Dead & Company are back in Las Vegas for their penultimate weekend of shows at Sphere, and Bob Weir got to town a little early to link up with his old pal Sammy Hagar. The former Van Halen singer is playing a residency of his own at Dolby Live at Park MGM on the Las Vegas Strip.
For his Best of All Worlds residency running through May 17th, Hagar mostly reprised the band from his 2024 tour of the same name. Joining the Red Rocker in Vegas are his longtime compatriot and former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, guitar whiz Joe Satriani filling the late Eddie Van Halen‘s enormous shoes, returning keyboardist Rai Thistlethwayte, and Kenny Aronoff on drums replacing Jason Bonham from the Best of All Worlds Tour.
Toward the end of Hagar’s show on Wednesday, riding high off the momentum of the biggest song from the Van Hagar years “Why Can’t This Be Love”, Sammy brought out Bob Weir. Bobby and Sammy are neighbors and have had a puzzling bromance for years, with Hagar visiting Weir’s short-lived TRI Studios in the early 2010s and Bobby appearing on AXS‘ Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar. Hagar’s Grateful Dead bona fides go back far further than that, having shared the stage with Jerry Garcia during a star-studded Elvis Costello & Friends show at the intimate Sweetwater Music Hall in 1989.
During Weir and Hagar’s onstage interactions, Sammy has traditionally crossed over to Bobby’s side of the street, opting for slower, bluesy songs like “Loose Lucy“. On Wednesday, however, Weir was on Hagar’s turf and even borrowed a Z-shaped guitar to fit the part as he jumped in on “Bad Motor Scooter”, a track from Hagar’s pre-Van Halen ’70s hard rock band Montrose and the first song Sammy ever wrote. Even as a Dead fan, there’s not a whole lot to love about Bobby’s rudimentary and uneven guitar playing delivered with razor-sharp tone, and the Van Halen crowd certainly enjoyed it even less. Regardless of the quality, it’d still be cool that Bob Weir is going out and jamming with younger bands—until you find out Sammy Hagar is only three days younger than Bob Weir.
While Hagar is in Vegas through next week, his Van Halen predecessor David Lee Roth just announced his first tour since retiring in 2020. Diamond Dave will hit the road in July for a 21-date coast-to-coast tour of casinos, theaters, and state fairs. Find tickets and tour dates on Roth’s website.
Watch Sammy Hagar and Bob Weir link up in Vegas for “Bad Motor Scooter”. Hagar has five more shows at Dolby Live through next Saturday, while Weir and Dead & Company have six more shows at Sphere also through next Saturday, the 17th. Find tickets to Dead & Company and Sammy Hagar on Ticketmaster.
Sammy Hagar, Bob Weir — “Bad Motor Scooter” — 5/7/25
[Video: Josh Valentine]