deseret
Tim LaComb has spent years working behind the scenes as a member of BYU's basketball coaching staff, but on Saturday afternoon in Provo, he will be front and center—and for music fans, hard to overlook.
LaComb, the lead vocalist for the Party Hounds, a band he has played with for four decades, will headline the Cougar Canyon festivities with a free pregame concert before BYU takes on Notre Dame. The band is scheduled to take the stage at 2 p.m. and play until just before kickoff.
While the Hounds have enjoyed many memorable performances over the years, none compare to the prelude of such a historic, highly anticipated, and nationally captivating college football game.
For this group of longtime high school friends, the chance is simply magical.
"With College GameDay here and the magnitude of the game, I think it's about as big a thing as we've ever been part of," LaComb told the Deseret News. "Those people that come venturing past us, we get an opportunity to rock them for a minute, and hopefully keep them there."
Before his voice could be heard on the KSL Sports Zone airwaves from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays or before he could be spotted on BYU's bench at the Marriott Center, LaComb was a high schooler in Plano, Texas, working part-time at a Tom Thumb grocery store.
One pivotal day in 1986, while collecting shopping carts in the parking lot, a classmate approached him and invited him to try out for his band. The rest, as they say, is history.
Forty years later, after rising from student manager under Rick Majerus to lead assistant for Dave Rose, LaComb is still howling with the Hounds.
What began as performances at school dances and house parties around Dallas has grown into shows across Texas, Louisiana, Utah, and beyond. The Hounds are no strangers to college football crowds, having played a private event the night before a Texas-Oklahoma rivalry game, with future gigs at LSU and for the Ron McBride Foundation also on their schedule.
But with College GameDay broadcasting live from Provo on Saturday morning, LaComb and his bandmates are dreaming even bigger.
"If we could get 12 weekends booked a year, where we just go play college football games, or if GameDay came to us and said, 'We want you to be our house band,' we would love to just have a side thing where we travel to play on weekends at football games," LaComb said.
Alongside LaComb on vocals, the band features guitarists Kevin McKinney and David Procyk, bassist Lee Murray, and drummer James Traweek, all of whom live in Texas and are flying in for Saturday's show.
"They're true musicians, right? You'll hear it," LaComb said. "I'm sure all the bands they've had at BYU have been great, but nothing like this. This will be a mind-bender, like when we play 'Crazy Train,' and my guy Kevin plays Randy Rhoads note-for-note on that solo."
A classic cover band, the Hounds are known for playing everything from Judas Priest to Jimmy Eat World, with Saturday's setlist including iconic tunes from Van Halen, U2, the Cure, Green Day, the Killers, and more. They specialize in songs that invite the crowd to sing along and match the sports vibe.
"Honestly, what motivated us was watching a lot of sports, and writing down the songs they play on the broadcast coming in and out of breaks," LaComb said. "We are finicky about how the way the record is, is the way we play it. We actually try to keep each song true to the note."
A self-proclaimed showman, LaComb's pursuit of vocal accuracy involves studying the rockers he covers to best imitate them, especially when shifting between genres, moods, and personalities from song to song.
"It's almost like playing a role in a play," said LaComb, who calls Ian Astbury of the Cult his spirit animal and favorite artist to mimic. "When you're singing something like David Lee Roth, you almost have to create that essence on stage. I like to do impersonations, it's one of my favorite things, and I spend a lot of time listening to nuance and voice in music as I drive around, just trying to pick up that stuff. For me, the challenge is how I can make myself sound like the original singer, and it's really fun."
More than anything, LaComb views music as a powerful unifier in today's divided world, hoping that visiting Notre Dame fans find their way to Saturday's concert and can party with the Cougar faithful.
While the Hounds are separated by physical distance and hold vastly different religious and political views, their shared love of rock 'n' roll, good times, and putting on a killer show has allowed their bond to deepen and persist for 40 years and counting.
"I think it's pretty neat that when we get together, it's about the music, you know?" LaComb said. "We don't have to get into what everybody fights about nowadays, and that's what we all need more of. Life is tough, but it's all about moments like this weekend."
The Hounds will play from 2 to 3:15 p.m. and 3:45 to 5 p.m. at Cougar Canyon, taking a 30-minute intermission between sets for BYU's traditional Cougar walk.
When BYU booked the band for this weekend a few months back, LaComb manifested a top-10 matchup between the undefeated Cougars and Irish. He got his wish, and now he's ready for the Hounds to help kickstart a rowdy, game-changing stadium environment.
"There's some screaming, there's some hooting and hollering. 'We Will Rock You' will be fun. It's going to be a show, and I'm just excited because we're right in the middle of everything," LaComb said. "We just wanna rock, we wanna do it right. We want to set the tone, we want to pay homage to the greatness of LaVell Edwards Stadium, and hopefully it'll manifest good stuff for the home team."
Key Analysis
The Party Hounds' performance represents a unique intersection of sports and music, leveraging LaComb's deep ties to BYU athletics and the band's decades-long history. With College GameDay in town, the concert adds to the electric atmosphere surrounding a top-10 showdown, highlighting how pregame entertainment can enhance the fan experience and build momentum for the home team.
Originally reported by deseret.