Sammy Hagar Adds Rock Heavyweight For Tour Lineup

Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony have crafted a formidable lineup for this summer’s Best of All Worlds tour, which will celebrate their decade-long run together in Van Halen. Alongside their Circle partner Jason Bonham on drums, they’ve enlisted guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani—also a former bandmate from Chickenfoot—to handle Eddie Van Halen’s iconic and intricate guitar parts. The tour kicks off this Saturday in West Palm Beach.

An unexpected but welcome addition to the band is multi-instrumentalist Rai Thistlethwayte, who has appeared in social media video previews posted by Hagar from tour rehearsals. Thistlethwayte, known for his role as the lead singer and primary songwriter of Australian pop-rock band Thirsty Merc, also performs solo under the name Sun Rai and collaborates with various jazz artists.

Hagar praises Thistlethwayte’s contributions, particularly his vocal abilities. Hagar says in an interview:

“I’m so happy to have Rai.
“He’s playing the parts and singing the background vocals. His voice sounds so good with Mike’s and mine. It sounds so much like the record, the vocals, more than anything. It’s above and beyond what I expected. I thought it was going to be good and we all had high expectations, but it’s chemistry, you know? You never know until you all get in there. Rai has a sense of humor. He’s really funny and he gets along with us. He can take a good punch, because you know, of course, we’re teasing him all of the time.”

Thistlethwayte’s guitar skills will allow Hagar to focus more on his vocal duties. Hagar acknowledges that some fans might be disappointed if they expect him to play more guitar, but he explains the practicality of the arrangement. He says:

“You know, I hope the fans don’t get pissed. Because a lot of my fans want me to play more guitar.
“But I don’t have to play more guitar. With him around, it’s like, there’s a couple of songs that I would have had to play guitar on, a couple of Van Halen songs that have two really distinct parts, especially during the solo. ‘Summer Nights’ has a minor 9 chord and it’s a real part of the song. Eddie starts off by playing that and then he overdubbed the solo and kept the rhythm part in there. So it’s really part of the song. Now, Rai’s doing it. If I had to sit there and play that thing, I’d be pissed. [Laughs] I’d be going, ‘Man, I’m strapped down here. I have to sit here and look at my shoes all night?’ You know, Eddie’s guitar parts are not vocal-friendly. It’s not easy, in the sense that you can’t play those parts and sing what I sing at the same time. I mean, I’m sorry, Jimi Hendrix would have been saying, ‘No, fuck this!’”

The band has rehearsed over 30 songs, with 90% coming from the Van Halen catalog. Hagar is enthusiastic about having a live keyboardist instead of relying on pre-recorded tracks.

“That’s really awesome. That’s the whole key now, it’s like, ‘Wow, we can play this song, instead of sitting there and playing to a track.’ It’s like people who use teleprompters. You know, I don’t use those, because I don’t like to read the lyrics to the audience. That’s like playing to a track [for me], it’s the same kind of vibe. You have to pay attention, but when everything’s live, we’re just playing together. Man, it’s above my expectations. It’s just really good. We’re kind of taking on a sound of our own. I mean, it sounds like Van Halen. My old stuff sounds like my old stuff, but it’s [all] just got a little bit of a different thing about it. It’s certainly more fun to play this way, I’ll tell you that.”

Fans Should Anticipate a More Structured Sammy Hagar Performance

Fans can also expect a slightly more structured show, thanks to a high-tech new stage and lighting setup. Hagar explains:

“We’ve got a big production. I spent a fortune on a production that we built for this thing. The way the lights and everything are, it’s going to be a lot of automation, so things happen at a certain time to bring the magic. I usually don’t do that. I’ve been partying on stage since I left Van Halen. I haven’t had any structure, I haven’t had a set list, hardly at all. Mike and I just go out and we just fuckin’ party and the audience parties with us. That’s wonderful. We’re still going to do that, but we’re going to have to do a few things consistently, because I spent a lot of money to make magic happen. You’ve got to make sure that lightning strikes at the right time.”