Rooting for Eddie

Carlsbad-based Van Halen tribute band OU812 concentrates on the Sammy Hagar years.

"Plenty of bands do David Lee Roth, but we don't think anyone wants to see us in Spandex," says bassist John Osmon. OU812 dresses and coifs like their counterparts and uses a Michael Anthony custom flame bass, Hagar's signature Cabo Wabo Yamaha, and a $2600 replica of Eddie Van Halen's striped "Frankenstein" model.

"Personally, I think Eddie [Van Halen] is an asshole," says Osmon, who refers to The Sacred Sin, an X-rated film that includes two Van Halen songs. "Leave it to Eddie to dabble in the porn industry and then take his 15-year-old son under his wing and out on tour...classy guy. I'm sure [his son's] Mom is absolutely thrilled about that. Don't get me wrong, I've been a Van Halen fan for a long time, and I really am rooting for him, but I'm also rooting for him to stop screwing over the good people in his life."

OU812 appears at the Santee Second Wind on Thursday, January 25.