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Tribute acts degrading?


mcgraham
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[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1346704357' post='1792245']
I've seen your band on youtube you're sh*t hot! I don't think you have to worry about being at the cheesy end of the spectrum.
[/quote]
I've seen Pete's band live twice, at the Jazz Cafe in London. Believe me, they are ace, and also have loads of personality.

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Perhaps 'Tribute' needs to be defined. If you wear the same gear, look and act like the band members and play/sing as accurately close as can be, is this a tribute?

Or is a tribute band one who plays covers from just one source?

Here's mine, we have great fun, earn some pin money, would say we're a Motown band (we do others too) but are often billed as a tribute. Is this a tribute band?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pke5s35Ado4&feature=share&list=ULPke5s35Ado4

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in my book a tribute is where they make an good effort to look like the original, if they just play the songs they're just a covers band, once saw a band billed as a stones 'tribute', made no effort to look like them and spent half the set doing other artisits sixties covers, glad I didn't pay to get in, what a con

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[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1346706023' post='1792287']
[b]probably get slagged off for saying this,[/b] but, I would rather go and see a good tribute playing in the local pub, free admission decent beer nice and dry, than pay £100 to stand in a wet cold field or a massive arena with crap sound , with about 50000 other people watching the original thing from about half a mile back.
[/quote]

Not by me.

It's probably a combination of age and 'been there, done that' but I do think huge gigs are overrated. Still, there's no denying the demand and I guess it's one of those things you have to experience once or twice.

There's a lot of talk at the moment about a Rolling Stones 50th anniversay tour - any guesses about how much those tickets are likely to be and the sizes of the venues? I won't be in the queue for that one.

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[quote name='Graham' timestamp='1346522304' post='1790265']
I wish I could remember what they were called, but I saw an awful Rammstein tribute a couple of years ago. Guitarist was barely in time, fronted by an out of tune, chubby goth with a lass on bass who was there presumably because she was willing to wear a short skirt.

[/quote]

What did they do for the pyros? The spunking pink foam cannon? The homoerotic s&m ballet?

I'm visualising a couple of Catherine wheels, a supersoaker and a slap on the wrist.

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I think the argument that one would rather see a tribute band in a pub/small venue than the real thing in an aircraft hanger with a bad sound etc is compelling but, in my idealistic little brain, it does amount to two wrongs not making a right. It is, as everything is, horses for courses and there will always be those who want to recapture some halcyon days or be satisfied with a bastard version of the things they missed because they were born too late. I would always rather see something fresh and original than people reproducing the greats of yesteryear. That applies to Jazz bands and classical stuff as much as it does Rock and Pop etc and agree that there are a million s*** Jazz bands regurgitating the increasingly tedious American Songbook (I have also recently heard of a Pat Metheny tribute band and a Steve Swallow tribute band - talk about missing the point). Mingus tributes, Miles tributes, Coltrane tributes, Jazz Messangers tributes etc all get the same cold shoulder from me. I rarely buy cds that amount to collections of standards, indeed any standards on a Jazz cd at all really puts me off parting with my hard earned. It always looks lazy to me.

But, in short, noone gives a rat's arse what I think and why should they? In terms of the music industry, there will always be the desire to earn money, to gain attention, to travel the world or to have a good time, all of which would probably be more readily served by tribute bands than by investing anything original. In short, its low input/high return stuff. Its the MacDonaldsisation of music. Its is only a matter of time before major acts start selling franchises to anyone who wants to do a tribute.

I wonder how many tribute acts would exist if they had to wear this?

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[quote]erm, I've had some lovely experiences at the end of the pier... :blush:[/quote]

I take it you're not talking musical experiences here, nudge nudge... :lol:. As for my end of the pier comment, well even Spinal Tap didn't like playing second fiddle to a puppet show...

[quote]Its the MacDonaldsisation of music. Its is only a matter of time before major acts start selling franchises to anyone who wants to do a tribute.[/quote]

Jesus, don't give 'em ideas Bilbo. Large Pink Floyd with a side order of disappointment please.

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[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1346706023' post='1792287']
probably get slagged off for saying this, but, I would rather go and see a good tribute playing in the local pub, free admission decent beer nice and dry, than pay £100 to stand in a wet cold field or a massive arena with crap sound , with about 50000 other people watching the original thing from about half a mile back. I agree with a couple of posts on here, the secret is not to take youself to serously, saw a stones tribute once and 'Brian Jones' came on wearing angels wings, brilliant
[/quote]

^This^

Hells Bells (AC/DC tribute) are playing locally soon, and I'll certainly be getting tickets. I've seen them a couple of times before and they have been excellent. I'm unlikely to get the same 'intimate' experience from the real thing, assuming they are touring anywhere near the UK in the forseeable future.

I think there's a certain amount of snobbery in some of the responses to this thread. Yes, probably all of us would like to be in a top original band - however the majority of us will probably never reach those heights. I have a feeling that some of the site members here are in tribute or covers bands, and other members could perhaps be a little more supportive. However the occasional negative sentiments do not reflect the overall positive vibe of basschat. There are good & bad tribute acts, the same as there are good and bad bands of all genres.
<Puts tin hat on ready for flaming>

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[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1346759921' post='1792719']
I have a feeling that some of the site members here are in tribute or covers bands, and other members could perhaps be a little more supportive. [/quote]

Go, Cetera, Go!! :lol:

Somehow, I suspect they are coping without my support. ;)

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[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1346761289' post='1792748']
....I still don't get it. Why would anyone want to see a band/act pretending to be someone else?....
[/quote]

I just don't get why you, and so many others, don't get it.

Blinkers off, chaps. The only issues are is it a good or bad performance and is the playing good or bad.

Whether anyone else hates it or not is purely subjective.

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[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1346761289' post='1792748']
I still don't get it. Why would anyone want to see a band/act pretending to be someone else?
[/quote]

Well, I happen, for my sins, to like The Stone Roses, but I didn't discover them till they were broken up. So, with no prospect at the time of them reforming, I could listen to albums and watch mostly awful live video. I could also go and see The Complete Stone Roses, who do a very good job of playing the music and capturing some of the vibe of their live performance. Obviously it wasn't The Stone Roses, but rather than standing with my arms folded, gnashing my teeth, I enjoyed it for what it was.

Equally, why would I want to watch an actor pretending to be Richard III? It's called entertainment.

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[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1346761289' post='1792748']
I still don't get it. Why would anyone want to see a band/act pretending to be someone else?
[/quote]
do you not enjoy watching a band doing a well played cover version then? a tribute is just one step up from that

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[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1346762390' post='1792770']
Nope.Still don't get it. I understand why people would want to BE in one, there's a healthy market and money to be made and fun to be had,I would have loved to see Jimi Hendrix/The Doors/Rema Rema/ choose your own,I didn't,deal with it.I have no interest in seeing someone impersonating them.
[/quote]

What Spiny Norman said really. My girlfriend is a big Oasis fan and made me go see Noasis in a back room to 100 punters. I didn't think I'd enjoy it, but it was a great friendly atmosphere, we all sang along, band didn't take themselves too seriously.

It would have been even better to see Oasis playing a back room to 100 punters singing along but it's never going to happen.

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