Sammy Hagar - Irving Plaza, New York, NY (8.29.02)
Posted by Widro on 09.03.2002
On a night where the attention of the music industry was with the VMAs, Sammy Hagar took Van Halen fans to rock and roll heaven with a long set and incredible special guests. Can a Van Halen reunion be next?
The MTV Video Music awards were live from Radio City Music Hall on Thursday August 28, 2002. The eyes of the music world were squarely on that event. Hell, even Sammy Hagar was there, with David Lee Roth, to present the Best Rock Video award.
But at around 10:30PM that night, a small crowd began gathering at Irving Plaza, which was decorated with Mexican hats and clothing, offering free tequila to everyone, with a charming buffet of chips, salsa and bean dip.
Sammy originally wanted to bring the tour with Roth into Madison Square Garden, but reports are that Roth declined to play in Manhattan. In response, Hagar announced a free show, mainly for the FDNY and NYPD, to make up for the fact that the tour wasn’t hitting Manhattan. Judging by Hagar's inability to fill the 1000-or-so capacity of Irving Plaza, perhaps Diamond Dave had the right idea.
The several hundred Hagar faithful in attendance at Irving Plaza didn't seem to care that they were missing MTV's Vi had no interest in Eminem, Pink or Britney. They didn’t want to see P Diddy or The Hives vs. The Vines. They wanted to rock like it was 1978.
Sammy Hagar had no problem with that.
Sammy arrived on stage at around midnight, over two hours after doors opened. With no opening act, the crowd, much of which had been there since around 10, was ravenous for Sammy's boisterous brand of rock.
Overhearing the conversations of fans in the audience, I could tell that this was a Hagar crowd through and through. Most reports I read of the Hagar/Roth were that the crowd were Van Halen fans, and they tended to lean to the Van Roth rather than Van Hagar side of things. This crowd at Irving Plaza were Hagar faithful through and through, talking about the desire to hear Montrose (Sammy's first major band) songs, early pre-Van Halen Hagar and other Van Halen favorites.
Hagar came out and opened with a track off of his newest album, Shaka Doobie, and then played an old Montrose classic to the delight of the small crowd. After blasting through some old Hagar hits, Sammy brought out the first big surprise of the night: Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony! Hagar's Waborita bassist Mona stepped into the background gracefully, and allowed Mikey to play base on a half dozen Van Halen Hagar-era smashes, including a long, hilarious story from Sammy about writing "Finish What Ya Started" with Eddie Van Halen as neighbors in 1987.
After a few more Hagar hits, including the timeless "I Can't Drive 55", Hagar didn’t leave the stage and come back, saying he would stay right there and not doing the same old encore thing. For the last few songs, Sammy brought out Van Halen's third lead singer, Gary Cherone, who was decked out in a "Red Rocker" t-shirt and was full of energy and charisma. The two singers, along with Mikey and the rest of the Waboritas dueted on Van Halen's "When It's Love", and finished with covers of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" and Dylans "Rainy Day Women 12 & 35".
New York City is known for having the most tepid live audiences for rock bands, but on one rainy night in Manhattan, an old school rocker came in, and on MTV's night, rocked a half full rock club with a long set of old classics. Despite the disappointing turnout, the fans were treated to vintage Sammy and a throwback to when rock and roll was about fun and Van Halen wasn't in ruins.
Setlist:
Shaka Doobie
Rock Candy
3 Lock Box
One Way To Rock
High and Dry Again
Top of The World
Right Now
Best of Both Worlds
Why Can't This Be Love
Finish What Ya Started
Little White Lie
I Can't Drive 55
Heavy Metal
Mas Tequilla
ENCORE:
When It's Love
Rock and Roll
Rainy Day Women 12 & 35
The 411: Sammy Hagar doesn't draw like he used to with Van Halen, or even currently in tandem with David Lee Roth, especially in mainstream rock-hating Manhattan, but he can still bring the house down with hardcore fans and crowd pleasing anthems that span 4 decades.
