The Great Cover UP

This weekend is the long awaited return of The Great Cover Up. It’s the 30th anniversary of the event and it’s first year to be hosted by the Rose Bowl. What is the Great Cover Up, a person not from CU or a person from CU living under a rock? I’m so glad you asked. The Great Cover Up is an annual, 3 night event, where local CU bands get together and perform, not as themselves, but covering a band or artist they love and the ticket sales go to charity. It’s possibly the most beloved event of the year. The musicians keep the band they’re covering a secret until they hit the stage. There are costumes, local musicians form bands specifically for the show, there is… ya know what? I’m just going to let the guys who know it best describe it for you…

Ward Gollings, event coordinator, performer, the reason CU is known for its music scene and all around badass:

There was a guy named Dave who did all the album artwork for The Digits! His wife worked for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and he came up with the idea to raise money for them. The first was at the Blind Pig where I worked and I helped coordinate it. It was a massive success. We did it together the 2nd year. They moved away and I took the torch.

I think in total we’ve raised close to a million dollars over the years for different organizations. This year the charity is Girls Rock! CU. That’s my goal or focus, ya know, there’s been a lot of charities, but I prefer to donate to organizations that help kids, especially ones where they teach kids music or art, put an instrument in their hands. We’re creating the next generation of musicians, the next generation of Cover Up kids.

And that’s the other thing I love, is seeing the next generation of the Cover Up. When Larry Gates played with his son or when Scott Kimble’s kids joined him to cover Tegan and Sara. And then Fiona Kimble came back to do it with her own band. It’s amazing the way it’s grown.

Joe Funderbunk, drummer, has performed in 20+ Cover Up acts:

For me the Cover Up is the event of the year. There were years where I did maybe 5 different sets. My first year was 2005, 2006? Everyone I have done has been special and fun in its own way. 

I look forward to it and how much it’s anticipated. I’ve set up my drums in a totally different costume than what I’ve played in. Just to throw people off and keep them guessing. 

The crowd response you get seals it, when you see how much people really enjoy it. The first I did when people really loved it was with Mike Ingram and we did Journey and we crushed that shit. When we played Separate Ways, I could feel the stage moving. The whole room was just bouncing.

No one gets paid. We all do it for free and actually lose money on it, but it’s for the kids. And it’s not a competition but it’s a competition. You want to be the act everyone talks about the next day. Bragging rights are definitely at stake.

Matt Harshberger, videographer, performer:

I don’t even remember my first one. It’s just always been a favorite part of CU for me. People put so much time and work into it and it’s all for charity.

I didn’t always go for the close up shots or different angles. Other people are going to get that part. I set the camera so I can get everything. It’s so unique and different, and just special to our community. I just want to document all of it, let it stand for itself. Jimmie Meyer did it for a long time. I think between the 2 of us, we have everything that’s been done on film. I remember one time, working at Watson’s in the kitchen and I was like hey Shades, sorry man but I got to go check the battery on my camera. It had been recording at the Cover Up during my whole shift. 

The first time I performed Kosmo did a hip-hop allstars thing and I was Biz Markie. I had a wig and a tuxedo. The second time was with Brother Embassy and we did Limp Bizkit. I was the DJ, scratched and backup vocals. 

I’ve seen some really good ones. Elsinore as Nirvana was fucking amazing. That’s the thing, you have your key players, like Ryan Groff, who do it every year. They have things they think of all year, they go all in, all the get up and just nail it. It’s really the level of commitment. Larry Gates always comes with it.

Larry Gates, musician, Cover Up royalty:

We caught wind of it, there’s this thing in Champaign. Hum’s doing U2 and the Poster Children are doing Elvis, I want to say 98 or 99. We paid our cover, marched immediately to the stage and Jenny Choi is the opening band, and her band was doing the Muppets in full fucking costume. It blew me away. I moved here in 2000 and immediately put a band together. We got invited for 2001 and I was like holy shit, we have arrived. 

First year, we did John Mellencamp. And what a way to tie the room together. I always thought it was a good angle. You can play whatever you want, you can be obscure, silly, but when you have hundreds of people in a room singing Pink Houses and you know that’s a home run.

In ‘03 we did Sublime. We did fake tattoos and the other guitarist dressed up as a dalmation. My buddy DJ Spinnerty came out and played the trombone.

I think what was my most clever of choices was the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. We dressed up as the characters. We did the scenes. We had a horns section and Brandon T as Sam Jackson. 

Later, my son was discovering the 90’s. He’d be in his room, blasting Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana. So he and I, along with my drummer from Lorenzo Getz, do Blink 182 as a curveball. With my kid! He was 15 and it was great.

Brandon and I wanted to do Snoop and Dre. Mike Ingram was on guitar. At the time I was mixing an album and there was someone singing a hook, and I was like who is singing this?! Tiernany said oh that’s my girl Ci Ci. So Ci Ci comes into the fold. And that’s kind of how New Souls was formed. It was the first time they shared the stage. And Ci Ci turned 21 that night, on stage. 

What I’ve done, I’ll show you I know these things like hip-hop and then I’ll throw you a curve ball because I think that’s fun. But really, I want to try and unite the room. I want everyone to have a blast.

The Great Cover Up runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 15th-17th at the Rose Bowl Tavern. Click over to the calendar of the website for more information. It will be streamed on RBTV and donations for Girls Rock! CU can be made through Venmo @girlsrockcu. Follow Bowl of Roses on Facebook and Instagram for more Cover Up coverage.

Enjoy the show!