anyone gone the Tribute Band route??

QORC · #1 03-10-2007, 05:06 PM

pros and cons?? I may have an opportunity to join one.

GRISSLEHEAD · #2 03-10-2007, 05:10 PM

As long as it isn't an Elvis Tribute band...........been there..................boring !

Ricky Daion · #3 03-10-2007, 05:37 PM

I was in an Eagles tribute band for a year and a half. We'd play an hour long Eagles set sandwiched between two sets of material we really wanted to play

Being a tribute band can limit some of the venues you play and can get a bit boring no matter how good you can play the tunes imho.

bikeplate · #4 03-10-2007, 05:41 PM

HI

Ive got some friends that do it. If its your only gig, can be tough to play on a regular basis. Most clubs look for a cover band with variety.

Rob

nubs · #5 03-10-2007, 07:06 PM

right now there is a U2 tribute band that is pretty succesful, they stay very busy, and pretty much play all over

http://www.u2zoo.com/main.html

disclaimer: i am in no way affiliated with this band, i haven't even seen them, but i here they are pretty good, although i do know "Bono", or who plays the Bono role

rllefebv · #6 03-10-2007, 07:24 PM

I did a Blues Brothers tribute band for exactly a year... two gals instead of 'Jake and Elwood', called the Blues Broads... 10 piece band, great music, some good folks, poor management. Next to impossible to land a gig. Really helped my playing though!

There is a local Led Zeppelin tribute band, 'Stairway Denied' that are very good and seem to have no problem landing gigs...

-robert

QORC · #7 03-11-2007, 11:22 AM

well this appears to play out only 1-2 times a month, but at really good places (so they are getting good $). I figure if they ask me in, I can do both as my current band only wants to play 1-2 times a month. we'll see.

my question on tribute bands -- even the real bands that had a great amount of hits -- let's say 8-10...you still have to do 36-40 songs to cover a night. Means you have to play a lot of the unknown stuff I guess. I'm curious to see what their sets look like.

Zooberwerx · #8 03-11-2007, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GRISSLEHEAD

As long as it isn't an Elvis Tribute band...........been there..................boring !

Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. I was with Bob Glass's TRIBUTES entourage in Hampton Roads, VA. Did Elvis, Bobby, Buddy, Patsy, Neil. etc. Learned a whole lotta material, let me tell ya! The performers were fairly authentic in appearance and execution. I, on the other hand, played a couple of shows with my headless Status 5 just to see if anybody noticed. They didn't or at least didn't make any comments about it. The show eventually exceeded my cheese threshold so I bowed out and moved on to other projects.

Hey, its an opportunity!

Riis

**Freddels** · #9 03-11-2007, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QORC

my question on tribute bands -- even the real bands that had a great amount of hits -- let's say 8-10...you still have to do 36-40 songs to cover a night. Means you have to play a lot of the unknown stuff I guess. I'm curious to see what their sets look like.

Yeah, this has been the dilemma with my idea of a Debbie Boone Tribute Band.

Jerry Ziarko · #10 03-11-2007, 06:04 PM

Coming from a friend in a highly successful trib band, a major downside is it is very easy to saturate an area. Much travel is almost a must. He said it's also best to find players that are obsessive about the group being paid trib to. They seem to live for the tunes they play. It's definitely not for everyone, but they make a ton of cash when they play.

supermonkey · #11 03-11-2007, 07:37 PM

I'm doing a Dylan cover band right now, been in it for a year.
Not so much a tribute (with the dressing up and the thing and the face). Just sticking to the Dylan catalog and in a particular style (i.e. The Band, the Byrds, the Dead, mid-70's live Dylan).

Everyone in the band is a fan, but our "Bob" is the only certifiable Dylan freak, knows all the lyrics cold, etc. We are actually quite good, but it's still been tougher to get momentum than we thought.

Haven't made much money, but FWIW I have made more than I ever have in any band before. Travel might help. But it also seems like there's a local network of private/corporate/civic events that can be tapped into as well. We're just not there yet.

QORC · #12 03-12-2007, 06:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freddels

Yeah, this has been the dilemma with my idea of a Debbie Boone Tribute Band.

http://www.ilovewavs.com/Effects/Music/RimShot.wav

Beautiful_Bass · #13 03-12-2007, 08:58 PM

Bjorn Again! haha

But seriously, they are one of the highest payed bands in Oz...including all the big name original acts.

Passinwind · #14 03-12-2007, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rllefebv

There is a local Led Zeppelin tribute band, 'Stairway Denied' that are very good and seem to have no problem landing gigs...

They play out here about once every three or four months or so. They draw pretty well, maybe half capacity or a little better in a 300 seater, but the club manager doesn't think that'd hold if they played there more often. They clearly enjoy what they're doing though.

FriscoBassAce · #15 03-13-2007, 01:39 AM

Well, let's see. We announced to the world via MySpace about a month ago that we are a Bon Jovi trib band...we now have 6 upcoming gigs (and we've never played our first note in public!) including a two festivals, several nightclubs, and one really big show with a local radio station.

I'd call that fairly successful.

Before I started this band, I asked some guys on here about tribute bands. The best advice that I got was that if you're going to do it, do it 100%. We don't wear wigs and makeup, (we prefer to do a take on modern Bon Jovi), but we have the sound, the signature guitars, and we try to emulate them as closely as possilble.

Regarding playing 4 hours of material, we don't do that. We play a max of two hours, and we always share the bill with other trib bands from the same time period and genre. By that I mean we don't do any Led Zeppelin/Bon Jovi gigs....we play a lot with the Van Halen and Guns n Roses tribs here in town.

What's the band you're thinking of joining...who are the paying tribute to?

By the way...the money we've been offered has been nice!

GROOVEjunkie · #16 03-13-2007, 02:35 AM

I'm guessing, but is this for a Steely Dan tribute band?

bassicinstinct · #17 03-13-2007, 03:18 AM

I've been primarily involved in the "tribute" scene for about the last 13 years or so here in the UK (coincidentally, working with Steely Dan tributes for some of the time

) and my experience has been that:

1. There is a lot more decent work to be had for tribute bands than cover bands.

2. The work tends to be at decent venues.

3. You tend to get reasonably paid and looked after.

The only caveat I would add is that, obviously, the bigger reputation the band to whom you are paying tribute has or had, the easier you will find it to get work/audiences. We did struggle sometimes to explain who Steely Dan were and why anyone would want to listen to their material.

I'm now involved with a Floyd tribute and, unsuprisingly, it is a "brand" with which everyone is familiar and which everyone wants. The only discussion tends to be how much they are willing to pay to hear it.

All_¥our_Bass · #18 03-13-2007, 03:49 AM

Which Floyd pieces do you play? Any of the old Syd stuff?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rllefebv

There is a local Led Zeppelin tribute band, 'Stairway Denied'

LOL!!

MaddAnthony_59 · #19 03-13-2007, 09:00 AM

I'm in a Black Sabbath Tribute Band. We start playing in May, and we have shows lined up through the Fall.

http://www.myspace.com/bannedfromearth

The hardest part was finding an Ozzy. The 3 musicians have had this "Dream(/Nightmare?)" for a while now. We discovered an Ozzy on MySpace. I guess he was working on an Ozzy Solo tribute project that was losing momentum. We got up to speed, invited him "IN", and have been rehearsing since December.

The 2nd hardest part was playing the songs correctly. The 3 musicians come from the Detroit Original Music scene, Particularly the Speed-Metal/Extreme-Punk genre, and are used to a LOT of creative input. Enter the Black Sabbath Mold. Enter Discipline and Limited creative input. Enter Finger-Pointing as to why X, Y, Z isn't happening, etc...

But we're finding there is a HUGE demand for this Tribute band. Our singers (AWESOME) Girl Friend is the bassist for a local band promoting their recently released CD. They are including us on MOST of their shows. Plus, anyone with a Heaven & Hell concert ticket can get into The Token Lounge for our Premier show on May 12th. (Should I keep my Day Job?

)

Anyways, It should be a Fun Ride. We're hoping to have a LOT of fun with this, and other than the Quality of the Show/Music, are NOT taking this too seriously. We are just paying tribute to a band that gave us something to identify with, while growing up in a less than perfect world.

Geezer ButtHead - Bassist for Banned from E.A.R.T.H.

PauperBoy · #20 03-13-2007, 09:37 AM

Gigs can be tough to find in some markets. Travel is expected.

On the pro side, if you come up with a winner, you may be able to find a good gig with some of the casinos (AC, Vegas, Branson...), where the tribute or specialty acts seem to find traction. That can be steady work, financially rewarding and lead you to other industry contacts and opportunities.

These guys do one helluva Stevie Ray Vaughn tribute, the guitarist is a great guy, easy to talk with, might find a way to ask him for advice on this.
http://www.eddiejelley.com