Sammy Hagar @ Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH 6-20-26

Two years ago, Sammy Hagar put together a band called the Best of All Worlds Band. A a tour of the same name did a few select shows throughout the United States and Japan that year. One of the select dates that Hagar’s band played was a sold out show at the Blossom Music Center. Due to the amount of success that this tour generated, Sammy Hagar is again continuing the tour this summer and again, Blossom Music Center was on the schedule for one of the cities that it was going to hit. There were a few changes in the band since their last appearance at Blossom. Kenny Aronoff replaced Jason Bonham drums (this was back in 2024) and Rai Thistlethwayte left earlier this year to join TOTO. Florida musician Nathan Mercado took over the keyboards and backing vocals. Opening the show was Rick Springfield, Unfortunately, due to our late request, were unable to photograph his set. So, we will be omitting a review from his part of the show.

The band took to the stage at 8:15 and played “Why Can’t This be Love.” Due to this being the 40th anniversary of ‘5150,’ the set was heavily ladened to that particular album. Like any show Hagar performs, he turns the show into a party. Fans toss up clothing items for Hagar to wear and they also show signs of their admiration for him to hold up and for him to sign for them. All of that was here and on display throughout the entire performance. Hagar even passed out some of his choice Santo Tequila shots for audience members to enjoy. All of this was happening as Hagar was delivering a high quality performance. Hagar may not be able to hit all the the high notes but they were more than adequate and still powerful when they needed to be. Bassist Michael Anthony handled all the high parts (including hitting the scream at the end of “5150.”) In the the middle of the show, the party really started as “Cabo Wabo” and “Mas Tequlia” were played. During the songs, a video montage was shown of of the wild times Hagar had at the Cabo Wabo bar in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Hagar exited for a break while Anthony took lead vocals on “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love.” This was the only time that the band went outside of the Van Hagar era for any Van Halen material. Joe Satriani put on another stellar performance and did so with a smile on his face. “Satch Boogie” followed “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love” giving Hagar some extra time to get refreshed so he could finish the show with a bang. He and the band did just that. Before the band went into “Good Enough,” Rick Springfield came out to deliver a Birthday Cake to Anthony as the band then sang “Happy Birthday” to him. The band finished “Good Enough” and then a few Sammy Hagar solo tunes including “Heavy Metal,” “Eagles Fly” and the brand new track from ‘Sammy Hagar & The Best Of All Worlds Band – The Residency (Compilation)’ called “Encore, Thank You, Goodnight!”

This show really took it all the way back to the beginning with me. My first ever concert experience was when Van Halen played the Niagara Falls Convention Center back on August 29, 1986. So, anytime I get to see Sammy before truly takes me back to that time. especially when I hear the song “5150” being performed live. The show was stellar and even after performing the night before in Clarkston, Michigan, Hagar’s voice held up extremely well as I stated earlier. The band was firing on all cylinders and witnessing Rick Springfield deliver a Birthday cake to Michael Anthony truly was the icing on the cake!

Setlist:

Why Can’t This be Love (Van Halen song)

Top of the World (Van Halen song)

Runaround (Van Halen song)

Best of Both Worlds (Van Halen song)

Summer Nights (Van Halen song)

Bad Motor Scooter (Montrose song)

5150 (Van Halen song)

Love Walks In (Van Halen song)

Cabo Wabo (Van Halen song)

Mas Tequila (Sammy Hagar and The Wabos song)

There’s Only One Way to Rock