Sammy Hagar to play The Joint on Friday
BY JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer
Thursday, January 17, 2013
1/17/13 at 5:38 AM
Check out Sammy Hagar’s official website.
The Red Rocker Sammy Hagar brings his fun-loving party band, The Wabos, to The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa on Friday.
"I'd play anywhere, any time with this band. Nobody would have to pay me," Hagar said during a recent telephone interview.
In fact, he's played more with The Wabos than any other project in his long and storied career, including his time with Van Halen, Chickenfoot and Montrose, and even solo.
Hagar said his first live show with The Wabos was in 1997.
And these days, the Chickenfoot supergroup (with Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and Chad Smith) may satisfy his taste for new music and festival-size audiences, but "I always get horny for the older stuff. I want to play 'Red' and 'I Can't Drive 55' and 'Heavy Metal,' you know? I'm a very lucky guy to have great bands that can do both. I'm spoiled rotten."
He calls The Wabos "the party band that plays my whole career."
And indeed, it does span the 65-year-old's 40-plus-year career.
"These days, we could play four or five nights in a row and never play the same song twice," Hagar said.
Indeed, the band doesn't have a set list, he said. It uses a "reference list." Hagar said he goes out on tour to have fun with his fans and play where he wants, when he wants to.
"I don't make a living off of my music anymore."
Hagar has owned or run a bicycle shop, multiple restaurants and beach bars, a tequila brand, and he recently launched Sammy's Beach Bar Rum.
"My business is my business," he said.
He's making and performing music as something that satisfies him.
And, while he does like feeding people's appetites for everything, from high-end booze to beach fare and rock 'n' roll, one of his greatest joys is feeding the communities he visits.
On nearly every tour stop, he donates to local food banks. That will include his Oklahoma visit. He plans to give some proceeds from his Sooner State shows to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.
"It isn't something I generally like talking about - it's just something I do," Hagar said.
"For some reason, at this stage in my life, with the success that I have, I would love to play for free. Unfortunately, I can't. I have to pay my band and my crew, and it's expensive to be on the road. But, to keep the price reasonable for my fans and the tickets affordable.
"I don't tour to make a living. I don't even try to. I usually give a percentage of my portion to a food bank in town. I like it this way, and I want to keep it this way."
Hagar said that's a relief from his uber-high-profile days with Van Halen, when millions of dollars could be spent before the first show on any given tour.
"There were all these pressures. ... Why can't we just go out and play?"
That's a big reason he left, he said.
"When I got out of that, I decided to play smaller venues and theaters, and have lower ticket prices. I don't think anyone's worth a $300 concert ticket. I'm not. Nobody is, in my opinion."
For decades, that philosophy has worked with him. He has sold out the Tulsa shows he's played over the years - all at "smaller" venues of 5,000 or less.
"It seems like every time I've played any kind of solo tour, I've always played Tulsa. ... I always fill it out and do great.
"This makes me happy, and people keep coming back. It's good - it's great."
Sammy Hagar & The Wabos
When: Doors open 7 p.m. Friday
Where: The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, 777 W. Cherokee St., Catoosa
Tickets: $60, $75, $85, available at tulsaworld.com/hardrockcasino, the venue box office or by calling 918-384-ROCK. All patrons must 21 or older
Original Print Headline: Sammy Hagar's just having fun
Jennifer Chancellor 918-581-8346
jennifer.chancellor@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Sammy Hagar likes playing for his fans at smaller venues. Courtesy
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