I’m a big hugger and, nowadays, I hug with a mask (on). I’m not a germaphobe, but I always wash my hands and I am really careful. So, how are you doing in the midst of this pandemic and how has it impacted your shows?Ī: I’ve been very lucky. In the past year, I’ve interviewed a number of artists who have had COVID-19, including Smokey Robinson, Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls and Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers, who told me that several other members of the Doobies also contracted COVID. Q: Asking someone how they are doing takes on a whole different tone during a global pandemic. Well, hell, I’m one of them! And I’m having a good time. But it is one of those things where people might still think of doing a residency there as being for people in the retirement community. I think Vegas has become a very hip, cool place. Every concert tour stops there, and Vegas has great restaurants, great hotels and some of the greatest shows. Everyone plays there now, including the youngest, coolest bands in the world. And I’m sitting here going: ‘Yeah, my fans are old enough to come to Vegas now, and I’m old enough.’īut Vegas really has changed. Q: If someone had told you 50 years ago, or even 10 years ago, that in 20 you’d be playing a residency in Vegas, how would you have reacted?Ī: I would have laughed them out of the room! When I was a young buck, trying to be the coolest guy in the world, Vegas was not the place for that. Another night, we did a dozen Van Hagar songs, and two or three songs from a new Circle album coming out later this year, tentatively called “Crazy Times.” We really push ourselves in Vegas, and I love mixing it up. One night, we did the whole first Montrose album. We were doing about 20 songs a night and probably did a total of 140 or so different songs. Q: What does a Las Vegas residency allow you to do that a one-off concert doesn’t?Ī: I think that, out of the six nights I played at The STRAT last fall, I only did maybe 10 songs twice. And they’re putting 1½ million dollars into remodeling the lobby of the venue, so that’s it’s decorated like being in Cabo, with palm trees and a Mariachi band, and we serve all my cocktails and beverages. They brought in a new sound and lighting system, which is cool. What’s cool about the new STRAT in Vegas is that they’ve remodeled the venue since we played it last fall. I was raised on Gibson guitars, and my hands feel right when I’m playing one. For me, playing a Strat is like trying to wrestle a professional wrestler. Q: You are playing at The STRAT Theater at The STRAT Hotel, Casino & SkyPod in Las Vegas, so I have to ask: Are you playing a vintage Fender Stratocaster, or a special new Fender Stratocaster at the shows?Ī: You know, I’m a Gibson Les Paul guy. Here are edited excerpts form that conversation. Hagar spoke to the Union-Tribune for nearly an hour. “With guitar solos, his famous line is: ‘Lets take a long walk in the woods on this solo’.” Then, when you get on stage, Bob says: ‘I want to change the tempo on that song, and the key.’ You rehearse them, and - come that night - he wants to play a different song. “You ask him: ‘What do you want to play?’ He’ll say: ‘Figure it out,’ and tell you 120 songs. Music Grateful Dead get ready for one last jamįabled band’s surviving key members, and special guests, will mark group’s 50th anniverary by reuniting for five final concerts.
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