Sammy Hagar continues to promise a setlist heavy on Van Halen songs during his upcoming concerts.
During a recent Instagram live chat with The Washington Post‘s Geoff Edgers, Hagar said he and Circle bandmate Michael Anthony have been adding more and more songs from Hagar’s time in Van Halen to upcoming shows.
“We’re goin’ heavy on Van Hagar lately,” said Hagar. “Unfortunately the reunion with all of us [Van Halen members] together never happened, which would have been wonderful, so we’ve been concentrating a lot – Mikey and I – on the Van Hagar era. We’re goin’ heavy on it and the fans are lovin’ it ‘cuz they haven’t heard that stuff in a long time.”
Hagar added that the songs from the Sammy-era of Van Halen won’t just be the hits.
“If you come see the Circle, we play about eight or nine tunes from that era – from 1985 to 1995 – my little ten year span there,” he said. “We’re gettin’ more into the deep tracks now. The fans are sayin’, ‘Oh man! You always play the hits! We wanna hear ‘Humans Being’, we wanna hear ‘Pleasure Dome’ or ‘Mine All Mine’,’ so we’re mixing it up pretty good.
“Eventually I wanna get to where we play a whole album and then we do the hits, like two sets,” he added. “Play an hour of one whole album – OU812 or VOA or the first Montrose record. Play the whole damn record and then play a bunch of scattered stuff. That’s the way I’d like to do the residencies. That would be really fun.”
Sammy Hagar and Friends will play the Strat Theater in Las Vegas October 29 & 30, November 5, 6, 12 & 13. The shows will feature Hagar and his Circle bandmates Anthony (bass & vocals), guitarist Vic Johnson, drummer Jason Bonham along with other surprise special guests. Although all of the upcoming Las Vegas shows are sold out, Hagar plans on adding more dates in early 2021. All of Hagar’s upcoming concert dates can be found at his official website redrocker.com.
Gimme Some Of That “Poundcake” Story
Later in the interview, Hagar shared some stories behind songs he wrote with Eddie Van Halen including the 1991 hit “Poundcake”.
“[Eddie and I] were layin’ on the beach in Malibu. We lived next door to each other so it was very easy to get together and write,” said Hagar. “We were supposed to be goin’ into the studio and it was a beautiful day. We’re layin’ there in our frickin’ speedos probably ya know what I mean? [laughs]. Guys in our early 40s, ya know we looked good! All of a sudden these girls in bikinis go walkin’ by and of course they’re flirtin’ like crazy with us ya know? Sammy and Eddie sittin’ there on a beach in lounge chairs or whatever. They were [sayin’] funny things like, ‘Hi guys!’ and nah, nah, nah. And I said [to Eddie], ‘Oh man, look. That’s some poundcake,’ right? It just came out of my mouth – poundcake. And we started laughin’. We got up and high fived. Went up, put on our clothes, got in the car together, drove into the studio and wrote the song.
“Eddie had done this drill thing,” he continued. “He was fixin’ [his guitar] with a drill, and it was through his amplifier, and the drill’s goin’, ‘REEAR! REEAR! REEAR! through the amplifier. He had already done that and we just said, ‘OK, there it is, let’s go. Let’s go finish that song and it’s called ‘Poundcake’.”
Listen To Van Halen “Poundcake”
Watch Sammy Hagar on “Stuck with Geoff” with The Washington Post‘s Geoff Edgers