Sammy Hagar Takes The Best of All World's Tour To iThink Financial Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach

By Genevieve Penta

Photo by Larry Marano

It was a hot and humid summer night July 13 in West Palm Beach as Sammy Hagar's The Best of All Worlds tour kicked off. What musical experience would the fans receive from guitarist Joe Satriani, bassist Michael Anthony, multi-instrumentalist Rai Thistlethwayte, and drummer Jason Bonham as they set out to put on a show of commemoration?

The show opened with a video montage of Hagar through the years then straight into "Good Enough." With 21 songs on the setlist to power through, at one point Sammy joked about whether the show was ever going to end. Sammy is still able to hit the notes and sing while running back and forth, smiling and having a good time. Fans upfront were throwing t-shirts, hats, and signs onstage with the hope that they would get signed and returned. Sammy happily complied.

Tributes to Eddie Van Halen were in the form of nods to the guitar great. "This is a celebration of the VH music" Hagar exclaimed while donning a button-down shirt with a Frankenstrat design and singing a few lines of "Celebrate Good Times" to the beat of "Best of Both Worlds." Satriani strapped on the Frankenstrat guitar replica for "Mas Tequila and Heavy Metal." Satriani's guitar playing was clean and concise, even breaking out the drill for Poundcake. Satriani further displayed his skills on “Satch Boogie.”

Michael Anthony took the vocal lead on "Ain't Talkin Bout Love," one of three Van Halen, David Lee Roth era songs that made the cut. Preceding one of the, “hey, hey, hey,” chants, Anthony shouted out, “let’s do it for Eddie!” The only mention of Eddie’s name that I caught. The bassist still has that distinctive voice and Sammy made a point to comment that Michael Anthony is the "2nd best singer Van Halen ever had."

I’d like to mention Keyboardist Rai Thistlethwayte who had his part down on keyboards and added strong vocals to the mix. Along with Jason Bonham and his powerful drumming, whose father’s (John Bonham) pictures were in full display in front of his drum kit.

If you were expecting to see a Van Halen tribute show, this doesn’t quite fit the bill. It is a mixture of Sammy Hagar's musical legacy with most songs coming from the Van Halen years. Nonetheless, it was nonstop entertainment and great fun.

Setlist:

Good Enough (Van Halen)

Poundcake (Van Halen)

Runaround (Van Halen)

There’s Only One Way to Rock

Judgement Day (Van Halen)

Panama (Van Halen)

5150 (Van Halen)

Summer Nights (Van Halen)

Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love (Van Halen)

Top of the World (Van Halen)

Best of Both Worlds (Van Halen)