, and I got my 1st issue of the Fan Club Newsletter signed. Also got a couple of cd covers, and the big Marching to Mars cover that they were giving out as you walked in signed. Bridget had her shirt signed – it had a scanned in group picture of a previous mng with Sammy – Moline?- that was cool.

I can’t wait for the pictures to get developed. I only took 1/2 of the film, and I really don’t want to wait to get these done, but we’re having a birthday party on Saturday for Lyndsay so I’ll finish the roll then, and get the pix back by Tuesday or so. Will scan ’em in at work, and forward them to Liza, to the PureRedRock girls for the Fan Club Newsletter, and anyone else who wants them.

I’m trying real hard to talk Stu into a Cabo October trip…. Sammy is the greatest Rock n Roll guy *EVER* imho 🙂 Concert review in a separate document as this is getting mighty long.

Thanks to Mary Vitkus for this review!

Thanks to John King and Ben Swain for this set list!

The wedding adage “something old, something new, something
borrowed, something blue” would definately apply to Sammy Hagar’s
first solo performance in Indianapolis since 1984.

In Wednesday’s 2 1/2 hour set, the venerable “Red Rocker”
entertained a less-than-sold-out Murat Theater crowd with music
spanning 25 years and three phases of his career.

Hagar, who seemed ecstatic to be a solo artist once again,
and his new band careened from one decade to the next, playing
tunes from his Montrose days to his Van Halen tenure and still
finding time to work in some of his solo hits and tracks from
his new album, “Marching to Mars”.

The long retrospective approach, bolstered by Hagar’s usual
high-energy antics, worked.

Fans got to hear Hagar’s stock winners, such as I Can’t
Drive 55, One Way to Rock and Bad Motor Scooter. But the extended
set and lack of an opener left time for plenty of the new album,
most notably Kama, a low-key song dedicated to his young daughter.

Guitarist Victor Johnson deserves extra praise for his
stellar playing, which unfortunately got swallowed by the room for
much of the show. He handled the unenviable task of playing a
number of Van Halen songs, which he did with a great deal of
skill and his own flair.

The main problem with the night’s show was the sound. At
times, it apperared to be a good thing that everyone knew the
words to most of the songs, as Hagar’s voice was lost. Some of
the better musical work was lost in the cacophony created by the
small size of the venue.

And although he has claimed many times that he isn’t holding
a grudge against his former bandmates, one has to wonder why he
would throw in an obvious poke at Eddie Van Halen’s replaced hip
by using his guitar as a crutch early in the show.

But it was a good show nonetheless with a party atmoshere,
right down to the Cabo Wabo backdrop and the impromptu lesson on
how to mix a “waborita”, after which he passed around samples to
some audience members.

Guess solo life suits Sammy just fine.

Thanks to John King for transcribing this article.

CONCERT REVIEW by Michael D. Clark (Indianapolis Star)

ADDITIONAL REVIEW

Went to the show in Indy last night and all I have to say is
wow. It is hard to compare the show to others I’ve seen because I’ve
only seen one other concert (Van Halen 2 years ago at Deer Creek).
Sammy’s show was at the Murat and was an indoor theatre holding about
2000 people and I was in the tenth row. The VH show was at Deer Creek,
and outdoor pavilion and I was at least 100 feet from the stage. So no
matter what the Murat show is going to be better.

There was a little confusion for the meet n greet but we got
everything figured out and I got to meet the man! He was real cool, but
was in a hurry so he didn’t stay very long and couldn’t really stay to
talk. He took a picture with the mailing list people and I got my
Rematch album signed (It’ll be framed and put next to my autographed
picture of Gene Keady. For a Boilermaker that’s the next best thing to
God). The coolest part of the meet n greet was that one of the contest
winners from Q95 was a mentally and physically handicapped kid and Sammy
took extra time to get pictures and sign stuff for the kid. I pray that
that kid is able to remember that for the rest of his life. We also got
to meet David Lauser and he was real cool. He seemed about in awe of
Sammy as we were. Real down to earth guy. I’m kicking myself that I
didn’t get his autograph too.

The concert was great. He was having a blast and it was just a
big party. Victor was having fun with the whole thing. He is a very
good guitar player. I was very impressed.Mona looked like she was still
getting used to playing for that many people. Sammy told her to do a
bass solo and had to push her to the front of the stage. She spent most
of the time back by the drums. The funniest part was someone threw a
rose with a note on it. He read it and it was asking his middle name
because she was pregnant and wanted to name her kid after him. So he
told everyone his middle name was Roy and told her not to name her kid
Roy. Then the crowd started chanting Roy. He said that in all of his
time putting on concerts he’s never had that happen. He told everyone
that he named his new girl Kama and played the song.

With the songs he played he said that “Bad Motor Scooter” was the
first song he ever wrote. He also told the story of how “Finish What Ya
Started” was wrote. He said that he had gone to bed, but wasn’t trying
to fall asleep, and Eddie came over saying that Val was ticked at him and
so Eddie wanted to work on another song. So Eddie and Sammy sat on
Sammy’s front porch with acoustic guitars and spent the whole night
writing the song (which was about how Eddie ruined the night for Sammy).

I think he’s having fun being on his own again. The big
difference between this concert and the VH concert I saw was that with VH
he didn’t talk as much. I think this was a better concert than VH, but
it’s still dissappointing not to see Eddie there. And I’m also
dissappointed that I will never see Van Hagar play “Humans Being” live.
I think Victor can play anthing Sammy tells him to and he will do it very
well, but Victor still isn’t the guitar god. I’m very glad to have seen
both concerts.

Thanks to Ben Swain for this review!

Sammy Hagar and the Waboritias marched into Cleveland’s Nautica outdoor theater Saturday July 19th. The Picturesque Nautica stage is located on the west bank of the Cuyahoga river in the Flats. The Flats, still a buzz from the celebrity packed All Star game a few weeks ago, is the famous bar & restaurant district of converted warehouse buildings( like Chicago’s rush street ) and the place to be in Cleveland near the Harbor and the Rock Hall. The stage is backed by the river and is flanked on one side by a converted power station which now holds some great bars and restaurants. The other side by a warehouse building and a large steel draw bridge. The weather was choice .. in fact Sammy complained about how light it was ” This is the most fun you can have in daylight!” because of the stage facing west into the setting sun.

Before the show we were able to talk to Sam for a few minutes and get some autographs. As he approached us wearing a Cleveland PD T shirt. Sam said ” Wait a minute you guys cant be the net heads where’s the geeks and the glasses?”. I said “Sam you say that at all the shows” he smiled looked down the small line we were in and said “It’s true man!” with a big ole grin on his face. My friend was copping a feel of his hair telling him “I love your hair”. Sam told her you dont know how many mornings I wake up and want to do that!” pointing at my military doo. After chatting a bit I shook his hand good bye and told him how nice it was to meet him. Sam said to me laughing “Bet you say that to all of them.” ( getting me back for geek thing ). All in all Sam was very nice and down to earth. It was great opportunity to meet him ( and his tour manager Chris ) and I have to thank Little White Liza for this one.

Sam opened the show of 4,100 with MTM followed by One Way and Returning Home. Was kind a nice being so light out. It gave me the chance to snap some choice pics form our Third row center seats with that $4 camera I was hiding in my pants! Let me tell you how comfortable that was! Someone threw up an Indians’ hat and when Sam put it on the place went nutz! He then stopped the band and apologized for his weak first pitch (that wasn’t that bad … believe me) at Jacob’s Field to start the game earlier that day. He blamed it on the promoters waking him up at 8:30 am. He then put it on Vic saying that the glare from the sun reflecting off his bald head was killing him. Victor kept it on most of the show. During the bathroom break, with the club backdrop, he did Cabo Wabo and Right Now. It was typical Sammy … he seemed quite comfortable and as always gave it his all, singing his heart out – one thing Sam has always done. (Although it was still different to me not seeing Ed, Al & Mikey since I saw him with ZZtop in those years that remain near blank in my head.) Two of my biggest enjoyments of the show were Bad Motor Scooter (cause it’s been so damn long !) which he opened with some Crossroads licks and Yogi So High. From what I understand a very typical set closing with encores of Eagles Fly, Dreams and MTM again.

Thanks to T Gerbic for this review!