The Strand Theatre

YES, MR. HAGAR KICKED ASS ALL OVER PROVIDENCE SATURDAY NIGHT!!

8:00 – Our group makes it back into the venue and we luck out!! There aren’t
many people in front yet, so we hurry to the left front side of the stage,
basically right in front of Victor. For all intents and purposes, we ended
up having the equivalent of 2nd and 3rd row spots. Cool!! 🙂 The beer
starts flowing……

8:30 – What?? An opening act?? Well, he was actually pretty good, so the
crowd didn’t mind. The crowd was actually downright gracious to him. Anyone
remember the group Fahrenheit?? (Come on you White Lion fans….hehe) The
guy was the frontman of that group, Charlie Fahren (Farren? sp?) and he
played some new solo stuff and a few Fahrenheit songs. Remember that song,
“…..what am i gonna do? I’m just a Fool in Love….what am i gonna do?….”
Anyway, he wasn’t bad and he played for bout a half hour.

9:00 – More drinks, more chatting……I turn around and my husband is
smoking a cigar….. Where in the world did he get THAT from? Dave
P. is all set to write the set list, getting his index card ready. He makes
a point of telling the girl standing next to us (who, incidentally, is
hanging all over her boyfriend who looks like he is going into convulsions
waiting for Sammy…) that he is going to be writing the set list down and he
will be taking it in & out of his pocket and he didn’t want her to think he
was grabbing her ass. She looks at him coldly and goes…”It’s good that you
told me – you’ll be saving a testicle that way.” Puh-leeze!!! What female
stands in the front center at a GA show where there’s drinking and doesn’t
expect their ass to be grabbed? Get a grip. What an idiot.

9:20-ish – Dave thought it was 9:30, but I could have sworn it was
sooner…..lights go down, colored spotlights start flashing, and the
backdrop goes up. The band bursts out, starting up with MTM, of course.
Sammy is in full RR regalia, in royal purple crushed velvet pants, a purple
velvet jacket to match and a fuschia tank top. He completed the look with
pink and purple beads around his neck and some bright yellow Vans sneakers
with purple glitter on them. WHOA. That’s all I have to say about that.
(Besides the fact that he looked great!) One thing I forgot in my pre-show
recap was how I couldn’t believe how small Sammy is!! He must be about 5’7″
or so. I am only 5 feet tall, so usually *everyone* looks big to me. He is,
however, in great shape – VERY toned. hehe

From here on out…..no more time frames. Just show bits & pieces. You
already read the set list. BEST SONGS: I guess I would have to say that the
most impressive songs, IMO, were I Can’t Drive 55, Good Rockin’ Tonight, and
the acoustic version of Amnesty is Granted. 55 was all energy – red lights,
noise, etc. It was so pumped up and intoxicating. I had never heard him do
this in concert, or Good Rockin’ Tonight, for that matter. Both songs got
the crowd absolutely wild. It was very touching to hear him do AIG…..that
was a real treat.

WABORITAS: He mixed the drinks, and as he was squeezing
the limes, he emphasized how juicy the limes should ideally be. He said “You
know, things are most always better when they’re really juicy.” I think
almost everyone in our group ended up getting a taste. Sammy tasted it first
and made a screwy face, and said “I think this is the strongest one I’ve ever
made. I can’t do this to you guys!” And he proceeded to weaken it. I will
say that it was quite good – very smooth and tasty. 🙂 STORIES: He told
the story about writing “Right Now” that everyone has heard. Right before
Jesse started to play, Sammy got this nostalgic look in his eyes and said,
“That’s when things were…..special.” He also told the story about
auditioning Mona and how he was so impressed when she showed up at his house
on a Harley “with a bass guitar riding Bitch in the back!!!” and he laughed.
Someone commented on the fact that he sounded sexist about not initially
wanting a woman in the band, but I think that was just for that male-bonding
type of joking around (ladies, you know how guys are like that….). Which
leads me into

THE BAND: I have to say I was most impressed by Mona – man,
she can play a fucking bass!!! She was just awesome. Really funky and she
puts alot of feeling into her playing. Victor was definitely great; I was
really impressed with his solo on “Why Can’t This Be Love” and LWL is always
great to watch the guitar playing. Jesse and David really round out the
sound and they all compliment each other.

A highlight
was before Sammy did Bad Motor Scooter, he took out the guitar he calls “the
stick” and he sat down on a box right in front of us and was lost in that
instrument for a good 5 minutes at least before the song started. Awesome to
see him play like that so close. Before he played Both Sides Now
acoustically, he was telling a story and I forget now what it was, but he
started singing On the Other Hand acapella, pointing from finger to finger –
it was really cute….he stopped as abruptly as he had started and broke into
BSN.

On Yogi, he did the floor thing – *enough said*. When he did Returning Home,
which was SO AWESOME to see live, he didn’t play guitar, and he just danced
all over the stage. He was so cute. BANNERS & SHIRTS: as per usual, he put
everything on that people threw up to him. The first banner said “VHIII will
Die.” He just shook his head with a smile and put it on the ground – he had
no comment. I was surprised, however, that he put on a Balance t-shirt where
someone put big black X’s over Ed, Al & Mike’s faces!! That was kinda funny.

Anyway, if anyone is STILL reading this, I commend you……..you all that
have written reviews so far, you know how easy it is to get carried away!!!
The show was amazing, and I hope I get another chance to see this tour. It
is 150% energy, enthusiasm and talent. Sammy is such a cool guy to boot, and
it is really super how he goes out to the mngs night after night with a
smile…….he is simply the best!!!

Thanks to Jennifer for this review.

Thanks to Chris Farrow for this set list.