Sammy Hagar kicked off the Best of All Worlds Tour in West Palm Beach, Florida, Saturday night in a show where 15 of the 21 songs were from the Van Halen catalogue, three of which were from the David Lee Roth era.

Surrounding the Red Rocker was long time friends and talented bandmates Michael Anthony, Jason Bonham and Joe Satriani who have played with Sammy in various groups from Chickenfoot to The Circle.

Sammy can still sing, Michael Anthony continues to be a secret weapon on backing vox and bass, Bonham is as solid as ever, and Satriani (who celebrated his 68th birthday Saturday) completely shreds in a way that pays tribute to Eddie Van Halen without losing Joe's soaring spaceman style.

One of the highlights of the show, was also the most unnecessary, and that was six songs into the set when Satriani and Bonham broke into the classic Van Halen tune "Panama."

It was the first time any of Sammy's solo bands ever covered the 1984 banger. Why had he never touched it? 119 other bands had.

Because it's a David Lee Roth song through and through.

Is it great to hear Satriani cover Eddie's licks? Yep. As it is fun to hear Bonham keep up with Alex Van Halen.

But no one needs to hear Sammy talk about reaching down between his legs and easing the seat back. And he even said as much on stage of the IThink Financial Ampitheatre. Worse: he didn't bring anything special to the song.

Then why do it other than have something for the fans to sing along to?

If Sammy really wanted to make a statement on this tour, it's not too late. He could replace the awkward "Panama" with "Get Up," a song he co-wrote and played guitar on when they released 5150, the first of the four records he made with the band.

When "Why Can't This Be Love" came out as the lead single of the new Van Halen in March, 1986, the soft, keyboard-heavy tune freaked out fans who already had a conniption with "Jump" two years previously.

But the flipside of "WCTBL" was the heavy duty dual guitar attack of "Get Up" that sounded more like Metallica than anything from 1984. This was the progress and improvement fans were promised when the guy who gave us "I Can't Drive 55" and "There's Only One Way To Rock" replaced Diamond Dave.

Sadly it was an unfulfilled promise because the Sammy-era VH doled out way more soft singles in the mold of "WCTBL" than "Get Up."

Is "Get Up" an impossible song to sing with its super high notes and speedy tempo?

Probably. Even Van Hagar stopped playing it after their first tour.

So let Michael Anthony sing it with Sammy.

That's what they did when they dusted off another DLR-era VH hit, "Ain't Talkin 'Bout Love" (which was also unnecessary).

Back to Satriani, and further reasons why doing DLR songs are a fools errand.

This man can play. The problem both he, Steve Vai, and even Yngwie Malmsteen had was they were monumentally proficient axe-wielders with no songs.

With Sammy and some of these Van Hagar songs, he's a master who brings life to these decades-old tunes that were mediocre at the time (to some, namely me), but energized and electric in the capable hands of Satriani.

The title track of 5150, live in Palm Beach last week was way better than the embarrassing cover of "Panama." Both Joe and Bonham are playing it with the enthusiasm of men looking to prove to the world that they truly rock.

God bless EVH but sometimes he was up there smiling instead of sweating. These dudes are overplaying in the best ways for the right reasons.

Sammy and the boys, which includes Rai Thistlethwayte on keyboards, are playing around North America through August with Loverboy opening.

Let Loverboy close their set with "Panama" if you want the fans to hear it so badly.

They'll be making stops in Toronto, Vegas, and Red Rocks along the way.

Grab your tickets on Sammy's website.