Anyone in a 90's covers band?

[Lord Sausage]

As in a rock, grunge, britpop type thing. Do you get lots of gigs? Good reception etc? I've been asked to start one with some people so just checking out experiences.

[bigthumb]

All good experiences. I played in a band for many years which was mainly '90s stuff, some being a bit later but very much the same sort of sound. Most of the audiences we played to were of an age group of 30+ so Pulp, Blur, Radio Head etc. were very well received. Plus there's a massive amount of really good stuff to play from that decade so getting a great set list won't take long. As for bookings we had plenty. Pubs, weddings and even young farmers parties but could have played more (if certain members were more committed)!

[colgraff]

[quote name='bigthumb' timestamp='1457815570' post='3002086']
All good experiences. I played in a band for many years which was mainly '90s stuff, some being a bit later but very much the same sort of sound. Most of the audiences we played to were of an age group of 30+ so Pulp, Blur, Radio Head etc. were very well received. Plus there's a massive amount of really good stuff to play from that decade so getting a great set list won't take long. As for bookings we had plenty. Pubs, weddings and even young farmers parties but could have played more (if certain members were more committed)!
[/quote]

What he said.

[Cato]

I'm not in one but I saw one headlining a local festival last year.

There were 3 different bands on at the same time in different locations in the town & the 90s one drew a very respectable audience of mainly mid 30s to early 40s all thoroughly enjoying themselves to the brit pop soundtrack of their youth.

I would say that there is definitely an audience out there for that kind of project.

Edited March 12, 2016 by Cato

[Guest Jecklin]

The ONLY situation I could see myself joining a covers band would be one where we'd be covering pop and dance tracks from the 90's

[ern500evo]

4 of my friends have just put one together. They were already a popular covers band, but have now put this 90's britpop thing together as a side project. I think their first gig is next month but I'd say, judging by the amount of interest their first gig is generating, that there is definitely an audience for it.

[scoobystig]

Yes

The south West's premier Britpop tribute band. Www.facebook.com/britpopboys

Been going since January, initially born from an idea me and the guitarist had when we met at a festival last September

Massive call for it, first band where bookings are chasing us, already got a support slot with Antartic monkeys lined up, couldn't be happier

Edited March 30, 2016 by scoobystig

[BrunoBass]

Not exclusively '90s, but that era does provide a large part of the source material for the repertoire of my rock covers band (with a little bit of '80s and '00s too). We have a diary full of pub gigs both local (Banbury) and further afield plus some local festivals from now until the end of the summer, so I'd say demand is pretty good. We do the more indie/rock stuff for the family friendly events like the festivals and keep the heavier stuff for our pub gigs. There's another band in town called JEEP who do all the 90s Britpop and Indie favourites. They're more of a functions band but seem to have a full diary. Definitely worth giving it a go, good luck!

Edited March 30, 2016 by PaulGibsonBass

[MoonBassAlpha]

One of my colleagues is in a Britpop band based in the Midlands and they seem to get plenty of bookings.I'd say it is a growth area. They're called Definitely Britpop.

[Nicko]

We do mainly 90s and naughties stuff with a few older and newer things thrown in. The choice of venue is key, essentially this is what was playing in the Student Unions 10 or 15 years ago so you'd be looking at a mainly 30 somethings crowd.

Choose the material wisely and bear in mind that the most guittards will want to put some classic or hard rock in there because he wants to show off their "talent".

We have played a few gigs that have gone down brilliantly with the crowd and the staff and we've had repeat bookings, but we are struggling to get a few more LLs on board.

[gapiro]

[quote name='Jecklin' timestamp='1457828148' post='3002214']
The ONLY situation I could see myself joining a covers band would be one where we'd be covering pop and dance tracks from the 90's
[/quote]
I want to do a 90s dance type band, cheese type stuff. Think ATB , Faithless, Fragma, Jamelia, Basement Jaxx, Maybe some spice girls.....

Problem is I think the lineup would have to be bass/drums/ key+gtr / key+gtr / vox
Finding Keys players is hard, finding keys/guitar players is basically impossible.

[MoonBassAlpha]

[quote name='gapiro' timestamp='1459441067' post='3016638']


Problem is I think the lineup would have to be bass/drums/ key+gtr / key+gtr / vox
Finding Keys players is hard, finding keys/guitar players is basically impossible.
[/quote]
Ha! That's exactly what my colleague does. He can also play the bass, but doesn't in that band.

[Phil Starr]

Go for it, there's a lot of great music there to play and far too many people competing over earlier decades which have ever reducing audiences.

[KevB]

Was in one of these 2 bands back (actually the band after that was a bit similar but not so britpoppy) with the Oasis/Stereophonics/Arctic Monkeys/Fratellis type thing going on, though we did a few 60's as well. Wasn't short of work while I was in it but I understand the 2 main cash cow venues have now gone off the rosta and the bandleader isn't getting quite so much work. They've asked me to dep for them at end of this month so I'll get a better picture then.

Edited April 1, 2016 by KevB

[Damonjames]

I was in a grunge tribute band, and we had a good bunch of pubs that were keen to have us on 2/3 times a year, so filling out desired quota of 2 gigs a month was pretty easy. The grunge genre was always a gamble though (at least for a full nights entertainment) some nights were amazing and some were very quiet. I think there is far more mileage in a general 90's cover band, particularly if you do a lot of the Brit pop/indie stuff (the type of stuff I loathe playing on bass) you should have better success.
The thing to bear in mind, is that for the most part at least, you target market is probably spending their weekends at home with the wife and kids, and probably will be another 10 years or so before we see our generation back in pubs on the piss on a regular basis once the kids get a little older. This is why the "classic rock" band is still so popular with most pubs!
It's not impossible, but think it will become easier as time goes on!