Tribute bands - is this normal?

[Beer of the Bass]

I'm in the habit of checking local musicians wanted/available adverts and noticed a pattern which strikes me as bizarre. Now, I have no interest in doing a tribute band myself, but I'd always imagined that when forming one, you'd start with the frontman or most recognisable member. Yet in recent months I've seen a Police tribute looking for a Sting, a Bon Jovi tribute with no Jon or Ritchie and a Guns n' Roses tribute with no Slash. Oddest of all would have to be the Dio tribute looking for a Dio, or the Nickelback tribute looking for a singer/guitarist, bassist and drummer (so who posted the ad?).
Apologies if anyone local recognises their band in this, but I just found it a little perplexing. Is this a common situation in tribute-land?

[Delberthot]

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1459546729' post='3017673']
That Bon Jovi one rings a bell. Is it the acoustic one? That guy has been advertising every few days on a FB group I'm a member of for quite some time. I admire his perseverance, but I don't think there are enough musicians in Edinburgh to fulfill his needs.

I did see a Hendrix tribute advertised on Gumtree. They were looking for guitars (!), bass, drums and vocalist. Like your Nickelback case, who was doing the asking?!

Some tribute bands, like Australian Pink Floyd, use more musicians than the original band to recreate the studio sound a bit better. I quite like Pink Floyd myself, so if I wanted to make the [i]Edinburgh Pink Floyd Tribute[/i] would be looking for a guitarist, keyboard player and drummer, which would probably look a little odd on an advert! Add a second guitarist, sax player, vocalist and three backing singers for good measure.
[/quote]

And a percussionist

[sunburstjazz1967]

I think the egos of the first lookalike/soundalike become as bad as the real front person's and they either leave or get kicked out leaving a backing band with no 'star'?

[mcnach]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1459545654' post='3017659']
I'm in the habit of checking local musicians wanted/available adverts and noticed a pattern which strikes me as bizarre. Now, I have no interest in doing a tribute band myself, but I'd always imagined that when forming one, you'd start with the frontman or most recognisable member. Yet in recent months I've seen a Police tribute looking for a Sting, a Bon Jovi tribute with no Jon or Ritchie and a Guns n' Roses tribute with no Slash. Oddest of all would have to be the Dio tribute looking for a Dio, or the Nickelback tribute looking for a singer/guitarist, bassist and drummer (so who posted the ad?).
Apologies if anyone local recognises their band in this, but I just found it a little perplexing. Is this a common situation in tribute-land?
[/quote]

I have seen the Dio band... they've been looking for a vocalist for aaaaages. Not going to be an easy search!

[JapanAxe]

Could be a management company wanting to put an act into venues and take a percentage of the action. Maybe.

[Mykesbass]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1459547701' post='3017684']

I have seen the Dio band... they've been looking for a vocalist for aaaaages. Not going to be an easy search!
[/quote]

Could try looking under some toadstools

[spectoremg]

Where does a tribute band get gigs? Considering there already seems to be plenty of them around?

[Clarebear68]

The tribute band I'm in, the singer put the band together but we've gigged with other bands where the band have auditioned loads of people before they found the right person.
[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1459574427' post='3017742']
Where does a tribute band get gigs? Considering there already seems to be plenty of them around?
[/quote]
... we got lucky and quickly got picked up by a really good agent and we're getting some great gigs but I don't think it's even easy for the agent sometimes with 2 other Smiths tributes doing gigs nationwide as well. I'd hate to be trying get gigs for ourselves.

[sunburstjazz1967]

I'd love to see The Smiths without Morrissey!

[mcnach]

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1459574427' post='3017742']
Where does a tribute band get gigs? Considering there already seems to be plenty of them around?
[/quote]

I was in a RHCP tribute band, although not full-on tribute (we did not try to look like RHCP although we did try to sound like them... or better ). Most of our gigs were very music bars, we also played a few with other tributes (RATM, AC/DC...)... and we did a fair few where we were booked for an event (birthdays etc). It seemed very easy to get gigs once enough people have seen you around. But it does depend on the band you choose, I think. I was in a RATM band too during much of the RHCP period and we got a lot less work.

[12stringbassist]

Round here (the NW) there are lots of tribute bands doing the rounds (Thin Lizzy, Status Quo and Pink Floyd appear to be the target of most people's tributes).

I think there are two types of tributes: the slavish devotees who try to get everything spot on right down to appearance and instruments used and those who just go out and 'play the music of...'

It's a very very over-saturated market and the old mentality of thinking that 'tribute bands always get more money' is totally to blame for this. That's not really true anymore, because some of the inferior bands who think a tribute is about just 'playing the songs of' have really devalued the tribute circuit. It makes it harder for the good acts to be taken seriously. That's why some of the tributes can't find their Freddie, Rossi or Noddy Holder, etc.

[Number6]

I'm in a 3 piece Hawkwind tribute band.....i'm like a fat Lemmy 👍

[Bassassin]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1459547701' post='3017684']

I have seen the Dio band... they've been looking for a vocalist for aaaaages. Not going to be an easy search!
[/quote]

I have too. When I saw them they had a tall, bald singer who sounded nothing at all like Dio and a bassist who plainly hadn't learned any of the songs. Weird.

[chriswareham]

I did a Cure tribute briefly. Gigs were via an agency and seemed well paid (not sure how well but as a first timer my cut was decent and I'm sure the main guy got more). I noticed that the venues we played only had tribute bands doing live music, with no support acts, and were often civic kinds of places that were either fully or partially seated and otherwise hosted plays or comedians. Ticket prices ranged from £15 to £30, which seemed quite high for a tribute to a band that still play albeit irregularly and can probably be seen for £20 to £30.

[Beer of the Bass]

There do seem to be a couple of different sorts of tribute bands - the guys who do the agency/function type gigs (who would probably do whatever there was a market for) and the enthusiasts doing it for their own amusement. I think I tend to enjoy the latter more, especially when they're decent musicians doing it as a bit of a side-project. Gumtree ads do seem to show up a large proportion of dreamers though!

Edited April 2, 2016 by Beer of the Bass

[Number6]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1459628436' post='3018247']
There do seem to be a couple of different sorts of tribute bands - the guys who do the agency/function type gigs (who would probably do whatever there was a market for) and the enthusiasts doing it for their own amusement. I think I tend to enjoy the latter more, especially when they're decent musicians doing it as a bit of a side-project. Gumtree ads do seem to show up a large proportion of dreamers though!
[/quote]

I like to think we are the latter with perhaps a slightly smaller "m" on musicians

[chriswareham]

Before Peter Hook started doing his current band I did toy with the idea of putting together a Joy Division tribute. The experience of doing the Cure tribute put me off though - it was an interesting technical exercise to play not only the songs of someone else but using the same technique, but very unsatisfying. I felt I had to be so aware of not only what I was playing, but how I was playing it, that it made me anxious. Probably something made worse by my Asperger's, but it does make me wonder how much people do the tribute thing for the enjoyment or just purely because it at least pays for itself.

[JoeEvans]

[quote][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Gumtree ads do seem to show up a large proportion of dreamers though![/font][/color][/quote]
There's the nail / head thing.

[discreet]

[quote name='Number6' timestamp='1459626268' post='3018224']
I'm in a 3 piece Hawkwind tribute band.....I'm like a fat Lemmy
[/quote]

You're also like a living Lemmy.

Sorry, too soon?

[discreet]

I can almost understand putting together a tribute band based on very famous and successful bands, but for lesser-known or niche tributes... where is the work? Or is the joy in the challenge and/or the obscurity factor, or what?

[Number6]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1459633475' post='3018310']
I can almost understand putting together a tribute band based on very famous and successful bands, but for lesser-known or niche tributes... where is the work? Or is the joy in the challenge and/or the obscurity factor, or what?
[/quote]

I'll whisper incase Blue is reading but sometimes we do it because we enjoy it

Actually in all honesty we seem to do okay for gigs in and around Londinium.

Edited April 2, 2016 by Number6

[discreet]

[quote name='Number6' timestamp='1459637975' post='3018352']
...we seem to do okay for gigs in and around Londinium.
[/quote]

Not surprised... Hawkwind aren't niche or obscure, IMHO.

[spectoremg]

Some great replies so far. Of the ones around I've seen Brit Floyd who do note perfect covers (the way I like 'em) and G2 (Genesis tribute who take the same approach) and both are excellent. Saw a U2 tribute in a Plymouth boozer once a long time ago - dunno if the singer was Irish but he had the accent spot on!
There are a lot of Gumtree dreamers though.
nb. Favourite tribute names - west country Eagles tribute - The Beagles and Oasish

[Len_derby]

There's a venue in my home town that puts on tribute bands very regularly. A lot of them pack out the place and I think it allows them to take the financial hit on originals acts that don't sell so well.

One thing I have noticed is that it's a noticeably different crowd who go to the tributes. I have non-musician friends who go out to see tribute acts but have no interest in seeing originals or even normal covers bands.

[geoham]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1459545654' post='3017659']
Yet in recent months I've seen a Police tribute looking for a Sting
[/quote]

I put out a 'bassist available' ad a while back, looking for a working covers band. I received a response asking if I could sing and would I be interested in joining a Police tribute!

Edited April 3, 2016 by geoham