The Dan Band blew the lid off the House of Blues Saturday with an explosive mixture of comedy, sexy, and inappropriate renditions of a wide spectrum of hits, ranging from Britney Spears 'Toxic' to Bonnie Tyler's 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'. If you've ever seen him do his thing in movies, you know that all the songs were accommodated by many F bombs and pelvic thrusts directed toward audience members. Although the set was just barely an hour, that hour was a jam packed show that included synchronized dance moves, dance ribbons, and just about everything in-between.
Dan is a powerhouse of funny. Except for the preparation for the next tune there was practically no downtime in the show due to Dan's heckling nature. The man isn't the most attractive guy doing it, he doesn't have the slickest dance moves, and he adds profanities to songs that don't call for them, but for some reason this odd mix is a recipe for a hilarious event. He had his typical uniform on, a work shirt with his name embroidered on it and a backwards hat, not such a luxurious garb but fitting nonetheless. His ability to belt and tweak your favorite songs is where the true luxury in the show lies, and this was apparent for every song.
Although the front man killed it at the show, the backup added almost the same amount of hilarity that he did. His support, John Kozeluh and Gene Reed, are two men dressed in suits who do back-up vocals as well as dance and do funny things with Dan on stage. There were a few hilarious moments with the trio, the men formed a human swing for Dan, crawled through hoola hoops while Dan sung Spear's 'I'm a Slave 4 U', along with many other antics. They also both hit a solo during a limbo 'Milkshake' jam, Kozeluh doing a sing along with the crowd, and a reluctant Reed dropping a screaming version of the 'Milkshake' chorus while the band accommodated with a heavy metal rendition of the tune. Speaking of the band, they rocked too.
All the songs were great, but there were definitely a few that stound out. 'Candy Shop' by 50 Cent was a personal favorite, there's something about a rap song being sung rather than rapped that just tickles my funny bone. 'Lady' by Stix is a legendary rock anthem and Dan did justice with his oddly nice sounding voice. The Britney Spears tribute was hilarious, complete with extravagant hoola hoop throwing and dance ribbon formations that were executed quite poorly but that just added to the fun.
Dan was not afraid to get the audience involved either, in fact I'd say a good 40% of the show involved Dan either making fun of or interacting with various audience members. There were a few stars in the front row, the first a belligerent woman who added an odd clucking melody that Dan dug. The other was a man named Kyle who would not budge on Dan's ploys to get him to shout Mother trucker (except with an f). Dan respected Kyle's insistence (the audience did not) on not shouting the curse but was not satisfied, so he convinced Kyle to yell mother while the crowd finished it off. It was quite the spectacle, and after Dan rewarded him with a water bottle bath, picture above
Surprisingly enough this cover band is coming out with a CD of their own soon titled 'The Wedding Album' which will consist of covers and help from their original creators, so look out for that. Unfortunately this was the bands last show in the south for a while, but it seems like they make an effort each year to make it down to New Orleans to put on a show so don't miss out next time.
