The Holiday season is here and that can only mean one thing – it’s time for the 29^th annual Gary Ho Ho Hoey Rockin Holiday Tour. The hard rock / blues rock guitar icon created his first holiday themed guitar instrumental record in 1995 – Hoey’s balance of classic holiday tones blended with just the right amount of hard rock and metal has created many Christmas classics re-made as well as several of his own compositions. The Ho Ho Hoey Rockin Holiday Tour is as much of a holiday tradition for his fans as are their own rituals.

The 2024 edition of the Ho Ho Hoey Rockin’ Holiday Tour kicked off in Florida on November 19 and on Sunday night December 22, the last show was played to a capacity crowd at the legendary Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, CA. Hoey made this year’s tour a true family affair as his son Ian Hoey is also playing guitar and on bass is Mike Dutko who happens to be engaged to drummer Leah Bluestein (who also plays live with Eagles of Death Metal and The Midnight Cowgirls). A bit after 8:00pm the band took the stage and delivered 90 minutes of guitar driven holiday cheer.

The night started with “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and Hoey asked the Coach House How they were feeling and if they were ready for the Ho Ho Hoey Christmas Show and the show was off and running. The Holiday show is just packed with Christmas classics and this year’s band was as tight as ever. There is no doubt Gary Hoey is one of the most skilled and talented players in the music business, but he is also just one of the nicest, most down to earth people you will ever meet and that comes across as he speaks to the crowd in between songs. His son Ian seems to be following very close in his Dad’s footsteps as he demonstrated his guitar skills throughout the night and took center stage on a few leads – its always so rewarding seeing parents work with their children – you could tell Gary was super proud and just having fun.

In addition to all the Christmas music a few Gary Hoey classics were thrown in including “Peace Pipe” and “Linus and Lucy” and Hoey dedicated “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” as well as a few other songs to his late Mom who he was super close with. Hoey also played his new holiday single “Angels We’ve Heard on High”. The rhythm section of Dutko and Bluestein complemented the intense guitar playing and the chemistry between the entire band was infectious and added to the thrill of the show. 

The last few songs of the night really took the show to the next level, the Coach House is a seated venue, but all were on their feet at this point with a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire”, a KILLER rendition of “Hocus Pocus” and then “The Star-Spangled Banner” ending with “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town”.

If you have never experienced The Gary Ho Ho Hoey Holiday Show – set a reminder now to get tickets for the 2025 version next fall. There is no better way to celebrate the Christmas Holiday than with the extraordinary live performance Gary Hoey and band put on.

Going into 2025 it sounds like Gary Hoey will be a busy man as he has a new album to be released in March 2025, also rumors of a project to be released with Lita Ford and he will be touring with Lou Gramm and then ending the year with more Ho Ho Hoey Holiday shows.

Gary Ho Ho Hoey Holiday Show Set List:

The Twelve Days of Christmas | Deck the Halls | The Little Drummer Boy | The Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy) | Angels We've Heard On High | Peace Pipe | Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree | Winter Wonderland | My Favorite Things | Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas | Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring | Frosty the Snow Man | Still Got the Blues for Christmas | Jingle Bell Rock | The First Noel | You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch | Linus and Lucy | Fire (The Jimi Hendrix Experience cover) | God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Greensleeves / Carol of the Bells | Hocus Pocus | The Star-Spangled Banner | Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town