Next Sammy Hagar Shoot:  7/31/2010 – Sammy & The Wabos Open for Aerosmith at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas!!

The 2nd game was the  “Chocolate Unicorn.”  This is where you tilt your head back while “standing,” and you have to stack 7 (seven) Chocolate Ding Dong’s on your forehead one at a time.  The first one who gets 7 stacked, wins the game.  If at any time your stack falls, you may start over.  As with the Oreo cookie, you cannot eat any part of the Ding Dong.

All I can say is, the crowd was “Off Da Hook,” and yes, there was winners for both games.  Both winners won a Guy Fieri Signature knife.

What a great evening!!

It was a  cool & breezy evening at Sacramento’s minor league Baseball Stadium called Raley Field where Sammy & Heart rocked to a crowd of 10,000 people.

Ann & Nancy Wilson of Heart hit the stage at 8:05 pm throwing out all their hits such as Baracuda, Straight On, Magic Man, Dog & Butterfly, Crazy on You and lots more.  Trust me when I say this, they sounded like I saw them in 1977 when Billy Joel opened for Heart.

Sammy & The Wabos hit the stage at 9:35 pm sharp locked & loaded with a full arsenal of songs.  You name it, they unloaded it – Three Lock Box, Bad Motor Scooter, Red, Rock N Roll Weekend, Turn Up The Music, Rock the Nation, Rock Candy, Space Station #5, Mas Tequila and loads more!!

Not sure we will see these two powerhouse bands on the same stage again, sure glad I was there to capture the moment in time…..

Sammy Hagar is an icon and American Legend and represents Rock and Roll Iconic History. The second of three lead singers for the infamous Van Halen, as well as the original singer for an early 70’s band called Montrose, Sammy Hagar, the “Red Rocker”has made his mark on the music world as a singer, composer, guitarist, solo artist and business man.

Alan Poulin Photography has seen Sammy through all of this and more, capturing the moments suspended in time, through photographs, for over 30 years. Starting back in 1967 (before this blogger was a blip on the radar!) with a relentless interest in the Southern California music scene, Sammy was lead man for The Fabulous Catillas. While the band didn’t take off, obviously, lessons were learned, as is the purpose of life, and Sammy moved on to duo with Pete Sanson, releasing two recordings. “Reach Out to Find Me” and “Read  My Thoughts”.  This was back in the day before CD’s and MP3’s and in fact was loaded onto a black vinyl round thing we once called “record” that was 7” and took a needle to play…….my own kids cannot quite grasp that idea. You mean there weren’t ALWAYS CD’s???

Sammy’s first recognizable and notable success didn’t occur until 1973-ish, when he came to work with Montrose. This is where Sammy was when “Bad Motor Scooter” was composed.  I LOVED THAT SONG! I can recall the song piping in the house from a radio my older brother had, while working on my Mom’s 1967 Shelby. Polyester pants, plaid shirt and feathered hair and all. This was an early Sammy fan.

Fast forward 10 years, because frankly, those years are lost to me now, so many years later to 1985. Hello, can you say MY FIRST DANCE?? This is when Van Halen said good-bye to David Lee Roth, and hello to Sammy Hagar. This is the moment in time Van Halen entered my world, and became the soundtrack of my teen years.  With songs like “Right Now”, “Top of the World” and “Jump”, Sammy Hagar’s voice and Van Halen topped billboard charts week after week, dominating Casey’s Weekly Top 40 Countdown Broadcast every Sunday, and drove us to the record store to buy the singles, or (by now we moved into cassette tapes)the tape. With Sammy Hagar as the front man for Van Halen the band  produced four multi-platinum, #1 Billboard charting albums.

Today, since parting ways in 1996 with Van Halen, Sammy Hagar is once again on top of the game, with his band Chickenfoot. With the partnership of the infamous, if not insanely talented Joe Satriani (“Surfing with the Alien”), Michael Anthony, and drummer, Chad Smith. These guys can be heard playing such venues as Harrah’s Lake Tahoe nowadays, and where they go, you will find my friend Alan Poulin capturing the legendary moments that make Rock and Roll History.

While I didn’t cover everything Sammy Hagar, and I missed some key moments, what I can tell you is this. Sammy Hagar is the philanthropist, and community man. It is common knowledge that he donates much of the proceeds for his performances to a number of great charities. Sammy Hagar is a full supporter of Mexico, particularly Cabo San Lucas, which, if you know me, you know appeals to my mission in life…to make a difference in Mexico.

Sammy Hagar can be found every year in October in Cabo, playing to a lined up crowd at his famous Cabo Wabo Cantina, and Alan Poulin can be found right there with him, photographing the moments, the crowd and the fun. If you are thinking Vacation, and you wanna put a rocker spin on it, venture on down to Cabo for the infamous:”Birthday Bash”. Tickets are….get this, CHEAP AND FREE and are first come first serve. You might have to sleep on the street overnight, just like back in the day to get the ticket, or call in a favor if you know someone, but the show, the opportunity and the moments that make history are worth it.

I write for this blog out of passion for the owner. He is a great, if not amazing talent in the world of rock star photography, and capturing the most fleeting moments that last no longer than a millisecond, before they are gone.

Photography takes us on a journey into a moment in time, in which an expression, ever fleeting, ever changing, and never twice the same, capturing the essence of the subject tried and true. Alan also does this with the most rousing personalities in the industry, with such notorious rockers as Carlos Santana, Sammy Hagar and foodie network guru/rock star Guy Fieri. It takes a particular personality to roll in these circles, understand the subjects and capture the moments.  Alan has it….

I have known Alan for quite some time now. I know him as a person, a man and a nemesis to others. I have known him as he is, as though ordinary like everyone else. I have never, until the birth of this blog, ever thought to ask him about the “alter ego” that grabs camera bag and arsenal of lenses, a winning gregarious personality and his eye for the precise moment, how he developed these relationships or has been where he has been….So for this contributing blogger, this might be the most fun assignment I have had in some time, because I too learn more about this amazing “time wrangler”.  

Q :How did you get started?
ALAN >  I started shooting rock n roll photography back when I was 17 years old.  I lived in the Midwest and started shooting live concert photography and backstage/dressing room photos for just about every record company there was, as well as the local concert promoters.

(Hey! Wasn’t there a movie made about you??? The Almost Famous one??)

Q How did you meet Sammy Hagar?
ALAN >  Sammy Hagar was the first Artist I photographed back in 1978 when he was opening act for Nazareth.  Sammy was 31 years old, I was 17.  I was shooting for Capitol Records which is the label Sammy started his career with.  We were backstage at the Checkerdome in St. Louis, MO and that is where I first met Sammy.   The following year in 1979, Sammy Hagar Co-Headlined a tour with Boston where they played the Checkerdome for 2 SOLD OUT nights.

Q  How did it come to pass that you became HIS photographer?
ALAN >  I am not exactly “his” photographer.   Sammy has a close ring of about 10 photographer’s located all over the US.  This ring of people  have been shooting Sammy consistently going back I know as far as I have been shooting him.  I am not sure anyone one single person in this ring other than me has been around him as long as I have. 

Q What were your initial feelings when you started out
ALAN >  My initial feelings when I first started out.  I felt like I was a rock star as I got to shoot some of the biggest artists ever.  You name them, I have shot them

We have all had “Sammy moments”. For some it was rockin with him in Cabo’s Cabo Wabo Birthday Bash, for others it might have been outside on a summer night at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe. Maybe for some it was even the first kiss, or the first moment of new love in their young adult lives, and Sammy was rockin it from the vinyl on the “hi fi”.  I remember some of the above, but I remember “POUNDCAKE” , and will forever smile, because it was the first song of the first dance I attended in my High School years.  So, Alan, you have had these and others. What was YOUR most impactive or monumental “Sammy” moment?
ALAN >  The single most memorable moment with Sammy was on June 26, 1980 when Sammy Co-Headlined with Journey along with Special Guest UFO, Judas Priest and Shooting Star.  It was close to 100 degrees that day and they played to a crowd of 40,000 people at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO.  All I remember is Sammy being driven up to the stage in a Red Trans Am.  I had the GREATEST moment in history on that day.

Q How does Sammy affect who you are today in terms of your relationship?
ALAN >  Having shot him over the years, he trusts me.  I have always learned when shooting rock n rollers, stay out of the way, be transparent and respect the artists private area.

Q Why you do this for a living?
ALAN >  Because it is clearly my passion for a lifetime.  I really do have the most fun photographing artists in their live and private settings.

Stick around, subscribe to the blog, and stay on top of Alan and his rocker world…be one step ahead and be there!!!