Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony have been touring together for a long time now, sometimes going by “The Other Half” (or as part of Chickenfoot or The Circle.
This summer, they are out touring on The Best of Both Worlds Tour, and having watched several shows of it on Youtube (it’s amazing what cellphones can capture these days) and I gotta say I am quite impressed!!!!
Now, don’t get me wrong, VAN HALEN is young David Lee Roth and the original six albums. But Eddie is dead, Alex isn’t going to do anything and Dave can’t sing any more.
I really like Van Hagar, and I realllllly liked 5150 when it came out.
Sammy caught a lot of grief for Keyboards and Ballads coming into Van Halen, but here’s the thing. All the problems you have with Van Hagar shoudl be with Eddie.
Take four minutes here and listen to I’ll Wait from 1984. Tell me that’s not a “Van Hagar” song even if it is Dave singing.
When left to his own devices, Sammy rocks. There really aren’t a lot of keyboard songs, no more than anyone else who was around in the mid-80s. (Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing In the Dark anyone?)
Yes, Solo Sammy has a lot of his fourth-rate Jimmy Buffett act, and a ballad or two on the albums, but for the most part, the man Rocks. Sure Sammy’s lyrics can’t hold a candle to Dave, and sound like they were written by a horny 12 year old boy, but this is a nice rocker….
Eddie is dead. Sammy went out and got the best living guitarist, Joe Satriani, to play the songs. It it a cash grab? I don’t know and I don’t care. I like the music and the band delivers. And I dare say, they deliver in a way that we wouldn’t get from modern day Van Halen with a healthy and living Eddie (more on that below).
When Sammy is in charge, here’s the setlist. 21 songs, 2 and a half hours. Even shrunk down to a tiny font I couldn’t fit it in on one screen.
You’re 14 songs in before a “keyboard song” shows up - and that’s the Stadium Anthem Right Now.
(Interestingly this setlist doesn’t have Jump. which the band has been playing.)
It’s a great setlist, and the closest thing to any form of Van Halen you’re going to get unless Eddie comes back from the dead.
As I watch the shows, I think how Sammy is better at Van Halen than Van Halen had become. Here’s some evidence of the reality of Van Halen with DLR singing in the 21st century
Keep in mind that was released 9 years ago (has Dave gotten better in the last decade) and that’s the version they went out of their way to release!!!!!!
As I have said to anyone who ever met me, spot me Eddie Van Halen and I can do a better version of Panama. ANYONE will sound OK with Eddie playing, except maybe not modern-day David Lee Roth.
Now let’s put that up against this…
Yep, we’ve lived long enough that I’d rather hear Sammy sing Panama. Life is funny that way.
Nice job Sammy. Keep the flame alive.