Are club cover bands dead?

[MegaSwing]

No. Because there will always be standouts that rise to the top of the game—which is entertaining people. The music is only the vehicle. It's relatively easy to find strong players. Not nearly as easy to keep an audience's attention for three or four sets.

 

[BOOG]

Cleveland (still) Rocks!

 

[pbass2]

Not in NorCal/Sonoma/Marin area. There are also lots of tribute bands. The "cover" bands however that get good gigs tend to be acts that are focused on a specific genre or style, and even as specific as a period of genre---retro country, 70's soul, 80's new wave, etc etc. Often mixed with some originals. Cover bands that just play an unrelated mish-mash of whatever---I don't see those so much in the nicer clubs/bars/breweries (but admittedly I don't go looking for that or have any interest in doing that myself).

 

[waynobass]

Carrots: I don't know. I pay no attention to the cover band scene. But there are an increasing number of tribute bands.

 

[Nuisance]

Definitely not dead in Louisville.

 

[TroyK]

They're not dead in the Seattle area where I'm based.

I was actually going to post that the answer was regional, but that in Seattle the market for cover bands to play in bars and clubs was very small, compared to original rock, soul, funk, R&B, other.

I know that outside of Seattle it is more common. Curious why our perceptions are so different. Aside from private events like weddings and corporate events, I wouldn't know where to book a cover band.

 

[Rockgeezer]

Not dead in SW Florida. Quite the contrary. Because of the year round warm weather here with outside and open air venues, there are hundreds of bands clamoring for spots to play in more places than I can ever mention here. As an example, our club/bar band last year played in 32 different venues and our tribute acts played in another 12. It was quite the eye opener when I moved here from Virginia ten years ago where the venues and bands were significantly less. So…my experiences have been that it is largely dependent on the location.

 

[J-Bass RMR]

 

[sawzalot]

Not dead in DC and N. VA. Not playing to old people either.

 

[lamarjones]

Raleigh NC, there are a few good ones that keep busy. And then there's the rest, but they do stay fairly busy.

Most of the latter just won't keep up with the times. Hell even hitting the 2000s seems like asking for a lot. The big ones understand that. Has a lot to do if you just gonna see some old people or a bouncing scene, of course stage game usually follows with that

 

[EdO.]

In Atlanta, I seem to see more of the tribute bands too. Mostly, there are artists that put bands together to do tributes to different artists, not one band dedicated to a particular artist. One artist may cover multiple different artists/genres. Tribute shows are all over the city pretty frequently.

Not dead in KC either. However the number of quality venues (fairly full to full houses, decent payout, upper scale A-list bands) has definitely shrunk. There are still the run-of-the-mill bars that have bands playing the same old bar band stuff for $500 a night but the "better", more upper scale places mostly book only A-List bands and pay them accordingly. So you've gotta be good and you've gotta be established to get those gigs.

Of course there are the supposed-to-be tribute bands that cover multiple tributes all within the same group of players too, generally 2 or 3 different tributes per gig, one different tribute per set. Some are really good, some are trying to be so many different "tributes" that much of it is still basically bar band level product. A couple of groups here that between the two of them probably "tribute" 20-ish different name acts. Which is probably smart marketing on their part, however it noticeably dilutes the quality of some of the product they're putting out and it sucks up a lot of the oxygen and functional blocks out anyone else who wants to get into that market.

Generally speaking there is work available but you gotta hustle it up. Having a reputation and a following makes a significant difference.

 

[Gervais Cote]

Still going strong in suburban cities around Montreal, Canada.

 

[silky smoove]

I was actually going to post that the answer was regional, but that in Seattle the market for cover bands to play in bars and clubs was very small, compared to original rock, soul, funk, R&B, other.

Just like everything else Seattle-related it is highly dependent on which neighborhood is being described, and I was also describing the greater Seattle area which could, at least in mind) be described as far north as Everett, as far south as Tacoma, and as far east as Issaquah. If you're in Wallingford or Fremont, the broadly defined funk genre seems to absolutely dominate for sure. Ballard is like the last vestige of indie/alternative spots. Beyond that there seems to be a pretty active covers market. I know I've been called to sub on gigs all over the area for years, though admittedly in the last few I've been turning down all but the most interesting sub opportunities since I'm playing too many dates as-is, and if I'm going sacrifice my free time to play even more, it had better be good.

 

[Quadzilla]

Still a fairly l, decent scene here in the Baltimore/Washington DC area...

 

[Hurricane Jimmie]

So...are club cover bands dead? No, they just sound that way.

So Anyway, our little trio plays an eclectic mix of covers and we love requests. We've been at it a while.
None of the hits, all the time.
But yeah, when I hear some of my music tribe play the classic hits just to coax people to dance, they sound a little dead.
Their heart's somewhere else.

 

[Quadzilla]

Not dead around Philly either, although the tribute bands seem to be getting more attention from the nicer venues. And a few of the bars we used to play have converted to DJs, Quizzo etc.

I'm near Baltimore, however, I gig a couple of rooms there in Philly....TLA and World Cafe. However, we had a gig at World Cafe a couple of months ago and didn't have our typical turn-out (which is normally 2/3rds or more full). It was maybe 25%.... Come to find out, they had lost their liquor license. Staff said that the owner didn't pay a fine price something like that.

 

[covermego]

Not dead in NorCal / Redding area. My main band does Billy Joel/Elton John covers (NOT a tribute band!) and folks enjoy engaging with us. We don't play a lot of gigs, due to the fact that all the other members are in at LEAST 2 other bands. And now, I have been asked to join a start-up "Rock-n-roll" band, who is already booked at 4 places, so far. I will say, though, as [B]_Obra_[/B] mentioned, we see a lot of folks over and over and over again, out there dancing away...... and a lot of them are in their 50's, 60's and 70's. I cringe at some of their moves, as I watch them carelessly dancing, just waiting for one of them to slip and crack their skull. Actually, I've already witnessed that a couple times.
There is one popular place here in Redding, nicknamed "The Wrinkle Room". The first time I played it, I asked the guitarist why it's named that. He just looked at me and said, "Lenny, these SAME people have been coming here to dance for the last 35 or 40 years, thus the wrinkles......I'm sure you'll fit right in". Lol.
Kidding aside, there are a few places that have younger folks coming out - some of these venues are kid and dog friendly and I see parents with kiddos use this as a family thing. I like that. I also totally love watching the wee littles dancing to our music. I'm wireless, so I will go out onto the floor with them. Lotsa fun.

 

[monsterthompson]

I never really played in that space much, though my first gig ever was a Friday night cover gig in a bar. I followed a few bands in the area but never really sought them out. My focus has generally been bands doing originals, and now I don't really go see those often either. Not the most helpful post here, but I'm interested in the discussion.

 

[Topkat13]

Probably dead in the whole country? Dude you must be a road dog. If you do start playing again ya'll should cover I've been Everywhere by Johnny Cash.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

As a former member of several cover bands for past 30+ years, I can say with certainty that club cover bands are dead in my city and probably in the whole country.

There are a few exception that I can count on the fingers of one hand, but they mostly play their original songs in addition to covers.
I emphasize "club bands" because the topic does not refer to big author's or projects that play in big venues and charge tickets...

I won't go into details and questions about why this is so, I'll just ask a question: Are club cover bands dead in 2026?

It's still out there in pub/and bar circuit, just don't expect to make much money (if any) from it. And you better have an ampless rig…