Camarojuana may be a little behind the times, but for a good reason. 

“We were on tour in 1984 when our plane went down in Moscow and we were frozen,” says Camarojuana guitar player and David Lee Roth look-alike, Spider Von Manhayden.  “We were thawed out only recently. So the ‘80s never really ended for us.”

They claim to have had a hand in writing “For Those About To Rock, We Salute You.” Their overindulgences in L.A. during the early ’80s supposedly put the “strip” in Sunset Boulevard’s famous thoroughfare. They profess to own the patent on Oxcycontin.

Yet, for all these lavish landmarks, Camarojuana is, first and foremost, an ’80s hair metal band. They’re a rock and roll bowl full of over-the-top distorted guitar riffs, “hammer-on” solos, frenzied drumming and anthemic lyrics that simultaneously celebrate and degenerate into pointless extravagance. Their repertoire includes hits from Guns ’N’ Roses, Def Leppard, Scorpions, and Poison, to name a few.

If it is true that the bigger the hair, the closer one is to God, it would have appeared to the casual headbanger that Camarojuana had it all: the elaborate coiffures, the tight, spangled pants, the high-pitched wails, the shots of Jagermeister.

But no. Camarojuana had its Achilles’ heel.

The local heroes of a genre born and bred alongside MTV— an artform as visual as it is audible—had no music video.

That all changed in Dover last week.

Thumbprint Productions from Epping had three cameras rolling at Camarojuana’s Jan. 14 show before a scantily clad, capacity crowd at The Brickhouse.

Camarojuana has been on the Portsmouth scene for about two years, channeling the look and sound of legendary hair metal bands with stunning accuracy and self-effacing humor. The band seamlessly combines the pop vanity, party-hearty spirit of hair metal with well-honed musical talent. Bass player Butch R. Block and drummer Doug Deep round out the line-up with high energy and expertise.
They hope, Von Manhayden says, to use the DVD to book more gigs and tour beyond the local climes. Although it’s a long shot, he added, the band has their eyes on Vegas.  Look out, Wayne Newton.

At the Dover show, the band played roughly 20 songs while cameras rolled, capturing Camarojuana’s highly visual approach: the random women who jumped on stage to sing, shimmy, and play tambourine, and the swaying crowd. Through thundering rockers like Judas Priest’s “You Got Another Thing Comin’,” to Poison’s hit power ballad, “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” the dance floor was jammed.

“The DVD is in production now,” says lead singer David Beef Broth. “Now stage two will commence.” More footage will be taken by the band at their next few shows to capture the audience rocking out, fan interviews, and candid moments.

For those metal purists who would use pejorative terms, such as “poodle rock,” for Camarojuana’s brand of music, Von Manhayden says, “We douse hairspray on purists.”

You have been warned.