Sammy Hagar “scared to death” to play new song live in between songs like “Right Now” & “I Can’t Drive 55”

Sammy Hagar “scared to death” to play new song live in between songs like “Right Now” & “I Can’t Drive 55”

Former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar was interviewed at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, California, USA on November 19th and the singer talked about proceeding with Sammy Hagar & The Circle‘s debut studio album Space Between, which was released back on May 10, 2019.

Hagar stated (as transcribed by Blabbermouth with slight edits): “I didn’t think I was going to make a record ever again. When I go out and play with The Circle, for five years we’ve been playing kind of like our greatest hits from the whole career, starting with Montrose through my solo stuff through Van Halen through the post-Van Halen [years]. We [also] played a couple Led Zeppelin songs. We had such a strong setlist [that] I thought, ‘I’m scared to death to put a new song in between ‘Right Now’ and ‘I Can’t Drive 55”… I didn’t know if I had another classic song [in me]. You go back and you listen to the history of writing with Eddie Van Halen, writing with Ronnie Montrose, even with Joe Satriani… This band, we were playing the hits so well. We were playing the Montrose songs better than Montrose. We were playing the Van Halen songs as good as Van Halen. I was in love with this band. I’m going, ‘I’ve never heard those songs sound as good,’ because everyone cared so much. Everyone was mature. We’re not going on stage drunk or on drugs, and just really playing them from the right place. It made me nervous to say, ‘How are we going to make a record better than this stuff?'”

Sleaze Roxx stated the following in its review of Space Between: “In a very similar vain to Sweet Creatures‘ debut album The Devil Knows My Name, the sum of Sammy Hagar & The Circle‘s Space Between parts are better than its parts. In other words, take the entire album as a whole and it really takes you on an incredible journey. Take just one song by itself and you might not get the brilliance that is on the record. I find that the flow from one song to another on Space Between to be quite incredible. Although every song is different from some great rockers such as “Full Circle Jam (Chump Change)” and “Trust Fund Baby” to some poppy stuff like “Bottom Line” and one of Sammy‘s best slower tracks (“No Worries”), the tracks just flow so nicely from one to the other. It’s worth mentioning that Space Between is a concept album about “money, greed, enlightenment and truth” and perhaps that factor plays in on why each song flows so well from one to the other. To be honest, I haven’t really gotten into the whole message behind the lyrics and the whole album concept. Space Between is simply a great rock n’ roll record.”

Sammy Hagar & The Circle‘s “Trust Fund Baby” video (from Space Between album):

Sammy Hagar & The Circle – “Trust Fund Baby” (Music Video)

This video for “Trust Fund Baby,” directed by ZZ Satriani (son of Hagar’s longtime collaborator and friend Joe Satriani) is an extreme glimpse into the eight…

Van Halen‘s “Right Now” video:

Van Halen-Right now

Please BUY this song, thanks.

Sammy Hagar‘s “I Can’t Drive 55” video:

Sammy Hagar – I Can’t Drive 55 (Official Video)

Music video by Sammy Hagar performing I Can’t Drive 55. (C) 1984 Geffen Records#SammyHagar #ICantDrive55 #Vevo

Interview with Sammy Hagar at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, California, USA on November 19, 2019:

Sammy Hagar @ Grammy Museum

Sammy Hagar Interview @ Grammy Museum Nov 2019