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Cover Band annoyance

#121
Obviously a cover band does not "own" the song, but can show some originality and seriously musicianship.

I play in a jazz band - we play mostly our of the Real book. No originals, but our trumpet and sax player can solo for 10 minutes without repeating a phrase, and take a song places you never thought it would go.

I play in a band that does mostly covers - rock, blues, and modern country. We take songs and do fun things with them. We can do Roadhouse Blues, Whipping Post, or One Way out and do play 4s, or totally change the song if we want. We can also cover a song note for note..

To me, both of those things show a lont of musical integrity and originality - more than some original projects I've done.

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#122
morgansterne said:
I saw a local cover group do "caribbean queen" which was embarrassing enough, but then the saxophone solo started with no sax player on stage. They were instantly and mercilessly heckled by the audience. It was awesome.
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I guess they weren't sharing the same dream.
 
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#123
Lots of very narrow-minded old folks yelling at clouds in this thread.

Do we use tracks? Not yet. Once there's a budget for all of us to have IEM's? Probably. If it makes the performance sound better to the folks that are paying the bill, then hell yeah I'll run tracks.

Hate on the future all you want. I'll embrace it if it means that the gigs keep coming.
 
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#124
The OP obviously isn't in the cover band scene as this is a HUGE debate amongst the community, at least it is in my area.
You have a lot of purists who swear 'no tracks ever' but the one thing most people can agree on is that the audience doesn't give a crap.
Cover bands usually exist to make money. If I can track the background instruments instead of hiring a keyboardist, horn section, etc; I just put more money in my pocket and saved a lot of hassle dealing with more musicians. This goes for both original AND cover bands, many famous original acts use tracks!

As far as covers and artistic integrity...
I realize the rock and roll thing to do is write and perform your own music, but not everyone is a talented songwriter. I'm just a bassist, that's what I do best. Thus no matter what kind of band I am in, it will always be someone else's songs. I'd rather go with the songs that make me money. That's just me. Some value originality over money and I respect that.
 
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#125
Fat Steve said:
Lots of very narrow-minded old folks yelling at clouds in this thread.

Do we use tracks? Not yet. Once there's a budget for all of us to have IEM's? Probably. If it makes the performance sound better to the folks that are paying the bill, then hell yeah I'll run tracks.

Hate on the future all you want. I'll embrace it if it means that the gigs keep coming.
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i dont consider myself old (early 30s) and im with the crowd that thinks its hella lame.
 
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#126
I have a friend that used to play drums with an Eagles tribute. All the songs had keys and backing vocals on backing tracks. He had an iPod next to his kit.

The songs were arranged in set list sequence and he just had to hit play to start the next song after announcements, instruments changes etc.

This worked fine for them, they worked all the time for big money. Except for one night when the shuffle button accidentally got pressed! Chaos ensued!
 
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#128
Yeah...I blame Idol, the Voice, et al. for this. WE ARE MUSICIANS. We busted our butts to learn how to play and WHAT WE DO IS VALUABLE. I love to see what bands CAN do with covers and/or originals and that why I go to see LIVE music. I've played in loads of bands, primarily original(yes, I play bass AND write songs!) and we've done covers for fun...it's great to pull out a tune and wait for the audience to have their "ah-HA!" moment when you've taken the time/trouble to make it your own. I see it as a time-honored tradition to cover a song by an artist you admire! Count on us being gone fast if we encounter this kind of "karaoke" or WHATEVER you wanna call it...we're not impressed~
 
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#130
Pyrat said:
Yeah...I blame Idol, the Voice, et al. for this. WE ARE MUSICIANS. We busted our butts to learn how to play and WHAT WE DO IS VALUABLE. I love to see what bands CAN do with covers and/or originals and that why I go to see LIVE music.

Count on us being gone fast if we encounter this kind of "karaoke" or WHATEVER you wanna call it...we're not impressed~
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So did we. That's why we play live. And you'd seriously sooner quit playing than play in a band usin tracks? Do you think cover bands with tracks mime while the track plays?
 
#133
Fat Steve said:
Lots of very narrow-minded old folks yelling at clouds in this thread.

Do we use tracks? Not yet. Once there's a budget for all of us to have IEM's? Probably. If it makes the performance sound better to the folks that are paying the bill, then hell yeah I'll run tracks.

Hate on the future all you want. I'll embrace it if it means that the gigs keep coming.
Click to expand...
+1

I don't use them and wouldn't, but if someone else wants to, I don't care. If you don't like them, don't use them and don't patronize bands that do use them.
 
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#135
buldog5151bass said:
Obviously a cover band does not "own" the song, but can show some originality and seriously musicianship. I play in a jazz band - we play mostly our of the Real book. No originals, but our trumpet and sax player can solo for 10 minutes without repeating a phrase, and take a song places you never thought it would go.
Click to expand...

That's pretty situational and contextual. Depending on the songs and the rooms, in my neighborhood if you apply a little too much "originality and musicianship" to well-loved songs, you probably won't be asked back.

I play in a band that does mostly covers - rock, blues, and modern country. We take songs and do fun things with them. We can do Roadhouse Blues, Whipping Post, or One Way out and do play 4s, or totally change the song if we want. We can also cover a song note for note..To me, both of those things show a lont of musical integrity and originality - more than some original projects I've done.
Click to expand...

Again, lots of room for improv with some music, not so much with other music. I do like your take on "musical integrity." Sometimes that means go for it, spin away, and turn it into something completely new. Sometimes "musical integrity" means play it straight and faithful to the most well-known version. It just depends who you're talking to at the moment.

I believe in musical integrity, but I don't want anyone calling me an "artist" for playing a faithful bass line to "Brown Eyed Girl," and I certainly don't think I have "artistic integrity."

But I can refer to you as "The Artist Formerly Know As Buldog" if you like. ;)
 
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#138
backing tracks for a 'live' band are always a disappointment for me, all the way back to seeing zz top in 81 and noticing they used backing tracks. aw c'mon, man!

we do not use backing tracks. we opened for a 'backing track' cover band recently. they were great, the crowd loved them. their singer later told us how much she appreciated our set, done 'by a real band' as she put it.
 
#139
eldorado2001 said:
I wouldn't want to even be in a band that used backing tracks. I saw John Kay (as Steppenwolf) play with backing tracks, then a few weeks later Burton Cummings (as The Guess Who) doing the same and was pretty disappointed that they had eschewed live musicians for recorded ones.
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I would be disappointed too, mainly because (A) The music those guys play is not that complicated, and (B) They could have found some players to reproduce it live.

Now, if those artists had loads of complex strings or orchestrated parts and they couldn't afford to bring along 60 extra musicians to reproduce it, that's another story. And most cover bands I know who use sequences and tracks do it just for that reason; they want to give their audiences the full experience but can't afford to pay or fit that many people on their stages.
 
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