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What makes a good, successful tribute band?
- Thread starter Mister Mo
- Start date
I recently saw a Fleetwood Mac tribute band. Their Stevie sounded like Stevie, their Lindsey sounded like Lindsey, but their Christine McVie sounded NOTHING like her. Nevertheless, she did have a good voice and they all performed the songs excellently, so...
It'd be impossible for an Audioslave tribute to be successful even if the singer was a dead ringer for Cornell. Not enough fans of that band to sustain a tribute audience.
There's a Tom Petty tribute band around here. They're very good. The LS sort of resembles TP, but that's not important to me. As long as the music is authentic, who cares what they look like, right?
Except that there's also an AC/DC tribute band locally. The lead singer is pretty good, but he's a middle aged man and he performs shirtless. He really needs to wear a shirt. I mean, he hasn't seen a gym since high school. Somebody really needs to talk to him.
Except that there's also an AC/DC tribute band locally. The lead singer is pretty good, but he's a middle aged man and he performs shirtless. He really needs to wear a shirt. I mean, he hasn't seen a gym since high school. Somebody really needs to talk to him.
If you have a guy that can do cornell you should do a soundgarden tribute instead of audioslave (or both).
Chris sometimes had some really iffy vocal performances and he had some of the best vocal performances. He would be a difficult one to capture becuase his live vocals were sometimes nothing like the recorded pieces.
That being said, it begs the question. Does a tribute band need to sound album perfect or live perfect?
That being said, it begs the question. Does a tribute band need to sound album perfect or live perfect?
IME tribute acts can become tedious very quickly.
They require certain parameters to be followed or met, in order to be successful. Even so, most tribute acts, around here at least, still only perform as little as every 6 months, at best every 3 months. Maybe this helps alleviate some of the tediousness?
This may or may not be enough for you.
If vocals are limited or are hindering the possibility of forming a tribute act, consider a Genre Tribute.. where you play one specific genre but cover multiple bands.
These bands offer the scene, style, presence, feel without the imperative vocal exactness.... they're a bit more forgiving in the vocal department and they draw a good crowd and often get regular gigs.
They require certain parameters to be followed or met, in order to be successful. Even so, most tribute acts, around here at least, still only perform as little as every 6 months, at best every 3 months. Maybe this helps alleviate some of the tediousness?
This may or may not be enough for you.
If vocals are limited or are hindering the possibility of forming a tribute act, consider a Genre Tribute.. where you play one specific genre but cover multiple bands.
These bands offer the scene, style, presence, feel without the imperative vocal exactness.... they're a bit more forgiving in the vocal department and they draw a good crowd and often get regular gigs.
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I'm in Three Hot Chili Peppers. I do not look anything like Flea.
But, my singer/lead singer plays like John and sings like Anthony.
We play all the hits, deep cuts, live jams, Zeppelin or Rush/Peppers mashups, I jump around on stage acting crazy (burns a lot of calories), we wear funny and or sexy outfits, and stay high energy from start to finish. We've never had a complaint that there's only 3 of us and I don't look like Flea.
Having said that, The Musical Box recreates live Genesis down to every detail and they are amazing.
Short version- vocals must sound the same as the original band. That gets you in the door and hired back next month. And play the hits until you have a following that wants deep cuts. The band should have a catalog to fill 90-120 minutes of recognizable music.
But, my singer/lead singer plays like John and sings like Anthony.
We play all the hits, deep cuts, live jams, Zeppelin or Rush/Peppers mashups, I jump around on stage acting crazy (burns a lot of calories), we wear funny and or sexy outfits, and stay high energy from start to finish. We've never had a complaint that there's only 3 of us and I don't look like Flea.
Having said that, The Musical Box recreates live Genesis down to every detail and they are amazing.
Short version- vocals must sound the same as the original band. That gets you in the door and hired back next month. And play the hits until you have a following that wants deep cuts. The band should have a catalog to fill 90-120 minutes of recognizable music.
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I used to turn my nose up at doing covers, but all I've done the last four years is cover bands (primarily tributes). I use to think it was lame as hell, because I just wanted to write songs. But that's a hard thing to get people to come to. Once I realized a ton of people would come out and have fun, that meant something to me.
I think people are bringing up a lot of good points about the vocals sounding close enough and the band sounding good enough. But if you're talking about "successful" in terms of people showing up and paying, you need to know your market. A lot of people start tributes of bands they like and nobody comes and it doesn't pay that well. I swear there are seven active TOOL tributes in my metro, but the market for that is really small. It's heavily music for musicians, for dudes. Who don't show up. A Jane's Addiction/Porno for Pyros tribute? Nobody is showing up for that. GnR? If you've got the right demographics living in the area, that will be well attended. AC/DC? Probably, so long as you have enough bros that will come out for that living nearby.
The most consistent success I've seen is record sales, ability to get women to show up, and the singalong factor. The more serious or more niche the music gets, the less chance you have of people showing up.
Stuff that is pop adjacent where people are nostalgic and not too young but not too old is going to get you a lot of visibility. No Doubt, blink 182, Fall Out Boy? You'll get a lot of women between 25-45 wanting to come to that. They'll bring a lot of people. They're awesome audience members and are just locked into the show, screaming the lyrics and going nuts. Have a frontperson or two who are charsmatic with that material and they'll keep coming back.
One of my tributes has legit fans. People that will show up to like any show across the metro. Women who are way better looking that I who run game on me during/after the show. It's so much fun having a locked in crowd who knows the material and who goes nuts.
If you can get multiple bands of the same type with some of the same band members and swap them in, you can do two-three bands of your own for one show. It makes it way more worth your time.
Don't play three hour sets of deep cuts. Keep sets under 90 minutes, maybe stretch towards two hours on occassion when you think the fans who love all the material might show.
Also -> Don't play too much. I know some of the really good trib bands who do this. They play every week in front of like five people anywhere. My bands may play only 6-10 shows a year, but we strategically place them for max audience size (300-500 people on a good night) and they'll easily pay $25-$30 each to go. Note: I feel awful because my friend's legit, internationally known band charges less than this when they come through town.
Bottom Line: Pick bands women will show up to see. Have charismatic front people. Go balls out playing.
I think people are bringing up a lot of good points about the vocals sounding close enough and the band sounding good enough. But if you're talking about "successful" in terms of people showing up and paying, you need to know your market. A lot of people start tributes of bands they like and nobody comes and it doesn't pay that well. I swear there are seven active TOOL tributes in my metro, but the market for that is really small. It's heavily music for musicians, for dudes. Who don't show up. A Jane's Addiction/Porno for Pyros tribute? Nobody is showing up for that. GnR? If you've got the right demographics living in the area, that will be well attended. AC/DC? Probably, so long as you have enough bros that will come out for that living nearby.
The most consistent success I've seen is record sales, ability to get women to show up, and the singalong factor. The more serious or more niche the music gets, the less chance you have of people showing up.
Stuff that is pop adjacent where people are nostalgic and not too young but not too old is going to get you a lot of visibility. No Doubt, blink 182, Fall Out Boy? You'll get a lot of women between 25-45 wanting to come to that. They'll bring a lot of people. They're awesome audience members and are just locked into the show, screaming the lyrics and going nuts. Have a frontperson or two who are charsmatic with that material and they'll keep coming back.
One of my tributes has legit fans. People that will show up to like any show across the metro. Women who are way better looking that I who run game on me during/after the show. It's so much fun having a locked in crowd who knows the material and who goes nuts.
If you can get multiple bands of the same type with some of the same band members and swap them in, you can do two-three bands of your own for one show. It makes it way more worth your time.
Don't play three hour sets of deep cuts. Keep sets under 90 minutes, maybe stretch towards two hours on occassion when you think the fans who love all the material might show.
Also -> Don't play too much. I know some of the really good trib bands who do this. They play every week in front of like five people anywhere. My bands may play only 6-10 shows a year, but we strategically place them for max audience size (300-500 people on a good night) and they'll easily pay $25-$30 each to go. Note: I feel awful because my friend's legit, internationally known band charges less than this when they come through town.
Bottom Line: Pick bands women will show up to see. Have charismatic front people. Go balls out playing.
I played bass in a Beatles tribute band in my younger days. The first thing to grasp in the context of a tribute band is that it's not just music. It's theater. Certainly, you have to get the music right, but you also have to get the instruments, stagewear, movements and dialect right.
To a large extent, any tribute band is a novelty act. To keep playing regularly, I found that we had to travel more and more. If you're anything less than true pros, making a living from the band, the traveling can wear you out.
Think of it like this: if the band that is the subject of your tribute had been from your home town, how many times would you pay to see them do essentially the same show? That's why you have to keep traveling and presenting yourself to new audiences.
It's ideal for the tribute band's vocals to closely mimic the original, but I never found it to be essential. The range and the basic character of the voices need to match, though.
To a large extent, any tribute band is a novelty act. To keep playing regularly, I found that we had to travel more and more. If you're anything less than true pros, making a living from the band, the traveling can wear you out.
Think of it like this: if the band that is the subject of your tribute had been from your home town, how many times would you pay to see them do essentially the same show? That's why you have to keep traveling and presenting yourself to new audiences.
It's ideal for the tribute band's vocals to closely mimic the original, but I never found it to be essential. The range and the basic character of the voices need to match, though.
I've been in a slayer tribute for 5 years now. Our success is due to our accuracy, passion, and the fans of the band. Slayer has a die hard following. We can tap into a fraction of that passion by doing our best to crush every song. I've also played bass in a Judas Priest tribute. That band has a more theatric vibe that required costumes in addition to the above. I would love to do a Faith no More tribute but it's hard to find the players. I would avoid the obvious but stick with the hit makers.
It's also about just providing something a potential audience can latch on to and get excited about. If you're an average rock covers band with a random name, no USP, no stage presence, and wears shorts onstage, it doesn't mean anything to anyone really.
It's easy to see a poster for a Queen tribute and think, 'that'll be fun'. Equally, an 80's tribute band. If a band is called something naff like ' Back to the 80's', it's obvious what they are and people will go for a fun night.
I guess what I'm suggesting is, you don't necessarily have to go the tribute band route, you can just get better with your niche, branding and marketing strategy.
It's easy to see a poster for a Queen tribute and think, 'that'll be fun'. Equally, an 80's tribute band. If a band is called something naff like ' Back to the 80's', it's obvious what they are and people will go for a fun night.
I guess what I'm suggesting is, you don't necessarily have to go the tribute band route, you can just get better with your niche, branding and marketing strategy.
Thank you for taking the time to write an insightful response that really adds to this conversation.
