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June 17, 2022

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Sammy Hagar made his almost annual pilgrimage to northeastern Ohio on Thursday night.  Hagar and his band The Circle, featuring Michael Anthony, Jason Bonham and Vic Johnson, brought their Crazy Times Tour to Blossom Music Center along with George Thorogood.

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The Red Rocker mixed his solo material along with a lot of his Van Halen era songs in the set and even included a Montrose tune.

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Kicking off the show with a rousing version of "One Way To Rock" from his 1982 solo album Standing Hampton, the band was firing on all cylinders.  Sammy can still lay down a mean guitar solo when he wants.

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The spry 74 year old is still the consummate front man and his voice is still very powerful.  The man is non-stop energy as he goes from one side of the stage to the other, often stopping to high-five fans, sign autographs and even pour out tequila, all the while singing, dancing and playing guitar.

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Van Halen's "Poundcake" and "Top Of The World" were played between Hagar's solo hits like "Three Lock Box" and "Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy."  The aformentioned Montrose tune, "Rock Candy" fit nicely in the set as indeed everyone in the pavilion was "hot, sweet (maybe not) and sticky" due to the high temperature. 

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The band is clearly having a blast on stage.  During "Best Of Both Worlds" the band broke out the 5150 walk, just like they did in Van Halen's "Live Without A Net" video.  

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In the middle of the set, they even had time to "get the led out" as Jason Bonham proclaimed before they launched into Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll."

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They even harkened back to Van Halen's first album by playing "Ain't Talkin' About Love" which featured Michael Anthony on lead vocals.   It would have been nice to hear a few more classic Dave era tunes.  

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The Circle hit the audience with a double shot of Sammy era tunes "Right Now" and the first single to feature Hagar on vocals in Van Halen, "Why Can't This Be Love?"  Then went into two Hagar solo tunes, "Heavy Metal" and his biggest solo smash, "I Can't Drive 55."

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Closing the hot, ninety minute set was "When It's Love."

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George Thorogood and the Destroyers opened up the show with a smokin' set of blues classics and a few original tunes.

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Thorogood was very happy to be back in the Buckeye State and thanked the crowd for supporting him and his band for over forty years.

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He ploughed through the cover songs like "Who Do You Love?," "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" and "Move It On Over."

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At the end of the set, he brought out his big, white Gibson guitar, put a slide on his finger and tore into the familiar riff of "Bad To The Bone."

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What a night of classic rock, on a hot summer evening. 

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Review and photos by Greg Drugan

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