A warning to tribute bands...

[HammondDave]

Elvis guys are the worst (in terms of blurring the line between the real Elvis, and their inner Elvis). Every Elvis guy I have ever met has been nuts. Thank you; thank you very much.

 

They are followed by Santana guys. Every Santana guy I have ever met has referred to himself in the 3rd person, really thinks he IS Santana (regardless of his race); and the worst of the lot (a guy I played with for 7 years because we had assembled a monster band, and I had managed it into a succe$$ful business employing 10 of us) actually used the words innovative and groundbreaking when referring to his music. (His meaning his, not Carlos.) I threw a chair at him and told him it was for his own good. Sadly, he moved out of the way and escaped injury.and a possible cure. In true paradoxical fashion, he informed me that I just didnt see it as innovative and groundbreaking because it was so far advanced, that I couldnt comprehend it, but that if I could understand it, I would see how . (and Im pretty sure he was referring to his music, not his delusion)

 

Yeah, thats the funny thing about mental illness: defending yourself makes you seem crazier.

 

Tony... That is the funniest post I have EVER read!

[HammondDave]

 

1) You're good or you aren't. If you're a tribute, and your goal is to sound like the original, and you do - you can't really be any better without NOT sounding like the original...which gets into a whole other thing. Then you aren't a tribute.

2) Once you've mastered #1, if you want to step up your game in terms of entertaining, you have to look at the show: lights, props, stage activity, wardrobe, video, etc.

3) All of the items listed in #2 should only be used to the extent that they enhance the show, not distract - here's where many people have a valid argument in criticizing the whole dressing up thing. But I think if it's done tastefully to add to the show, there's nothing wrong. The nature of the tribute has a lot to do with this. Incidentally, lights and other things can distract from the show as well.

 

One piece of the show doesn't cancel out another. I big light show doesn't make a musician less talented any more than a wig does. But it can distract from the audience recognizing the talent if it overwelms the over all experience. I think there's a balance, and it's definitely context related in terms of the tribute. Nobody criticizes a beatles tribute for looking like the beatles. But people are criticized all the time for looking like an 80s hair band. Part of the tribute is not just the music, it's also the fashion and other pop culture of the era. You can do each of those parts well or poorly.

 

I hear ya, Dan... It's all part of show biz! There is a great old song from Gypsy... You Gotta Get a Gimmick!

 

[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huxLKPsSyyU

 

I remember seeing Pink Floyd in 1968. They were four guys dressed in jeans and black T-shirts. They had 16 PAR Cans and a mirror ball. And they blew us away!

 

A far cry from recent Pink Floyd concerts with state of the art lighting, video, inflatables, stagecraft, pyro, lasers, etc... But the music still stands... and even if they got rid of all the design elements, it would still stand.

 

Understand that this is all coming from a guy who designs lighting for live shows. The video above aside, I totally agree with your comments that lights and other gimmicks cannot make up for lack of talent. One of my favorite responses to people who want me to hide a bad show with lights is... "You can make a turd brighter, dimmer, change the color, and flash lights on it... but after all is said and done, its still a turd!"

 

 

[Tonysounds]

You can't polish a turd......it just gets softer.

[Pa Gherkin]

You can't polish a turd......it just gets softer.

 

Yeah,but you can roll it in glitter.

[Phloid]

Elvis guys are the worst (in terms of blurring the line between the real Elvis, and their inner Elvis). Every Elvis guy I have ever met has been nuts. Thank you; thank you very much.

I saw a guy years ago who did two Elvis sets, first early Elvis then fat Vegas Elvis. He was really good. He was a natural performer with charisma and also convincing as both Elvis's.

 

This was a venue where everyone was seated. At one point a drunk walked up to the stage and was being a nuisance. It was a cherry on top of the dessert when this Elvis impersonator stayed in character and handled the drunk.

 

First he was doing the "Don't bother me man" staying in character shewing him away. But the drunk was noticeably hurt and turned to the audience for confirmation of his error. He was really only enjoying the band and having a good time. He did not realize that he was disrupting the performance. Everyone seemed to sense the moment. My heart went out to him. I know my girlfriend felt the same way.

 

The actions and reactions unfolded in moments then tribute-Elvis knelt down at the edge of the stage and said something like, "Come over here, come over here man" gesturing with his arm. When the drunk was close enough, tribute-Elvis put his arm around his shoulders and as he hugged him at the edge of the stage he said something kind like "I love ya man I love ya" staying in character. The drunk guy immediately smiled and recovered. It was a very cool highlight of the show.

 

Poise takes a clear head. This guy was not crazy at all. He was focused on performing as Elvis even under the stress of an unpredictable disruption......he even managed to stay in character while recovering from an initial misstep handling an awkward situation.

 

This was many years ago. I'd say his name but I looked up the guy online. I don't know if it is just because he is older and I had only watched him from a distance on stage and in character but close up in a picture he looks nuts. So either it is a different Elvis impersonator with the same stage name or the guy just looks nuts up close in a picture.........too nuts to support my story so I am not including his name. :-)

[Ashville.Guru]

Rather OT and NSFW, but #3 on this list does lend a lighter perspective to this whole story:

 

"The fact that we even still have copyright courts when someone can paint themselves blue, write "Avatar" on the cover, and start screwing without getting sued is bizarre and confusing."

[Losendoskeys]

Seems like most people are getting it now...but the beginning of this thread misses the mark. This is not a "tribute bands beware" ruling...this is a "don't try to steal someone's identity" thing.

The lawsuit was mostly about the website, not that he was doing a tribute act of him. One could easily be mislead and go check out meatloaf.org thinking that is the official website. It isn't "squatting" by definition, but it is pretty close.

 

The money settlement is stupid. The only thing I agree with on this is that they made him give up the website.

 

Some tribute bands focus on the music above all else. Others go for the "whole show", which may involve getting into character and actually acting and dressing like the person.

 

In my DMB tribute, we do not go out of our way to dress like members of the band, although our singer does look like him and somewhat dress like him naturally. We do some things for show, such as our drummer chewing gum and blowing bubbles while playing like Carter Beuford does, but some fans absolutely love that he does that, others don't notice.

 

I do chuckle about people who say "i would never be in a tribute band" then follow links to their sites where I hear/see them playing Mustang Sally. Way to keep the bar set high folks. lol.

 

Exactly

[HammondDave]

I do chuckle about people who say "i would never be in a tribute band" then follow links to their sites where I hear/see them playing Mustang Sally. Way to keep the bar set high folks. lol.

 

Exactly

 

You will NEVER hear me play Mustang Sally... never...

 

When I am visiting friends in bands and they call me up on stage to play, they know better. Instead of "Hey! how about Mustang Sally", its... "Hey, lets play Highway Star...or Hush.. or Whipping Post".. Now that I can deal with.

 

I think that the Mustang Sally choice is made when the band has no idea what the talent level is of the person they are calling up. I mean, c'mon... Mustang Sally is basically three chords with no song structure whatever... Even an air guitarist could play it. The bands I were in would never call up someone we did not know. So therefore would never have to play it. When some drunk girl from the audience would request it, we would politely refuse... That song is downright offensive. Right next to Brown Eyed Girl, on my list...

 

I wonder if there is a Mustang Sally tribute Band? All night of that crappy song! Only drunks allowed.

 

OK, enough of my morning rant. Sorry.

[drawback]

There are very few bands that I would even consider doing a tribute night of...

 

Steely Dan

Moody Blues

Deep Purple

Yes

Tower of Power

 

 

Definitely not Meat Loaf!

 

What about samanddave?

 

 

[MuzikTeechur]

I do chuckle about people who say "i would never be in a tribute band" then follow links to their sites where I hear/see them playing Mustang Sally. Way to keep the bar set high folks. lol.

 

 

 

I finally, after playing that damn song for nearly 20 years, recently put my foot down and said "can we PUH-LEEZE give that song a freaking rest?" Played several blissful gigs without it.

 

Meatloaf Tribute Guy: after watching the vids on the OP's link, I think I can safely say that nobody would ever confuse him with the "real" Meatloaf. However, if he's making money off Meatloaf's name, and his web presence is misleading, then...

 

The photos: I doubt that Meatloaf would have publicity photos taken sitting on a "chopper" with a V-twin from a Yamaha Virago. Doesn't even look like it's functional - missing a few key parts (personally I own a Honda VTX1800, but I don't try to pretend it's a Harley).

[CEB]

I like Mustang Sally but not as much as Midnight Hour or Land of 1000 Dances.

 

I haven't played Mustang Sally in years. No one I play with will play it because everyone plays it.

 

But I don't know anyone personally who plays it ... because everyone plays it. But I don't know who. LOL!

 

 

Mony Mony is another one .... same deal no one plays it because everyone plays it. I like Mony Mony but not near as much as Jenny Take a Ride!. Mitch Ryder Rocks!

 

SQUIRREL!

 

[video:youtube]

[AnotherScott]

Mustang Sally can get tiresome to play, but sometimes it can smoke. I did a gig last year where I quite enjoyed the fact that someone came up and said it was the best version of Mustang Sally he'd ever heard.

 

As for tributes, I've done Jethro Tull, Yes, and ELP. All a joy for keyboard players!

[stillplaying]

@AnotherScott - have you any set lists you can share on here from your time with those three tribute acts?

[HammondDave]

I quite enjoyed the fact that someone came up and said it was the best version of Mustang Sally he'd ever heard.

 

That's like saying that you were the tallest Hobbit in the movie...

 

(Okay, enough bangin' on poor Sally...)

[Jason Stanfield]

My Grateful Dead tribute band obviously doesn't attempt to pass itself off as the Dead, and the (surviving) Dead members are really cool about tribute bands - a few of them guest with tribute bands, and their new bands (Phil Lesh & Friends, Ratdog, etc.) have recruited from tribute bands before.

 

We do use the Steal Your Face logo on our flyers and website, but we haven't done anything other bands haven't done in that regard - they use that logo, the dancing bears, the dancing skeletons, the skull with roses, etc., and to my knowledge there's never been any issue with it. If ever there will be an issue, I'm sure that Bob Wier or Phil Lesh or someone would release a statement, and Dead bands would immediately stop.

[HammondDave]

So when did this Tribute Band thing start? Was it the early Beatles Tribute Bands? Elvis impersonators? I don't recall any musicians recreating another band's show before this era... Were there any Count Basie Tribute Bands?

 

I can see where there could be some serious property rights issues if the original artists want to cause a stink. But who would?

 

In the case of Meatloaf... We are talking about a guy who is so desperate for any relevance that he sold his soul, and whatever dignity he had left, to Donald Trump... So I am not surprised....

[Tonysounds]

All roads lead to Elvis.

[JohnH]

Mustang Sally can get tiresome to play, but sometimes it can smoke. I did a gig last year where I quite enjoyed the fact that someone came up and said it was the best version of Mustang Sally he'd ever heard.

 

As for tributes, I've done Jethro Tull, Yes, and ELP. All a joy for keyboard players!

 

I know I'm weird, because I don't hate MS, Brown Eyed or Margaritaville. However , I have slowly eased all of these out of our sets . BE is only done about every five gigs and the others way less. One of our clubs does not allow bands to play BE.

[wmp]

All roads lead to Elvis.

Ouch! The first of the tributes I'll deny playing with were a stream of Elvii (an acknowledged plural of Elvis). The last professional Elvis impersonator I saw was all costume, lipsync, and lame moves.

 

The best live set I've seen in years was this tribute to Billy Strayhorn.

 

Mustang Sally depends on who's playing it and how much fun they're having. It probably depends more on who's singing it. I've done a few fun versions with this band.

 

http://B3and88.com/audio/misc/sa-pockyway-09-07-04.mp3

 

I can make a party out of a D chord playing with somebody this thoroughly funky. There was a great version of Mustang Sally on this gig. This is one of a few bands around here that does a similar bag of '60s '70s horn band Blood Sweat & Tears / Ides of March / Tower of Power / Kool and the Gang / P Funk thing. I won't play horn parts in a band like this and it certainly isn't easy to feed a ten to twelve piece band.

 

Mustang Sally, Margaritaville, and Brown Eyed Girl are all tunes I learned a long time ago. I love 'em all, even though they've all been beaten to death.

 

I enjoy this thread more for the talk about mechanical licenses, playing clean and legal, plus all great the tech tips and gossip about Mr. Loaf.

 

This is gold ...

You can't polish a turd......it just gets softer.

Yeah, but you can roll it in glitter.

Laugh if you like, but this is how they do it on TV.

[AnotherScott]

@AnotherScott - have you any set lists you can share on here from your time with those three tribute acts?

I don't know about specific set lists (especially for stuff that was many years ago!), but I can PM you pretty thorough song lists which I could probably reconstruct pretty easily, I don't think it's of enough general interest to post here. But briefly, Tull would be the most extensive... we did stuff from every album at least from This Was through Under Wraps. Once, upon request, we did a gig where we did the entire Passion Play album (except for Hare Who Lost His Spectacles), that would be fun to do again. For Yes, we did all the "major" pieces from the big 3 albums, and just a few scattered other things (including a couple from the Rabin era). For ELP, unfortunately we did just one gig... if anyone knows a suitable "Greg Lake" in the NY/CT area, I'd really like to give that another go. Heck, I'd give all of them another go, ELP is just the only one I'd only need one more person for. ;-) Actually, with that singing bassist, I might be able to get a Yes thing going, too. For Tull, the thing I'd probably most need would be a lead guitarist. I do have hopes of getting some combination of this stuff going again...

[HammondDave]

This is what happens when you have hit rock bottom as a rock star... Meatloaf's America The Beautiful...

 

[video:youtube]

 

[AnotherScott]

Instead of asking for money he'll never get, he should have gotten the impersonator to take the blame for that performance.

[wmp]

No doubt about it, people die of exposure.

 

I feel sorry for Mr. Loaf and everybody else in that clip.

 

 

[HammondDave]

Apparently Meat has graduated from being a public fool to trolling bars and harassing impersonators...

 

Sad indeed....

[Michael Wright]

I feel sorry for Mr. Loaf and everybody else in that clip.

No kidding. Ouch. I couldn't let it play all the way to the end.

[PinkFloydDudi]

Haha, didn't mean to derail this into a discussion on the musical merits of Mustang Sally. I used that song as one of many examples...you could insert Brown Eyed Girl, Margaritaville, or any host of other songs. Point being, you are still playing covers. Playing a bunch of covers by different artists is not much different than playing a bunch of covers by the same artist.

I will (admittedly biased) say that when I hear a tribute band do songs, they are usually a WHOLE lot better than a cover band doing the same song.

 

So for people knocking tributes, in my experience, the bar is set a lot higher for tribute bands than your average cover band.

 

=)

[HammondDave]

It depends on the cover band. There is a band in So Florida called Mr. Nice Guy that kicks ass on every cover they play. From Joe Cocker to Steely Dan to Yes... As good as any tribute band I have heard.

 

(I must confess that the drummer has been my best friend since we were 15)

 

[video:youtube]

[Griffinator]

It depends on the cover band.

 

I agree completely, though when one assembles a "tribute" band, one tends to ensure that all the correct pieces are in place to execute everything that particular band has published, which makes for a more tailored sound than, say, a five-piece male-fronted band (guit, bass, keys, vox, drums) trying to execute something that was written for a female vocalist, or a song that requires extensive backing vocals when only one or two members of the band are capable of vocals, or any number of other "not quite the right fit" scenarios.

[HammondDave]

It depends on the cover band.

 

I agree completely, though when one assembles a "tribute" band, one tends to ensure that all the correct pieces are in place to execute everything that particular band has published, which makes for a more tailored sound than, say, a five-piece male-fronted band (guit, bass, keys, vox, drums) trying to execute something that was written for a female vocalist, or a song that requires extensive backing vocals when only one or two members of the band are capable of vocals, or any number of other "not quite the right fit" scenarios.

 

True... Mr. Nice Guy has Drums, Bass, Keys, Guitar, one male and one female lead singers, two percussionists (one that doubles on brass to play Billy Joel and Springsteen songs, etc)... You do need more excellent musicians to cover a variety of bands.

[Ken Beaumont]

My current band does a mix of originals and covers. Mostly covers, but we try to do our own take on them. If we can't do the song justice we won't do it. There are a few covers we do exactly as recorded, but those are only because they fit our lineup. We have our own sound and we play to each of our strengths.