It’s almost hard to put into words, when I think back and compare it to the many other concerts I’ve seen. Apples and oranges you say? Well, then you haven’t see Sammy and the talented band he’s put together on the Marching to Mars tour.

Austin’s ass was so thoroughly rocked, to the core, and without a doubt. His first show back after having to cancel the San Antonio gig two nights before, due to illness, you would never have known by how fantastic his voice sounded. Not to get to heavily into the set list, I’d like to mention that specifically, “Why Can’t This Be Love,” “I Can’t Drive 55,” and “Heavy Metal” moved the packed house. In fact, Sammy didn’t need to sing to those because the audience was so worked up and glad to be rocked, that they contributed their joy and voices.

Very heartfelt moments were shared with “Who Has the Right,” “Both Sides Now,” and “Kama.” Along with those, everything before, in between, and after was, I must say, the best concert I’ve ever seen.

Sammy’s personality shined, as upbeat as ever. I particularly liked him trying on the cowboy hat thrown onto the stage (Victor looked especially good in it) and his joke about playing “Finish What Ya Started” from OU812 when your wife’s not in the mood and something about hoping she doesn’t scream out his name when the song puts her in that mood.

Finishing out the show with “Marching to Mars” and contest winners singing onstage with the band, there was a suprise when Sam’s wife, Kari, and our own Debbie from the PureRed Rock newsletter sang along.

On my last personal note, the new VH lineup will be hard-pressed to top Sammy’s live show. If they can (which I’ll never believe until I see it), man, what a feat they will achieve. Even then, there will be one thing missing…


Thanks to Angela Kersh for this review and the set list!

Thanks to Billy Pickens for the set list!

I have been meaning to write about my experience at Sammy’s Corpus show. The band came out, the fans stood up and nobody sat down until Sammy was of the stage at the end. The Band was solid, Sammy’s voice was at his best and I had a front row center seat. I had to pay 12.50 more though to wire it to visa and make sure I had the money in there when the tickets went on sale. 10 seconds after they went on sale I got mine. Being from the San Fran area I have seem Sammy alot maybe 10 times since the 70’s, but this was definitely the greatest experience.

I was pumped way before the show from reading the reviews at this site. Taking a que from Matt Hemmer who wrote about the Wilkes show in Penn. I had made a banner that said” Right Now, Gary Cherone is singing a Sammy Hagar song” and brought it to the show. What a great idea, Thanks Matt. I had perfect eye contact just when sammy started singing Right Now and I pointed at the base of his microphone stand where the security gaurd placed my banner. Sammy dragged it across the stage with his foot never missing a note. When he got it all stretch out, he walked along reading it, cracked up them called a couple of people from the side of the stage to come out and hold one side. He put the middle in Victor’s mouth and held up the other end and the place went nuts.

Although the place was not sold out, Sammy and co. put on a great show and it was the most fun I have had since I moved here 7 years ago. At the end of the show Sammy came to the edge of the stage and everybody tried to touch him, so I stuck my arm through the crowd as far as a could reach and I kid you not, Sammy put something in MY hand. I quickly shoved it under my shirt before it got tore up. When I looked at it after the show, It was a worn Standing Hampton T-shirt from 1982. Really! I now plan to be in Cabo for the Birthday Bash Next year and hopefully I can get Sammy to autograph it. I realize that this may not be proper for the summary, but I wanted to share it with anybody who would read it and to say to Sammy: Thanks for coming to Corpus It was the best time. Looking forward to some more great new Hagar Music.


Thanks to Brandon A. Manrow for this review.

Thanks to Scott Sexton for the set list.

Well folks, as luck would have we were the ONLY shmlisters at the
Jacksonville, Florida concert. I’ll leave my lurker status (really more
of a smirker, cause some of you just crack me up, Terry + Grantboy to
name a few) to report to everyone about the concert.
Not to leave anything out I’ll recount a little of the journey. We
started out for JAX early in the morning, road tripped for 3.5 hours and
finally reached the venue, the historical Florida Theatre in downtown
JAX. When we left we still hadn’t heard from Liza about the mng and
weren’t sure if we were going to be involved. At will call our ?’s
about the mng were met with the *scooby* look…”no scooby snack for
you, try back L8R.” So we took in some sites checked into the Hilton with
a top-floor view over looking the St. John’s river and the Florida
Theatre. Damn, it doesn’t get any better than this. Or so I
thought….

In the room we listened to the radio station ROCK 105 as they were
doing a live remote at the venue. Since we were only five minutes away
we decided to go down and hang out too. When we arrived we could hear
Sammy doing a sound check and singing my fave off M2M, BSN. Standing
there were a couple of guys with *albums* that Sam had
signed. Again, we checked on the staus of the mng with the will call
ladies.

This time there was someone named Kevin that appeared to be
connected,he was trying to hide his official badge, always a dead
giveaway. I was able to find out that the list was coming down soon.
To make what is turning out to be a very long story short, we were on
the list and received our passes. After what
seemed like an eternity we were led back to a room, not much bigger than
an average-sized bathroom, where there were two other couples. They had
talked their way into this mng because they had a RR Washburn guitar.
We were all very excited and after a short wait Sam came down and began
shaking everyone’s hand.

I was floored by just how young he looked;
must be the Waboritas, cause he looks fab. We graciously let the other
two couples maul him, some people have no courtesy. Chris had to tell
this one chick to STEP ASIDE as she was trying to get her picture taken
with sam and my husband, duh!! My hubby and Sam both yelled “PAM get
over here.” We took a couple of pics then he signed my fave cd’s:
Montrose, Danger Zone, I Never Said Goodbye, and M2M. Sammy asked if
there was anything he could do for ME!!!……. Well, as I was thinking
*hmmmm, I’ve got quite a long list honey how much time do we have*…..
😉 ….. :-0

My husband said “I know it’s not on your set list but her favorite is
Love or Money” So Sammy sang the first riff to us. DAMN, my knees went
weak and I almost passed out.

For those of you who have never heard the *zone* check it out cause LoM
kicks ass!!! Anyway, I digress.

I went on to show him the tribute I had done to commemorate the
occasion: a navel piercing complete with red bead. OUCH. If anyone
tells you it doesn’t hurt is full of shit or was so high they don’t
remember. I’m neither of those and it still hurts two days L8R!!!
Once again I digress….

Sam usually doesn’t have an opening act but a guy named Corey Stevens
was in town and Sam asked him to open. He was pretty good, if you like
your rock on the blue side ala SRV.

Finally after he finished and the
stage was cleared, the Cabo Wabo backdrop in place and the lights
dimmed, Sammy began to wail the into to M2M from behind the curtain.
I was having too much fun to have an exact set list but he played
everything he played in Fort Lauderdale, except the Hand Jive song. He
played Mockingbird instead. “Don’t let sam get bored or he starts doing
crazy shit” SH

Let me tell you this, Sam showed everyone there exactly what he’s
about. The venue only held 2,000 people but Sam told us during the show
that this was the kind of place he liked to play: The acoustics were
great and every seat was a good one. He said this tour wasn’t about
making a gazillion dollars but to have some fun, and give something back
to his fans. And boy did he!!!

He rocked his ass off. Songs like YSH
and LWL are beyond description to see and hear him do them live. THE
MAN IS HOT!!! His voice was literally flawless. The rest of the band was
VERY good that night. Victor made some EVH guitar licks his own, while
Mona drove the BadMotorScooter to new heights. She rocks!!!……

Guess I’ve rattled on enough. Just can’t wait to see you again Sammy.
Thanks Liza, for setting up the mng for such a small group. That just
goes to show you how much Sammy cares for him fans. I KNOW that that is
genuine. I am glad that Sam split from VH, notwithstanding the pain it
caused him, but because he can now express himself in ways that he
wasn’t allowed to within the confines of that group. Can you imagine
any of this happening if it were a VH tour? I know it wouldn’t. Little
Differences…:>)

Anyway, Sam we love you man. Come back soon, you know us Southern girls
love your….everything!

Thanks to Pam for this review.