Sammy Hagar at Prior Lake Mystic Lake poster
Sammy Hagar And The Circle Setlist
Vince Neil Setlist
Sammy Hagar And The Circle Tour Dates
28 May 2019 Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, Boston, MA
30 May 2019 Grand Theater at Foxwoods, Mashantucket, CT 31 May 2019 Filene Center, Vienna, VA 04 June 2019 Artpark, Lewiston, NY 05 June 2019 Highmark Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA 07 June 2019 Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Tinley Park, IL 23 August 2019 The Tulalip Amphitheatre, Tulalip, WA Read More
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“At your service!… Are we having any fun yet?!”
Rock super group Sammy Hagar and the Circle brought his Space Between Tour to the Mystic Lake Amphitheater in Prior Lake outside the casino grounds, to open their outdoor concert season, as rumbling and darker skies threatened above.
The venue itself is an amphitheater in only the loosest way, as the grounds consist of a stage at the base of a grassy hill, with white folding chairs representing the front section of seats, a black section of folding chairs on the grass representing the remainder of the reserved seating area, and an open general admission grass area at the rear.
A VIP/handicapped section seems to be a raised section along the left side, with some scattered food/beverage options, and there are no permanent fixtures to this location. The entry process seemed long and cumbersome as well.
The opener was Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil who despite being on a solo tour, played forty-five minutes of nothing but Crue hits, which was probably for the best, given the crowd and his short opening slot. If nothing else, the fifty-eight year-old Neil has always surrounded himself with solid musicians, his solo band still anchored by half of Slaughter (bassist Dana Strum and guitarist Jeff Blando) and antsy drummer Zoltan Chaney.
The three and a half years since Motley’s last-ever show in LA on New Years Eve 2015, haven’t done too many favors for Neil, as he visually still seems out of shape and vocally, would often hit an ear-cleaning shriek, that was wildly off-key.
Blando showed off his considerable chops, soloing before ‘Kickstart My Heart’ and things ended explosively with drummer Chaney climbing high to almost the top of the stage structure, before leaping down several stories on cue, to end things.
In complete contrast, the fan-friendly and always excitable Sammy Hagar and the Circle (a super group of sorts including Michael Anthony on bass; Vic Johnson on guitar; Jason Bonham on drums) played with the energy and vigor of men half their age (Hagar is 71), in support of new record Space Between (on BMG Records).
Hagar and friends dipped into all parts of his long career, from the early 70s forward, with Johnson sidelined into a corner chair as a result of a recent fall on stage (though his playing was completely unaffected). The band is justifiably proud of the new record, playing half the album live including lead single, ‘Trust Fund Baby’ to open, as its music video played on the large screen behind them.
Hagar seemed to have fun yelling out the years of each song before playing them (some before many in the crowd were even born) and the early ‘80s solo work of ‘There’s Only One Way to Rock’ and ‘Three Lock Box’ still sounded crisp, with the band having as much playing them, as the crowd did hearing the songs.
For Van Halen songs such as ‘Poundcake’ and ‘Finish What Ya Started’, we were all reminded how much bassist Anthony’s harmonies added to those songs’ vocals (he even taking lead on several verses), and with Hagar known as one of the most fan-friendly artists, over a dozen items were thrown forward or presented to him on stage (from hats and t-shirts, to a full guitar), in hopes of getting a signature before being returned, which he obliged.
‘Right Now’ became a social message (as it also had in the VH days) with images flashing on the video screen of the homeless, less fortunate, and a call to action to help in your local community. “This is where it all started for me- 1973!” Hagar yelled as the band revved up the Montrose classic, ‘Rock Candy’, followed by the 1986 song that started the Van Hagar era, ‘Why Can’t This Be Love’.
“This is like Great Britain weather” Hagar said to drummer Bonham following, and eyeing the gray skies above, “...oh, we’re in Minnesota” as the son of the greatest drummer of all-time introduced the Led Zeppelin classic ‘Rock and Roll”, “One for your pop!” Hagar yelled.
The band went into another gear with 1981’s ‘Heavy Metal’, from the movie of the same name, and ended the main set with the Sammy and the Waboritas drinking anthem from 1999, ‘Mas Tequila’ (mostly re-titled ‘Mas Mezquila’ acting as a partial commercial for Hagar’s new Santo brand, as images of the bottle flashed on-screen).
With rain sprinkling and clouds moving in, the encore was unfortunately cut by two songs as Hagar caught a jacket thrown on stage by a fan, “I’m ok now”, throwing it on for new single ‘Affirmation’ to close things out.
“It’s not about the left or the right, it’s about the space between” Hagar said intro-ing the new melodic song, alluding both to current politics, and (always the business man) managing in a plug for the new record in the process.
“Wake up, slow down, reach out, look around” Hagar sang on the night’s final number, an ending note of positivity as the crowd dissipated into the parking lot and back to the casino. Sammy Hagar and the Circle are still filling venues, still visibly having fun playing on stage, and are still filling in the space between with old classics and fresh new music.
(click on any photo below to enlarge and see full image)
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Sammy Hagar and the Circle at Mystic Lake Amph, Prior Lake (17 May 2019) |
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