Have You EVER Heard Of This?

FriscoBassAce · #1 02-19-2007, 04:15 AM

Has anyone ever been in a band that started getting gig offers and HUGE buzz before ever playing a note on a stage? Or for that matter, before anyone has even seen what the band looks like?

This is what's happening with my band. I recently put together a Bon Jovi tribute band and the response has been completely overwhelming! Tonight, I got a call from a well-known booking agent who said that she had heard of our band, and wanted to book us at an established venue here in Dallas. We've also had offers from event planners and others in the business. We cannot believe our good fortune and are just astounded at the public response. We put up a MySpace page, and within one week, we had 360 new friends added to our list with more adding every day!

The story just continues to unfold. We had a VP of marketing for one of the local adult oriented rock stations here in town who told us that as soon as we were ready, that we could have sponsorship by their station and would be playing their special events and festivals, etc.

Now, before anyone goes and says that these people are leading us on, or that this has to be too good to be true, we don't get that feeling at all. We believe that they know a good idea when they hear it. We've all been around the biz for a while, and most of the guys in the band are in other gigging bands. So we're not some new kids on the block that are still wet behind the ears.

The wildest thing above all else is that we haven't played a single note in public and no one has even seen us, apart from our Jon Bon Jovi look-alike (and sound-alike) vocalist. We are all experienced musicians and we have a GREAT band and a HUGE sound. Our show is very similar to what a Bon Jovi fan would get if they paid for a ticket and went to a show.

I'm still kinda floating on Cloud 9 due to the craziness of all this. I know it's just a tribute band, but WOW!

Has anyone ever been a part of something like this before??? We will be playing our first gigs in April, with a series of short-haul regional dates shortly following. Have I died and gone to tribute band heaven??

morf · #2 02-19-2007, 07:41 AM

Thats awesome. Never seen it happen, but you're a lucky guy, congrats and best of luck!

Eilif · #3 02-19-2007, 10:02 AM

Never seen it happen before a band plays out, but I have seen certain tribute bands get "big" real fast. If you pick an artist with a large following and current popularity or massive nostalgia appeal, and pair it with good showmanship and musicianship, it can really work.

I knew a fellow in a Metalica tribute band that got so big that the band was being flown all over the country on weekends to do gigs. He ended up having to quit because every free day he had (and alot of his evenings) were taken by the band.

Congratulations, and best of luck to you.

Bayou_Brawler · #4 02-19-2007, 02:13 PM

never seen that happen....i guess it makes sense though...i mean they kinda know what music they are getting....i guess there was just a huge demand for live bon jovi music in your market and you are the firsts ones in

i'm starting a poison cover band when mine falls apart

Joe Nerve · #5 02-19-2007, 02:17 PM

congratulations! i've got a chili pepper tribute that's ready to go except for the singer - hope to learn some from whatever it is you're doing right.

good luck.

NKUSigEp · #6 02-19-2007, 02:21 PM

actually yeah...put together a bluesy southern metal band and had one original song without any vocals yet and from that got signed to an indie label and had hundreds of people asking when were we going to start playing out. it was pretty overwhelming because we had just started out and played once a weekend and just wanted to hang out, have a few beers, and play some good tunes. Never expected that kind of reaction - damn the wonders of Myspace! LOL

theshadow2001 · #7 02-19-2007, 02:45 PM

Does anyone pay royalties? Not starting a debate or saying they should or shouldn't Im just curious is all

Bayou_Brawler · #8 02-19-2007, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NKUSigEp

actually yeah...put together a bluesy southern metal band and had one original song without any vocals yet and from that got signed to an indie label LOL

haha what???!!!

Bassplayer92 · #9 02-19-2007, 02:54 PM

Awesome myspace! Trae is a great look-a-like!

Awesome pic of you playing the Spector with GK in the background too.

FriscoBassAce · #10 02-19-2007, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassplayer92

Awesome myspace! Trae is a great look-a-like!

Awesome pic of you playing the Spector with GK in the background too.

Thanks! Somehow within the last month or two, I started playing with the headstock near the same level as my head! Since seeing those pics, I've now raised up the old strap and leveled out the neck...don't know how I picked up that crazy habit!

We just keep rocking along. Can't believe our good fortune so far. We unfortunately had to turn down that gig offer because we have a scheduling conflict, but the booking agent emailed back with others!!!

"We shall win this war with narry a shot fired!"

billjr · #11 02-19-2007, 10:15 PM

So, do you think you will be nervous for that first gig? I would need a couple of pairs of drawers for that show.

Loose Cannon · #12 02-19-2007, 10:39 PM

Just watch out for girls named Heather, or Denise, or...

daffy · #13 02-20-2007, 12:38 AM

This happened over here in Australia to a guy in Brisbane. He told a club he had a kickin hip hop band and got a gig booked, when in fact he had no band and no material.

A short time before the gig he tried to cancel but they wouldn't let him, and even when he came clean and told them that the band was still in it's formative stages (!!!) they held him to the gig.

So in a superhuman effort he threw something together and did the gig and was a hit, now they have recordings and a lot of airplay. Pretty wild.

The band is called ButterFingers and their big hit over here was "Yo Mamma's on the top of my things to Do list" :-)

snap!

FriscoBassAce · #14 02-20-2007, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daffy

This happened over here in Australia to a guy in Brisbane. He told a club he had a kickin hip hop band and got a gig booked, when in fact he had no band and no material.

A short time before the gig he tried to cancel but they wouldn't let him, and even when he came clean and told them that the band was still in it's formative stages (!!!) they held him to the gig.

So in a superhuman effort he threw something together and did the gig and was a hit, now they have recordings and a lot of airplay. Pretty wild.

The band is called ButterFingers and their big hit over here was "Yo Mamma's on the top of my things to Do list" :-)

snap!

THAT'S pretty funny! Our difference is that we've got the music (and the show!) to back it up. At our first real rehearsal last week, we were like "OH S***!" It was SO powerful that we collected an audience of people outside our rehearsal room that stayed nearly for the duration of our practice time.

By the way........we got offered a BETTER gig today! Ha ha! Pardon me if I seem a little giddy...but I truly am floating right now!

And no....we won't be nervous, at least not more than any other gig simply because we know that when we light up the stage, it will be tremendous. Man oh man this feels good!

buliwyfff · #15 02-20-2007, 01:41 AM

hmmm make me want to do covers :P

txbasschik · #16 02-20-2007, 12:09 PM

Congratulations, sug! I've never heard of that happening to anyone, but hey, stranger things have happened!

If none of these places are asking you for money, or to sign anything legal, I say, "GO FOR IT!!!"

Cherie

invader3k · #17 02-20-2007, 12:28 PM

It sounds like you found the right "niche" in the right area, at the right time. Good tribute acts can make a lot of money, so congrats.

NKUSigEp · #18 02-21-2007, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bayou_Brawler

haha what???!!!

www.myspace.com/pure200proof

FriscoBassAce · #19 02-22-2007, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NKUSigEp

www.myspace.com/pure200proof

That's an amazing story! Good luck with everything!

And Joe....a RHCP tribute band oughtta take NYC by storm! You would make a good Flea!

Phantopeth · #20 02-23-2007, 03:22 PM

Note to self: forget the original band idea, start a Bon Jovi tribute group...

heh, that's great about your sudden popularity. I have always wondered if using some extreme marketing methods, street-team work, spreading word-of-mouth yourself, etc, you could get a great buzz for an original group before they ever hit the stage.

I heard David Bowie used to have people pretend to be paparazzi and follow him into parties and such to create buzz before he was famous. I'm sure there are other instances of this, but I can't recall any others at the moment.