90's Grunge/Alternative Cover bands?

[Icey101]

ive tried it, the weak links is the vox, hard to get someone to hit those notes like soundgarden

[Hobobob]

My band is doing something like this, we're half original and half covers. Covers, we do stuff from Soundgarden and AIC to Filter and Chevelle. It's working pretty well for us so far, the people who come see us go nuts over a lot of the covers we play. And yes, I do sing the Chris Cornell stuff .

[hrodbert696]

By the the 8-to-23 rule, the 90s ought to be prime cover band material right now. I hope I can get our band doing more of that and less 70s...

[Jazz Ad]

It's painful to admit it but these bands now qualify as classic rock and are played on radio as such.
Too old to be hip, too new to have hords of devot followers.
So unless you're heading at people in their late 20s to early 40s, there won't be much a crowd.

[richntiff]

Definitely NOT classic rock! But yes that age range is the demographic we would be targeting. Blue - I'm surprised really Milwaukee should be able to draw that age range. Maybe you are looking at the wrong bars or maybe nobody is trying it yet? I'm 40 and I know I would much rather hear a band playing this stuff than a bunch of blues or other tired tunes.

[LiquidMidnight]

I grew up in the 90s, so that music will always have a very special place in my heart. I still remember getting Green Day's Dookie, which was sort of the Tommy of my generation. I've covered a fair share of that era of music, on both the grunge/alternative side and the nu-metal side (and some of the country of that era too); although I've never been in an exclusive 90s band. It's one of those styles of music that lends itself to stepping outside of the genre a little bit without being jarring to an audience (such as covering the aforementioned Cavo).

Speaking purely logically, the people who grew up on that music are entering the stage of their lives where they are well-situated in their careers and may have some disposable income to go out. Unfortunately, they may also have younger children that prevent going out. Either way, my guess is there is a market out there for it. However, marketing would be important. I wouldn't bill the band as a 90s/grunge project.

[Big Brother]

Originally Posted by Icey101

ive tried it, the weak links is the vox, hard to get someone to hit those notes like soundgarden

This.

I ran with a gigging 90s band for a year, it was frustrating because vocal ranges in that genre are all over and you are limited so much by them. Someone with a range like that wants to do something bigger than a local cover band.

[Big Brother]

Originally Posted by Jazz Ad

It's painful to admit it but these bands now qualify as classic rock and are played on radio as such.
Too old to be hip, too new to have hords of devot followers.
So unless you're heading at people in their late 20s to early 40s, there won't be much a crowd.

And this.

A lot of modern rock is still based in 90's music. As old as grunge is now, it isn't nostalgic yet because it is still being imitated. It's not quite time yet, I remember the first failed attempts at 80s revivals too, in 1992, same thing happened.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by Floyd Eye

This is from a few weeks ago.

There are a bunch more in the master list, but this was a quick copy and paste.

SET 1

BOMBTRACK
CHAMPAGNE
MY OWN WORST ENEMY
SWEATER SONG
GOT ME WRONG
CRACKERMAN
I COME FROM THE WATER
POSSUM KINGDOM
YOUR DISEASE

SET 2

KILLING IN THE NAME
FACE TO THE FLOOR
MAN IN THE BOX
TOMORROW
COME OUT AND PLAY
WHAT I GOT
SANTA MONICA
FAITH
LOVE ME DEAD
BULLET IN THE HEAD

SET 3

SOUND OF MADNESS
THE CLINCHER
CARESS ME DOWN
I GOT A GIRL
SEX TYPE THING
FLAGPOLE SITTA
WOULD
PURE MASSACRE
CLICK CLICK BOOM

SET 4

BULLS ON PARADE
PLUSH
GONE AWAY
HEAVEN BESIDE YOU
BOUND FOR THE FLOOR
HEY MAN NICE SHOT
BREAK STUFF
THE RED
WHATEVER
SOBER
FREEDOM

Wow! I don't recognize the names of any of those songs.

I'm going to feel bad if my 59 year old peers do.

Blue

[Floyd Eye]

Originally Posted by bluewine

Wow! I don't recognize the names of any of those songs.

I'm going to feel bad if my 59 year old peers do.

Blue

Well, most of the guys in these bands are my age and I am 15 years younger than you, so don't feel too bad.

[jmattbassplaya]

Originally Posted by bluewine

Wow! I don't recognize the names of any of those songs.

I'm going to feel bad if my 59 year old peers do.

Blue

You really must have missed a whole era of music.

[hdracer]

Originally Posted by bluewine

Wow! I don't recognize the names of any of those songs.

I'm going to feel bad if my 59 year old peers do.

Blue

I'm only a couple years younger then you.
I know all of them, have most of them in my iTunes and can play most of them.

[Bert Slide]

"When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Kentucky, because everything there happens 20 years after it happens anywhere else." Mark Twain


I think it would go over well around here. The Hair Metal craze of the 2000's seems to be waning and it might be time to introduce the music fans around here to that new Grungy thing we heard about that's supposed to be so popular in Seattle.

[kjpollo]

Originally Posted by bluewine

Wow! I don't recognize the names of any of those songs.

I'm going to feel bad if my 59 year old peers do.

Blue

I'm 50 and I know most of them. And if I listened to the titles I dont recognize, I bet I'd be at least a little familiar with all of them.

[mattbass6945]

i am 33 and play bass in an all 90's cover band, clintons cigar.

https://www.facebook.com/ClintonsCigar?fref=ts

we currently only have about an hour or so of material. the vocal ranges can be difficult and our drummer is not very motivated. that's a bigger issue, but we do enjoy ourselves.

[Big Brother]

Originally Posted by bluewine

Wow! I don't recognize the names of any of those songs.

I'm going to feel bad if my 59 year old peers do.

Blue

A lot of those were on our list too, they generally aren't the kinds of songs that you get up to dance to. Hence the problem.

There are good 90s songs that get people up, but the vocal ranges and accompanying pieces needed to do a solid 4 hour show of those songs are pretty hard to come by for a cover band. It generally isn't 'get up' music, it is based in grunge. Downbeat.

We tried it, there is room for it but I just don't see it being what the 50s - 80s decades were for live music. Places where people sit and drink with no dance floor, it could work. But those places don't hire many bands, they have a jukebox full of Hank Williams Jr.

[Big Brother]

Originally Posted by bluewine

Wow! I don't recognize the names of any of those songs.

Blue

This is Plush. Great song but people feel awkward dancing to music like this and retreat to their seats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5UOC0C0x8Q

It fails the American Bandstand test. No good beat to dance to.

[bluewine]

Originally Posted by jmattbassplaya

You really must have missed a whole era of music.

It might be that I don't recognize the name but would know the song if I heard it.

While I'm a product of the 60s & 70s I don't consider myself stuck in those decades.

Funny story , growing up with Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Cream, Zeppelin and all the icons of my generation.

I remember in the early 2000s a friend who is a music lover and 20 years younger than me raved about this band called Metallica that I had never heard.

I thought it was a cool name so I was excited about hearing them. Finally one day he put on their cd during a lunch break.

I didn't get it.

Blue

[Bert Slide]

Originally Posted by bluewine

It might be that I don't recognize the name but would know the song if I heard it.

While I'm a product of the 60s & 70s I don't consider myself stuck in those decades.

Funny story , growing up with Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Cream, Zeppelin and all the icons of my generation.

I remember in the early 2000s a friend who is a music lover and 20 years younger than me raved about this band called Metallica that I had never heard.

I thought it was a cool name so I was excited about hearing them. Finally one day he put on their cd during a lunch break.

I didn't get it.

Blue

Wow! This little anectdote is not only one of the funniest things you have penned but also a pretty telling window into the depths of your qualifications as self-appointed mentor for aspiring musicians.

[MNAirHead]

Couple of notes....


1-not sing and dance tunes.....

Even though you enjoy this stuff I've tried many there wasn't the enthusiastic "I love this song" screamed as people ran to the dance floor


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This era was a lull in music .... I've tested alternative, grunge etc - the thing to remember was this was a backlash to fun pop, glam metal etc..., the sold image was be a loner recluse - not part kids


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Start with your audience and how to motivate them off the Netflix remote