Sammy Hagar and Chickenfoot

Sammy Hagar had a successful solo career long before joining and leading Van Halen to some of their best selling albums. After Hagar left or was kicked out Van Halen in 1996 (depending on whether you believe Hagar or Eddie Van Halen's version of which occurred), he began performing with his new band, Sammy Hagar and the Waboritas. In 2009, a super group called Chickenfoot was formed, consisting of front man Sammy Hagar, fellow Van Halen alum Michael Anthony on bass, guitarist Joe Satriani and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the drums.

Prior to beginning a full North American tour in 2009, Chickenfoot had a few "warm-up gigs" to prepare and hone their show. On May 20, 2009, Chickenfoot played one of these pre-tour shows at the Roxy on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. This show at the small venue Roxy was a big deal for several reasons. Sammy Hagar has a loyal fan following, Hagar's former band Van Halen had gotten their big break at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go club right down the street from the Roxy and the Roxy is a small venue that holds a few hundred fans compared to the concert halls, arenas and coliseums that Hagar and his band mates normally play.

I knew that the band members would most likely be dropped off near a side door of the Roxy. From previous experiences, I knew that bands typically arrive to shows in SUVs or vans. As I was standing in line, awaiting for the Roxy to open the doors, I quickly got out of line and hurried to the side of the building any time I spotted a vehicle that I thought would be Sammy Hagar arriving for the concert. After several "false alarms" I spied a black SUV with tinted windows. When I got within 20 feet of the vehicle, I spotted Sammy Hagar and his trademark blonde locks in the backseat. The SUV pulled up to the stage door, the vehicle's door open and out popped Sammy Hagar quickly. I yelled to get his attention, "Sammy, Can you sign?" Sammy took my pen and commented "Wow! The 'Foot" referencing the Chickenfoot magazine that I was getting autographed. And with that he was inside the Roxy. A couple of fans who realized a few seconds too late ran up but didn't get signatures as Hagar was gone and the door closed.

After the concert we waited at the side door for the members of Chickenfoot to appear. Hagar signed 5 or 6 autographs as he was escorted to his car and whisked away. Joe Satriani came out the front of the Roxy unrecognized by most and he signed multiple items for us when we asked. Chad Smith came out later and signed a couple of items for everyone. As he was signing, Michael Anthony came out the front and joked, "Look! It's Will Ferrell" talking about Chad Smith who does indeed resemble the comedian. Anthony went upstairs to a bar above the Roxy and was up there for some time. When he finally left, it was quite apparent that Michael Anthony had partied a bit upstairs. Being an extremely nice guy, Anthony willingly signed for fans even though a lady with him kept telling him that it was time to go. In fact, Anthony was leaning against my sister, who was holding him up as his balance was off.

The band released their self-titled debut album, Chickenfoot, on June 5, 2009 with an appearance on Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show and an in-store album signing at Best Buy. My sister attended the signing, arriving at the store early to secure her place in line. Chickenfoot would be signing one item per person and it was limited to the new album released that day. Wisely, my sister asked a Best Buy worker if they had any copies of the Chickenfoot album on vinyl, not the standard CD. She was told yes, that the store had received only two LP copies of the album. My sister purchased the vinyl record album, which was produced in much smaller quantities than the CDs. To put this scarcity in perspective, there were hundreds of CD copies of the Chickenfoot album that day, yet just 2 of the copies were on vinyl. Besides being rare, the LP cover is much larger than that of a CD, thus being more aesthetic and allowing for larger and better autographs. It's a fact that the number of LPs that Chickenfoot will ever be asked to sign as a group will pale in comparison to the number of CDs that fans desire for the band to sign.

Fans were quickly rushed through the line as the members of Chickenfoot autographed each fan's Chickenfoot album. My sister's LP generated much attention from several fans as she was asked several times, "Where did you get that?" It was obvious that Hagar, Anthony, Satriani and Smith also realized that the LP was much more rare as all placed beautiful signatures on the LP cover. Hagar has variations of his autograph as nowadays he will typically sign what appears to be sloppily signed "SyH". A capital S and lower case y, followed by a capital H and line, which is how he signed my Chickenfoot magazine cover. Hagar, when signing for several people or signing autographs quickly, will sometimes give you a signature that is even worse - looking like nothing more than a "SH". This was not the case at the in-store signing, as Sammy signed a full signature that looked like the autographs he used to sign all the time during the late 1990's when I met him on several ocassions. As you can see, the Sammy Hagar autograph on the Chickenfoot album from the in-store appearance is a neater and more defined version of Hagar's signature. Michael Anthony always gives a nice, consistent signature and he did not disappoint. Joe Satriani also always seems to give a nice, flowing autograph that is visually appealing, as it is large in size with a prominent "J" in Joe and "S" in Satriani. Chad Smith put a great autograph on the Chickenfoot LP, even adding a smiley face drawing. All these signatures in a thick, silver marker just seem to pop off the black background of the LP cover.