Main Street Recommends

A few months ago, I had been searching for what to buy my dad for his birthday. I’m sure you’ve all encountered this problem with at least one person in your life. They’re hard to buy for; what do you get for the person who has everything? There are only so many wallets, fishing lures, and fun socks a girl can buy for her dad. So recently, I’ve turned to purchasing experiences for my dad and others in my life who are hard to buy for. 

This year, I managed to snag tickets to see Loverboy and Sammy Hagar perform at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. For those of you who have been keeping up with my concert stories, you know that SPAC is one of my favorite venues. It’s easy to get to, I know the lay of the land up there, the venue is spacious, and the sound is always great. It seemed like a no-brainer, and when I presented my dad with the tickets on his birthday back in March, he was completely psyched to go. 

Finally, on Monday, July 22, the big day was here. I got home from work and we quickly hopped in the car to head north (thankfully encountering very little traffic this time!) We got to the venue with plenty of time to park, snag a good spot in the lawn where we could see both the stage and the huge screen, and even grab some drinks and snacks. 

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that nearly every performer I’ve ever seen at SPAC has had nothing but wonderful things to say about the venue and location. Many that I’ve seen have referred to it as one of the beautiful places they’ve performed, and this was true for both Loverboy and Sammy Hagar. Both shared that New York has some of the loudest audiences they’ve ever encountered, and both shared what can only be described as pure glee at being in Saratoga once again. 

Loverboy 

Loverboy took the stage right at 7 o’clock and performed hit after hit from their arsenal. The Canadian band Loverboy came onto the music scene in the 1980s and while they have definitely aged, they still sound incredible. 

They kicked off their set with “Notorious,” then followed with “Lucky Ones,” “Queen of Broken Hearts,” “The Kid is Hot Tonight,” “Loving Every Minute of It,” “Hot Girls in Love,” “Turn Me Loose,” and “Working for the Weekend.” Loverboy played for about 45 minutes and got the crowd good and excited for Sammy and the boys to take the stage. 

The Red Rocker hits the stage 

The Red Rocker, who is 76 years old, mind you, has been performing all over the United States on his “Best of All Worlds Tour.” The setlist was lengthy, clocking in at 21 songs, and the band cranked through the show, performing for just shy of two and a half hours. It was one of the longest, loudest, and most rockin’ shows I have ever been to. 

Sammy kicked off his show with a video montage to his song, “Stand Up,” that depicted his lengthy career in rock n’ roll. The video took us through the years of his music, with snippets of interviews over the years, clips from music videos, and lots of photos. 

The introduction montage also introduced the members of his band, including the best-selling instrumental rock guitarist of all time, Joe Satriani, Van Halen’s longest tenured bassist, Michael Anthony, and Jason Bonham, the son of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham and a decorated drummer in his own right. 

After taking the stage, they kicked off the show with a flurry of Van Halen hits, including “Good Enough,” “Poundcake,” and “Runaround.” The energy and electricity they brought to the stage was infectious. You could truly tell that they love what they do and are happy to be there, and Sammy’s voice is still just as strong as it was in his heyday. 

Let me tell you, Joe Satriani is one of the most decorated guitarists of all time for good reason. He was on fire right out of the gate and absolutely shredded on every single song throughout the entire show. 

From there, they went on to perform Hagar’s 1982 hit, “There’s Only One Way to Rock.” 

“The only reason I picked up a guitar in my own band and the only reason I picked one up in Van Halen was to make the guitarist look good,” Sammy joked prior to starting the song, as he slung on his electric guitar and gave a pointed look to Joe. Clearly understanding the assignment at hand, Joe proceeded to crank out lightning fast licks at every chance he got throughout the song. 

In keeping with the Van Halen heavy setlist, they proceeded to play “Judgement Day,” “Panama,” “5150,” and “Summer Nights.”

Michael then took over on vocals to sing Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” and he sounded incredible. From there, they went into “Top of the World,” before performing “Best of Both Worlds,” which included a snippet of Kool and the Gang’s classic “Celebration,” which was performed by Jason Bonham. 

As if Joe Satriani hadn’t been shining all night, he got another chance to do so when they performed a cover of his song, “Satch Boogie.” 

From there, they performed “The Seventh Seal,” before launching into “Right Now,” during which Train’s Pat Monahan made a guest appearance to frolic onstage and sing the choruses with Sammy and the band. Train was performing at SPAC the following night with REO Speedwagon.

After performing “Why Can’t This Be Love,” Sammy made a beeline for his bottle of tequila (from his tequila brand, Santo, which he co-founded and co-owns with chef Guy Fieri). He either forgot what song came next, or it was a bit for him to interact and joke with Joe, who waved a setlist in the air and noted that they had one more song to play before Sammy could break out the bottle of tequila. 

He held off long enough to perform “Eagles Fly,” which was released as a single from Hagar’s 1987 album I Never Said Goodbye, and later was performed with Van Halen on their 1993 and 1995 tours. 

Finally, Sammy was able to crack open his bottle of tequila, passing it to Michael Anthony to allow him a sip and even pouring some shots out for the audience members close to the stage. This, of course, was a lead up to the second-best song written about tequila (please note that it only comes second to The Champs’ classic “Tequila,” which is both a great song and also hilarious for its lack of lyrics). 

I’ve never heard a crowd be nearly as loud as they were while singing along to “Mas Tequila.” Clearly, Saratoga Springs can appreciate a good margarita. 

They then performed “Heavy Metal,” before launching into what is perhaps Sammy’s best known song and the one that altered his career the most, “I Can’t Drive 55.” The song is inspired by an incident in which Sammy got pulled over on I-87, also known as the Northway, driving from Albany to his cabin in Lake Placid. 

He recalled the story on stage, sharing that he was the only car on the highway and was doing 62 mph in a 55 mph zone. He, his then wife, and his son were traveling home from Albany International Airport, after a lengthy trip that took them all over the world. A New York State Trooper pulled him over and subsequently issued him a speeding ticket. 

Prior to the show, Sammy expressed that he wishes to meet the Trooper who pulled him over and was hoping to find him. 

“This man would be backstage with his family and he would be treated like a king,” the former Sammy said prior to the show. “I would do a shot with him, I’ll take pictures, I’ll give him a swag bag. I might bring him out on stage and introduce him.”

Unfortunately for Sammy and the crowd, he was unsuccessful in his attempt to locate the State Trooper. 

They ended the show with a mashup of Montrose’s Space Station #5,” Chickenfoot’s “Big Foot,” and Van Halen classic, “Jump.” For the final hurrah, they brought REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin and Train’s Pat Monahan back out on stage to perform Van Halen’s “When It’s Love.” 

After saying their goodnights and thank-yous, Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You,” appropriately played on tape over the loudspeaker to usher people out for the night. Age certainly didn’t keep any of the gentlemen on that stage down, and while they might be older and things might hurt a little bit more, they sound exactly the same and put on a show with the exact same energy and electricity as in their younger years. 

Listen to the setlist from the show at the playlist below.