Bands with an Alter-Ego band.

[MrCrane]

There's these two.

 

 

[Little Dragon]

The SPOTs (Sex Pistols On Tour).

[SpondonBassed]

Not a band but:

Graham Fellows has appeared as John Shuttleworth and Jilted John.

[BassTractor]

6 hours ago, King Tut said:

Sometimes we'll be our own support act!

Good thinking.
Don't remember whether we too did this or just contemplated doing it, but I do remember we used a set of names depending on the music.

Possibly not really an alter ego, but IIRC  Ian Anderson told that in the old days they normally were allowed to play at each venue only once, so kept returning to venues by using many different band names - and I think that actually none of those was "Jethro Toe" (possibly Derek Lawrence's attempt to avoid paying for rights).

 

[joeystrange]

5 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

Anyone remember the band Gaye Bikers on Acid? They had an amusingly named alter-ego , and sometimes (If I remember correctly) used to support themselves................

Lesbian Dopeheads on Mopeds

A friend of mine is a big fan of The Mission and told me that they also play as a Mission tribute band, which I forget the name of. Apparently The Mission sometimes support themselves playing as their own tribute band.

[Silvia Bluejay]

4 minutes ago, joeystrange said:

Apparently The Mission sometimes support themselves playing as their own tribute band.

My head hurts...

[leftybassman392]

R.E.M. and Hindu Love Gods. I have CDs by both.

Edited April 1, 2021 by leftybassman392

[bartelby]

47 minutes ago, joeystrange said:

A friend of mine is a big fan of The Mission and told me that they also play as a Mission tribute band, which I forget the name of. Apparently The Mission sometimes support themselves playing as their own tribute band.

The Mission were also Metal Gurus:

[lksmks792]

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds / Grinderman

[Barking Spiders]

quite a few electronica/dance acts have gone under several aliases e.g.

Future Sounds of London record and perform under 30+  including Amorphous Androgenous

KLF went under the names of Justified Ancients of Mu Mu and The Timelords

Underworld have recorded as Lemon Interrupt

Dave Lee (real name) is better known as Joey Negro, Jakatta and Sunburst Band and also has about 14 other aliases.

[Nail Soup]

If I understand it correctly the post-Lynott line up of Thin Lizzy have an alter-ego band Black Star Riders.

BSR is for when they write new material. I think they now generally do BSR and only occasionally use the TL alias.

[skankdelvar]

Adoption of a persona can sometimes have unintended consequences of a severely negative nature.

in 1999 US country music megastar Garth Brook was the biggest name in American popular music, riding high with a string of multi-platinum albums behind him. But all was not well in paradise.

Brooks was bored and unhappy with the endless touring and strait-jacketed country format so he basically went mad and commenced a project wherein he would portray a fictional Australian rock star named Chris Gaines.

Throwing caution to the wind, the balding Brooks donned a spiky wig, sucked in his cheeks and released the Chris Gaines Greatest Hits album, a platter laden with pop-rock cliches. To support the album Brooks performed in character on SNL and appeared as Gaines in an hour-long episode of the VH1 TV series Behind The Music.

The Gaines album briefly got to #2 on the Billboard chart but retailers had over-ordered and nobody was happy. Industry insiders put an index finger to their temples and made a corkscrewing motion.

Brooks' fans were confused ( 'So Garth ain't Garth now, he some panty-waist furrin rocker? Whut?' ) and the portly megastar's next album 'Garth Brooks and the Magic of Christmas' performed poorly compared to expectations.

The man who'd had more platinum and diamond albums than The Beatles gave it another year then retired and more or less disappeared for half a decade, eventually popping up in a Vegas residency.

Sic transit Garth Brooks.

Edited April 1, 2021 by skankdelvar

[Paul S]

Not sure if this qualifies but the Sensational Alex Harvey Band did a tour and record as the Sensational Alex Harvey Band Without Alex.  Bloomin' good they were, too.

[skankdelvar]

1 minute ago, Paul S said:

Not sure if this qualifies but the Sensational Alex Harvey Band did a tour and record as the Sensational Alex Harvey Band Without Alex.  Bloomin' good they were, too.

Friend of mine had their album.

[Paul S]

1 minute ago, skankdelvar said:

Friend of mine had their album.

Yes, I did, too.  Zal Cleminson is just such a great guitarist, always guarantee he is going to play something left field.  Saw him the year before last with his band Sin Dogs at the 100 Club.  Anyway, here  are SAHB Without Alex.  Fab stuff.

 

[skankdelvar]

1 minute ago, Paul S said:

SAHB Without Alex

It was a different time:

Then

Band: Alex can't do the next album
Label: OK
Band: We thought we'd just do one without him
Label: OK
Band: Dunno what the sales will be like
Label: OK
Band: Can we have tour support?
Label: OK

Now

Band: Alex can't...
Label: You're all fired

[Andermtc]

3 hours ago, leftybassman392 said:

R.E.M. and Hindu Love Gods. I have CDs by both.

or even

R.E.M. and Bingo Hand Job

[leftybassman392]

5 minutes ago, Andermtc said:

or even

R.E.M. and Bingo Hand Job

Apparently they had a selection of alter egos. Never knew that. 

One of them was called 'Hornets Attack Victor Mature' (it says here...)

 

[skb558]

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Grinderman...damn already done. 😁

Edited April 1, 2021 by skb558

[Andermtc]

35 minutes ago, leftybassman392 said:

Apparently they had a selection of alter egos. Never knew that. 

One of them was called 'Hornets Attack Victor Mature' (it says here...)

 

Nor me, I only found out about Bingo Hand Job when the live concert was released on vinyl on Record Store Day in 2019

[Bass Culture]

Beatles /...Oasis? 😉

 

[RussFM]

New Found Glory / International Super Heroes of Hardcore. Singer and guitarist switched places to play comedy hardcore songs.

The Draft was basically Hot Water Music without Chuck Ragan, but that was more because he wanted to spend more time with his family and do his solo thing, they reformed as HWM again a few years later.

[SpondonBassed]

Gnarls Barkley/Ceelo Green.

[Stub Mandrel]

Here & Now / Gong / Planet Gong

Parliament / Funkadelic

Hawkwind / Hawklords

Black Sabbath (Dio version) / Heaven & Hell

 

[StickyDBRmf]

We were playing the same venue for a month opening for different acts and changed our name to suit the type of opener, and our set list. We also opened for ourselves one night, we did an improv as "Disturbed Furniture" then did our set as "Illiterate Diplomats". We were also The Butchers, Normal Spoons, Great Chefs of Europe, and PopTards. Great fun, not much for marketing.