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Cabo Wabo Birthday Bash Tour (DVD) SAMMY HAGAR & THE WABORITAS |
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The Musicians: Sammy Hagar
- Vocals, Guitar The Tracks: The Real Deal (Intro) I am sure most of you reading this review will know all about Sammy Hagar, but for those of you who don't, here's a little bit about the man. Sammy Hagar, a Californian boy at heart, spent several years playing and singing in various bar bands, in the 1960s. Montrose had been trying to form a group for several months, and Hagar applied for the job of lead singer. His strong vocals, coupled with equally strong songwriting skills, earned him the job. The band, dubbed Montrose, quickly released their self-titled debut. 'Montrose' reached No. 133 on the charts, and eventually went platinum. The band released a follow-up called 'Paper Money', which received excellent reviews and reached No. 65 on the charts. But the Montrose/Hagar relationship soon soured, because of conflict over Hagar's often-wild and unstructured guitar playing. In 1975 Hagar left the band to pursue a solo career. Hagar signed with Capitol soon after his departure, and recorded Nine on a Ten Scale, which included a cover of the Van Morrison classic "Flamingos Fly," and an original song called 'Keep On Rockin'. At this time he assembled his first full-time backing band, basically culled from his old band, Montrose. Bassist Bill Church, keyboardist Alan Fitzgerald, drummer Dennis Carmasi and guitarist David Lewark soon gained a reputation of one of the finest support acts around. At the same time, Hagar's popularity rose, and he headed to England to record his second album, a self-titled offering that eventually went gold. Hagar continued to release album after album in the '70s, 'All Night Long' in 1978; 'Street Machine', in 1979; a UK-only compilation called 'Loud and Clear' in 1980; and 'Danger Zone' which was released that same year. In 1981, Hagar switched to Geffen Records, where he enjoyed a surge of success. He released 'Standing Hampton' in 1982. The album went platinum. And in 1983, he released 'Three Lock Box'. At this point, Hagar was ready for something new. In 1984, he took time off from his solo career and toured with guitarist Neal Schon of Santana, Journey and Bad English fame, in a group called HSAS. Their album, 'Through the Fire', hit No. 42 on the U.S. charts. This same year, Hagar hit the charts himself with 'Voice of America', an album that went platinum. Hagar made rock music history when he announced he was replacing David Lee Roth in Van Halen, as Roth left the group for professional differences. His first album with Van Halen came out in 1986, titled '5150'. The album was named for the code for the criminally insane, and entered the charts at No. 1. The collaboration worked so well that Hagar stayed with the band through the '80s and most of the '90s. Van Halen released several hit albums, including 1988's 'OU812', 1991's 'For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge', 1993's 'Right Here, Right Now', and 1994's 'Balance'. Tensions between Hagar and the rest of the band reached the boiling point in 1996, the year in which -- depending on who you talk to -- Hagar either quit or was fired from Van Halen. A year later he responded with his first solo album in a decade, 'Marching To Mars', which was followed two years later by 'Red Voodoo'. At the same time, Hagar developed an unlikely side career when he moved to the Mexican town of Cabo San Lucas, where he opened a club and began successfully manufacturing and marketing his own brand of tequila. Hagar's latest, 'Ten 13', was released in 2000 on the BMG -- distributed Beyond label. This is a 2 disc DVD set, the first disc is the Birthday Bash, and the second includes a one hour long interview with Sammy Hagar and some scenes from the Cabo Wabo. Disc one: Sammy Hagar has been in the music business a long time and has always been a bit of a showman, besides being a good musician, playing guitar, singing and writing songs has been his life and I am sure, as long as he is able he will continue to do so. The Cabo Wabo is a club in Mexico that Sammy CO-owns and you can see, he just loves to play there, the stage has been built, so that some people can stand at the back on a raised platform and from time to time Sammy will try to pass through them. The tracks on this DVD are live from The Cabo Wabo and from a concert stage in Chicago, Illinois. The 22 tracks on offer are high energy rock and roll, most of them from Sammy's solo albums and a few from the Montrose "Rock Candy" and Van Halen "Top Of The Word", "Finish What You Started" , "Why Can't This Be Love" and "Cabo Wabo" days. For me the concert gets better and better, as it progresses track after track, and as the band warm up. Alright Sammy does struggle a bit to get to some of them high notes, but who cares, this is Rock'N'Roll and everyone's out to have a good time, you will see most of the audience singing along to every track that is played throughout the entire concert. And also throughout the concert, Sammy is passed item's of clothing such as Shirts, T-shirts, Bra's and Knickers, some of which he puts on, or at least for a while before ending up on his mike stand. Beside the tracks I have already mentioned you will also be treated to some highlights, which for me are "Ten 13", "Serious JUJU", "Let Sally Drive", "I Can't Drive 55", and "Marching To Mars". Disc Two: Features an hour long interview with Sammy Hagar, who tells all about everything from his days with Van Halen, his Critics, the waitresses and more There are also some video footage of scenes in and around the Cabo Wabo Overall, this is a great DVD, very entertaining, some great Rock'N'Roll, a high energy concert, just play loud and enjoy the show Highly Recommended!!! Sammy Hagar's Official Website: http://www.redrocker.com This DVD is sold & Distributed in the UK by Direct Video Distribution Ltd: www.dvdisc.co.uk
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