Sammy Does Fresno -- Live updates from Cabo Wabo
Note: The final update to this post is below. Read to the bottom for photos, videos and notes from throughout Tuesday. Consider it your Sammy-Hagar-plays-Fresno-Wabo time capsule.
Wednesday morning update: Sammy Hagar is nothing, if not a showman. It's the carefree attitude of his that draws in those loyal Redheads and that was surely on display Tuesday night at Cabo Wabo.
Sammy hit the stage at about 8:30 p.m. and finished up after 10:30 p.m. He played his own hits ("I Can't Drive 55"), some Van Halen stuff ("Why Can't This Be Love") and covered both Toby Keith ("I Love This Bar.") and The Beastie Boys ("Fight For Your Right To Party," his closing number).
In the middle of it all, he strutted around the stage, high-fiving audience members, doing tequila shots with people in the crowd and bantering about finally playing Fresno Wabo.
Here are some more pics:
Here's Sammy with Fresno's own Bill Church, who played bass in Montrose with Sammy. Church joined Hagar for a few songs.
Here's the setup outiside on the patio, where people would watch a video feed of the action inside.
And here's a set list, taken from the CaboJohnny5150 on the fan message board at RedRocker.com.
1. Cabo Wabo
2. 55
3. 1 Way 2 Rock
4. I'll Fall In Love Again
5. Top Of The World
6. I Love This Bar
7. Why Can't This Be Love
8. Rock Candy (w/ Bill Church)
9. 3 Lock Box (w/ Bill Church)
10. Whole Lotta Love (w/ Bill Church)
11. Eagles Fly
12. Cosmic Universal Fashion
13. Psycho Vertigo
14. Loud
15. Finish What You Started
16. Heavy Metal
17. Mas Tequila
18. Dreams (acoustic)
19. Fight For Your Right To Party
10:30 p.m. Sammy's still going over at Cabo Wabo, but I'm home now. Quite a 14-hour day. But Sammy finally played Fresno Wabo. I'll be back with more thoughts and pictures in the morning, but for now here are a few videos from the show.
The quality isn't that great, but it's something ...
6 p.m.: As things stand right now, the best way for anybody to see Sammy Hagar perform tonight is on the Cabo Wabo patio. Video from the concert will be projected onto a screen on the patio. That's also on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Doors were supposed to open again for the concert at around 5:30 p.m., with the patio opening after that I'm not sure of the capacity, but I'm sure it'll fill up too. Here's a picture of the setup:
Below are some more pictures I snapped recently, including Sammy during soundcheck:
4:40 p.m. After soundcheck Sammy went on a quick tour of Fresno Cabo Wabo, stopping along the way to pose for pictures and pat employees on the back.
He walked up to me and said "Hi," not even knowing, I don't think, that I'm the press.
4:30 p.m. Sammy is here. He just stepped on stage for soundcheck. He's wearing red shoes, holding his red guitar and wearing a Cabo Wabo Cantina T-shirt.
4:15 p.m. Cabo Wabo has been cleared out as the band does it soundcheck. Word is that Sammy is eating in the green room. I saw somebody take a couple tequila bottles in that direction.
Meanwhile, this place is crawling with media types. Kopi was here. Ray Appleton is now. Four of us are supposed to get a little face time with Sammy. We'll see.
1:20 p.m.: Wristbands are gone!
1:00 p.m.: Word from Cabo Wabo is that another long line has formed. Lindsey Ashjian, who does public relations for Granite Park, estimates the line at about 150 people and guesses that it's people stopping by on their lunch break.
I'll try to let you guys know when the wristbands are gone. For now, here are some pics from earlier today, starting with the all-important wristbands:
12:05 p.m. Wristbands for Sammy Hagar's free concert tonight at Fresno's Cabo Wabo are still available.
Cabo Wabo started to hand out wristbands at 11 a.m. to people in a line of a bit more than 200. As the clock moved toward noon, about 250 of the 400 available wristbands had been given away.
Brandon Smart arrived at Cabo Wabo right around 11 a.m. and stood at the end of the line. People in the front of the line had been there since 4 in the morning. "I didn't think I was going to be able to get a ticket," Smart said.
A few minutes later, he was on the phone, telling a friend, "Can you get over here?" Within 40 minutes, Smart had a wristband.
Cabo Wabo owner Milt Barbis said wristbands would be given away until the limit of 400 was reached.
Hagar is expected to take the stage at about 9:30 p.m. tonight. Doors for the concert crowd will open at about 5 p.m. Cabo Wabo's restaurant and bar are currently open for the afternoon, but will be cleared out at 4 p.m. to get ready for the concert.
11:17 a.m.: Wristbands are being wrapped around the wrists of Sammy fans. The line is moving pretty quick and shouldn't, for the foreseeable future exhaust the 400 available spots for tonight's free show. My current head count is about 235.
Talking to folks in line
10:35 a.m.: Still no wristbands being handed out. Word from management is that they'll be given out soon. By my count there's only 225 or so people in line. So if you wanna see Sammy, get over here.
9:10 a.m.: Wristbands are expected to be given out around 10 a.m., according to Cabo Wabo management. A team from the original Cabo Wabo in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico will be here to oversee the process. Meanwhile, the line has stretched to nearly 200 people.
A long line Tuesday morning for that night's free Sammy Hagar show
8:30 a.m.: In anticipation of tonight's free Sammy Hagar concert at Cabo Wabo, there are about 150 fans in line awaiting wristbands. There's a combination of local Sammy lovers and out-of-town Cabo Wabo faithful who droves for hours to get here. Wristbands are expected to be given out between 9 and 10 a.m. A total of 400 will be given out.
Comments:
Wow, I'm shocked to see so many people out there. I might try to make my way over there at lunch time. I love FresnoBee's integration of Qik & Twitter. Keep up the good work, guys!
Posted by: iSlappy at October 28, 2008 11:34 AM
i think its obvious they expected a much bigger to-do over this.
Posted by: bradley at October 28, 2008 12:39 PM
Because I'm too lazy to search for the proper email address, you should tell the Opinion Talk folks that their comment section is done broke.
Posted by: adam at October 28, 2008 12:46 PM
$600 tequila shots , $30 burritos ...it's safe to say sammy has already DONE fresno!
Posted by: comb at October 28, 2008 1:23 PM
what is the difference between a designer t-shirt and a t-shirt???
Posted by: rob at October 28, 2008 2:02 PM
all this for the 2nd-best singer of a has-been band?
Posted by: fresnalgian at October 28, 2008 2:06 PM
Travis,
I'm standing line, I'm the 50th, and I'm willing to sell you this ticket for $100.
I'm just sayin... maybe I'll trade you the use of the Vespa for a little music!
Posted by: Mr. Incognito at October 28, 2008 2:13 PM
Mr. Incognito,
Thanks for the offer. I actually have no interest in attending the show (My $150 comment was sarcastcally made in reference to another Beehiver's "never-happy-with-anything" attitude).
Here's my plan...I'll ride my Vespa around for a bit, put on one of my two Sammy albums (of the vinyl variety), and chill out with a class of Johnny Walker Blue...
Enjoy the show Mr. I...Let's hope Granite Park is around long enough for Sammy to make a second appearance.
Posted by: Travis Sheridan at October 28, 2008 2:29 PM
Glad to see Sammy is finally making his much heralded debut at the new spot that bears his name. Wow, those wristbands went quickly. Nice to see 400 unemployed Fresnans had something to do today. As for me, I think I'll take my 50 hard earned dollars over to my local Save Mart and stock up on my grocery supplies for the week. Hey Sammy, just an idea: maybe you should wait for a weekend to play here in Fresno. You might make a killing with working people in your club.
Watch out for the shoping cart jam on your way to the club tonight. I might just film in the parking lot waiting for the bum fights to break out so I might have something to sell.
Yeah, so what, I'm a little jealous. I mean Fresno always has had a history of getting the good stuff to do on either Monday's or Tuesday's. It's no wonder we have a reputation for being a dead town. Let's liven up our weekend scene. That's when most Fresnan's are ready to let their hair down. It's kind of hard to have a good time when you have just worked twelve hours and you know your only gonna get two hours sleep at night before you have got to do it all over again. Boss Man don't like it when you are late or not there at all. Bill collecter's do not like the answer of "I can't pay this month because I spent it at Cabo's." Maybe that is why we all sit on our hands at these shows. We're TOO DAMN TIRED TO STAND UP.
Good luck at the show tonight and for those of you lucky enough to get a wristband, from me to you, DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR INHIBITIONS AT THE DOOR. Stand up and have a great time.
Posted by: EzE1967 at October 28, 2008 2:39 PM
i like to believe that the people that were waiting in line said "screw work", i'm going to have fun and party. that's how i would like my attitude to be but i'm a batch and i bow down to the man. i'm so pathetic.
Posted by: mdub420 at October 28, 2008 3:34 PM
Mike -- you are doing a great job. Serious!
Posted by: Craig Kohlruss at October 28, 2008 6:49 PM
Great posting Mr. Oz.
Ahhhhhhhh! Sometimes it sucks ass being in the indie media, on the outside looking in... not being able to hang with the likes of Sammy, Kopi and Ray Appleton's Ego.
DAMMIT!
Posted by: The Fresnan - Bitter VH Fan at October 28, 2008 7:18 PM
I was there last night with a group of friends, I was the D.D. and the show was very good for Fresno, but I have been to better locations. I do have a couple of questions, whose idea was it to place a pilar right in the middle of the stage front and the other question, if you don't have something positive to say move on??
Never in my life have I read the likes of soooo many "Danny and Debbie type Downers" people do work that go to these functions how do you think we can afford to travel to each location???? Get happy or get therapy, music is good for the soul or perhaps you need medication???
Posted by: redrockenrose at October 29, 2008 12:24 PM
redrockenrose, the column in the middle of the stage is there to keep the roof from falling on your head. Being such an open area you need something to support the structure. They just dressed it up as a tree to hide it. So blame the structural engineer.
Posted by: Michael at October 29, 2008 1:02 PM
Hey Mike,
This was an amazing show not to be missed. So glad we took the time to make sure we got in. No regrets!
I just wanted to give you a shout out and thank you for hanging out all day to keep everyone in the loop with your updates! That was very cool considering you aren't even a fan! I do realize you got paid and all, but you should know your effort was appreciated by us as well as many others, I'm sure. Thank you!
Posted by: Debi at October 29, 2008 2:34 PM
Johnny Walker is the s**t. And Blue? sigh....I wish. Have to settle for Black Label.
Seriously, how much cheaper is it to buy a bottle than to go try and have a snifter of it anywhere.
(remember the Jerk)
Corazón,,,,,,,,Johnny Walker,,,,,,,and my Roaster,,,,,,that's all I need....... :)
Posted by: Diablo at October 29, 2008 5:02 PM
Is that Tony Soprano standing behind Kopi?
Posted by: erik at October 30, 2008 12:14 AM
No, Erik, that's the Turtle himself, Milt Barbis. He's got his back turned in case a City Commissioner recognizes him and starts to ask for the Cities' money back.
Posted by: Stephen at October 30, 2008 7:29 AM
The Turtle is a pimp. I remember seeing him on opening night conversating with different women, young, old, MILFs. He's loving life right now. I bet he's not even fazed with the trouble granite park may be facing.
Posted by: mdub420 at October 30, 2008 9:33 AM
Here's some pictures from the show.. and a fantastic show it was!
http://katowens.smugmug.com/gallery/6416167_JFiHR#406327644_L3c6V
Posted by: Kat at October 31, 2008 10:05 PM
I'm still bumbed out I couldn't see the show Tues night. I arrived at 5:30am and stood in line for 5 hours until finally I had to leave to go to work. Sorry I have to make money Sammy but had your people gotten the wristbands there when they were suppossed to i could have rocked out instead wasting my entire morning. What kind of unorganized set up was this show anyway...last word at 10:15am was that Sammys band had the wristbands WTF???
Please come back again before Granite Park goes completely bust.
Posted by: Markymark at November 1, 2008 9:39 AM
thanks?
Posted by: dave at November 1, 2008 11:21 AM
Kat....great pics! Thanks for posting them!
Posted by: lgr1968 at November 1, 2008 1:22 PM
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