What's your take on them? Is it really a tribute to the artist(s) or just parasitical apeing of the artist(s) and their material just to jump on the bandwagon and earn money off the back of their talent?
Is it any different from someone selling inferior copies of famous works of art for example? "The Moaner Lisa" by Dave Morris (a Leonardo DaVinci tribute painter).
I don't recall tribute acts existing in my youth.
When they first appeared, I thought the whole idea was a bit naff. Now, provincial theatres are hosting these bands, with advertising that looks at first glance that it's the original band and with text beneath as small as they can get away with stating that it's not really the band in two foot high letters after all.
I like the idea of getting to see someone performing the songs of a favourite artist, if they do it well, but there's something parasitical about it that bothers me.
Donald Trump needs kicking out of a helicopter
Offset "(Emp) - a little heavy on the hyperbole."
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is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?
The less said about a Belgian Jethro Tull tribute band, the better.
As a tribute band member I agree with everything you say Emp.
I view it like the wedding band scene, there's a lot of lazy people doing a half-arsed job at recreating the music and being quite successful with it.
The tribute scene has probably really taken off in the last 10 years or so because so many of the classic bands that are being emulated don't exist or don't tour anymore.
We don't buy into the costumes or wigs malarky and prefer to take the approach that, if you come to see our band, you get the experience of seeing and hearing the original band but not looking at overweight, middle-aged men in bad wigs trying to relive their youth!
Shameless plug so you can judge for yourself -
At least with tribute bands there’s some attempt to be more than just a lowest common denominator live jukebox.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The local Novatel puts on tribute nights. When I drive I to town I see the adverts. They do seem a bit like cynical cash ins. Maybe that's just me being a musical snob.
I can't think of any other tribute bands I've seen. I think I wandered into a Beatles tribute in a pub once, but that didn't interest me.
It's the names I like the best. A tribute act with a pun name is fine by me. Are We Them - excellent, No Way Sis - not bad, but my all time favourite has to be By Jovi.
(Unless I’m missing a joke of some sort...)
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
An example, towards the end of last year, I saw 3 'Steely Dan' performances. The first was a good tribute called Nearly Dan. The second was the actual Steely Dan and the third was the tribute band Stanley Dee. The latter were the most enjoyable, offered fabulous sets spanning SDs career and were superb musicians to boot. All that for £8! No brainer.
There are some great ones out there paying what I believe to be homage to Kate Bush, The Beatles, Kiss, The Eagles, Steely Dan, Brit Pop, Thin Lizzy, Rod Stewart and even Madness
I always remember a radio phone in about tribute bands and someone saying he loved Blondie but in their heyday they were all stoned and played terrible gigs so a good tribute act was better than the real thing.
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There are a lot of blurred lines, I don’t know if we are a tribute band because we don’t cover just one band but it is, primarily, just one specific era. Some bands have the original name but few, if any, original members. The current Dr Feelgood have no original members ( the link is that the guitarist played with Lee Brilleaux ) so they are effectively a tribute act but still a world apart from a woman in a wig singing Amy Winehouse songs over backing tapes.
There an extent to which it’s a different audience - folk who will go out to their favourite local venue but wouldn’t dream of heading out to an arena so even tributes to current acts have an audience.
I’m not sure it’s parasitical in any way - they aren’t taking money away from the original artists, they are promoting their back catalogue. Part of the reality is that it’s a lot easier to get gigs if you can phone up a pub and say ‘ we’re an ********* tribute act.’
It is people singing and playing live music and people going to see them though ; as part of a wide spectrum of live music I think it is a perfectly healthy and good thing. What concerns me is when it becomes the only form of live music you have the option to see - I guess I’d rather that than nothing but some venues seem unprepared to put on anyone now who isn’t a tribute act.
i go and se Limehouse Lizzy whenever they are nearby
is it crazy how saying sentences backwards creates backwards sentences saying how crazy it is?