Anybody Play in a Tribute Band?

[Butch Snyder]

I have always wondered about tribute bands. There are some I have thought about either playing in or starting. Can you guys give me some feedback as to the pros and cons?

Cheers,

 

[TNT]

Hey Butch,

Yeah, I personally "love" tribute bands, and I enjoy playing "cover" tunes. I usually have several band projects going on simultaneously, but I always have my Van Halen and Journey Trib bands on the front burner.

The difficulty is trying to encourage all the players to play them "exactly" like the recording (which I think is the goal of a trib band). Lots of time players don't like putting in the labor and time to rehearse and learn them precisely. The audience however can relate to this very much, and the closer the better!!

I also enjoy playing copies too, because the variety is HUGH, and the song selection is fantastic!! Although I have my own originals, I enjoy playing what the audience wants to hear and they certainly LOVE their bands!!!

 

[Kristopher]

I'm in a tribute band. It can be really fun as long as you're into the band that you're playing.

Pros:
Crowds know all the songs already.
Club owners don't have to worry that you're playing songs that no one knows.
Lots of money to be had playing tribute band gigs.

Cons:
Not much room for changing the song to fit you, the gig is more about changing you to fit the band appearance/sound
Plus you've limited yourself to only one band's songs, so...
- You'll probably be playing realtively short sets (< two hours)
- If a crowd doesn't like the band you're doing, the gig can go downhill fast ("Didn't like the last song we played? Well you're probably going to hate this one too!")
- You won't get the same gigs as normal cover bands, or the same amount

What my band is doing now is hooking up with a promoter that books all the great tribute bands in my area. He finds us the gigs and charges us a flat monthly fee. No gigs for the month? No fee. Since he takes care of all the other tribute bands, he knows where and how to book us to get maximum payout.

I did a gig a few nights ago, on the same bill was this Rush tribute that absolutely killed. I mean they were right on. The only difference was that the guitarist sang instead of the bassist. They were called Anthem. If you live in AZ or nearby, look them up and see one of their shows!

 

[Butch Snyder]

That's cool guys...

Kristpher, what tribute band do you play in?

 

[Kristopher]

PM sent.

I try not to advertise it because I'm not the biggest fan of their music.

 

[Psychicpet]

I sub in for a Neil Diamond tribute act from time to time... it's a cool set, loads of laughs with the typical Casino lounge crowd that come out to see them

and I might be doing some work soon with a funk/r&b cover band in the new year, now that band cooks, not a tribute band per se but a smoking set! and great guys in the band.

 

[adouglas]

IMHO...

Tribute bands certainly have their place -- I can see the appeal for rabid fans of the real band -- but I'd hate to play in one. The very thing I enjoy about my band is that we make a serious effort to put our own creative stamp on the songs we cover.

Trying to play somebody else's bass part exactly the way they would play it would frustrate me. Because I'm not them, I'm me.

Recently a couple of local guys put out a request for a bass player for a specific project: To learn "Dark Side of the Moon" end-to-end, with the intention of performing it as a set piece. Initially I thought, "Hey, cool!" but then thought "Hey, wait a minute...."

A lot of great songs have been covered by a lot of great musicians. Often the cover turns out to be better than the original. In no notable case that comes to mind did they try to precisely parrot the original artist.

Which, as has been said, is the whole point of a tribute band.

Tribute bands are, to me, akin to celebrity impersonators. (Nothing wrong with that, mind, just not my bag.) I see little difference in principle between somebody going to great lengths to look, sound and behave exactly like Elvis (or Cher, or whoever) and a bunch of musicians going to great lengths to look, sound and behave exactly like some big-name band.


Say, there must be a Spinal Tap tribute band out there somewhere.....

 

[Butch Snyder]

IMHO...

Tribute bands certainly have their place -- I can see the appeal for rabid fans of the real band -- but I'd hate to play in one. The very thing I enjoy about my band is that we make a serious effort to put our own creative stamp on the songs we cover.

Trying to play somebody else's bass part exactly the way they would play it would frustrate me. Because I'm not them, I'm me.

Recently a couple of local guys put out a request for a bass player for a specific project: To learn "Dark Side of the Moon" end-to-end, with the intention of performing it as a set piece. Initially I thought, "Hey, cool!" but then thought "Hey, wait a minute...."

A lot of great songs have been covered by a lot of great musicians. Often the cover turns out to be better than the original. In no notable case that comes to mind did they try to precisely parrot the original artist.

Which, as has been said, is the whole point of a tribute band.

Tribute bands are, to me, akin to celebrity impersonators. (Nothing wrong with that, mind, just not my bag.) I see little difference in principle between somebody going to great lengths to look, sound and behave exactly like Elvis (or Cher, or whoever) and a bunch of musicians going to great lengths to look, sound and behave exactly like some big-name band.

I appreciate your thoughts here. I also tend to put my own style and stamp on whatever song I play. Playing in a tribute band probably wouldn't lend itself to that way of playing. At least, I don't think so....

 

[Psychicpet]

now for the contrary

the thing that really kicked my butt when i started off with the Neil Diamond tribute was that I had to have a whole whack of tunes that I didn't know ready to go and perform as close to the recorded versions as humanly possible and in a short amount of time.... that was a butt kicker. The thing I dig about it is that it caused me to learn how other players play AND to learn just what a "million seller" bass line can sound like

like when I started to play Jazz @ college, I had NO idea what a good walking bass line sounded like so I figured, well, I'd better listen to some good walking bass lines to get an idea of how I 'might' want to play a good walking line.

Ultimately as much fun as I do have sometimes with subbing in for the Neil gig, it really isn't my bag 'cause I do need to be free that's why the funk/r&b band is great. Ya, the arrangements are fairly close to 'as recorded' but all of the guys in the band are bona fide mofos on their respective instruments so for them it's a gig that's about having a blast and playing some fun tunes so there is definitely room to groove

 

[Abiatha]

I am the frontman in a Morphine tribute band called Cure For Pain, and I love it.
I sing and play 2 string slide bass, we have a drummer, and bari sax. That's it.
I spent a few months getting the different tunings down, and the slide technique, and trying to cop Mark Sandman's vocal style.
Fortunately, the sax player from my old ska band is an awesome baritone player, and even though he never heard of Morphine, he signed on.
Of course, Morphine never got far past cult status, so our fans are few and far between, and overwhelmingly female. There are benefits to that.
A friend of mine once stated that Cure For Pain was the most "original" cover band he ever saw. I think I know what he meant.

 

[Kristopher]

I appreciate your thoughts here. I also tend to put my own style and stamp on whatever song I play. Playing in a tribute band probably wouldn't lend itself to that way of playing. At least, I don't think so....

Well, only musicians who know the songs are going to nickpick. If you get the vocal style, overall tone, chord changes, melody, and the visual look down, it's going to work. I certainly don't play the tunes exactly like the album versions, but I dare anyone to see my band perform and tell me what I did wrong.

 

[Jimmyb]

I play in a JimmyB tribute band. It's just a shame that I can't learn the tunes

 

[AnthonyD]

I cut my teeth in a "tribute band" before there was such a thing...


But today, I would LOVE to hook into a cool tribute band gig - everyone knows what to expect, everyone working in the same head - I imagine that while there will always differences of opinions, etc. in any project, that this may be somewhat less of an issue with a tribute band project.

Also, there's no questioning who's showing up at a show - assuming you have quality musicians doing a good job with the tunes, I would expect everyone who shows-up is getting something for their money.

 

[DTG]

don't knock it till you try it.....
I played in a bon jovi trib band for about 6 years,don't really like the band but some of the bass lines are cool and fun to play.
its good money,good gigs and good fun.

Also the guys in the band where the most professional musicians I have ever played with,They just turned up and played not messing no ego it was great.I guess I just don't have a "I need to be me " attitude when it comes to playing,I just love to play and that is me,that's what I am about I would rather be playing a gig than watching TV or talking about playing gigs!!

I am doing mostly origonal stuff right now,and i get so tired of some of the people you meet.They all have great ideas but very hard to find people who want to put in time to make it work.

sorry guys rant over!!!

bottom line.....play in a covers or trib band for a while,its just good fun and there is noting wrong with that.

 

[adouglas]

I play in a JimmyB tribute band. It's just a shame that I can't learn the tunes

For a minute there I thought you meant Jimmy Buffett! lol....

The only question you need to ask to learn any Buffett tune is "Which three chords does this one use?"

I've always wanted to put up a "Margaritaville Must Die!" website. SO many bands play that song and it always sucks because everybody HATES playing it. Even Buffett must loathe having to play that benighted thing.

Yes, my band used to play it. We now have the brass to tell people we don't know it (!) when they request it.

 

[AnthonyD]

...we play Margaritaville...



Yep, we're not really into it and it's at the bottom of the list when we rehearse, but we're alway up for playing it live because of the audience reaction.

We have a bunch of songs that only work for the band live because of audience energy...

Never underestimate the super-power infusion of audience energy...






Did I mention that I would love to do a tribute-band gig!?

 

[adouglas]

LOL...

A few years back I rode at Bike NY (the five-borough bike tour) and was hanging out at the finish listening to the band they'd hired. They were playing Margaritaville with about as little enthusiasm and energy as it's possible to convey without actually lying down on stage and falling asleep.

They had this one little addition that made me laugh out loud...whenever the chorus got to "Lookin' for my lost shaker of salt..." the whole band would say "Salt! Salt! Salt!"

But the lack of energy was such that it was just plain funny. Like "yeah, whatever. salt. salt. salt. blah."

 

[A.J.]

I did a Guns N Roses tribute thing a couple years ago. It was for a Halloween gig. Half way through the set some guy in a dress took the mic from our singer and proceeded to finish the show for him. The dress guy was a better singer so we let him finish the show.

 

[adouglas]

Without pics, that gig did not occur.

 

[A.J.]

I think the pictures on my parents computer (hahaha). I'll see what I can come up with. Although, I must warn you. Even though he was in a dress, he wasn't very pretty!