Kenny Aronoff played the hero at Sammy Hagar’s “Best of All Worlds” show in Cincinnati on Tuesday night, filling in on drums for Jason Bonham, who had to leave the tour for family reasons.
“Tonight I dedicate this to the Bonham family in England, hope all goes well there, and to our brother Jason,” Hagar said during the intro to “Eagles Fly.” The band played a full 21-song set with Aronoff, starting with 5150‘s “Good enough.”
At the end of the show-closing cover of Van Halen’s “When It’s Love,” Hagar gave special praise to “the man who saved the day, Kenny fucking Aronoff.” The lineup of Hagar, bassist Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani and Aronoff amounted to a Chickenfoot reunion of sorts, as Aronoff replaced Chad Smith in the group’s touring lineup from 2011 to 2012. (Hagar’s current band also features keyboardist Ray Thistlethwayte.)
Videos of the show can be seen below.
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Aronoff replaced Smith in Chickenfoot when the original drummer was unavailable due to his commitments with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Smith later returned and took part in their final tour in 2016.
“The cool thing about this band is that the level of musicianship is so high,” Aronoff told UCR during the first Chickenfoot tour, which came shortly after he worked with John Fogerty and then Brandi Carlile, rehearsing for the soundtrack to the 2013 Jimi Hendrix film. Everything is by my side.
“(H)e’s played in so many bands that we’re coming in with so much experience… there’s a lot of things you don’t have to talk about. It’s like getting a group of NFL players together. They already have a ton of experience, so it’s just a matter of bringing them together… it’s such a good fit, both personally and musically.”
“And I think that’s maybe what Chad was thinking when he picked me. He picked me personally – he kept telling them, ‘This is the guy you should get to replace me while I’m with the Chili Peppers.’ And it worked – he’s right. It was just the right combination of people.”
The U.S. leg of Hagar’s Best of All Worlds tour continues tonight in Nashville and is scheduled to end in St. Louis on Saturday. There has been no official announcement about Bonham’s absence from the tour.
Watch Sammy Hagar dedicate “Eagles Fly” to Jason Bonham and his family
Watch Sammy Hagar thank Kenny Aronoff, “the man who saved the day”
Watch Kenny Aronoff perform with Sammy Hagar
Loverboy and Sammy Hagar perform in Inglewood
Michael Anthony and Joe Satriani celebrate together with the red rockers Van Halen in Eddie’s hometown.
Gallery photo credit: Alex Kluft, UCR
