[ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
He\u2019d just played a sound check before a set at a new Las Vegas rock club and is mentally mapping a nine-show spree this spring on the Strip. He also wrapped a 33-date world tour in August.<\/p>\n
There is no denying that Sammy Hagar<\/strong> is a rock \u2018n\u2019 roll marvel. But you wonder how long the 77-year-old Red Rocker can keep such an accelerated pace.<\/p>\n He wonders that, too, and is making allowances to keep rocking in \u201825 and beyond.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think I want to go on tour anymore. I hate to say that, because I don\u2019t want to piss my fans off,\u201d Hagar said after sound-check at Caspian\u2019s Cocktails & Caviar at Caesars Palace, where he was the surprise (well, unbilled) guest at Friday\u2019s grand-opening party. \u201cI\u2019ll go out and do a one-off show and do things like that, but the residency is going to give me a good extension of my career. That\u2019s what I\u2019m hoping for.\u201d<\/p>\n That reference is to the upcoming, Van Halen-peppered \u201cBest of All Worlds Tour \u2013 The Residency\u201d scheduled for April 30-May 17 at Dolby Live.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t be misled by the title. This is a residency, not a tour. As Hagar says, this run is an ideal format to continue his live-performance career.<\/p>\n \u201cWith this, I don\u2019t have to travel, I don\u2019t have to unpack and pack and get on an airplane every day,\u201d Hagar said. \u201cYou know, at my age, it hurts my shoulders to do all this. And I have to perform. I\u2019m a performer, at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n Hagar says the Dolby Live dates won\u2019t be his final such extended engagement in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n \u201cI keep telling my manager, \u2018Don\u2019t take any tours, let me do this residency,\u2019\u201d Hagar said. \u201cIf I like it enough, I\u2019ll do another one. And if that\u2019s successful I\u2019ll do another one, and I can squeeze a few more years out of my career.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cBest of All Worlds\u201d set list will draw from the tour\u2019s song roster, heavy with Van Halen classics during the Hagar era (\u201cBest of Both Worlds,\u201d \u201cRight Now\u201d) with solo favorites (\u201cThere\u2019s Only One Way to Rock,\u201d and the one about violating the speed limit). Hagar is joined by his all-star, touring band of Van Halen original bassist, Michael Anthony<\/strong>; guitar great Joe Satriani<\/strong>; and thunder-clap drummer Kenny Aronoff.<\/strong><\/p>\n A new song, written by Hagar and guitar great Joe Satriani<\/strong>, \u201cThank You,\u201d is planned for the shows. The song is on target to be released just before the run. As is his custom, Hagar wants to bring the buoyancy.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I bring home what I\u2019m going to try to do, it\u2019s for people to leave my shows now with the warmest, happiest feeling,\u201d Hagar said. \u201cThis is about the right lyrics, the right performance, to feel the love. I want them to feel it, feel it, feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n Rocking Caspian\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n As was reinforced during Saturday\u2019s performance, few defy their age as impressively as Hagar. He and a backing band of Radio XX<\/strong> members Ben Carey<\/strong> on guitar, bassist\/vocalist Bryce Soderberg<\/strong> and drummer Al Serrato<\/strong> blazed through such rockers as \u201c\u201cFinish What Ya Started,\u201d \u201cWhy Can\u2019t This Be Love\u201d and Lynyrd Skynyrd\u2019s hit \u201cSimple Man.\u201d<\/p>\n Caspian\u2019s opened to the public on Dec. 20, and we spent some of NYE at the hybrid cocktail-caviar lounge and rock venue. Cocktails\/caviar-infused noshes are served out front, with the club concealed behind an unmarked entrance (a portrait of a dude who looks like Sgt. Pepper). The club, and Caesars, serves the Red Rocker\u2019s Santo Blanco Tequila and Sammy\u2019s Beach Bar Rum, hence the connection.<\/p>\n Hagar showed even in sound check he could fill the room with sound, joking from the stage, \u201cI don\u2019t even need a PA!\u201d Sound techs out there will get a rise out of that.<\/p>\n The 100-seat club was suited to Hagar\u2019s tastes. This is because he can play anywhere.<\/p>\n \u201cI play my Cabo Wabo (rock club), that\u2019s my go-to place, and I know how to play that 800 capacity,\u201d Hagar said. \u201cBut I haven\u2019t been in a place this small, long time. I\u2019m just worried about volume in a place like this, because you need a certain amount of volume to play rock and roll. But it sounded great.\u201d<\/p>\n Carey celebrated his 50th birthday on Friday. He took most of last week off. Not to celebrate. But to practice Eddie Van Halen\u2019s guitar parts. The Warburton, Australian musician offered, \u201cIt\u2019s bloody difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n Carey pulls dual duty as the booking rep and performer at Caspian\u2019s and Barbershop Cuts & Cocktails at the Cosmopolitan. Both are operated by Clique Hospitality. A plug here: Catch Radio XX on Jan. 25 at Barbershop, where I groove frequently and also get my hair cut.<\/p>\n Might we recommend \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Gabie Lopez\u2019s<\/strong> \u201cTurn the Beat: A Gloria Estefan<\/strong> Tribute\u201d at 7 p.m. Saturday at Freedom Hall Theatre at Sun City Anthem. Lopez is a fierce talent, taking on a compelling subject in Estefan, among the top Latin artists ever (eight Grammys, 100 million records sold, Oscar nomination, Kennedy Center honor, American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement). Lorena Peril<\/strong>,<\/span><\/span> Anne Martinez and Jen De La Torre guest. Go to scahoa.com for intel.<\/p>\n And, in an only-in-VegasVille connection, there is a through-line between Estefan\u2019s career and the Las Vegas: Bernie Yuman<\/strong>, who was Siegfried and Roy\u2019s manager throughout their record-setting run at Frontier and the Mirage, and is co-producer of \u201cAwakening\u201d at Wynn. Yuman was also co-producer of the Broadway musical \u201cOn Your Feet!\u201d the story of Gloria and Emilio Estefan<\/strong>,<\/span><\/span> which ran on Broadway from 2015-2017 and has toured internationally.<\/p>\n Cool Hang Alert<\/strong><\/p>\n The Laura Shaffer Quintet<\/strong> plays The Underground at The Mob Museum from 7-11 p.m. Sunday. Shaffer has been a favorite cabaret singer for many years in VegasVille. Ace players Brian Triola<\/span><\/strong>,<\/span><\/span><\/span> Chris Davis<\/span><\/strong>,<\/span><\/span><\/span> Mike Mechem<\/strong> and Bill King<\/strong> fill out the lineup. No cover (but access bears research). Go to themobmuseum.org for intel.<\/p>\n