944

944 chats with lead singer Dan Finnerty

Made famous by the movies Old School, Starsky and Hutch and The Hangover, the Dan Band is an all-male band that covers hit songs originally performed by females. Not familiar with them or missed their recent stop at the Grove of Anaheim Still Hungover tour? Hop on YouTube or track them down in another city. After all, their show has been called “the hottest ticket in town, shit!”

Dan Finnerty, lead singer of the band, sat down with 944 to give the inside scoop about their upcoming, must-see show.

944: What should people expect from the Still Hungover tour?

DAN FINNERTY: You should expect the best time of your life. And for me to still be hungover.

944: How would you describe the show?

DF: If you like magic and clogging, there isn't any of it in my show. Well, maybe some clogging, but again, it's because I'm hungover and clogging always seems to help. I would describe this show as a regular guy singing girl songs. There are backup singers that have no idea what they're doing or how they got there, and a group of musicians that wish maybe they were in a real band that doesn't play female covers ... but it's a great show. I would like it if I saw it. Meatloaf once came and said it was "pretty good." So there it is.  

944: How many songs do you usually perform? From which artists?

DF: We perform about 25 songs, all from the ladies like Salt-n-Pepa, Christina Aguilera, TLC, Alanis Morrisette and Beyonce, with the exception of two of the songs from Old School and The Hangover, which are guy songs ("Lady" and "Candy Shop") ... so I'm evolving.  

944: How many, if any, are original songs?

DF: We do some of my original holiday songs closer to the holidays, but this Orange County show [kept] it real with the covers.

944: What’s your favorite part of the performance?

DF: I like when I see all the tough looking dudes passionately screaming the words to Abba's "Mama Mia" or "Total Eclipse of the Heart." It kills me every time.

944: How do you choose which songs to add lyrics to?

DF: The Zima tells me. I don't argue with the Zima. It knows what's best. If it tells me to say "fuck" in the middle of "Single Ladies," I just do what I'm told.

944: What was your favorite movie to perform in?

DF: I've loved them all, but The Hangover was awesome because I got to sing to Jeffrey Tambor, and I've loved him since that damn Three’s Company spin-off called The Ropers. He looked like he maybe thought I was a little crazy the whole time, but I loved it.

944: Do you and your band perform your own choreography?

DF: Are you asking if we have dance doubles? Because that might be the smartest thing I've ever heard. We just keep getting older and fatter and it would be awesome to swap in some young dance crew that's dressed like us for the dance parts. Let me see if I can make this happen by the show this weekend ... Yes, we did the choreography ourselves, but actually have brought in some pretty legit choreographers to try and make our swaying look a little more impressive. They don't like for me to mention their names because it dumbs down their careers.

Catch the Dan Band FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, at the LAS VEGAS HOUSE OF BLUES

www.thedanband.com

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