Sammy Hagar famously “can’t drive 55” and fans who want to see him live have to be fast, too.
Tickets for Sammy Hagar and the Wabos’ two annual Cinco de Mayo weekend Lake Tahoe shows go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, and they might be all sold 55 minutes later.
“There’s a lot of anticipation and I think it is going to go lightning fast,” the director of entertainment for Harrah’s and Harveys, John Packer, said. “We had a presale (Wednesday) with the fan club and it sold out instantly. They go on sale Friday and I am expecting both shows to sell out in an hour or so.”
Performed for the ninth-straight year on Cinco de Mayo weekend, the Hagar concerts will be Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4. The Saturday shows usually sell out first. The tradition began when Hagar opened the Cabo Wabo Cantina in Harveys casino. The Tahoe restaurant was Hagar’s first outside of Cabo San Lucas. [pullquote]“There’s a lot of anticipation and I think it is going to go lightning fast.”
– John Packer, director of entertainment[/pullquote]
Tickets will be sold online at www.ticketmaster.com and www.SouthShoreRoom.com. Phone orders are taken at 800-745-3000 or 866-448-7849.
The Tahoe shows are the first on Hagar’s “Four Decades of Rock” tour, a theme the Red Rocker first used around his 65th birthday last fall at the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys.
“He did a timeline of four decades of Sammy Hagar in rock music and it was really well received,” Packer said.
Hagar played with Montrose from 1973-75, Van Halen from 1985-96 and started Chickenfoot in 2008.
The South Shore Room has a capacity of 1,150 for general admission shows. Recently renovated for the nightclub PEEK, the venue still fits between 700 and 720 for seated performances.
“We lost some seats chair-wise but got it back with some bigger booths,” Packer said.
“Redheads,” the nickname for Hagar’s fans, who aren’t among those who buy tickets Friday have another chance to see their hero. Sammy Hagar and the Wabos with special guest Jesse Bradman will play a set Thursday, May 2 in the Cabo Wabo Cantina. The house band Left of Centre opens the show. There will be no cover charge.
Hagar lives in Marin County but Tahoe also is like a hometown for him. His son Aaron lives in South Lake Tahoe, just a quarter-mile from the Tahoe Onstage headquarters.
