The Dan Band is Salt-n-Pepa in sound and He-Man in appearance—Finnerty prances onstage in a butt crack-flattering plumber’s uniform and backwards trucker cap while his two backup dancers evoke CIA agents with dreadfully bad sartorial taste. The combination is unexpected to say the least but has managed to evolve into what Entertainment Weekly calls, “the hottest ticket in Hollywood.”
The story behind Finnerty and The Dan Band began during one night of drunken karaoke. After performing in a New York production of “Stomp,” he and his cast mates went out for some cheap fun at a karaoke bar. In a moment of grandeur, Finnerty sprang up and serenaded those watching in horror with his emotive rendition of “I Am Woman” by Helen Reddy. The success was not immediate.
But Finnerty was determined. “I thought, ‘maybe I can actually do something with this,’” he says. “I moved to L.A. and a friend had me sing ‘Flashdance,’ ‘I Am Woman,’ and ‘You Light Up My Life’ at a club. Then I formed a makeshift band.” As a struggling actor looking to jump-start his career, Finnerty felt getting some exposure through the band couldn’t hurt but didn’t consider it to be more than a decently profitable joke. It wasn’t until a rep from the Viper Room asked him when his next show was that something clicked. “I told him, ‘never,’” he jokes. “I was shocked.”
Nine years strong, The Dan Band has in the past three years grown into a phenomenal comedy rock expose on why plumbers shouldn’t dance. After gaining a word-of-mouth cult following in Los Angeles and New York, the band had a chance to work with Saturday Night Live alum Will Ferrell who helped propel the band to national fame. Doing Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” on Ferrell’s Old School landed them many a drunken frat guy fan, bridging the gap between the two coasts. “Old School helped with the success of future projects,” Finnerty states
What is it about Finnerty’s show that keeps fans coming back time after time? The answer is variety. During one show, his plumber outfit ripped at the crotch, but in a split-second decision he incorporated the slight nudity into the act. “I have a muskrat that I use as a prop onstage, so I stuffed it into the hole. I figured we were sending the muskrat home through the hole in my pants. It became part of the routine for the next four shows,” he laughs.
Another “innovation” is choreography, for which he and his CIA cronies consult good friend Anne Fletcher, the choreographer for Step Up and Hairspray. “In the beginning, I was flipping out the bad ‘80s moves I could remember from ‘Thriller’ and other music videos. Later I brought in Anne, who gives us choreography that I then break down into what three fat white guys can do,” Finnerty says.
Despite having what most would consider both critical and mass appeal, success still hasn’t registered with Finnerty. Muskrat incident aside, his other most embarrassing moment occurred when Alanis Morissette asked him to perform “Do You Want to Know” with her. “I was like, ‘are you kidding me?’” Finnerty says. “It’s three white dudes coming out to sing this ridiculous version of it. We were like, oh my God; people are going to hate us. But it went great.”
Though Finnerty won’t admit it, his daughter has a lot to be proud of. And even if he hasn’t yet fulfilled his dream of acting, at least he’s added a few good things to his resumé. “I thought I’d be the funny guy on ER, not a musician,” he says. “As long as I’m still having fun, I’ll keep doing it.”
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