We found this interview with Sammy Hagar in Las Vegas Weekly today explaining why he canceled his show and what his take is on the situation on the ground in Cabo now.
"Cabo San Lucas is near and dear to your heart and has become a big part of the Sammy Hagar story. How bad is the damage there?
It’s much worse than what you hear back here. It’s funny, because you’ve got people saying, “Oh, it’s fine, come on down!” First of all, you can’t even get there, because the airport [isn’t open]. You can’t fly a plane … I own a plane, and I can’t fly in there. The first flight coming in other than military planes that are taking people out is [in mid-October] and by the end of October, they expect to have maybe 5,000 rooms available.
At the [Cabo Wabo] Cantina, we’re not even open for business. We’re not even thinking about being open for business, and we didn’t have any damages. It’s really bad, the worst ever, Cabo’s been through a lot of these. All of the utilities are out, and there’s no water and no food and no way to bring it in … that’s a real bad problem. But the other problem is that there’s no glass. A large percentage of the windows in that town, restaurants, hotels and houses, are gone—and there’s no glass. It’s not like you just go down to the corner glass shop and buy some new windows, you know? They’ve got to get it down there first.
I think it’s going to be a while, and I plan on doing something really big and really special when the town is on its feet. But I would never ask anyone to come down there and be susceptible to some really bad conditions and maybe get sick. There’s sewage and stuff running all over the place. I hate to be too graphic, but that place got hit. That’s the same hurricane strength as Katrina that hit New Orleans. Now, New Orleans is a little bit underwater, so the flooding [may have been a] little bit worse, but Cabo’s flat—that mother’s pretty much sea level—so it’s bad.
You’ve been a big part of that community for a number of years. What can people do to help? There’s nothing you can do right now, because the government and the military are in charge and they need to get it rebuilt and get it on its feet and get all of the looters out first.
Then once all of that’s done, we can start doing things like shipping food and clothing down for the kids and families that lost everything. To just send money, I’m not sure that’s a good idea, because it’s a foreign country and you just don’t know how it’s going to get distributed. So I would say if you want to do something, when the town’s ready, go back down there and take a bunch of 20 dollar bills with you and go down to the store and buy a bunch of diapers and things and hand it out personally. That way it goes directly to the people.
Is this the first time you’ve ever done the Birthday Bash outside of Cabo?
It is, and it’s the first time the Birthday Bash has actually been canceled. We’ve been really close—four or five times we’ve had close calls and ended up doing it at the last minute."
iTravel Cabo Comment:
This kinda surprises those of us who have been close to the whole Odile story.
For a start the airport IS open and has been open since October 3rd for internal flights (and it has to be said private jets) and October 8th for International flights.
Most of the restaurants and bars are also OPEN as are many (MANY) of the hotels.
There is no sewage running in the streets, at least not in downtown or any of the tourist areas that we have heard of.
There is water, there is food. The broken glass has largely been replaced. Walmart is open and Costco will open October 29th.
Let's say it LOUD in case years of rock'n'roll have made it hard to hear: CABO IS OPEN SAMMY!
The weirdest thing about his comments is what he is saying about his own bar, Cabo Wabo.
The fact is that Cabo Wabo is also open! If you check out their facebook page then you can see that they are welcoming visitors right now.
If he came down he would see that things are not as bad as he seems to presume and that folks have quietly gotten on with the job in hand to get Cabo back on its feet.
To be charitable: perhaps this interview was carried out some time ago and only published yesterday...but it is so factually inaccurate that is needs some challenge; especially since Sammy Hagar can potentially influence so many people about coming to Cabo. We feel that he has at least some responsibility to get things straight and give out accurate information to his fans and to potential visitors.
Everyone is glad to hear that he plans to do something "really big and really special" for the town "when it's on its feet".
That can be anytime now Sammy. #Unstoppable
For those who have been disappointed with his cancelation he is doing shows in Vegas to compensate:
Sammy Hagar's Birthday BashOctober 18, 8:30 p.m., $$65-$150. Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, 702-388-2400