Ah, the glamorous life of being in a band. Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Trashing hotel rooms night after night and waking up next to someone you’ve never met before. Climbing on your private jet to bounce from one corner of the globe to the next.

Wait.

That would be if you were in an actual band that created original music and put on amazing live shows each night on tour.

So, then, what would the life of a cover band encompass? Making out with a townie, cigarettes and cheesy ’80s riffs? Stealing the Bible and towels from the Super 8 Motel you are residing in next to some dive of a bar?

Surprisingly, no.

Cover bands are all the rage on college campuses and draw a good crowd every time they come to town.

“I don’t know why that is,” said Jeremy Eisenberg, general manager of Otto’s Niteclub, 118 E. Lincoln Highway. “I always thought of cover bands playing down along Greek Row.”

Otto’s hosts its fair share of cover bands amongst the original acts that play in the downtown DeKalb venue. Indianapolis-based Mike and Joe, which never seems to stop playing DeKalb, will headline Friday night in the main room. Hair Bangers Ball, which covers classic metal songs, and Grateful Dead cover band Mr. Blotto also will perform during the next two weeks as well.

“It’s the same 400 to 500 people that show up for Mike and Joe every time they are here,” Eisenberg said. “We get practically the same bar rings, you see the same faces, so after a while it’s just a given.”

But seeing a cover band and actually being a part of one are two different worlds.

“We are a party band that plays fun jams,” said Steve Gill, Modern Day Romeos electric guitarist. “The more wild the crowd gets, the wilder we get.”

The Modern Day Romeos play in the Chicago area at colleges and bars every Saturday night and will perform this Saturday at Starbusters Bar and Grill, 930 Pappas Drive. The five members of the group have lives outside the band as well.

“I’m a mailman by trade and I also take care of the band’s Web site,” Gill said. “Our drummer is an electrician, the bass player works in computer networking, the lead singer is a deejay in Crystal Lake, and our acoustic guitar player is a student at NIU.”

Cover bands also go beyond the rock genre. The 17th Floor, a hip-hop cover band that got its start opening for such R&B acts as TLC and Usher, will perform Feb. 26 at Starbusters.

So do cover bands really get put on the backburner when it comes to booking shows and attendance, or is it just an image we have of them playing seedy bars on the Vegas strip for peanuts and drinks on the house?

“There’s no animosity between cover bands and original acts,” Gill said. “We all respect each other.”

“I don’t think that cover bands draw more of a crowd than original bands,” Eisenberg said. “I know for a fact that Local H could smoke Mike and Joe any day.”