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The
HO is not a tribute band. First off, The HO are not perfectionists. It
is the spirit of Live at Leeds era Who, when they were
arguably the best live band on the planet ('68-'71), that the we attempt
to channel. Further more, The HO are not restrained in our song selection
either. If we feel like like playing an outtake from Who Sell Out,
a classic from Who's Next ('72), or something obscure
from Who by Numbers ('76), we simply reverse engineer
it and play it like they would have in '71. Easy.
The Who had a kind of punk-rock spirit
that we enjoy and have chosen to accent. A subtle bullshit detector also
figures into our formula - as much as we worship the Who there is so much
about them (and big rock-stardom in general) to parody... The Who didn't
play their songs the same way every time – and neither does the HO.
That’s not to say we don’t nail the songs, we just like to keep
them fresh - and like the Who we’re big, we’re loud, we’re
sloppy and above all, powerful.
Every member of the HO is a creative, original artist and musician. Lake
Tahoe, CA resident Dave Mello runs Mad Abaout Music Records, plays a fine
clarinet and was the drummer and a founding member of punk legends Operation
Ivy and Schlong. He probably has as much in
common with the lovable muppet character 'Animal' as he does Keith Moon.
SF, CA based guitarist Lucio Menegon is known as the Reverend
Screaming Fingers and performed with the bands Ramona
the Pest, Zebu and SPLITLIP. The intensity of
his playing and his profile bear more than a passing resemblance to Pete
Townshend. Hayes, Virginia is the home of Singer Joey Schaaf who is a
veritable jack of all trades – he’s played keyboards in the
Dance Hall Crashers, drums in Zebu,
plays guitar and writes songs. His ability to invoke the persona of Roger
Daltrey - and all the conundrums that brings up - is uncanny.
Bassist Tim Romain is very active in the Seattle, WA music scene in bands
such as Guilty as Hell and CheckPoint Charlie.
The fact that Tim is one styling dude and his dad is Trinidadian allows
him to morph into the persona John 'Shaft' Entwistle rather easily –
and unlike old Thunderfingers, Tim doesn’t have to wear tight pants
to make good with the ladies. Yeah.
The HO started as a lark back in 1996 when Tim and Lucio both played with
Ramona the Pest. Their mutual admiration for the Who often disrupted rehearsal
and it was suggested they play Who songs on their own time. Tim, in turn,
suggested that they get together and jam with his childhood buddy Dave
Mello – who was a Keith Moon devotee. They started jamming over at
Dave’s warehouse on 40th street in Oakland, CA with all three taking
turns singing or just playing Who songs instrumentally…At one of
these sessions fate intervened when a physically fit fellow walked in
with a long curly blond wig, fringe suede vest and duct taped microphone.
“Who the hell are you?” asked Lucio. “I’m Roger Daltrey.”
replied Joey…
The group’s weekly performances got zanier and zanier and soon enough
more wigs, costumes and monstrous amplifiers materialized. Fans started
showing up and the next thing you know there’s a gig booked…At
the time, it was declared that The HO would do one and only one
public show – April 4, 1997 at the Starry Plough in Berkeley, CA.
It was crazy. Fantastic. Muscles were sore for days... Word of
of the show spread and the HO’s initial promise was broken on November
29th, 1997 when The HO did an encore performance at the Plough. Again
the HO swore that was the last show.
That pledge stood for five long years.
However, the HO finally relented to the clamoring fanatics with two nights
at the Starry
Plough - July 28 & 29, 2002
- made especially poigniant by John Alec Entwiste dying the night before
on June 27.
Last time right? Wrong. This time the
HO decided they wanted to take the show on the ROAD. So just
like the Who, The HO just won’t go away…
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