Jason Hook knows it's a strange musical journey from Vince Neil -- of Motley Crue fame -- to teenaged pop star Hilary Duff. Hook, a 34-year-old Toronto native who lives in Los Angeles, shares the stage with Duff tonight at the first of her two sold-out shows at the Air Canada Centre.
But his last gig was with Neil's solo band.
"I get asked this question a lot, like how can you go from hardcore heavy metal to pop?," says Hook, whose close friend is Duff's musical director -- the two used to play guitar in Mandy Moore's band.
"If Hilary didn't have great songs, I would have been less interested in the gig. But she has undeniable smash hit songs and I would listen to them going, 'Wow, that's a great song.' "
Hook -- whose real name is Thomas Jason Grinstead -- has been on the road with Duff since last July and will remain with her until the beginning of Febuary,when she starts filming a new movie (Material Girls with her sister Haylie).
But he expects the gig will resume when she relaunches a tour in the summer.
In the meantime, he says the ACC gigs -- the second one takes place Jan. 20 -- will be the largest he's ever played in his hometown.
"My mother bought 19 tickets and she's going to occupy the first two rows, right in front of me," says Hook with a chuckle. "She got on the phone, called all the neighbours, called all the relatives, took an order and then I helped her get to the head office in L.A."
Coincidentially, Hook was just back from attending Neil's wedding -- his fourth -- at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas last Sunday.
Hook's story about getting to the ceremony from a Duff tour stop in Saskatoon proved to be more interesting than the nuptials themselves.
When Hook arrived at the Saskatoon airport on Saturday night for a 6 a.m. flight on Sunday, he was told he couldn't hang out for several hours while grabbing some shut-eye on a bench.
"They said, 'You can't stay here. Our advice would be to take a taxi to Denny's and wait until we open at 4:30 a.m.,' they told me," says Hook. "So here I am in the middle of Saskatoon, it's like blizzard out. I have my little rolling suitcase.
"Well, I get to Denny's and there's 500 Hilary Duff fans in Denny's. And I walk in the front door, and I have a Hilary Duff tour jacket that they gave us, and they're like, 'That's the guy!' And I'm like, 'Oh, this isn't going to go well.'
"Some kids were drunk, and they're coming over and going, 'Can we call Hilary? Can we have her number?' So I didn't get any sleep at Denny's."
Hook did say Neil's wedding drew Dennis Rodman, Robin Leach and Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and bassist Nikki Sixx, but not Crue guitarist Mick Mars, who recently underwent hip replacement surgery.
"Mick's not portable these days, he's pretty sick," says Hook.
But Motley Crue plan to start their much-hyped reunion tour next month, including a Feb. 23 date at Toronto's Air Canada Centre.
"Everyone's got their fingers crossed," says Hook about Mars' involvement. "It was funny, 'cause Hilary did two weeks of Christmas shows in the States, and we did a little brushup at a rehearsal complex in the San Fernando Valley.
"Motley Crue were starting their rehearsals the same day right across the hall from us. So we're playing like some Christmas song that we're trying to learn for the Rockefeller Plaza tree lighting ceremony, and I can hear Shout At The Devil coming through the walls."
