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Tribute Bands?

2,747 Views | 31 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by JYDog90
Philo B 93
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11:08p, 6/1/21
I've seen some great tribute bands, and I have some good friends who play in tribute bands, but I gotta ask.... what's the point? Hearing a group of talented musicians perfectly mimic a recorded version of a song always ends up sounding a little soulless to me. At least a good cover band usually puts their own spin on a song, even if a listener thinks it sounds just like the original. That can give a cover song some intangible quality that makes it enjoyable.

I love live music, and I'd rather hear a good tribute band than a recording, but I always wonder what that band's unsung original song might sound like.
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tmaggies
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6:10a, 6/2/21
AG
Already Gone!
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JYDog90
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6:43a, 6/2/21
AG
Have you seen Leonid & Friends on YouTube? They don't seem soulless to me at all.

Formerly Willy Wonka
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ChipFTAC01
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In reply to Philo B 93 • 6:57a, 6/2/21
AG
My guess is it's a way to get people to come see you so you can gig, get to play live music and make some coin. And likely ply songs by one/some of your favorite artist(s).

No one wants to see Chip Taco's Electric Lonelyland Machine, but people will gladly pay a $5 cover to see my 90s pop rock cover band Hootie and the counting Crowfish
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Philo B 93
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In reply to ChipFTAC01 • 7:11a, 6/2/21
ChipFTAC01 said:
My guess is it's a way to get people to come see you so you can gig, get to play live music and make some coin. And likely ply songs by one/some of your favorite artist(s).

No one wants to see Chip Taco's Electric Lonelyland Machine, but people will gladly pay a $5 cover to see my 90s pop rock cover band Hootie and the counting Crowfish


What got me thinking about this was that tribute bands have to have really good musicians to do perfect covers. With the right writer, there is a formula for some really good new original music from these bands.

Do you guys do any originals?
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Ol Jock 99
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7:20a, 6/2/21
AG
99.9% (probably low) of bands don't make it. 99.9% of musicians (again, probably low) of musicians never see a dime. Plus good song writing is extremely hard. Symphonies could be considered cover bands I suppose.

These guys have a formula to let's them do what they love and make some money (in some cases a lot of money) doing it. As Hillary says, follow, the money.
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Definitely Not A Cop
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7:24a, 6/2/21
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I don't care what you say OP, this cover song gets me going.

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Brian Earl Spilner
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7:36a, 6/2/21
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Watched Led Zeppelin 2 in New York and it felt like I was watching the real Zeppelin.

The real band hasn't existed since 1980, so this one is kind of obvious.

Not to mention the fact that I got to see "Zeppelin" in its prime.

(That said, given the option to see the real Zeppelin with Jason Bonham, I'd of course pick that.)

I did see Robert Plant in Brooklyn. Pretty different, but great show.
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BCG Disciple
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7:41a, 6/2/21
AG
Monetary reasons. A band is hit or miss, mostly miss, as they struggle between gigs until they disband. There is decent money in being a good tribute band, as it is a people pleaser. Can actually make a career of being a tribute band.
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Jasomania
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7:45a, 6/2/21
AG
For the band I'd imagine it's that they get to play rock star for the night. I imagine that they themselves are big fans of the band they are tributing which would be a part of it. But they also get to go to a full venue and get to hear the entire audience sing along and be really into what they are playing.

For the audience you get to experience a band or artist that either no longer exists or is in diminished capacity, in their prime. Obviously it's not the same as seeing the real thing but in some cases it's objectively better. The classic rock bands are getting up there in age and I'm not going to point fingers but some of them sound like absolute garbage now.

We've also all seen the classic rock band that only has the bassist from the original band continuing on as the official band. They are basically tribute bands at this points as well. I think we will see some of these classic rock bands turn into legacy brand bands that have entirely new members continuing forward as the official band.
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PatAg
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8:12a, 6/2/21
AG
Are all orchestras tribute bands?
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Teacher_Ag
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9:01a, 6/2/21
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I think this makes clear the difference between technical musicianship and artistic creativity. People who have learned to move their fingers in the right way to reproduce a famous riff are a dime a dozen, but to actually write songs that resonate with enough people that you can produce albums which people will gladly pay for, or at least stream, and come to see you perform your originals live? Rare. It helps if one or more members have a wealthy parent to pay the up-front costs until money comes in (if it ever does) (Strokes are a good example of this), and it helps if any of your members are at least a 6 out of 10. It also helps if the band can be in tune with upcoming music trends and gear their sound toward that to ride the wave and gain an audience. That's a lot of ifs, which is why a lot of musicians decide they'll just play Oasis songs on the weekend and then go back to selling insurance the rest of the week.
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Victory Dance
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9:10a, 6/2/21
AG
i never really understood it either but the past few months when things started slowly opening up but before bands started touring, we went to see a Grateful Dead tribute band (Forgotten Space) and Talking Heads tribute band (Heartbyrne) and man were people loving it!
Going to see Forgotten Space again this weekend because it was so much fun,

For the Dead there's obviously Dead & Company with original members but there are a lot of other cover/tribute bands out there playing Dead songs that are very different and put their own twist on things like Joe Russo's Almost Dead and Darkstar Orchestra
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Funky Winkerbean
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9:12a, 6/2/21
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Because it's fun, pure and simple.
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superunknown
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In reply to Brian Earl Spilner • 9:17a, 6/2/21
AG
Brian Earl Spilner said:
Watched Led Zeppelin 2 in New York and it felt like I was watching the real Zeppelin.

The real band hasn't existed since 1980, so this one is kind of obvious.

Not to mention the fact that I got to see "Zeppelin" in its prime.

(That said, given the option to see the real Zeppelin with Jason Bonham, I'd of course pick that.)

I did see Robert Plant in Brooklyn. Pretty different, but great show.


I'll never be able to see Pink Floyd, but I've seen Brit Floyd and Aussie Pink Floyd and they were incredible. Gimme the dollar tree version of the real deal if I can't see the original.
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EclipseAg
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In reply to tmaggies • 9:49a, 6/2/21
AG
tmaggies said:
Already Gone!
Already Gone is a great tribute band, and it's easy to see why they do it.

First, they draw great crowds. They sell out everywhere in Houston, and travel several times a year. They played to 800 people the other night in Nacogdoches. It's a lot more fun than trying to get 10 drunks in a dive bar to pay attention.

Second, they write and record their own tunes, and being a popular tribute band gives them a built-in audience for their originals.



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EclipseAg
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In reply to Jasomania • 9:51a, 6/2/21
AG
Jasomania said:
The classic rock bands are getting up there in age and I'm not going to point fingers but some of them sound like absolute garbage now.
I've gone to several shows of artists I liked back in the day and it was disappointing to see them go through the motions and frankly, kind of sad. I promised myself I wouldn't do that any more.

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Brian DeSpain
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11:46a, 6/2/21
I saw "Rain" a Beatles tribute band do an entire concert. They came out as the early 60s Beatles. Then they came out dressed as the Shea Stadium Concert Beatles. For the finale they did the entire Sgt Peppers album. The effects etc made it feel like you went back in time to see the Beatles at their different eras. They made an announcement before the show that everything was live. Nothing recorded. They looked and sounded like the Beatles. Best tribute band I had ever seen or heard. They have stuff on YouTube.
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Teacher_Ag
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In reply to Brian DeSpain • 11:54a, 6/2/21
AG
That's taking it to the next level. That's really cool.
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Brian DeSpain
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In reply to Teacher_Ag • 12:39p, 6/2/21
It was amazing. Next level stuff!
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Definitely Not A Cop
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1:00p, 6/2/21
AG
Some of my most fun experiences on Northgate was seeing the Velcro Pygmies playing. They are more of an 80's cover band than a true tribute band though.
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Philo B 93
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1:54p, 6/2/21
I'm definitely in the minority on this one. The answer to my question is hidden in the replies above. They may be a little soulless if they're doing it more for the money and less for the fun.

Already Gone is the band that made me think about this. I saw them within a few months of seeing the actual Eagles with Vince Gill. Already Gone sounded more like the album than the actual band, but the actual band had the intangibles that made them great. Already Gone also has an original album out. It's good, not great, but I appreciate the effort.

Some of you are thinking of cover band. I love them. The good ones are great at putting their own musical DNA or fun touch in a song. Velcro Pygmies is a perfect example.
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Echoes97
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2:58p, 6/2/21
AG
I can tell you from my perspective it's 100% about the music being just a load of fun to play. I also play in original bands, write my own stuff, etc. But playing the music of Pink Floyd for me is seriously just an incredible joy. We PAY money to play by the time it's all said and done because of lighting/sound/travel/promo costs, so it's most certainly not about the money for us. We just love it, and we also try and put our own "flavor" on it within reason. We do not claim to be anything more than we are, nor anything serious, we just like to have a good time, and feel like the audience does as well.

I do not get the tribute bands that do the serious dress-up and all that, it just hasn't really appealed to me personally. Something a little weird about it, but again that's just my opinion, I understand why a lot of people dig that. I can see where that Beatles deal was pretty cool though, such iconic garb, etc.
Us And Them - The Pink Floyd Experience
http://www.usandthemband.net
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bonfarr
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5:54p, 6/2/21
AG
I love this band Liliac , not strictly a tribute band but they mostly do covers of the great metal hits of the 80s and 90s. Five family members aged 13-22. The lead singer is a teenager and she has a great voice for metal.







They seem like a bunch of nice kids and they can rock.

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Jugstore Cowboy
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In reply to Funky Winkerbean • 10:21p, 6/2/21
AG
Troutslime said:
Because it's fun, pure and simple.
Certainly true for the local tributes I know of. Most of them are in other bands and have other day jobs, but they'll do a tribute show a couple times a year for fun and a little money. Maybe show what they can do to get booked for some corporate parties and such.
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Counterpoint
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In reply to bonfarr • 12:41a, 6/3/21
AG
bonfarr said:
I love this band Liliac , not strictly a tribute band but they mostly do covers of the great metal hits of the 80s and 90s. Five family members aged 13-22. The lead singer is a teenager and she has a great voice for metal.









They seem like a bunch of nice kids and they can rock.



Dang that's impressive. I hope she still has her vocal cords when she's 30!
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BCSWguru
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10:41a, 6/3/21
having a tribute band for bands that are still alive and playing might be the dumbest thing ever.
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Jasomania
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In reply to Philo B 93 • 12:52p, 6/3/21
AG
I just can't imagine there's much money in doing this. All the tribute bands that come through town at most charge a 15 dollar cover, most are in the 5 to 10 dollar range. Even then you can generally get tickets for free, the band is a loss leader for selling drinks at the bar. Maybe if you are one of those top of your game tribute bands like Brit Floyd, but I think the majority are just scraping by or are losing money in their tribute band and have day jobs.
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dave94
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In reply to Jasomania • 1:03p, 6/3/21
AG
Jasomania said:
I just can't imagine there's much money in doing this. All the tribute bands that come through town at most charge a 15 dollar cover, most are in the 5 to 10 dollar range. Even then you can generally get tickets for free, the band is a loss leader for selling drinks at the bar. Maybe if you are one of those top of your game tribute bands like Brit Floyd, but I think the majority are just scraping by or are losing money in their tribute band and have day jobs.
I think tribute bands typically just get a flat fee, probably an open bar tab and that's it. They're not in it to make a living, most of the dudes just love playing rock star on the weekends.

There's a ton of them out there, but it's rare that I see a really bad band, so I guess the bad ones get weeded out by not getting gigs.
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JYDog90
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In reply to Jasomania • 1:28p, 6/3/21
AG
Jasomania said:
I just can't imagine there's much money in doing this. All the tribute bands that come through town at most charge a 15 dollar cover, most are in the 5 to 10 dollar range. Even then you can generally get tickets for free, the band is a loss leader for selling drinks at the bar. Maybe if you are one of those top of your game tribute bands like Brit Floyd, but I think the majority are just scraping by or are losing money in their tribute band and have day jobs.


Yeah, it's interesting. I watched one of those videos for Already Gone and it looked pretty cool but the next one I saw was them playing some place down in Santa Fe, Tx on the way to Galveston and it looked WAY less glamorous and no one was paying attention at all.
Formerly Willy Wonka
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Rudyjax
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1:29p, 6/3/21
AG
The Chris Cornell Experience is amazing.
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Rudyjax
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1:30p, 6/3/21
AG
I was at a concert and there was an AC/DC tribute band and the band Kansas playing.

The AC/DC tribute band sounded more like AC/DC than Kansas sounded like Kansas.
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JYDog90
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9:51a, 6/5/21
AG
So because I was watching Eagles tribute songs (because of this thread) on YouTube, they obviously recommend some things for me to look at. One of them was a Howard Stern interview with Joe Walsh on how he wrote "Rocky Mountain Way." Check it out, it's pretty interesting.

Formerly Willy Wonka
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