Hatin on tribute bands

My last stop friday night was to go see my friend and former boss play drums at Brewskeez in O'Fallon, MO. He has a newly formed 90's cover band named Flannel, and we were all there to show Joe Spink some love.
Flannel actually sounded pretty good.. I was pleasantly surprised. :)
They broke down their equipment and the opening act took the stage.. and here's where the night turned surreal.
The opening act was a Van Halen tribute band named "Mean Street." These guys were hard core.. they must have spent years studying moves, looks, and sounds. They wanted to be Van Halen.... and the crowd loved them for it.
I have no idea why a person would wake up one day and think.. I want to pretend to be David Lee Roth.... and just run with it. On top of that how do you find a guy that wants to pretend to be Eddie Van Halen (ok that one is probably easier).. and uhh whoever else was in the band?
Honestly.. other than being too loud ( I may have permanent hearing loss).. they were actually pretty good too.. I'm not hatin on 'em because they suck... I'm not hatin on 'em because I don't like Van Halen.. this goes out to all of the impersonators around the world..I'm hatin on 'em because instead of making their own music or even just being some guys that like to cover Van Halen.. they are trying to BE Van Halen.