Run for Cover(s) Van Halen and AC/DC tribute bands rock the Hope on New Year's Eve By Aaron Davis Thursday December 29, 2005 How do you know your Van Halen tribute band has made it? When you spend the day hanging with the bassist from, well, Van Halen. That happened the other day to Randy Monroe, lead singer of the Van Halen cover band Hot For Teacher. Monroe was interviewed just after he finished hobnobbing with Michael Anthony in San Francisco. The two developed a relationship after Anthony jumped on stage with Hot For Teacher at a 2003 Hard Rock Cafe performance. “He was supposed to do two songs, and we couldn't get him off the stage,” Monroe said. “What he felt was the energy that we re-create. We don't just live this, this is our lifestyle.” Local audiences can revisit the hedonist rock of the 1970s and '80s as Hot For Teacher headlines the Monster's New Year's Eve Ball at the Bob Hope Theatre. Also on the bill is the AC/DC cover band Powerage. Bay Area-based Hot For Teacher is not unknown in the Central Valley, having played venues in Modesto, among other locales. For Powerage, however, this is new territory. Seeing as how Van Halen and AC/DC boast multiple lead singers, both Powerage and Hot for Teacher focus on specific eras in their respective bands' history. With Hot For Teacher, it's the David Lee Roth years, 1978-85. “Diamond Dave set the pace,” said Monroe, a professionally trained baritone who teaches school by day. “I talked to Sammy (Hagar), and we're interested in doing some Sammy tunes ... but we haven't really experimented with them live.” As for Powerage, Tonkin came to the group after being kicked out of his former band for sounding too much like late AC/DC singer Bon Scott. “They told me they would prefer if I didn't sing like Bon,” Tonkin said. “ ‘Could you get the Bon Scott out of your voice?' I said, ‘I'll show them. I'll find some guys who will appreciate that.' Yes, but don't they want to create their own music instead of performing other groups' hits? “We all have played original bands before,” Tonkin said. “We've found that, at this point in our careers, we're having fun playing this material.” “We're at the point now of writing our own music,” Monroe said. “But, musically, we challenge anyone to step up to the plate with us.” |