Thanks for that reminder. Such a moving piece of music. It has it's own atmosphere. Santana's version, too. Green's tone is superb. Both versions are equally great.
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Serious question on 'Tribute Bands'
- Thread starter ThudThudThud
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Thanks for that reminder. Such a moving piece of music. It has it's own atmosphere. Santana's version, too. Green's tone is superb. Both versions are equally great.
I like original music, but I'm also fine with covers - why not? ^_^ I've seen several Beatles tribute and cover bands over the years. Didn't particularly mean to, the opportunities just arose, I saw the shows, and liked each one in their own way. Those are just good songs, to start with, so they make good listening if well performed. A local cover band does mostly the older catalogue (mixed with a few other British Invasion tunes here and there), and they're great fun. I saw a full tribute band quite some time ago (I forget their name), and they also were great fun - they performed in character, had some of the banter down, and did somewhat passable impersonations, played and sang great.
Best band for Beatles tunes that I've seen is The Fab Faux (featuring Will Lee from the Letterman show and Jimmy Vivino from Conan, among others). They really get the sound, down to the little details. There's something about seeing and hearing that stuff live that's captivating. Will Lee is actually quite the showman, a little surprising for a "studio" guy.
Best band for Beatles tunes that I've seen is The Fab Faux (featuring Will Lee from the Letterman show and Jimmy Vivino from Conan, among others). They really get the sound, down to the little details. There's something about seeing and hearing that stuff live that's captivating. Will Lee is actually quite the showman, a little surprising for a "studio" guy.
Ask yourself this...you 're a local schmoe playing in bar bands where the personnel turns over but the name remains. Why are big-name acts any different?
How many members have to leave before it's a problem, is it OK that Bill Wyman isn't in the Rolling Stones any more?
Is King Crimson a tribute band because Bobby Fripp is the only member who's been in every lineup?
Is Paul McCartney a tribute act to himself?
Paul McCartney is not only a tribute act to himself, but a darned good one.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
So in that case, the only thing that is important is the name? My post was aimed at people who claim that the don't care about tribute bands, but only the "original" bands. It isn't that cut and dried.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
I would pay to see The Fab Faux before I would pay to see a lot of the bands that are still touring, a shell of their former selves. It's all about the quality of the music, more than the name on the ticket.
Indeed, Mr. B...! A tribute to a tribute... A Recursive Act... Like Deja Vu when you actually have done it before...!
One kind of peculiar "cover/tribute" is those who play music from movies. While neither cover nor tribute it's someone elses music. One of the most intriguing and rewarding experiences for me personally, was a few years ago (a decade) actually where I was involved in a sort of huge JAMES BOND project. Now, James Bond isn't a band or artist, but we where a huge project, a large band with horns and different lead singers. A few gigs, well paid, and well attended. Now we didn't just do the John Barry stuff, but ALL lead signature motif songs from the 60's and forwards, for which it was a huge difference in sound and arrangements. It's not even the same music style. Being able to wrap up all singers that could pull off Tom Jones's "Thunderball" as well as Duran Durans "A View to a Kill" and Shirley Bassey and all "soul" female singers. We did not do Adele, or Chris Cornell, because this was prior to these films. As it turned out the most varied and definitely fun "cover" project I ever was involved in, the absolutely most fun song of them all to play, was the main theme song - of course - to "Live and Let Die" by Paul McCartney. It still trumps all the other ones, and almost six deeps the rest of them, in drama, tension and release, and ... gravitas.
That sounds really cool. I think you touched on something important: a cover band with a concept is not the same as a tribute band. For example, my cover band plays 60's psychedelic pop/rock exclusively. We go for the sweet spot 1966-69. That's our concept. But tribute bands for the most part are trying to reenact the concert experience from one band or artist. I'm just not into that. It seems kind of silly. And anyone in the audience who buys into that, has (IMO) as very superficial relationship to music. It's essentially wallpaper for them. And as long as wallpapers look similar, they are functionally identical.
i mostly play jazz which in it's own way is a 'tribute', if not to a particular artist, much like the point made about orchestras paying/playing tribute. but unlike orchestral/classical music, playing a note for note copy would be, in this case, un-jazz like.
but i'll be playing in an elvis tribute show in a few months: a fundraiser for the student musicians. i've done that show before and it's well attended and wildly popular because the 'elvis' is so good, especially vocally. i can really get behind the intent of the show. (it's a few older pros in key positions playing with HS students who play the 'orchestra' parts.) it's not in my usual wheelhouse, however, and i wouldn't do it if it were not for the cause. not really an elvis fan, anyway.
some years ago one of my bands (R&B, soul) played a gig with a beatles tribute band --- costumes, fake accents, etc.....i was embarrassed for those guys....but the audience ate it up!
so: what i personally like/favor has nothing to do with what the fickle, paying public will support. when has it ever been different? musicians who dress up in any way (take a shower!) and play for a paying audience owe their patrons a good time. if they succeed in that: they're golden. if they don't: well, the market takes care of that!
it takes all manner of deviations and iterations to make evolution 'happen'.
but i'll be playing in an elvis tribute show in a few months: a fundraiser for the student musicians. i've done that show before and it's well attended and wildly popular because the 'elvis' is so good, especially vocally. i can really get behind the intent of the show. (it's a few older pros in key positions playing with HS students who play the 'orchestra' parts.) it's not in my usual wheelhouse, however, and i wouldn't do it if it were not for the cause. not really an elvis fan, anyway.
some years ago one of my bands (R&B, soul) played a gig with a beatles tribute band --- costumes, fake accents, etc.....i was embarrassed for those guys....but the audience ate it up!
so: what i personally like/favor has nothing to do with what the fickle, paying public will support. when has it ever been different? musicians who dress up in any way (take a shower!) and play for a paying audience owe their patrons a good time. if they succeed in that: they're golden. if they don't: well, the market takes care of that!
it takes all manner of deviations and iterations to make evolution 'happen'.
To me it's just about how well played and presented the music is. I've most definitely seen tribute bands that I liked, and some that sucked, certainly ... tribute things are far from my main focus in going to see live music, but I don't think they're inherently silly. There are many flowers in the garden.
Here locally, there's a yearly festival of local bands gathering to do covers and "tributes" centered on a new theme each year (such as artists associated with or sharing a name with places from all across the country). It's always a mixed bag, but there are some real gems mixed in. I remember seeing a band doing Earth Wind and Fire a couple years back, and it was just transcendent - they came on as the sun had just gone down and played an amazing version of "Shining Star" under the clear summer night sky ... I literally had goose bumps, it was so good. Other bands might come on and simply do their own interpretation of an artist's songs ... it's all good. I most definitely love original music, but there have been many artists who made a career of doing "covers" (I'm not sure if Sinatra ever wrote a song, for example). It's all in the execution.
Yes, but think of it. How many times has these signature Bond theme songs, been played live, ever? In a row? Even by the original artists? I think people -as audience- really got it, because they thought that these songs aren't played that many times live either way. It would just've turned up astronomically expensive to let all original artists come in and just sing "their" tunes. Just one each!!!
Yes, it was no hack band, and required chart reading as well as lots of rehearsing. I even sat out on those numbers where it required sequencers and synth back tracking. While it was a sort of John Barry "TRIBUTE" band we did the original theme songs, and they could've been written by anyone, not just him. "Live and Let Die" is McCartney/McCartney tune actually, with input from George Martin, in arrangements. The most expensive things was to get the rights and copyrights to use some "backdrops" and 30 seconds video clips from original trailers of each of the movies at certain spots during the show. That cost more than the whole production combined. Anyway, nuff of this, some kind of "tribute band" it was anyway, of some sorts. James Bond tribute band. We were 20 in that band. Big band plus extras. Synths keys, some strings...and alternating 4-5 lead singers...but I agree, those kind of "feature" songs do have a certain common flair and flavor to them, although sometimes the production and arrangements turned quite bombastic, and then some...Me myself could in the end not perceive this but a giant John Barry Tribute.
Well, your James Bond project doesn't really seem like a tribute in the sense that you aren't trying to recreate/reenact a concert experience by another artist. It seems more in line with a classical music concert. Now if a classical music concert featured people in powdered wigs, with the expressed goal of recreating/reenacting what a Mozart concert experience might have been like, that would be a Mozart Tribute act. But merely playing Mozart compositions doesn't quite check the tribute box for me. Same with the Fab Faux. I don't think Lee and Valvino are trying to recreate a Beatles concert experience by dressing up as Paul and John, respectively. They are merely playing the music with great respect and attention to detail.Yes, but think of it. How many times has these signature Bond theme songs, been played live, ever? In a row? Even by the original artists? I think people -as audience- really got it, because they thought that these songs aren't played that many times live either way. It would just've turned up astronomically expensive to let all original artists come in and just sing "their" tunes. Just one each!!!
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Tribute band=specialized cover band with or without costumes. If you can pull it off, more power to you.
Tribute act - Wikipedia
Tribute act - Wikipedia
My point was that there are very few orchestras doing current composers music. Mostly it's just a 200 year old set list that changes occasionally.
Are they coming up with any new karate moves?
