With one of the most anticipated shows of the year, Sammy Hagar sold out the Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater in Bridgeport Connecticut with Loverboy opening the evening. It was clear by how much traffic was leading up to the venue, that it was going to be a packed house. I arrived as doors opened, and the ground-level parking lots were almost already full to capacity. As is usual for “The Amp”, security does a fantastic job swiftly getting the fans through the checkpoint. For many local fans, the show was like a huge high school reunion. From the many groups of people tailgating in the parking lots to the groups of people inside, you could feel the excitement in the air for catching the show and catching up with old friends.
Loverboy hit the stage at 7:00 pm sharp. The fans were already in their seats with anticipation of a fantastic show of hits from their younger days. Hailing from Calgary in Alberta, Canada, Loverboy still has four original members. Mike Reno, Paul Dean, Doug Johnson, and Matt Frenette. Ken “Spider” Sinnaeve has been with the band since 2001. These guys were having a blast performing their hits for a crowd looking to get away from the daily grind and relive some days gone by. Loverboy has released nine studio albums and is best known for their hits, “Turn Me Loose”, “Lovin’ Every Minute of It”, and “Working for the Weekend”. Mike Reno’s voice still sounded fantastic, and the rest of the band kept the fans on their feet. Although I only knew their few songs that got radio play, it seemed like there was a solid, much deeper fanbase as I saw many people singing along to all of the songs. These guys did a stellar job opening the show.
Loverboy is:
Paul Dean – Guitar, backing vocals
Matt Frenette – Drums, percussion
Doug Johnson – Keyboards, synthesizers, piano, saxophone, harmonica, backing vocals
Mike Reno – Lead vocals, occasional guitar
Ken “Spider” Sinnaeve – Bass, backing vocals
Setlist:
1. Notorious
2. Lucky Ones
3. Queen of the Broken Hearts
4. The Kid is Hot Tonight
5. Lovin’ Every Minute of It
6. Hot Girls in Love
7. Turn Me Loose
8. Working for the Weekend
Sammy Hagar brought the fans back to their high school days with his Best of All Worlds Tour. Fans were excited to relive Van Halen shows of their younger days, such as “Live Without a Net” which was recorded in New Haven Coliseum. A fun piece of trivia for many fans is that the giant “guitar guy” that adorns the front of The Amp was originally displayed at the coliseum before it was torn down. The crowd was on their feet when Sammy hit the stage and stayed on their feet for the entire two-hour show. They kicked off the night with a run of three Van Halen songs. The first was “Good Enough” off of 1986’s 5150 album. Next up, Joe Satriani came out with the cordless drill for the intro to “Poundcake” and soon Sammy took it and was pointing it towards his mouth like it was a dental drill. There were huge faux neon drills on the screen behind the stage and alternated with a neon California License plate that read “PND Cake”. Guitar legend, Joe Satriani, did an awesome job paying homage to Eddie Van Halen without overplaying on the Van Halen songs. Joe’s tone sounded awesome playing through 3RD Power Amplification Amps.
Soon, too many fans were surprised they played the first of several David Lee Roth era Van Halen songs, “Panama”. Michael Anthony sang “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” and nailed it! Although most fans seemed excited to hear the DLR-era songs, there were a few that I heard saying that he shouldn’t have been playing them. I think it was great to hear those songs. When Sammy was in Van Halen, he sang those songs on a daily basis. At this point in our lives, we are lucky that so many of these artists are still out touring and we can get to hear these songs live.
“Summer Nights” brought back memories for many people of their teenage years cruising around in hot rods and hanging out with friends. Later in the set, they played a montage of “Space Station #5” (a Montrose song from when Sammy was in the band), “Big Foot” (a Chickenfoot song, a supergroup which is comprised of Sammy, Joe, Michael, and currently Jason), and “Jump” (a David Lee Roth era song).
Sammy, Joe, and Michael utilized the whole stage during their performance playing off of each other and goofing around. And for the Satriani fans, we got to see him play the obligatory “Satch Boogie”. Rai Thistlethwayte, a classically trained pianist from Sydney, Australia, filled the keyboard position perfectly. He also has his own band called Thirsty Merc and has also released music under the name Sun Rai. One song that was a bit of a surprise that they included was “The Seventh Seal” off of 1995’s Balance album. And what would any Sammy Hagar show be without getting to hear “There’s Only One Way to Rock”, “Heavy Metal”, and “I Can’t Drive 55”? They ended the set with “Why Can’t This be Love” and the Audience cheers were so loud, they were deafening.
I can absolutely say that this was the best concert of the year for me so far. Loverboy kicked ass, and Sammy and his crew nailed it without using tracks or overplaying the songs, making a fantastic tribute to the originals. The sound was on point and loud, with some fans saying their ears would be ringing for days. You can catch the Best of All Worlds tour in the United States through August 31, and then they head to Japan for 3 shows in September. You do not want to miss this show!
Sammy Hagar is:
Sammy Hagar – Lead vocals, guitar
Joe Satriani – Lead guitar
Michael Anthony – Bass, vocals
Jason Bonham – Drums
Rai Thistlethwayte – Keyboards, vocals
Setlist:
1. Good Enough (Van Halen song)
2. Poundcake (Van Halen song)
3. Runaround (Van Halen song)
4. There’s Only One Way to Rock
5. Judgement Day (Van Halen song)
6. Panama (Van Halen song)
7. 5150 (Van Halen song)
8. Summer Nights (Van Halen song)
9. Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love (Michael Anthony on Vocals)
10. Top of The World (Van Halen song)
11. Best of Both Worlds (Van Halen song) (with snippet of Kool and the Gang’s Celebration sung by Jason Bonham)
12. Satch Boogie (Joe Satriani cover)
13. The Seventh Seal (Van Halen song)
14. Right Now (Van Halen song)
15. Why Can’t This Be Love (Van Halen song)
16. Eagles Fly
17. Mas Tequila (Sammy Hagar and The Wabos song)
18. Heavy Metal
19. I Can’t Drive 55
20. Space Station #5/ Big Foot/ Jump
21. When It’s Love (Van Halen song)
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