Guitarist’s hair catches fire during Kiss classic… but he keeps on playing

Things got a little too hot for rock tribute band Hairball last weekend.

The band were playing in Sioux City, Iowa, when they launched into Kiss classic Detroit Rock City when the pyros went off… setting fire to vocalist and guitarist Bobby Jensen’s hair while he was in full Paul Stanley mode.

As can be seen in the video footage below, one of his bandmates tries to put out the blaze before the road crew douse the flames thanks to some quick thinking.

While the drama is going on, Jensen doesn’t miss a note – and carries on as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on.

He told UCR: “I live an Evil Knievel kind of life, so if I'm on fire a little bit, I don't care, that's just part of the fun "I knew I was on fire right away, and that wasn't a wig, that's my hair. It was really nice and foofy before the show, now I have a much better Alice Cooper cut.”

While this had never happened to Jensen before, he added: “We always prepare for it. That's why you didn't see me freak out. I have 100% faith in my guys that they'll get to me and put me out. So I just thought, 'I'll sing to everybody while I'm on fire."

Hairball describe themselves on their website as “a bombastic celebration on arena rock” and pay tribute to various artists during their live shows including Kiss, Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC, Poison, Journey, Ozzy, Alice Cooper, Judas Priest, Queen and Van Halen.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald newspapers, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.