Sammy Hagar will be joined by rock heavyweights and longtime bandmates Michael Anthony (bass, backing vocals), Jason Bonham (drums) and Joe Satriani (guitar) on The Best Of All Worlds 2024 Tour.
"My task right now is trying to unravel the mystery of Eddie Van Halen's strange guitar playing," Joe Satriani tells Classic Rock. "I spent decades voiding how to learn this stuff so I wouldn't copy it, and now all of a sudden I'm doing a crash course on the idiosyncrasies and the genius of his guitar work. I know these songs but I've never actually played them. It's a task."
The Hagar crew will play 28 dates during the tour, surveying all of Hagar's career but with a particular emphasis on Van Halen, both the Hagar and the David Lee Roth years. The song list is coming together, but Satriani notes that, "I was so happy when Sammy said he wanted to do 'The Seventh Seal', which I thought is such a great, progressive Eddie Van Halen song, so different from 'Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love' and 'Panama' – although when you play 'Panama' live with a band, it's so exciting.
"I can't think of a (Van Halen) song that doesn't put a smile on my face – it's just a question of figuring out how to play them. What I can guarantee is they're gonna see someone who's hell-bent on being the most respectful guitar player to the legacy of Eddie and his playing. I'm busy creating workarounds. I have every intention of nailing everything, and when I can't I'll wink to the audience and they're gonna know that one's just gonna slip by."
Read more at Classic Rock.
Produced by Live Nation and featuring special guests Loverboy, the 28-date The Best Of All Worlds tour will commence on July 13 in West Palm Beach, FL and will conclude on August 31 in St. Louis, MO. 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 in October 2023, 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
(Photo - Timothy Morris)
