Sammy Hagar’s Van Halen-fueled show rocks in Dolby Live premiere — PHOTOS
We felt at first the new song would be played last, as an encore, a thank you and a goodnight. The title indicated as much.
But Sammy Hagar let it go at the top, playing the just-released ““Encore, Thank You, Goodnight” for the first time as the opening song in his premiere Wednesday night at Dolby Live.
The song and accompanying video christened a very Van Halen experience in the “Best of All Worlds” series at the Park MGM theater.
The show’s opening video shows Hagar waking from a dream, and jotting down that very word, after Eddie Van Halen played a riff while Hagar was in deep slumber. Hagar was Van Halen’s front man from 1986-96, of course. He’s still at the top of his game. And he’s still the caliber of rocker who can take a dreamt-up Van Halen piece to guitar genius Joe Satriani and say, “Can we do something with this?”
Of course. The new song opens with an extended solo that reminds of “Eruption,” then accelerate with the line, “Standing right there in front of me, like he’d never been gone. Over in a corner, we wrote this song.”
Thus opens a retro-rock production that runs at Dolby Live through May 17, Hagar’s most extensive performance commitment ever on the Strip.
Though wearing a knee brace on his left leg (playing through injury, in sports terms), the 77-year old Hagar still possesses the energy of his days with Montrose. The Red Rocker brings a robust, all-star band to this dance. Satriani, original Van Halen bassist (and still a soaring singer) Michael Anthony, drummer Kenny Aronoff, and keyboardist-singer Rai Thistlethwayte back Hagar throughout.
Hagar of course picks over the “Van Hagar” years, “Top Of The World,” “Runaround,” “Humans Being,” “Right Now” and the closing, “Love Walks In,” which knocks the David Lee Roth-era hit “Jump” off the set list as the encore. Hagar had not performed “Love Walks In” since 1993. “Amsterdam” from “5150” was uncorked for the first time since 2007.
Hagar did play some pre-Van Hagar gems. “Panama,” a Hagar favorite from any era, rocked the room. So “Ain’t Talking ’Bout Love,” during which pop firebrand Kesha showed up, unbilled to add some dash to the dance.
Rowdy spins through “There’s Only One Way to Rock,” “Heavy Metal” and “I Can’t Drive 55” pumped up the crowd, the band proud to perform every note live on stage. No supporting tracks in this analog-inspired experience.
Hagar has toured the U.S. and Japan with a version of “Best of All Worlds,” but he says he’s done with the road now. It’s an only-in-Vegas show, a greatest-hits compilation, and the best of all Sammy’s worlds.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.