Hairball will 'rock' Joliet theater with '80s tribute on Jan. 20

JOLIET – Two years ago, Steve Reckinger was asked to join ’80s tribute band Hairball as its lead singer.

Of course Reckinger, who said he’s always worked as a full-time touring musician, agreed. And then he panicked. So Reckinger took the next logical step.

He went to a hypnotist.

Hairball will perform on Jan. 20 at the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet, but Reckinger said Hairball is more than a concert tribute to the musical greats of that era – Aerosmith, Journey, KISS, Motley Crue, Queen and Van Halen, to name a few.

It’s a rock ‘n’ roll show.

“There’s explosions, blow-up dolls, props, fireworks, flames and – obviously – excited musicians bouncing around as happy as they could possibly be, living the life they were always meant to live,” Reckinger said.

From there to Hair

Several years ago, when Reckinger was a member of a Journey tribute band, he contacted Hairball’s management company to manage his band, too. The company declined because conflict of interest, Reckinger said.

Two months later, they reached out to Reckinger.

“They needed a replacement singer,” Reckinger said.

Reckinger, 52, had performed in the Journey tribute band since 2010, so “becoming” Steve Perry for Hairball was easy. In fact, people often comment on Reckinger’s resemblance to Perry, Reckinger said.

But the flamboyant Freddie Mercury from Queen, the consummate performer who “held nothing back” and is “everything rock ‘n’ roll was built on?”

The notion intimidated Reckinger, to say the least.

“I had just joined and they said, ‘Queen is in our repertoire. Can you do it?’ ” Reckinger said. “I said, ‘Yes,’ because I’m that kind of guy.”

But could Reckinger actually pull it off? That was the crux.

“It was one of the first times in my life I was nervous and apprehensive because he is so fantastic of a performer,” Reckinger said. “Most people have a slight amount of inhibition, but he didn’t. It would be very difficult to mimic him onstage. So I chose to go see a hypnotist.”

Reckinger had used that hypnotist 15 years ago to stop smoking. One session and Reckinger said he kicked the habit for good. So Reckinger returned, with similar expectations.

“Most of hypnotism is reaching into your own mind and finding the things you need to tackle, what you’re up against,” Reckinger said. “It’s not like he gave me super powers. He reminded me of the powers I already had. The next time I was onstage, I pulled off Freddie Mercury. I pulled it off with confidence and comfortability and – as far as I could tell – with a complete lack of inhibition, which was exactly what I needed.”

Musical history comes alive

Becoming a legendary performer is more than a feeling – and more than a mindset, especially when portraying several superstars in the course of one show. Donning the role begins when Reckinger dons the costume and continues all the way to each icon’s signature walk onto the stage.

“People don’t want a guy acting like Freddie Mercury. They want Freddie Mercury,” Reckinger said. “They want to believe I’m Freddie Mercury. So I have to do the small things; I have to believe I’m Freddie Mercury.”

The enjoyment of tribute bands vary by the fans that attend, so Hairball adjusts its shows accordingly.

“If we have a younger audience, we make sure we pull as many things that they will recognize,” Reckinger said. “If it’s primarily older and male, we do the heavier music. If it’s predominately women, we do more melodic music.”

The great thing about tribute bands, Reckinger said, is that they can’t outpace the bands they imitate, although it’s conceivable that, at some point, performers might say, “Wow, we can’t do that anymore.”

“No matter what we do, we’re younger than they are,” Reckinger said. “We can [always] perform something they did in some portion of their lives.”