 |
| Sammy Hagar & the Circle @ Shoreline (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
The 'Crazy Times!' tour came through Mountain View this past Friday night and featured George Thorogood along with headliners, Sammy Hagar and the Circle. The night was one big party that kicked off with George's brand of 'boogie blues' that featured staples "Who Do You Love?", "I Drink Alone", "One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer", and "Bad to the Bone." Thorogood's set was essentially one big sing-a-long with the crowd raising their beers and belting out the notes right along with George -- a theme that would continue through the night with Sammy's set right after. I hadn't known this, but George commented how he got his start as a street musician back in 1973 on the streets of San Francisco -- specifically at the corner of Beech and Grant Ave. Having known George formed his band with the original name, the 'Delaware Destroyers', I'd never realized he had a local Bay Area connection.
 |
| Sammy Hagar & the Circle @ Shoreline (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
But the main event of the night was Sammy Hagar and the Circle, the band made up of Michael Anthony, Vic Johnson, and Jason Bonham. The band's been on tour promoting their upcoming release on September 30th of their next album, Crazy Times, and this was a bit of a homecoming stop being the closest venue to Sammy's Mill Valley home. Always out to promote his brand of drinks, Sammy came out wearing a Beach Bar Cocktail shirt and noted "we drink, sing a few songs, drink again... that's what we do!" A cooler was set next to Jason's drum kit with drinks that Sammy would occasionally pull from, and at one point, started pouring into the glasses of those in the front row.
 |
| Sammy Hagar & Vic Johnson of the Circle @ Shoreline (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
The band started their set with the title track from their new album before giving the crowd the directive "There's Only One Way to Rock". That was followed-up by a few Van Halen staples including "Poundcake" -- complete with Vic using a DeWalt drill to open the track on his guitar pick-ups. But the party really started kicking into high gear when the band played the one and only Montrose song, "Rock Candy." Vic just tore that song up, with some great guitar solos and the rest of the set just ramped up from there.
 |
| Sammy Hagar & the Circle @ Shoreline (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
Sammy joked that the next song they were going to play was all about unfulfilled sex, and that 'sometimes you've got to use your arms and legs, cuz everybody's got to cum, you know what I mean?' Of course, he was talking about the Halen track, "Finish What Ya Started." Before "Mas Tequila", Sammy joked "George isn't drinking alone on this tour!" He then pulled out a bottle of Santo and poured some into Michael's mouth. Just as Sammy turned to head back to the front of the stage, Michael spit it out! Sammy then gave front row audience members a pour as well.
 |
| Michael Anthony of The Circle @ Shoreline (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
Another funny moment came when Sammy spoke about their earlier residency in Vegas and how he was ready to retire after their 14-show run -- at which point Bonham followed-up on the drums with a 'duh-bump-bump' which Sammy responded by saying, 'look, he learned show business in Vegas - hey, I'm Sammy Hagar, not Sammy Davis Jr!" At which point, Michael grabbed Sammy's mic and said, "I need no introduction!" And with that, the band launched into "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" with Michael taking lead vocals while Sammy went off stage for a break. Check out the fan shot video below:
The video doesn't capture this, but when Sammy returned, he commented "that's the best that song's sounded in years! My god, he's trying to take my job!" Then he took Michael's bass and joked, 'this thing weights about 50lbs!' Anthony responded by saying, 'I think we should trade.' And Sammy then said, "maybe another time Mike, not in my hometown... Another time."
 |
| Jason Bonham of the Circle @ Shoreline (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
Next up, was Jason Bonham, the son of legendary Zeppelin drummer, John Bonham. From behind the kit, Jason said 'I have the best view in the world up here', with Sammy responding, 'what, of my ass?' 'No, of all these beautiful people here,' responded Jason. He went on to say that 'there were only three reasons why Sammy lets me talk: 1) He wants a drink, 2) He wants a break, and 3) He thinks that no one will understand what I say because I'm English, so let's test that!' Jason then chanted 'Oi!', for which the crowd all responded back with the same. He then yelled 'Argh', and again, the crowded repeated the chant back. Next, he yelled 'Sammy, Hagar!' and the crowd could clearly understand and repeated the chant. Lastly, Bonham asked the crowd to sing John Denver's classic, "Take Me Home, Country Roads." And the sing-a-long began. Jason ended it with, 'see, they understand me fine... Can we get the Led out now??' and the band erupted into Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll" which was absolutely fantastic. The performance gave me the chills, and thinking back on the song now as I type this, I'm finding myself getting the chills again. Luckily, someone posted the video which you can see here:
The night just kept getting better and better from there! Following the Zep tune, Sammy & the Circle took on probably one of my favorite Van Halen songs, "Right Now" and then another hit, "Why Can't This Be Love." By this point, Michael was taking more vocal duties on, whereas he's usually left for backing vocals. I'm not too sure why, because Sammy's voice sounded as strong as ever, but it was near the end of the tour too, so Sammy could have been taking it easy on his vocal cords.
 |
| Michael Anthony & Sammy Hagar @ Shoreline (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
The night crescendo'd with "I Can't Drive 55" and "Heavy Metal" before Sammy slowed it down for a retrospective "Eagles Fly." Just before that last song, he spoke about how he wrote it while up in the mountains after he had a vision about being born. He spoke about how he was going to be hitting 75 this year, and of how fast time is flying by. Joking 'if the next 25 fly by as quick as the last 25, then shit!' "Eagles" was a slower track that started with just Sammy on guitar and Jason on drums. Michael and Vic came in later and picked up the energy to the song, but overall, it was a more reflective way to end the night. But what a night it was. You can never have a bad time at a Sammy show, and this proved no different. The guy's having the time of his life and always comes across so appreciative of what he's been given. My tip to you... Don't let a Sammy show go by when he comes to your town, and let's hope he returns to the Bay Area with another show soon. Ideally, maybe he'll get back to his 'Acoustic-4-A-Cure' benefit series at the Fillmore that was put on ice due to the pandemic! Fingers crossed!
