The one and only time I was lucky enough to see Van Halen live in Orlando back in 2008 was monumental for me; I knew I was watching total greatness on stage that night, grinning from ear-to-ear from start to finish, especially while watching the late Eddie Van Halen perform his guitar solo. To this day, those concert tickets were one of the best gifts anyone has ever given to me, and I’m forever grateful to have seen such sheer raw talent and brilliance in my lifetime (thanks again, Dad).
Yet I still felt at the time like there was something missing that night. As much respect as I have for Eddie’s talented son Wolfgang, as a bass player at heart, it was the riffs of Michael Anthony from the band’s “classic” lineup that I had actually grown up playing along to, and I couldn’t help but feel a certain sense of disappointment that he was not there that night. And as exciting as a reunion with original frontman David Lee Roth seemed at the time, I’ve always felt Sammy Hagar has been miles above him talent-wise.
So I was of course elated when my wife Brooke actually won tickets last December to the Red Rocker’s show at the MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheater this past Sunday, July 14. The tour not only features fellow Van Halen alumni Michael Anthony on bass and a VH-heavy set list, but guitar extraordinaire Joe Satriani and drummer Jason Bonham (who Rewind It actually just caught last year with Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening at Welcome to Rockville).
Of course our luck would change on the actual day of show, as we battled our way through rain storms to get to the venue on time, only to remain water-logged throughout its entire duration. It was so bad that even openers Loverboy decided not to take part; thankfully the wife and I had already seen them once before back in 2014, though our teenaged son Jacob (who is perpetually playing catch up with us!) was actually looking forward to hearing such classics as “Turn Me Loose” and “When It’s Over” (among many others) for the first time.
But the minute the entrance video featuring various clips throughout Hagar’s five-plus decade long career began to play, all worries went to the wayside (for the most part), and it was time to finally rock. Opening with “Good Enough” from Van Halen’s 5150 album from 1986 was not quite the initial “jolt” one might be hoping for right off the bat, but fortunately numbers like “Poundcake,” “Runaround,” “There’s Only One Way to Rock,” and “Judgement Day” were all admirable follow-ups possible of transporting a person back to a specific time and place almost immediately.
Hagar then surprisingly went into “Panama” from the Roth-era 1984 record before launching in to “5150” and “Summer Nights.” After this Sammy graciously stepped aside to let Anthony sing the lead on “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love” from VH’s classic 1978 debut album (one of the definite highlights of the night for sure).
Longtime bandmates Michael Anthony (left) and Sammy Hagar performing in Tampa, FL on 7/14/24 (Photo By Chuck Davis).
“Top of the World,” “Best of Both Worlds,” the Satriani-lead “Satch Boogie,” and “The Seventh Seal” (the only track played from VH’s last full-length album with Hagar at the lead, 1995’s Balance), all followed prior to performing the iconic “Right Now” – without a doubt one of the biggest rock hits of the early ’90s and a major part of my own youth (the band’s 1991 effort For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge was actually the first album I ever owned on CD).
By the time Sammy and co. got to their fifteenth track of the night, “Why Can’t This Be Love,” we had had more than enough of our share of rain, and decided it was time to hit the exits and call it a night. We could still hear the tracks “Eagles Fly” and “Mas Tequila” as we made our rounds through the venue, but with a two hour trek still to get home, missing hits like “Heavy Metal” and “I Can’t Drive 55” did not feel like such a loss at the time.
Regardless of what songs we may or may not have missed that night, the fact remains we made it through it, and the family and I were able to actually share a night of hearing the music of Van Halen together for once (special thanks to Photographer Chuck Davis for donating a couple of the awesome shots he obtained that night to Rewind It Magazine, too!), making every bit of it worthwhile.
