United States

Nah.... Subject still open.... If you came in my neck-o-the woods and billed yourself as a band that played "Radiohead" You would be billed in the rags and on the marqee as a Radiohead Tribute band! Again nothing wrong with that... you would attract Radiohead fans from my area and they would ask their friends if they wanted to go see a Radiohead tribute band... which means that you are not really Radiohead but are playing Radiohead's songs!

Okay then, WOOSH! you hear that? Topic re-opened! Regarding the rags & the marquee's in your neck of the woods, what we've been doing here (in Minneapolis) is creating our own press releases, wherein the word "tribute" appears exactly nowhere! In booking our gigs, we've been strenuously specific about how our name is to be listed in all advertising and promotion. Fortunately, in the press coverage we've received so far, they've been lifting the text directly off the press releases. We have yet to be referred to as a "tribute band" or any such thing. Maybe in your neck of the woods, the press does things differently, so...I guess we'll hafta be extra-diligent if we ever visit out there!

Meanwhile, our local rag, City Pages, has put a reporter on us whose been following us around over the last couple of weeks to a rehearsal and a gig. We'll see what he has to say when the article comes out, sometime around February. I'll letcha know, fersure.

There's also this: Before putting the band together, I did a lot of research in asking people, "What do you think of when you think of a tribute band?" The majority said dress-up-to-look-like-the-band, imitating the musicians & the music, sounding just like the record, etc. On the whole, the words "tribute band" seemed to leave a sour taste in people's mouths. So when I told them we were thinking of covering Radiohead, they were like, "Does your singer sound like Thom Yorke?" I said yes. But I also emphasized that we'd do "our own thing" with the music. Everyone who knew & liked Radiohead seemed cool w/ that, saying that Radiohead was innovative enough to warrant experimentation in live performances. They also said, "If you sound just like the record, I might as well stay home and listen to the record."

Some additional food for thought (or maybe not): Someone once told me there are three levels of musicianship: imitation, assimilation & innovation. I'm won't say we're at the 3rd level, but I can confidently say we're beyond the 1st.

I never thought that much about tribute bands, the mention of one only meant (to me) the most basic of assumptions: A band that plays only songs from the band they are paying tribute to. I think the rest is semantics. I don't understand your denial of the "tribute" concept /shrug

Wikipedia says,

A tribute act is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act, often one which has disbanded or ceased touring. Probably the largest class of tributes acts are Elvis impersonators, individual performers who mimic the songs and style of Elvis Presley; however, most tribute acts are groups (tribute band or tribute group) and are tributes to a group. For example Up The Irons and The Iron Maidens (an all female band) are bands that pay tribute to Iron Maiden. A tribute band rarely includes any members of the original band whose music is being honored, although guest appearances do occur. For example former Bruce Springsteen drummer Vini Lopez often plays sets with the Springsteen tribute band The E Street Shuffle.

The main way in which a tribute band differs from a cover band that simply plays songs by other artists, is that it strives to capture every nuance of the imitated artist's actions and appearance for a perfect imitation. Some tribute bands imitate the appearance but re-interpret the original works in a particular genre or for comic effect. For example Dread Zeppelin plays Led Zeppelin songs in a reggae style with a lead singer who looks like Elvis Presley, while Gabba perform the songs of ABBA in the style of The Ramones. There are also individuals who are tributes of a group, and vice versa.

Tribute bands usually name themselves based on the original band's name, some song and even albums. For example, The Joshua Tree is a tribute band that plays U2 material.

Don't care for them, myself. If I want to see the act, I'll see the act, not an imitation of it, even if that requires that I watch a DVD of them.

Wheh I go out to see an act, I either wanna hear all their own originals, or a mix of music from lotsa places/genres.

LOL NP, thanks for reminding me of the Iron Maidens.. perhaps one of the most awesome tribute bands ever.

heheh I'll have to look them up on youtube to see if I can find them.

Man I love the song "run to the hills"

I was once in a AC/DC tribute band but I didn't dress up in shorts or hop around like Angus... I went up in jeans and a cut off shirt and played the songs the way they should with my own "improvising" occassionally but I didn't deny the fact that It was a tribute band even though I made up my own leads most of the time....


I can't believe I just admitted to that

Crip's cred grows and grows. That is not sarcasm either. You are cool in my book.

Like I said before, NP, If I lived near ya, We would have one hell of an interesting mix