I know that in the past, I have touched base on the phenomenon known as “the tribute band”. In some cases, they are usually bands with REALLY bad wigs and in some cases are slightly overweight and trying so hard to look like their idols, the band they are paying tribute to starts to look ridiculous. Here in Raleigh, NC, it seems that this area has become someone of a magnet for the tribute band. Here we have the semi-famous Appetite For Destruction (tribute to Guns N Roses) who actually do a good job. Their singer, Chad, has been at this for many years and actually does well. Then we have the Jimi Hendrix tribute (Electric Ladyland) who does a fantastic job of not only replicating the sound with precision but they actually LOOK just like the original Experience as well.
I went w/ my good buddy Spoob to see ZOSO (Led Zeppelin tribute) and they were also fantastic. No wigs here (of if there were, they were REALLY good wigs) and they looked and emulated the stage personas of Led Zeppelin. As for the sound, they were, much like the Hendrix band, tight as hell and at times I could close my eyes and actually feel like Zeppelin was ripping through “Your Time Is Gonna Come”. These are examples of how these types of things can be done really well. While ZOSO is probably the 2nd best tribute band I’ve seen, the best still has to be NYC’s The Machine (Pink Floyd tribute). They don’t even look like Floyd (look more like The Grateful Dead) but they pull the songs off with ease and do them in such an honorable fashion that at times I found them to be tighter than Floyd themselves live (and I’ve heard early Floyd shows and trust me folks, they weren’t always THAT great!).I still don’t quite understand how musicians can do this for a living but I guess if you truly love playing music and love a particular band THAT much, you can make a good bit of cash doing it and have some fun as well. But with that being said, the tribute band world isn’t always a welcoming and desirable place to be.
Then you get the bad. In my opinion, there are a handful of bands that should NEVER have tribute bands for them. And if you are gonna have them, you need to make sure you are totally on your game and not raping the legacy of this band. Those bands are Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, The Beatles and Phish. I’ve covered the Floyd one. The Grateful Dead has “Dark Star Orchestra” who each night performs a full classic Dead show in it’s entirety. These guys have been around for about 12 years or so and they do a great job. They really know their shit and they do the songs a great deal of justice. But there’s a band side to this. This bad side is called “Cosmic Charlie”. These guys, in my opinion, have just pretty much dragged some of my favorite all time Dead songs right through the mud. Their timing is bad and vocally they just sound weak and uninspired. This kind of thing makes me wish that there was a law against being a tribute band and having to hear your favorite bands songs just butchered. I mean, call me an asshole but that’s just how I feel. It also makes me wonder if the people paying to see these guys really know how bad they are or are they just loving the nostalgic aspect of just hearing Dead songs, getting fucked up and just dancing, not paying much critical attention to HOW these songs are being played.
Case in point, PHISH tribute bands. Phix, Strange Design, etc. I couldn’t believe how badly these bands pulled Phish off. Phish is one of those bands that there is and always will be ONE Phish. Phish was a band in their own right and I feel that no matter how good you are, you can never really cover Phish and have it be any good. It’s one thing to cover a song or two but an entire tribute act? Matter of fact, I almost feel like that any Phish tribute band should just give it up because you’re always going to come across as raping the legacy that they left behind. Besides, the band hasn’t even been gone long enough to really justify a “tribute” band. The reason I feel that this is so different from the other bands is that so much of what made Phish was the band itself and all their quirkiness on stage. The trampolines, the lil dance Mike & Trey did during “The Landlady” jam in Punch You In The Eye. If you’re a tribute band and you’re going to even attempt all of this, it’s gonna be so contrived and just plain out sad. I really don’t mean any personal insult to the people as musicians because obviously they are very talented and can play but why not pay tribute to some other band and just let Phish be!
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