Sammy Hagar The Best of All Worlds Stays in Vegas- The Residency PARK MGM DOLBY LIVE. May 7th & 9th
When Sammy Hagar announced he was going to be doing a Vegas residency- For the Best of All worlds tour, my only decision was-what week was I getting off from work? I decided week two of the three week MGM PARK residency. In total he was playing 9 shows, 3 a week. May 7th, night one for me, but it was the 4th show of the residency. Sammy, Michael Anthony on bass, Joe Satriani on guitar, Kenny Aronoff on drums, and Rai Thistlethwayte on keyboards started off the show with a brand new song, “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight” Inspired by a dream Sammy had about the late great Eddie Van Halen. The song is amazing, and Joe’s guitar work is an awesome tribute to EVH. Then it was right into Van Halen the SETLIST read. The whole residency is about honoring Van Halen music, and that’s what Sammy did. Eleven out of the 18 songs played were VH. The rest were Sammy’s solo work, along with some Montrose and a solo instrumental from Joe. The highlight was when Sammy bought out the Legendary Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead and played “Bad Motor Scooter” from Montrose. It was something to see and hear. May 9th, night two for me, but show number 5 for the residency. It was pretty much the same show Sammy just substituted two different songs. All in all it was awesome to be in sin city. Watching my favorite artist at age 77 still kicking ass and he sounds amazing. Joe is from another planet. Kenny is pounding those drums. Michael is playing and singing his ass off. And Rai is bringing that special sound that has been missing all these years, with the live keyboards. It truly is an amazing show to see and hear. Sammy always says “There’s ONE way to Rock”!!! And he most certainly does.
Review and Photos by Tony Andolfi
