Tribute bands - Soundalike vs Lookalike

[Muzz]

That's the fella....half points for a Yam, but not the right one...and not low enough...harsh, I know... 🙂

 

I enjoyed them a lot - I was standing about fifteen feet to your right by a tent pole... 🙂

 

Edit: OK, three-quarter points, as Hooky has used a black BB, but it's not like there isn't a new Sig bass out there...still too high, tho...if you're not hunched uncomfortably over, it's too high... 😐🙂

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by Muzz

[AndyTravis]

2 minutes ago, Muzz said:

That's the fella....half points for a Yam, but not the right one...and not low enough...harsh, I know... 🙂

 

I enjoyed them a lot - I was standing about fifteen feet to your right by a tent pole... 🙂

Yeah, they were good - the green day act afterwards were ace too 

[Muzz]

Yup - I thought Green Day were the best of the lot...

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

7 minutes ago, Muzz said:

That's the fella....half points for a Yam, but not the right one...and not low enough...harsh, I know... 🙂

 

I enjoyed them a lot - I was standing about fifteen feet to your right by a tent pole... 🙂

 

Edit: OK, three-quarter points, as Hooky has used a black BB, but it's not like there isn't a new Sig bass out there...still too high, tho...if you're not hunched uncomfortably over, it's too high... 😐🙂

 

I think docking marks for playing position is extremely harsh.

The Peter Hook BB’s are pretty much sold out everywhere.

I guess he could have ordered one when they were announced, but they’re not readily available now.

[martthebass]

Like Dave @dmccombe7 I'm in a 70s Glam Rock act and aim to have both elements of the look but more importantly the sound.  For some band/genre specific tributes the audience has an expectation of the look/act and that part is important in order to be successful in the niche.  I've seen some truly awful 70s Glam acts sound wise where the audience has raved about the performance because they look the part and put on some sort of a show.

 

I know in our case that if we don't think we are doing justice to a particular song we ditch it before it gets in front of an audience.

[Muzz]

19 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I think docking marks for playing position is extremely harsh.

The Peter Hook BB’s are pretty much sold out everywhere.

I guess he could have ordered one when they were announced, but they’re not readily available now.

Possibly...but we're into 'iconic' here - Hooky's whole stance is the most visually memorable thing about New Order live...I'm classing him as the (other) front man, along the lines of Slash/Angus, etc. A low-slung SG on an Angus clone, or a high-slung Les Paul for a Slashish would look iffy...

 

Andy T could've sorted him out with a closer BB for the day, I'm sure... 😀

[martthebass]

3 hours ago, Muzz said:

Pretty good timing, this one, as I was at Festwich yesterday, a two-stage Tribute band festival. Sound is always the most important, but if you're gonna go out as a tribute act then at least try to look the part, too, especially if there's iconic looks in the band (the Kings Of Leon boys, say, had a much easier job than the Queen lot - can anyone remember what the Kings of Leon look like from 40 yards away?)...there were mixed results on that front yesterday, one thing that did kinda rankle were the trio band tributes with four or even five members...oh, and putting on my IBM hat, the bassist from the (otherwise very good) New Order trib had the wrong bass slung at least a foot too high...

 

One of the best tribs out there for sound and looks is Motorheadache (one of the guitarists I'm in a band with sometimes deps as Fast Eddie) - the bloke doing Lemmy IS Lemmy from about 30ft away... 🙂

 

 

Extra points for Murder One in the background, even more extra points for stick-on warts... 😁

That's my mate Rob Campbell up there, Scottish but an adopted Rotherham (well Kimmy) lad.  Sounds and has the image but he is about a foot shorter, great tribute act.

[Muzz]

Yeah, I did notice a teensy element of 'How far away is that Lemmy?' last time I saw them... 😃

 

He is an example of how to do trib stuff properly, tho...

[ezbass]

2 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

I was being genuine. I spent all day at a tribute festival yesterday. I want to do it.

It’s good fun. When I was in my ‘80s covers band, I was all over trying to get the right look: linen jacket with rolled up sleeves; high top trainers; silly, baggy pants with crazy designs on them and the piece de resistance…

 

 

Dodgy ‘misplaced childhood’ type jacket.

Edited July 26, 2021 by ezbass

[fleabag]

Saw this mob  , The Counterfeit Stones,  20 years ago at an outdoor festival in Northampton.  They were utterly magnificent.

You can have look-a-likes and a great sound.  Well, take into account that some muppet got this on their silly mobile

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by fleabag

[chris_b]

About 30 years ago we were looking for a singer for our R&B band and we had a "Mick Jagger" turn up. He was fed up of singing Stones songs and wanted out. The trouble was no matter what he sang he looked and sounded just like Jagger. He was very good at that but hopeless singing Dave Edmonds and Chuck Berry songs.

[peteb]

6 hours ago, Muzz said:

Motorheadache - the bloke doing Lemmy IS Lemmy from about 30ft away... 🙂

I know Rob - he's a good lad and about a foot shorter than the real Lemmy...! Apart from that he's got the look spot on... 

Edited July 26, 2021 by peteb

[peteb]

2 hours ago, martthebass said:

That's my mate Rob Campbell up there, Scottish but an adopted Rotherham (well Kimmy) lad.  Sounds and has the image but he is about a foot shorter, great tribute act.

Beaten me to it

[dmccombe7]

18 minutes ago, chris_b said:

About 30 years ago we were looking for a singer for our R&B band and we had a "Mick Jagger" turn up. He was fed up of singing Stones songs and wanted out. The trouble was no matter what he sang he looked and sounded just like Jagger. He was very good at that but hopeless singing Dave Edmonds and Chuck Berry songs.

Maybe it was the genuine article just looking for something a little easier than full on tours. 😂

[Rich]

6 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

 

TBF a lot of 'trio bands' use extra touring members.

 

I saw the Manic Street Preachers a few years ago. They had two additional members on stage with them, a second guitarist and an ivory-tinkler, both standing in shadow. When it came to band intros, the three 'actual' band members introduced each other but not a single word was said all night about the additional guys. Made me a bit cross actually.

Edited July 26, 2021 by Rich

[steantval]

Voyager - American Journey Tribute band.

 

These guys are superb musically and their vocalist looks and sounds just like Steve Perry.

 

 

Edited July 26, 2021 by steantval

[Lozz196]

4 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

 

My covers/ functions band has a dress code even for pub gigs. I've got an 80s band starting up and I've been picking up 80s style clothes, a few 80s basses and even a Trace Elliot amp... Who will really care that my Aria is from 1984....?

Every bassist in the audience who’s over 50, which given the music will probably be a good percentage 

[PaulWarning]

personally I feel cheated if I go and see a band advertised as a tribute who have made no effort to look like the band they are a tribute too,  'a tribute to the music of' is a compromise, as long as they have a picture of the band on the advertising, to have a picture of the actual band they're a tribute to is real no no

[dudewheresmybass]

One of the bands I play with is an Ozzy / Sabbath tribute.

Our 'Oz' looks like him as well as sounds like him, which is a bonus, But there have been so many players through that band over the years, that we can get away with almost anything - Including the fact the we have a guitarist from an indian background.

 However, I have seen sabbath 'tributes' that make no effort whatsoever to put on a show - either with the chosen instruments, backline or even notes!

We pride ourselves on putting on a show as best as we can wherever possible.

 

[Nail Soup]

I too would fell a bit cheated if the band didn't make some kind of effort.

For example if I saw a (random band) Bauhaus trib and they came on wearing tracksuits trainers etc.

 

In fact not just tributes....Applies to covers bands too.

On holiday abroad a couple of years ago we found a beach bar which had a live band each night. One night it was "classic rock"... Smoke on the Water and so on.

The drummer looked like he always had a decent image and was a good 20 years younger than the other two. So far so good. 

The other two turned up in their 'day clothes' and set up.

The bass player disappeared for a few mins and came back wearing a pair of faded Jeans and a tie-dye shirt. Good stuff - fitted the image.

The singer/guitarist however was wearing a pair of those modern  long shorts with loads of pockets and strings, and sports-casual  t-shirt.  i.e clothes not invented at the time of the music. He said into the mike that it wasn't worth changing. Bad show IMO.

[pete.young]

I play in a band that plays the music of the Pogues. We try and get as close as we possibly can to the music, and we can manage the ill-fitting suits, but the singer draws the line at having his teeth done like Shane's, so we'll never be a tribute band.

 

We could use a banjo player if anyone is available, or a guitarist who can mug it on a guitar-banjo. Please apply within.

[BreadBin]

27 minutes ago, pete.young said:

I play in a band that plays the music of the Pogues. We try and get as close as we possibly can to the music, and we can manage the ill-fitting suits, but the singer draws the line at having his teeth done like Shane's, so we'll never be a tribute band.

 

We could use a banjo player if anyone is available, or a guitarist who can mug it on a guitar-banjo. Please apply within.

Shane has great teeth now.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/dec/20/shane-macgowan-a-wreck-reborn-new-teeth-tv-special

[BigRedX]

As an audience member I would expect a tribute act make at the minimum a decent effort to look like the band they are copying. After all if it was just the music I was interested in I could stay at home and listen to the recordings.

[ubit]

14 hours ago, dudewheresmybass said:

One of the bands I play with is an Ozzy / Sabbath tribute.

Our 'Oz' looks like him as well as sounds like him, which is a bonus, But there have been so many players through that band over the years, that we can get away with almost anything - Including the fact the we have a guitarist from an indian background.

 However, I have seen sabbath 'tributes' that make no effort whatsoever to put on a show - either with the chosen instruments, backline or even notes!

We pride ourselves on putting on a show as best as we can wherever possible.

 

I am friendly with a guy who plays guitar in an Ozzy tribute band. I went to see them a few years ago and when they started I exclaimed to Mrs Ubit "That IS  Ozzy up there!" The guy had the look, voice and most importantly, the mannerisms of Ozzy. They were great. There was a Thin Lizzy tribute on the bill as well who were note perfect but didn't bother trying to look anything like Lizzy. I preferred watching the Ozzy band as they made me smile and looked like they were enjoying themselves onstage. At the end of the day any band playing is entertainment. You pay to be entertained. Playing a thousand notes a minute whilst staring at the floor might do it for some but the whole visual package is what I like.

[cetera]

15 hours ago, steantval said:

Voyager - American Journey Tribute band.

 

These guys are superb musically and their vocalist looks and sounds just like Steve Perry.

 

 

 

Now THAT is class...... as close as you can get soundwise to the original and, yes, the singer DOES look like Steve Perry!

 

Hardly surprising given their pedigree. The singer is Hugo, a hugely respected AOR singer in his own right and former singer with a band called Valentine. The bassist is none other than Greg Smith who, amongst many others, has played extensively with Alice Cooper and Ted Nugent.

 

Fantastic!