Speaking to Forbes.com, the Red Rocker Sammy Hagar discussed his Best Of Both Worlds 2024 tour, playing 5150 deep track “Summer Nights”, and more.
When asked if he feels there’s a joy in being able to share these songs live and about younger fans hearing these songs for the first time live Hagar answered, “When I go back and see those videos, 5150 was really the coolest era cause we were on f**king fire and we were live as a mother**ker and we were really good in high energy. So, I want to create that with this thing. I think it's an obligation for those 20-year-olds and say, ‘I want to see Van Halen.’ And didn't get to see them. So, they're going to hear the voices, that's number one. And they're going to hear a drummer that can serve that s**t up as good as anybody. And they're going to hear a guitar player that's as good as anybody on the planet. Like I said, you're going to go deep into Van Halen deep tracks and deep catalog, you need Joe Satriani. That's what Joe and I said. We're going to play about eight, 15 Van Halen songs, about an hour and a half of Van Halen. About half hour of my shit. And he's going, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute dude.”
Hagar recently announced the long-awaited The Best Of All Worlds 2024 tour. Hagar will be joined by rock heavyweights and longtime bandmates Michael Anthony (bass, backing vocals), Jason Bonham (drums) and revealed exclusively on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show that Joe Satriani, one of the best guitar players in the world, will complete the band.
Video from The Howard Stern Show can now be viewed below:
Produced by Live Nation and featuring special guests Loverboy, the 28-date tour will commence on July 13 in West Palm Beach, FL and will conclude on August 31 in St. Louis, MO. Pre-sales begin today. General on-sale begins Friday, November 17 at 10 AM local. For tickets and more details, go to RedRocker.com.
The tour follows on the heels of the chart-topping success of The Collection II, the box set released October 6 featuring newly remastered versions of the four consecutive #1 albums released during the Hagar era of Van Halen: 5150 (1986), OU812 (1988), For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991), and Balance (1995). A reminder to fans of the arsenal of hits, many which haven’t been played live since the band’s 2004 reunion tour. Collectively, Anthony, Satriani and Bonham have played together in nearly every phase of Hagar’s career including Van Halen, Chickenfoot and The Circle, so fans can expect a setlist which draws from some of the biggest rock anthems of the last 4-decades, including, "Finish What Ya Started", "5150", "Your Love is Driving Me Crazy", "Best of Both Worlds", "Poundcake", "Sexy Little Thing", "One Way To Rock", "Right Now", "Good Enough", "Eagles Fly" and more. They’ve also enlisted legendary Australian musician, Rai Thistlethwayte on keyboard and backing vocals. The tour represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see this band of brothers deliver one of the most legendary hits-packed live shows of their career.
“It’s crazy to think that it’ll be 20 years since Mikey and I played these songs with Van Halen on the 04’ Best of Both Worlds Tour,” said Hagar. “With Joe on board, we can take a deeper dive into those years. We’re going to touch on some hits from my entire career but seeing fans old and new really embrace the new collection set off something in Mikey and I. We were at my Birthday Bash in Cabo for my 76th and looked at each other and high fived, like ‘let’s do it.’ We pulled out a couple of them and it was an instant lovefest with the fans from our first riffs. The music we created is going to outlive us all. They deserve to be heard so it's time we go out and serve the fans that music, while we still can."
Tour dates:
July
13 - West Palm Beach, FL - iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre
14 - Tampa, FL - MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre
16 - Alpharetta, GA - Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
19 - Charlotte, NC - PNC Music Pavilion
20 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live
22 - Saratoga Springs, NY - Broadview Stage at SPAC
24 - Bridgeport, CT - Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater
26 - Mansfield, MA - Xfinity Center
27 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
29 - Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom Music Center
31 - Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage
August
2 - Clarkston, MI - Pine Knob Music Theatre
3 - Tinley Park, IL - Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
9 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena
11 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
13 - Spokane, WA - Airway Heights, WA BECU Live at Northern Quest
14 - Ridgefield, WA - RV Inn Style Resort Amphitheater
16 - Wheatland, CA - Toyota Amphitheatre
17 - Concord, CA - Toyota Pavilion at Concord
19 - Los Angeles, CA - Kia Forum
20 - Phoenix, AZ - Talking Stick Resorts Amphitheatre
22 - Dallas, TX - Dos Equis Pavilion
23 - Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
25 - Rogers, AR - Walmart AMP
27 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center
28 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
30 - Noblesville, IN - Ruoff Music Center
31 - St. Louis, MO - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
