Playing songs right before a 'tribute' band

[G On Bass]

Courtesy question here:

Let's say Band 'A' is one of several bands playing a show. Bands 'B' and 'C' are Tribute bands. Band 'A' is a mostly cover band.

One of Band 'A's better and most fun songs to play is by the artist being tributized in Band 'B'. Band 'A' and 'B' have never met.

Without knowing whether or not Band 'B' is even going to play the song in question, does Band 'A':
1.) Remove it from the set
2.) Move that one song to the beginning of Band 'A's set
3.) Do nothing and play it where originally slated in the set

Thoughts?

 

[agreatheight]

Remove.

Unless you can check it out with the tribute band. They might be cool with you playing it, in which case you could do it last.

But otherwise, remove. Lots of other songs you could play.

 

[Pokerdweebz]

I'm not as experienced as most people on here, but I would assume it is a no brainer to remove any songs by the two tribute bands.

 

[Winfred]

Eh, try to check with the tribute bands and see if you're doing any of their material. If you can't get in touch with them, or their representative, you could err on the side of caution and drop songs you think they might do. But only if you've got enough material left to do your own show. You're getting paid too, and you're expected to fill your time slot with music.

 

[Kmonk]

Remove.

Unless you can check it out with the tribute band. They might be cool with you playing it, in which case you could do it last.

But otherwise, remove. Lots of other songs you could play.

+1

 

[Renaissance]

Pull the songs in question. There is no good outcome leaving the songs in.

 

[two fingers]

It would really help to know the song and tribute band. This isn't a universal question to me. If you are talking about "Don't Stop Believing" before a Journey band, then drop it. That's their biggest hit and you would be silly to think they won't play it. If you are talking about doing a Jackson Five song before an MJ band, that's not so cut and dry.

Now, here's the thing to think about. No one in the audience is going to be offended if you DON'T do one of their sings. But somebody could think you guys are jerks if you DO. Not to mention, the front guy for the tribute band could call you out on the mic and cause a mess there. So why risk it? Are the rest of your songs so bad that your band will seem terrible without it?

 

[sj_bass]

"No brainer" is right.

Pull it. Even if band 'B' has no intention of playing the song, you'll still create comparisons in the minds of the audience ("wow, Band A sounded more like 'Warren Zevon' than Band B...")

That reminds me... Maybe I should work on a Warren Zevon tribute?

 

[SevenJacks]

But somebody could think you guys are jerks if you DO. Not to mention, the front guy for the tribute band could call you out on the mic and cause a mess there.

This was my first reaction.
If I was in band ''B" I would think it was pretty low class.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Even if your one isn't in their list I still wouldn't do it. One of you will look bad if you do. More likely you.

 

[gumtown]

Or you could try to invoke a reaction by doing songs from both tribute bands, and then ask the audience to judge who does them better.
(probably best not to actually do that though)

 

[Downlowd]

I would say its pretty common knowledge that you don't play an original song from he headlining band. But from a tribute band... I don't know. I would say it really depends on the personality of the tribute band. If they are uptight, they will probably be offended.

My only personal experience has been this;

My 3 piece Texas Country Band played a fundraiser several years back. One of our favorite cover tunes was written by the headliner. We decided to play it because it was one of our best songs, it is one of our favorites and we honestly felt like we were honoring the song writer.
After we played our set, we ran into the original song writer before he went on. He was probably the nicest, most genuine musician I have ever met. He said," I heard you guys do my song... you rocked it". It was awesome. I imagine that would not be the usual response though.

 

[lowfreq33]

Pull the songs. Professional courtesy. If that leaves you a few songs short, learn a few new ones.

 

[Bert Slide]

Not without asking is the courteous thing to do and I wouldn't ask unless I knew them. They may want you to play it to jack up the crowd if it doesn't conflict with their set selections as stated.

To turn it around, we followed an Ozzy Osborne tribute at a benefit last Spring. Dude's been doing it 20+ years and kills. Looks and sounds dead on Ozzy with a super tight backup band. Great! We have to follow Ozzy! We do play some Sabbath but decided it was best to avoid it. The crowd at the event was mostly his fans and we opened with an Operation Ivy tune to a half full room of very puzzled looking Ozzy fanatics with big hair and leather costumes. Priceless!

 

[Rowdy]

When did tribute bands start deserving respect?

 

[Downunderwonder]

I would say its pretty common knowledge that you don't play an original song from he headlining band. But from a tribute band... I don't know. I would say it really depends on the personality of the tribute band. If they are uptight, they will probably be offended.

My only personal experience has been this;

My 3 piece Texas Country Band played a fundraiser several years back. One of our favorite cover tunes was written by the headliner. We decided to play it because it was one of our best songs, it is one of our favorites and we honestly felt like we were honoring the song writer.
After we played our set, we ran into the original song writer before he went on. He was probably the nicest, most genuine musician I have ever met. He said," I heard you guys do my song... you rocked it". It was awesome. I imagine that would not be the usual response though.

So cool and so un-cool.

 

[G On Bass]

Thanks everyone!

Band 'A' has plenty of songs they know well, so it sounds like the decision to pull it has been confirmed.

 

[Phalex]

Stepping on toes is usually not a good idea. It can be fun as hell, but it's not a good idea......

 

[Factor88]

When did tribute bands start deserving respect?

It is not a question of respect but rather courtesy, as the OP clearly stated in their question. We should all start out by being courteous to each other, regardless of the level of respect we have for one another.

Anyway, to the OPs question, as others suggested either drop the song or better still try to get a contact for the band in question and ask them if they have a problem with you playing the song.

 

[BigJohnAZ]

My brother's band had a similar instance where they were opening for a band and the other BL asked my brother to go to their website to get their song list and not play any that overlapped. As it turned out, the other BL told my brother which songs they wouldn't be playing so they could play them if they so desired. Communication is the key and no one was put in a bad situation.