Men Without Hats - Thunder Valley Casino 2026

At this point, I’m starting to think Men Without Hats are following me around the country. I travel all over for concerts, and somehow this band keeps turning up wherever I go. Over the last few months, this was already the fourth time I’ve crossed paths with Men Without Hats, and 2nd time in a week on different sides of the country, whether they were opening for someone else or appearing as part of a festival lineup. And now they showed up at Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, California, opening for The B-52s.

The funny thing is that Men Without Hats are exactly the kind of band that makes this happen. Their music fits perfectly into the current wave of '80s nostalgia tours, but unlike plenty of acts from that era, they still have a very specific identity. When Ivan Doroschuk walks onstage and that unmistakable synth-pop sound kicks in, you immediately know who you're watching.

At Thunder Valley, they had roughly 50 minutes to make their case. That is actually a pretty generous opening slot, and they used it well. The set included "The Safety Dance," "Moonbeam," "Where Do the Boys Go?," "Antarctica," "I Got the Message," "I Like," "I Know Their Name," "Pop Goes the World," "I Love the '80s," "SOS," and an extended club-mix version of "The Safety Dance."

Obviously, "The Safety Dance" was the moment everyone was waiting for. It's impossible to hear that opening synth line without instantly being transported back to 1983. But the show worked because Men Without Hats didn't simply walk out, play their one giant hit and leave. They gave the audience a real sampling of their catalog, with "Pop Goes the World" providing another huge crowd-recognition moment.

And that's probably the biggest reason I keep running into them: they work. They work at festivals. They work as an opening act. They work on an '80s package tour. They work in a casino theater. Put Men Without Hats on a bill with The B-52s and you have an audience that already understands exactly what kind of night it's going to be.

The Thunder Valley show also had the strange feeling of being another chapter in an ongoing Men Without Hats tour that I apparently never agreed to join. Four appearances in a few months is getting ridiculous. At this rate, I'm not going to be surprised if I walk into a completely unrelated concert six states away and Ivan Doroschuk is standing backstage asking why I took so long to get there.

For now, though, Thunder Valley was another fun Men Without Hats appearance, and another reminder that their music has aged remarkably well. The songs are short, catchy, instantly recognizable and impossible to take too seriously—which is exactly what you want from a band like this.

And if Men Without Hats keep following me, I suppose I’ll just have to keep filming them.