CONCORD, Calif. — Rumors swirled the past year or two, and the Van Halen camp couldn’t agree on how to pay tribute to a generation’s greatest rock guitarist. Sammy Hagar — a man of action — stepped forward and announced he and former VH bassist Michael Anthony recruited Joe Satriani and Jason Bonham and would take them on the road to honor Edward Van Halen.

Great. Someone needed to. It was kind of like Van Halen’s induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, to which only Hagar and Anthony showed up. Everyone else was busy being dysfunctional.

So in recent months, Hagar and the band did interviews, in which a respectful Satriani talked about the difficulty in trying to emulate EVH’s singular style. Rehearsal videos were released of the quartet playing Van Halen songs. Big venues were booked, and fans prepped to come out for the big Eddie Van Halen fest.

Only, when the tour started, it was billed as a Sammy Hagar tour. Not even a “Chickenfoot plays VH” tribute (three of the four members were in Hagar’s post-VH project, but Bonham and Anthony were also in Hagar’s other band, The Circle, and by now, one needs an erasable white board and math skills to figure out who’s in what band.

We do know they seem interchangeable and seem to all work for Sammy Hagar. But whatever the name, it was clearly a tribute to Edward Van Halen, who died in October 2020 … right?

Pretty much, sort of.

Hagar and the guys pulled into the Toyota Pavilion at Concord Saturday night and played mostly Van Halen songs (even if a couple weren’t great choices). And some Hagar solo songs. And a Satriani song. And a Montrose song. And at least one Chickenfoot song.

I counted all of two on-stage references to EVH by name during the band’s two-hour-and-10-minute set. The pre-show video collage was all about Hagar’s career, which included some Van Halen images.

But make no mistake: This was a Sammy Hagar show, with a decent emphasis on his time in VH.

That said, it was a good show. Hagar’s voice is ridiculous for a man turning 77 in October. Joe Satriani turned in an admirable performance. For an established guitar hero for nearly 40 years with his own signature style, he was faithful to the genius of EVH, with a few of his own twists.

Michael Anthony, who just turned 70 and is the only common thread from the early Van Halen days through Hagar’s post-VH career, was his usual underrated and reliable self. His harmonies were powerful and spot on and his stage presence was comfortable; seeing him out there lent legitimacy to the concept. His bass was a bit lost in the mix, but bass has never been why fans pay to see Hagar or VH.

Bonham was fine. He doesn’t swing like Alex Van Halen, but he held it all down — even if his three bass drums were emblazoned with the visage of his late great father, John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. It was a strange tribute at a supposed Edward Van Halen tribute, but I’m done trying to sort out to whom we paid tribute. The place was packed, and the middle-aged (and above) crowd was happy, which is what really matters.

Hagar and friends came out blazing with “Good Enough,” from Van Halen’s 1986 album, 5150 (Hagar’s first with the band).

Then came Van Halen’s “Poundcake,” with Satriani doing the power drill intro, and “Runaround,” into Hagar solo hit “There’s Only One Way to Rock,” which, to be fair, became a staple of VH shows after Hagar joined the band. Satriani even included EVH’s live additions to the song (same for “I Can’t Drive 55,” which they played later).

Hagar and company then played VH’s “Judgement Day,” a curious choice given that it’s one of the least memorable songs on For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.

Things picked up when they jumped right into “Panama,” a David-Lee-Roth-era hit that worked for the crowd, as did the next song, “5150,” a candidate for best song of the night, as Satriani hit all the guitar parts, and Anthony’s harmonies were strong. Hagar playfully came over and rubbed Anthony’s throat before the bassist unleashed the glass-shattering scream near the end.

Hagar talked about their first time jamming, and drinking, with Van Halen just before they played “Summer Nights” Saturday night.

Hagar let Anthony take lead vocals on “Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love,” which worked out pretty well.

“Let’s do these for Eddie,” Anthony said before the classic fist-pumping “hey hey hey” chant near the end.

Hagar returned for a strong “Best of Both Worlds,” during which the band did the little march across the stage Van Halen used to do with EVH (it was weird without him).

At one point, Bonham took lead vocals briefly to shift into Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration,” which wasn’t necessary. Nor was Satriani’s instrumental “Satch Boogie,” but I guess the guy gets one song (and Anthony looked like he was having fun). It worked better than Hagar returning to the stage for a listless version of “The Seventh Seal,” from Van Halen’s 1995 record, Balance.

They pulled out of the nosedive with “Right Now,” which Satriani seemed to enjoy, tossing in some of his leadwork without redirecting the song. He did a decent impression of EVH’s sound on “Why Can’t This Be Love,” though he also did some of his own stuff that fit nicely.

The band went back to Hagar’s solo career for a good version of “Where Eagles Fly,” and doubled down on Hagar material with the semi-ridiculous drinking anthem “Mas Tequila,” during which Hagar cracked a bottle of — you guessed it — and drank with Anthony, before passing drinks to the crowd.

Maybe it was the drinking, maybe it was the hard effort up until then, but things seemed a little sloppy after that, staying with Hagar’s solo catalog for “Heavy Metal,” then back to his Montrose days for “Space Station #5,” (which they should’ve done before the tequila shots, because it’s such a badass song).

Anthony took a verse of a slightly disjointed “I Can’t Drive 55,” followed by Chickenfoot’s “Big Foot” and an unexpected“Jump,” most of which Hagar actually sang (he famously used to bring fans up to sing it, because the hit was so closely identified with Roth). Hearing “Jump” without Roth and EVH was a bit weird.

They recovered with big Van Halen/Hagar hit “When it’s Love” for a show closer. It was an all-around good Hagar and friends performance, even if it was conspicuous for who was missing,—both in reality and as a tribute.

Because much of the night was about the ’80s, Loverboy opened the show. Mike Reno still sings well — even if he barely moves on stage in 2024 —and the band looked its age. But they adequately rolled through most of the hits like “Loving Every Minute of It,” “Hot Girls in Love,” “Turn Me Loose” and “Working for the Weekend.” And, yes, Reno still wears the red headband.

Follow photographer Sean Liming at Instagram.com/S.Liming.