This was perhaps one of the greatest rock concerts that I have ever seen. The concert took place in the Eastman Theatre. This venue is known for its great acoustics and for housing the Philoharmonic orchestra of Rochester. The first thing I’ll talk about is the meet and greet. Liza I just want to thank you for setting this up. It did not go as well as possible, but that really doesn’t matter. The point is it happened. I got meet the Red Rocker. Meeting him was very exciting. I was able to get him to sign several things. I was able to get my Waborita shirt signed, as well as these Marching to Mars promo posters, and the disc jacket to my I Never Said Goodbye disc. I was also able to get several pictures with him at the MNG and during the concert. It was also cool just to talk to him, he was really cool. The autographs will be a great souvenir of this event, however this will be something that I will not forget.

Ok now for the show.

Marching to Mars- This song opened the show. The small crowd of 1500 gave a thundeous ovation as Sammy came out onto the stage. His stage presence is phenomenal. Not too many people seemed to know this song or most of the other new songs. It didn’t really matter though, the crowd really got into all of the new songs.

One Way to Rock- This song got the crowd into a singing mood really early into the show. This song rocked as always.

Returning Home- This song didn’t rock as much as the previous two. But Sammy really showed off his vocal range with this song. I loved the rendition of it.

I’ll Fall in Love Again- The crowd really liked this song. Many in the crowd were singing with Sammy on this one.

Salvation On a Sandhill- Not too many people were into this song. I think it was the familarity problem. Us netheads enjoyed the great version of this though.

Why Can’t This Be Love- The crowd went nuts as they realized what they were playing. Kevin(another nethead) and I immediatly flashed the VH hand signal to Sammy, he looked at us smiled and flashed it back. The crowd enjoyed this one and the band more than made up for no Eddie, Alex, and Mikey. I was extremely impressed with them at this point.

Rock the Nation- A banner thrown up on stage kinda helped the crowd make a request for this tune. After awhile the band relented and played most of it. Despite not knowing it that well, the band did a good job with it. Later on in the show someone made a request for Flamingos Fly. Sammy responded by saying that he hadn’t played that song in several years.

Who Has The Right- This is my favorite song off the new album. Sammy and crew performed this one flawlessly. Nobody really knew this one, but it didn’t matter.

Bad Motor Scooter- A guitar solo using the Dobro(stick) segued into this Montrose classic. Sammy also gave a little explanation on how it was the first song he had written. A guy up front even gave Sammy a hit off his joint. The crowd was at its peak during this one. They got into this song more than any other song except for maybe Red.

Good Rockin Tonight- Classic Sammy at its best.

Finish What Ya Started- The band again performed admirably on this one. Crowd participation as always on this tune was great. This is always a crowd favorite.

Kama- Perhaps this song is one of the greatest Sammy has written. I know its one of the most enotional songs I’ve heard him perform. He described it as a lullabye for his daughter.

Waborita break- Showed us how to make the world famous Waborita. He explained the origin of the tequila. I ended up getting a taste of the final result. That was a good Waborita and it makes me want to go down to Cabo evn more so now.

Cabo Wabo- This one sounded a little differently acoustically compared to the usual plugged in version. It still was cool though.

Right Now- Before playing it he described that they were going to play it the way it was first played. Jesse on keyboards was the only one out there with Sammy. The song sounded better than the album version in my opinion. The rest of the band came out at the end of it and sang backup.

Little White Lie- Plugged back in. The crowd knew this new scorcher of a tune. Jesse did a great job on the harmonica.

I Can’t Drive 55- A great tune as always. This is obviously my favorite tune as well as many other peoples at this show. I think the entire crowd was singing along on this one.

3 Lock Box- A really good classic Sammy tune.
Yogi’s So High- The crowd wasn’t too much into this tune. I enjoyed it though. It has a strange groove to it.

Red- As the lights were cued to Red it could only mean one thing. The crowd on this one definetly sounded like more than 1500. One thing I noticed is how much Sammy liked playing the tunes that he hasn’t been able to play for such a long time.

Heavy Metal- This song just kicks ass. The entire crowd sang along to this one.

Rock N Roll- This old Zep tune continued the trend of kick ass music.

Dreams- Victor is amazing, the entire night he covered Eddie really well. I was really impressed with him. As for Sammy his voice was phenomenal on this one. The crowd really liked this one.

Marching to Mars- I really like this song live. The crowd was even singing along the second time around. The only thing I didn’t like were the contest winners singing. They looked like freaks up there. It had to be cool to do that though.

All in all it was a great show. I even converted 2 people into Sammy fans based on this concert. Victor, Mona, Jesse, and Dave did a phenomenal job. I was really impressed with them. As for Sammy, he kicked ass in Rochester.


Thanks to Mike Crandall for this review.

Thanks to Alan Robinson for this set list!

St. Louis Post Dispatch
By: Michael Kuelker

So Sammy Hagar got thrown out of Van Halen. Big whoop. We knew he’d come back, like Rocky Balboa or Richard Nixon or the battery bunny. What’d you think he was going to do? Change his name to Haggard and pitch to a country audience? Not this Red Rocker. Hagar returned to St. Louis for the first time since his departure from Man Halen, playing for nearly three hours to an enthusiastic audience at Riverport Amphitheatre Friday night.

Helped by over-the-top promotion from KSHE radio, the show was a sell out. The love-lock between Hagar and St. Louis rock fans dates to shows he played as support on tours with Boston in the 1970’s. Smiling and spirited from the word go, Hagar came out in red velour pants(it wasn’t the only emblem on the 70’s) and a red-and -white striped Rugby jersey and rocked to “Marching to Mars,” the title song to his new album. He moved on to a signature cut, “There’s Only One Way to Rock”. From there it was another 20 songs or so of “heavy metal noise” until a lengthy encore sequence that didn’t finish until shortly before midnight. Nothing is subtle, nothing is done without heart in a Hagar performance. It was in fact a faultless Hagar concert.Whatever Hagar period you like- and this crowd seemed to like them all – you got. Montrose, old solo Sammy, “Van Hagar” and new solo Sammy: The man sang and sang until he was done. He broke it up with chummy stage patter, repeatedly thanking St. Louisans for their support lo, these last 20 years and draping himself in the “Sammy Rules” banners which were repeatedly proffered to the stage.

Hagar’s tight band, led by guitarist Victor Johnson, gave his material brawn and kick, and the light show was active but simple, just like the star, with strobes, fans of lights and heavy spots to punctuate and decorate. Radio standbys like “Red,” “I Can’t Drive 55,” and “Right Now” were revisited with gusto.

Still, several of the new cuts the band performed demonstrated that Hagar is not simply rewriting his past. Taking a chance at being dubbed a wimp, he sang a ballad about the birth of his daughter as well as one that comes out against the death penalty. Even the flub on the old “Rock and Roll Weekend” worked in Hagar’s favor. Dropped from his repertoire since 1980, the song was performed Friday night on a dare – and rather turgidly. Midway in the song, Hagar called it off and invited boos, if only to indicate, once again, that Sammy-in-St. Louis is not just another cookie-cutter performance. Hagar’s whole show is about feeling like a teenager. In other words, a show bulletproof and impervious to criticism. It would seem silly rock – critic pomposity to approach it any other way.)


Thanks to Jane Steffens for transcribing this review.

Thanks to Chris Farrow for the set list!