The Dan Band, led by the charismatic Dan Finnerty, is a lounge act that has dominated the LA scene with its performances of “songs by strong women,” with gratuitious profanity tossed in the mix. Nationally, they are best known for their appearance as the wedding entertainment in the film Old School, performing “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” and more recently as the wedding band once again in the hit comedy The Hangover, performing "Candy Shop." However, in their hometown of LA, they are among the hottest tickets in town, and their shows are often attended by Hollywood stars and the beautiful people. They keep popping up in movies because directors, actors, and producers are attending their shows and love them. In fact, The Dan Band ended up with an amazingly well-produced concert special on Bravo! Network after Steven Spielberg attended the LA lounge show with friends. Spielberg was the executive producer of the special – how many bands can say that?
Legend has it that it all started when Dan Finnerty was challenged by friends to perform Helen Reddy's pathetic, psuedo-feminist anthem, "I Am Woman (Hear Me Roar)" at a karaoke bar. The crowd loved it so much that he thought there might be a successul act in this schtick.
I took advantage of the unique opportunity to see them perform live in Milwaukee at the basement bar of the Rave / Eagles Club venue. I believe that was in April of 2007. The band is tight, the music sounds great, Finnerty can sing, the absurd stage show is wildly entertaining and the funny but high-energy song choices make it like a boozy dance party. Not everybody in the house loves the songs, but everybody knows them, and Finnerty's raw enthusiasm makes you want to sing along - even if your friends see you doing it. My wife and I went to the show with another couple, celebrating my birthday and our friend Kathy’s birthday. We got hammered and had an absolute blast dancing to these somewhat stupid female pop songs, and I can see why it is such a major hit in LA. It’s just plain fun, and enjoying it openly means just letting yourself go a bit, which is refreshing.
If you want to check them out, hit the road. They will be doing the JACK FM Holiday Show in Chicago on Dec. 10, and what’s better than New Year’s Eve at Times Square (they will be doing two shows.) I will try to give an LMF heads up if I see that they are coming back to this area - after I've secured my tickets, of course.
I will leave you with the encore of their Bravo! special, featuring "Theme From Ice Castles," "You Oughta Know," and "Que Sera, Sera." Very entertaining shit.
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4 comments:
Great choice. I had not heard of them until old school, but how can you not love these guys. You will have to do some live blogging from the show tonight TK. I am sure you will be in no shape to do so, however.
Thanks, Tasty. I remembered seeing them in Old School, which was 2003, but I didn't really know who they were or that they were a real band until I saw the Bravo special flipping through the channels one night, which was probably 2005 or 2006. I wish I had recorded that, it is money. Honestly, I've seen better live shows, but I doubt I've ever had more fun at one.
As for tonight, it's just going to be a struggle to keep myself in condition to be cracking a beer at the tailgate at 8 am tomorrow.
I have seen about 2 partial episodes of Jay Leno's new show and this guy has been on both times. I find myself changing the channel within the first 30 seconds of both of his skits. I am sure you are right that he is good live, but I didn't care for either of those skits. Give me Richard Cheese any day of the week, ha. Nevermind
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