Hard to believe that Van Halen's "5150" tour, the first with brand new frontman Sammy Hagar, kicked off 38 years ago tomorrow in Shreveport, Louisiana. It was March 27, 1986, and the band was frequently referred to as "Van Hagar". The pressure and expectations were high after VH's highly-publicized split from David Lee Roth and a bit of a musical shift for the band with Eddie relying more on keyboards, etc. Of course, the tour and the album went on to become HUGE successes, with Sammy pulling audience members out of the crowd to come onstage and sing the Roth-era "Jump". Read the full story HERE.
On that tour, the boys bonded big time, and all seemed perfect and joyful in Van Halen Land. That, of course, wouldn't last, but, man, that was a great time for music. As was the Roth era. I would kill to go back to those active Van Halen years, regardless of the frontman... okay, maybe not Cherone, but he's still a great singer and I love Extreme. Gary just wasn't a fit for Van Halen.
But, do yourself a favor - relive, or recapture, the magic of Van Halen live by watching any one of the songs from this show filmed in "New Halen" CT. I literally wore out the VHS cassette watching this show back in the day. Here's a fave - "Best of Both Worlds"...