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Iowa's Van Hayden Band Combines Van Halen Covers With Hawkeyes Spirit
Developing
In Short: Van Hayden, a unique cover band that combines Van Halen covers with Iowa Hawkeyes spirit, is set to perform at the university's football stadium before the game against Ohio State.
Van Hayden, a unique cover band that combines Van Halen covers with Iowa Hawkeyes spirit, is set to perform at the university's football stadium before the game against Ohio State.
The band, formed in 2021 by Jake Olson, a pharmacist and musician from Milwaukee, and his friend, decided to pay homage to both Van Halen and legendary Iowa coach Hayden Fry.
The band's performance includes a rendition of 'Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love,' renamed 'Ain't Gonna Stop Our Run,' with a chant of 'Let's Go Hawks!' instead of Van Halen's original 'Hey hey hey!'
Dale Arens, who worked closely with Fry, said the band has the coach's full blessing and that Fry would appreciate the sizzle being sold.
Lead singer Robby Marvin, aka Hayden Lee Roth, and the band wear the Hawkeyes' standard game-day attire, including black pullover shirts with Tigerhawk logos, white-collared shirts, aviator sunglasses, and white pants.
As Van Hayden performed in front of the Vanbulance, Olson, sitting behind a drum kit, was moved to tears, reflecting on the band's journey and its connection to Hawkeyes tradition.
What this adds
Van Hayden's unique concept of combining a tribute to Van Halen with Hawkeyes football tradition sets it apart from other cover bands.
The band's performance at Iowa's stadium represents a significant milestone for the group, showcasing their creativity and dedication to both music and sports.
Background
Jack Black's Black Sabbath tribute band, Jack Sabbath, performed at the Power to the People Festival, featuring Geezer Butler.
What's still developing
- There's a big game against Ohio State about to kick off, and the university has invited Van Hayden to get the party started in the plaza on the south end of the stadium, the same entrance that Olson and his brother Andy, a guitarist in the band, used to walk into as kids.
- In 1978, Fry took over an Iowa program that hadn't had a winning season in 17 years and began his program makeover by asking the Pittsburgh Steelers for permission to mimic their look, because he wanted the Hawkeyes to "look like winners."
- Olson, a 51-year-old pharmacist in Milwaukee and a longtime musician, made a pact in spring 2021 with a longtime friend to learn Van Halen's entire "5150" album. "Just the kind of funny dumb things you do when you're having a couple barley pops talking to your friends," he said. But then they did it, and decided it'd be fun to shock their friends by playing the songs live, maybe at a tailgate. They just didn't know how they'd sneak up on them, or what their name would be. What about Van Hayden, Olson thought. Two icons of the 1980s mashed up into a perfect Iowa band. "Once you have it, it's like, how come nobody else did this?"
- "Dad would've probably said, 'I don't know who Van Halen is, but that Van Hayden is sure a good-looking band.'" VAN HAYDEN WAS born, like many necessities, out of the boredom of the COVID era.
- The longtime Iowa tailgate enthusiasts set up shop in front of the Vanbulance, the band's Van Hayden-themed ambulance, and start shredding.
- "My dad would've gotten the biggest kick. He would've been honored on this thing," Fry's son Kelly told Arens.
- "it's called selling the sizzle before the steak."
- IOWA CITY, Iowa -- As Jake Olson sat behind a drum kit in the Tigerhawk Beer Garden on the south side of Iowa's football stadium with a statue of Hawkeyes legend Nile Kinnick staring back at him, tears welled up in his eyes behind a pair of aviator sunglasses.