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Herald photo by Duane Nollen
Hairball at Fair
OSKALOOSA — The Southern Iowa Fair grandstand rocked with heavy metal thunder Tuesday night as the ‘80s tribute band Hairball cranked out an almost two-hour set.
Hairball — a band that emulates the ‘80s heavy metal “hair bands” — hails from the Twin Cities in Minnesota and has been rocking for about 10 years.
The band played hits from bands such as Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, Poison, Quiet Riot, Cheap Trick, Def Leppard, Guns ‘N’ Roses and Ozzy Osbourne. Their encore was a four-song set of AC/DC tunes.
Before the show, lead singer “Rock Star Bob” talked a bit about the band and their show.
Rock Star Bob has been with the band for seven of its 10 years.
“I like all kinds of stuff,” he said. “I was in a Kiss tribute band before. I had some experience in the tribute scene.”
Hairball plays at festivals, fairs, theaters and larger venues. They have played at the Iowa State Fair, and they will return there this year.
“We get huge crowds. Rock ‘n’ roll will never die,” he said.
Rock Star Bob said Hairball’s show is visual and theatrical. He is a chameleon as he changes costumes between songs to portray the larger-than-life lead singers of legendary ‘80s bands.
Rock Star Bob was dressed as Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil for the show’s openers such as “Kick Start My Heart” and “Dr. Feelgood.” Next, he donned some makeup and frizzy hair to take the stage as Dee Snyder of Twisted Sister. Then, he was Brett Michaels of Poison, and later in the show, he morphed into Joe Elliot of Def Leppard, Axl Rose of Guns ‘N’ Roses, Ozzy Osbourne, and finally, AC/DC’s Brian Johnson.
Rock Star Bob says that ‘80s heavy metal is still going strong.
“The resurgence is great,” he said. “We can play hits all night long.”
He said that young kids come to Hairball shows and like the same things that their parents listened to “back in the day.”
During Hairball’s rendition of Quiet Riot’s “Metal Health,” Hairball guitarist “Happy,” spotted a group of teens in front of the stage and invited Blake Hols, of Oskaloosa, up on stage for an impromptu guitar lesson.
Hairball rocked the stage for 90 minutes and came back out for almost 30 minutes of encores — an AC/DC set of “Hell’s Bells,” “Highway to Hell,” “Back In Black” and “You Shook Me All Night Long.”
Herald Editor Duane Nollen can be reached by email at oskynews@oskyherald.com
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