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A question for tribute bands
- Thread starter KenSmithFan
- Start date
Did quite a few years in a tribute band in Chicago, we started off doing just two hour shows, no break. The available material made for a perfect 2 hour set with every song being very well known. At one point though there was a place that wanted us, but they needed 3 hours with 2 15 minute breaks. So, we really wanted to play this place, we added a 1/2 hour of the lesser known material and we were good to go. As I recall, this place was the only place where we played the additional songs, everywhere else we went back to hour 2 hour set. In most cases if the venue wanted more than 2 hours of music, they had to come up with an opener.
Don’t kid yourself about the amount of material you need and deep cuts don’t really work any better for a tribute than they do for a regular cover band. I see people all the time starting a XXX tribute band and I think, that band had 4 hits and no other songs even got radio play.
Don’t kid yourself about the amount of material you need and deep cuts don’t really work any better for a tribute than they do for a regular cover band. I see people all the time starting a XXX tribute band and I think, that band had 4 hits and no other songs even got radio play.
Good advice, but I think we're good. The group we're looking at has 14 top ten hits and 19 in the top 100. Five of their studio albums were in the top 10.
I don't play in a tribute band, but I've seen quite a few of these bands here in my city, including Queen, ABBA, Adriano Celentano, Joe Cocker, Depeche Mode, etc. The most recent one was a Smokie tribute (a very good one) just last Friday.
Depending of the venue requirements, they usually play two or three sets, each one around 45 min. If there are two sets, it's usually only the tribute material. If there are three sets, the third set usually consists of the period music of the same or similar genre, e.g. for the Queen tribute it would be some pump rock of the '70s and '80s, for ABBA - europop and disco of the '70s, for Adriano Celentano - Italian pop of the late '70s and early '80s, etc.
Depending of the venue requirements, they usually play two or three sets, each one around 45 min. If there are two sets, it's usually only the tribute material. If there are three sets, the third set usually consists of the period music of the same or similar genre, e.g. for the Queen tribute it would be some pump rock of the '70s and '80s, for ABBA - europop and disco of the '70s, for Adriano Celentano - Italian pop of the late '70s and early '80s, etc.
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Here’s how we did it: My band, Linkubus, is a tribute to Linkin Park and Incubus. We perform at various venues, ranging from local dive bars to amphitheaters. When we first started, we only had a few songs, so we shared the stage with other local bands. Our sets lasted anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes. As our setlist grew, we began incorporating a mix of Linkin Park, Incubus, '90s alt-rock, and pop-punk hits.
After about a year, we had enough material to book shows specifically as tributes to Linkin Park and Incubus. Now, we alternate between the cover and tribute scenes. Typically, we perform three 50-minute sets, with a 10-minute break between each set. We continually add songs to our setlist to keep things fresh for both us and our audience. Occasionally, we mix it up with acoustic sets. We always strive to find unique ways to make our band stand out from the rest.
After about a year, we had enough material to book shows specifically as tributes to Linkin Park and Incubus. Now, we alternate between the cover and tribute scenes. Typically, we perform three 50-minute sets, with a 10-minute break between each set. We continually add songs to our setlist to keep things fresh for both us and our audience. Occasionally, we mix it up with acoustic sets. We always strive to find unique ways to make our band stand out from the rest.
My group is a 6-member acoustic/electric Beatles band with killer harmonies. We're not impersonators.
Many gigs are 3 hours - smaller summer concerts, restaurants and breweries (audience of 100-200.)
Municipal summer concert gigs are typically 90 minutes (audience of 3000+,) but some of the other private summer gigs are only 60-75 minutes (4000+.)
Yep - we do the same.I work with a long established Beatles tribute band. Band Leader puts together 3 sets at about 45 minutes each with two intermissions of 15 minutes. He provides me with the set lists well in advance. The list is about 80% Beatles tunes and then a mix of other stuff from the 70s/80s. Good gig. Great guys. Hope things work out for you - keep us posted
We're not impersonators, but do wear groovy shirts & black pants/shoes.The local Beatles tribute band here in town play one entire album at every show.
They'll have a "Revolver" show one night and an "Abby Road" night another.
The nights I've went, they'll play one "side" of the album, take break, then play the other side. They also don't play dress up, or worry about having Beatles gear ... although their bassist does play a Ric.
Ive always thought it was a cool approach.
I'm sure their "White album " night is their longest gig!
And OF COURSE I play Rics! My primaries are now the 4005V and 4005XC.
My Chicago Tribute Band does two 45 minutes sets. That seems to be the standard around here.
I have been doing Doors tribute bands since 1992. I play mostly theater gigs which run 90 minutes. The Doors repertoire has enough hits and well-known album songs to do an entertaining show that length with plenty of quality songs left over. Best to do a tribute to a band that has a large repertoire of music that people know and want to hear. A couple of nights ago I saw a Phil Collins tribute. They drew from Collins solo hits as well as his hits with Genesis. They played two hours hours and it was all hit songs. A lot of people do Beatles, Pink Floyd, etc. tributes. The trick is doing a tribute that not so many other bands are able to do and do it really well.
I play in a sabbath/ ozzy trib, and we do shows varying from 45 mins to 2 and a half hours according to venue/ festivals needs.
When doing venue shows, we try to find a complimentary band that will also draw people - half of the band also has a Motörhead trib, so we can do double headers of around an hour each and sometimes a decent cover band to open up.
This is also the case when I dep for a Metallica trib.
As an aside, many of the larger pub/ smaller venues pay mainly/ solely based on ticket sales, so you score more bums on seats by adding a larger bands trib. For example - priest, maiden, rhcp etc etc
When doing venue shows, we try to find a complimentary band that will also draw people - half of the band also has a Motörhead trib, so we can do double headers of around an hour each and sometimes a decent cover band to open up.
This is also the case when I dep for a Metallica trib.
As an aside, many of the larger pub/ smaller venues pay mainly/ solely based on ticket sales, so you score more bums on seats by adding a larger bands trib. For example - priest, maiden, rhcp etc etc
Hey now... we were there to rock the house and take on all comers!
We took great pride in out-energizing anyone else that we might be sharing the stage with. And, if Bruce could do it with the E Street Band (in his younger days at least), we could too. Honestly, when the crowd is rocking as hard as we were, it just made sense. Maybe this was the reason that Scott Travis asked to sit in on drums with us at a gig... 'bout pooped my pants when that happened. So cool.
I’ve “recently” had gigs with two local tribute acts; a Blues Brothers tribute and an Elvis tribute.
Most of the musicians for these acts have other gigs. So, the vocalists, who organize the shows, have a call list for the players. I share the gigs in the Blues Brothers gigs with another bass player, and just recently started playing as a 2nd call for the Elvis show.
To answer your specific Q, each of these acts has sufficient repertoire for 3 - 4 sets; but, most typically will perform one or two sets at the events, which tend to be big stage / hall festivals or events, as opposed to clubs. Though we have played at least one club; so, no hard and fast rules.
As with any musical project, the key is getting gigs. That means that a successfully gigging tribute needs to generally play popular material, as opposed to material that the musicians may happen to think is hip. And, someone has to hustle the gigs - the hardest part.
Best of luck with your project!
The point of the post is to find out what OTHER bands are doing.
Not sure how I failed to supply the requested information?
When I was in a tribute band it would really depend on the venue. We did a lot of country clubs and private communities and those will just be an hour and a half show. When we would do outdoor amphitheaters and other places and it would be two hour and 15 sets sometimes.
I know of a few bands that do tributes to different artists. It would be like a 90 minute set of one artist and then a 90 minute set of another artist with a costume change in between. Some artists you might have a good 75–80 minutes of material and then it really starts getting into B sides and obscure stuff.
Also see if anybody else is doing it. We were fortunate that no one else in the area had a tribute to the artist we did. But there’s multiple Eagles and Fleetwood Mac and Journey tributes.
I know of a few bands that do tributes to different artists. It would be like a 90 minute set of one artist and then a 90 minute set of another artist with a costume change in between. Some artists you might have a good 75–80 minutes of material and then it really starts getting into B sides and obscure stuff.
Also see if anybody else is doing it. We were fortunate that no one else in the area had a tribute to the artist we did. But there’s multiple Eagles and Fleetwood Mac and Journey tributes.
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I played in three different tribute bands. Show is always in concert format, so one set up to 2 hours long. Exception are festival shows, where it's typically one 1h long set. But basically, you adopt to what organizer needs.
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