Formed in 1999 to showcase Van Halen’s David Lee Roth-era hits, HOT FOR TEACHER has been relentlessly performing throughout the western United States, thrilling concert-goers and generating legions of dedicated fans every time their raucous rock and roll flying circus act rolls into town.
HOT FOR TEACHER features four explosive performers that are not only among the most talented musicians on the West Coast, but are also dedicated scholars of the Van Halen musical legacy. These rock and roll ninjas bring to the stage everything fans of the world’s greatest party band crave, including roaring lead vocals, note-for-note renditions of Eddie Van Halen’s most stunning guitar riffs and solos, thundering bass, massive drums, stunning vocal harmonies and best of all. one hell of a good time.
With an uncanny knack for channeling David Lee Roth, singer and bandleader Randy Monroe belts out Van Halen’s powerful vocal rants and irreverent lyrical sound bites with the same volcanic intensity of the original recordings, all the while conjuring Roth’s none-too-serious, get-all-the-girls-dancing, “F--- yeah this is real Jack Daniels” party vibe in a way the world hasn’t known since Roth left Van Halen in the mid ’80s. (fun fact: in a tie-in with the band’s name, Monroe is also an award-winning science teacher).
The ripping, virtuosic guitar parts of Eddie Van Halen are handled by 6-string sharpshooter Jude Gold, whose spot-on renditions of “Eruption,” “Mean Street,” and other hugely influential riffs get even the most finicky Van Halen fans playing air guitar along with him. Director of the prestigious Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) part of Hollywood's Musician's Institute (MI) and the Los Angeles Editor of Guitar Player magazine, Gold is also known for his touring and recording with BX3, the band in which he plays lead guitar for the absolutely over-the-top, rock and jazz star bassists Billy Sheehan (David Lee Roth & Mr. Big), Stu Hamm (Joe Satriani), and Jeff Berlin (Allan Holdsworth - a one-time mentor to EVH). *Also just to note: from time to time and due to some of Gold's scheduling conflicts, eight year HFT veteran guitarist and founding member, shred-master Terry Lauderdale steps back up and into the call of duty.
Four-string super hero and Musical Director Jesse Scott not only brings the Michael Anthony thunder on bass, but he also amazingly nails Anthony’s near-inimitable ultra-high vocal harmonies, a crucial sonic element of every Van Halen song. While, drum genius and perfect meter-man Eddie Studebaker evokes Alex Van Halen’s skin-bashing with an authenticity and power you can only see to believe. His mind-boggling intro to the band’s theme song, “Hot For Teacher,” is alone worth the price of admission.
When HOT FOR TEACHER was invited to perform for Michael Anthony’s bass guitar dedication at San Francisco’s Hard Rock Cafe in 2003, the already frenzied crowd was pushed into sheer delirium when the mighty bassist stepped on stage with HOT FOR TEACHER and ripped through a white-hot set featuring "Unchained,” "Dance the Night Away,” "Panama,” and countless other Van Halen hits. The band even performed VH II's "Women In Love" in which afterwards Anthony jovially exclaimed, "Man, I haven't done that song in twenty years [1983]!"
No other Van Halen tribute performs the technically complex music of Van Halen better than HOT FOR TEACHER, perhaps that's why HFT has also been joined onstage by other rock legends Pat Travers, Brad Gillis and Joel Hoekstra (Night Ranger), and Joey Alves (Y&T), and has shared the evening's stage with many greats including Eric Martin (Mr. Big), Peter Frampton, Dennis DeYoung (Styx), Nazareth, Great White, Hollywood All-Stars Chas West (Bonham/Lynch Mob), Carlos Cavazo (Quiet Riot), Jimmi Bain (Dio), Blues Traveler, Creedence Clearwater Revisited, Y&T, Night Ranger, Pat Travers, Tesla and countless others!
HOT FOR TEACHER was also featured in the book, "Everybody Wants Some, the Van Halen Saga" by Ian Christie, magazines such as FHM, news periodicals such as The Contra Costa Times, The San Francisco Chronicle and The San Jose Mercury News (and their related papers). In 2008, HFT was voted Best Tribute Band by the East Bay Express and became the first tribute ever invited to perform at the prestigious NAMM Show, the National Association of Music Merchants in Anaheim, CA and after three years running is now an annual part of the event. "Some people go to the party, we are the party!"
HOT FOR TEACHER also appears on local performance market television programming including Comcast's CC Rocks and Reality Check and in a variety of television advertising commercials. HFT is also a regular on radio stations such as San Francisco’s 107.7 "The Bone”, San Jose’s 98.5 KFOX, and Los Angeles’ KLOS 95.5 (on the syndicated Mark and Brian Show), and in a multitude of other rock radio markets spanning America's northern and southern borders from Nebraska to Hawaii.
So, if one hell of a good 'ole time is what you're after? Then you 'ought to come out, shake it, "Jump" and "Dance the Night Away" with HOT FOR TEACHER, the Van Halen Experience.
