Riffs in, rift out as Van Halen welcomes back Hagar

Spencer Patterson

Friday, Aug. 6, 2004 | 8:50 a.m.

Van Halen's game of musical vocalists is back on, and this time the winner is ... Sammy Hagar.

Eight years after replacing Hagar with Gary Cherone -- and despite persistent rumors original frontman David Lee Roth might return to the fold -- the hard rock band has re-formed with Hagar at the helm.

The 56-year-old singer joins founding members Eddie Van Halen, Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen on a tour that stops in Las Vegas this weekend.

The quartet play the Mandalay Bay Events Center at 8 p.m. tonight and Saturday. Shinedown opens both shows.

Tickets -- originally priced from $68 to $131 -- are sold out for both nights.

Van Halen's tour comes on the heels of last month's release of two-disc compilation "The Best of Both Worlds." The two-disc set rounds up the band's best-known work, from "Ain't Talking 'Bout Love" and "Jump" during Roth's tenure to "Why Can't This Be Love" and "Right Now" during Hagar's first stint with the group, along with three new tracks.

The tour also marks a return to the stage for Eddie Van Halen, who announced in May, 2002 that had had made a full recovery from tongue cancer.

Who: Van Halen.

Where: Mandalay Bay Events Center.

When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Tickets: Sold out.

Opening act: Shinedown.

Personnel: Michael Anthony (bass), Sammy Hagar (vocals), Alex Van Halen (drums), Eddie Van Halen (guitar).

Latest release: "The Best of Both Worlds" (Warner Bros., 2004).

Album feedback: "The Dave and Sammy tunes are mixed up with no regard for chronological, musical or emotional cohesiveness. The raw materials for a great Van Halen compilation are here -- it's just up to users to take these 36 songs and sequence them at home ... to make this the compilation it should have been." (All Music Guide, 4 1/2 star).

Essential releases: "Van Halen" (1978); "1984" (1984).

What to expect: A hit-laden set covering both the Hagar and Roth eras. Not surprisingly, Hagar has opted for a couple of his solo tunes ("Eagles Fly," "Deeper Kind of Love") in lieu of a few of Roth's Van Halen classics ("Runnin' With the Devil," "Dance the Night Away").

Recent set list: United Center, Chicago, July 19: "Jump," "Runaround," "Humans Being," "'Up For Breakfast," "Somebody Get Me a Doctor," "Poundcake," "It's About Time," "Top of the World," "Unchained," "Why Can't This Be Love," "Eagles Fly," "Deeper Kind of Love," "Learning to See," "Best of Both Worlds," "Dreams," "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love," "Right Now." Encore: "You Really Got Me," "Panama," "When It's Love." (www.billboard.com).

Tour feedback: "From the explosive opening of 'Jump' to the first-pumping choruses in 'Best of Both Worlds,' the band managed to make its big hits seem even bigger onstage. It helped that Eddie played brilliantly throughout." (Rolling Stone); "As personally sweet as Eddie Van Halen's comeback may have been, the 10-minute solo ... only indulged his greatest excesses. One section, which started like a sonic exploration of the heavens, ended up more like an exploration of Eddie's navel." (New York Daily News).

Previous Las Vegas appearances: June 16, 1981 (Aladdin); June 17, 1982 (Aladdin); May 18, 1984 (Thomas & Mack); July 10, 1986 (T&M); May 6, 1992 (T&M); May 31, 1995 (T&M); Oct. 2-3, 1998 (The Joint).

Said Hagar: "The only enemies I've got in former bands are Eddie and Alex Van Halen, and it's just because ... we've never had a chance to button back up. I don't really care because those guys stabbed me." (Las Vegas Sun interview, May 2002)