Party Boy Shows Maturity

What do you make of a guy pushing 50 in long blond surfer curls and a Sammy Hagar “I-Can’t-Drive-55” T-shirt wailing on an electric guitar with a black bra hanging from its neck?

When the guy in question is Sammy Hagar himself, as was the case Tuesday at the Universal Amphitheatre in his first L.A. concert since being booted from Van Halen last year, you just shrug and smile.

Hagar is what he is: the perpetual party boy, the eternal teen, maybe now--after his 10-year Van Halen tenure--more than ever.

But his career shift has also led to, gulp, maturity. Songs from his new “Marching to Mars” album have sonic and emotional range heretofore missing. It would be hard to imagine the anti-death penalty ballad “Who Has the Right?” or the tender, if trite, ode to his baby daughter, “Kama,” with Van Halen.

Moreover, with his spirited four-piece band, he connected the dots in his lengthy career (“Bad Motor Scooter” from his early-’70s Montrose days sounded like the prototype for VH’s pre-Hagar style) and even the ‘50s rock and blues roots of his youth.

In that context, Van Halen hits (including a stripped-down “Right Now”) were neither out of place nor standouts. Sure, “I Can’t Drive 55” was a lame rebel stance when the speed limit was 55. But there’s something impressive about a rocker whose inner adult and outer child get along so well.