Riverside rockers Alien Ant Farm returned this year with a cover of Wham’s ’80s banger “Everything She Wants” — perhaps the spiritual sequel to their version of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.”

“We’ve played a lot of covers live over the years even if just in rehearsals,” says guitarist Terry Corso. “It’s something that’s fun for us as musicians. Standards if you will. Every now and then one really stands out and makes it to the recording phase. Being fans of Wham! and George Michael, we already knew how great the emotional power of the track was. That synth bass just translates to a guitar chug well. The main thing is we felt we were able to make it our own by adding some rock heaviness and keeping the emotion of the song high with Dryden [Mitchell]’s vocal.”

On Saturday, they’re performing a livestreamed set at the Whisky a Go Go and, despite the lack of a crowd in the room for obvious reasons, they’re raring to go.

“We’ve all been cooped up like everyone else so getting on a stage and performing, even if to a crowd less room, sounds incredible to be honest” says Corso. “The idea of global accessibility is pretty cool so hopefully we can control our excitement. We’re planning on sticking to about an hour set of well known tracks with a couple of fan favorites in there. We want to have fun with it. Hope everyone can stop in and catch a smile and maybe even start a mosh pit in their living room!”

Tune in at 7 p.m. PT on Saturday, July 11 via Veeps. 

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting Irvine Weekly and our advertisers.