Bad Halen
Category: Event Calendar
Date and Time
- Sat, Jan 17, 2026 - Sun, Jan 18, 2026 9pm - 12am
Location
Rapture Restaurant
303 E Main St
Details
BAD HALEN are a Charlottesville, VA-based David Lee Roth-era Van Halen tribute band. This is not an “experience”—the band isn’t trying to look or dress like the originals (if you see wigs in promo videos, those were from Halloween 😉). But they masterfully capture the hard rocking, hard grooving sound of Van Halen, with high energy as well as subtle nuances.
Bryce Landes, a bi-coastal music veteran with hard rock and punk roots fronts the band with high energy vocal performances. Of course, no band could lay claim on the VH catalogue without some serious guitar fire, and Mike Rodi, formerly of Clare Quilty, delivers a shred-fest at every show. The band’s rhythm section—John Kougher on bass and Rue on drums—are absolute beasts, propelling the band’s set to light up the sky. And they are regularly joined on stage by keyboardist Gary Dillon, who not only plays his parts perfectly, but uncannily reproduces Eddie’s synth sounds on classics like Jump, 1984, and I’ll Wait.
Bad Halen’s tagline—“Van Halen. Only not as good”—might be true, but but don’t let it fool you. This is a monster act that will blow Van Halen and classic rock fans away!
