Sammy Hagar did not need to do this. 

After more than five decades fronting rock bands, running his Cabo Wabo franchises, and selling rum by the boatload, the septuagenarian Red Rocker has no real reason to ever leave Maui again.

This context is important as confirmation that Hagar is doing exactly what he wants to do with his Van Halen-focused 2025 and ’26 Vegas residencies, which is: get up on stage while he still can and play VH music with his best bud Mike Anthony. It’s really not any more complicated than that.

What’s more interesting to consider is Joe Satriani’s decision to sign on for the gig. Satriani has had a very successful career both solo and as the organizer and star of his G3 tours. Again: he doesn’t need to do this… he’s choosing to do it. He’s choosing to do it because he has fun playing with Sammy and Mikey (see: Chickenfoot) and because Eddie Van Halen was one of his inspirations for picking up a guitar in the first place.

The Best Of All Worlds Band, rounded out by Kenny Aronoff (drums) and Rai Thistlethwayte (keyboards, guitar), opens with Sammy’s free-flowing tribute to Eddie, “Encore, Thank You, Good Night.” The earnest Hagar gets the crowd chanting “Eddie! Eddie!” while his co-writer Satriani pulls out every Van Halenism in his book—tapping, bending, speed runs, flares and flourishes—and Anthony holds down both the bottom end (bass) and top end (harmony vocals).

From there they dive into the Hagar-era Van Halen songbook with gusto. “Top Of The World” gets a remarkably faithful reading, an exuberant “Summer Nights” goes over well, and “Humans Being” intrigues as a deep cut, the last song they recorded before their 1995 breakup.

“Right Now”—possibly my favorite Van Hagar tune—is the first time it’s really noticeable that Hagar is sometimes ducking high notes, as one does at age 77. Next up, “5150”—the title track from Hagar’s first album with the band—is a relative obscurity that they have a lot of fun with as Satriani replicates that shiny, resonant guitar tone mastered by Eddie. “Poundcake” is “Poundcake”; never loved it, never hated it, totally understand why it belongs in this set. “Ain’t Talking ’Bout Love” is fun, with Anthony taking the lead vocal, a nod to the Roth era that gives Hagar a momentary breather.

In the middle of the above sequence, for reasons I can’t quite fathom, Hagar throws in “There’s Only One Way To Rock,” an old war horse of a solo track that does nothing for me, though the crowd enjoys it. Same goes for “Eagles Fly”; it’s a Hagar favorite… and also a formulaic ’80s power ballad whose big high note in the chorus Hagar can’t hit anymore… so why is it even here?

The latter issue pops up again with “Best Of Both Worlds,” a personal favorite; this version is fine, but Hagar is ducking high notes again. More in his latter-day register is the pumping, appealing “Why Can’t This Be Love,” just a terrific pop metal tune (think of it as the “Dance The Night Away” of the Hagar years). Plus, Satriani nails the wonky, tricky, very EVH guitar solo.

And then we dive fully into the “All Worlds” portion of the evening. “Rock Candy” is cool because (a) it’s a great song, and (b) it lets Satriani show his admiration for Ronnie Montrose, too. He faithfully replicates Ronnie’s tone and basic approach to the song while throwing in a little of his own flash here and there. (This also got me thinking that Michael Anthony probably played this song dozens of times before he ever met Sammy; it’s well documented that Montrose is the band Van Halen wanted to sound like.)

The rest of the show tails off. “Mas Tequila” is another Hagar solo song that leaves you asking why; it’s basically a marketing jingle cosplaying as a hard rock anthem. “Heavy Metal” is in the same category; it’s more branding than music, and one of several examples where Hagar hands the lead vocal off to Anthony for part of the song… is he being generous, or resting? And then he closes this ostensibly Van Halen-focused set with “I Can’t Drive 55,” another goofball anthem/brand-building song, and a dated one at that. (I did have a laugh imagining a 25-year-old hearing this song for the first time… “WTF is he singing about?”)

They encore with a pair of middling Van Halen singles. “Love Walks In” is kind of a prototypical Van Hagar song in that it’s got a sweet pop hook and love and aliens and big synths and guitars, and it all hangs together pretty well—not a great song, but a solidly good one. You could say the same of “When It’s Love,” a well-constructed number with grabby hooks and flow. 

The thing about a Van Halen-focused show is that it all comes down to the quality of the guitar playing, and Satriani is clearly both the right man for the job and at least as much the star of this show as Sammy. No question Satriani has the hardest job, trying to (a) play Eddie Van Halen’s parts (b) close enough so that the fans are happy while (c) putting a little bit of his own personality into it. He manages to get all of that done all night long, no small feat.

My only real quibble is with the setlist. Personally, I’d rather hear missing Van Hagar singles like “Runaround,” “Finish What Ya Started,” or “Feels So Good” than the same old solo tunes the man has been flogging for the past four decades… but what do I know? I’m just another dude with a keyboard and an opinion.

Sammy’s gonna play what Sammy wants to play.

Rating: B

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