I have a friend who loves to go and see tribute bands but I just don't understand their appeal.

If I wanted to hear Fleetwood Mac/The Jam/the Stones etc etc then I play one of their albums. If I am really desperate then I can find a clip on You Tube.

To go and watch a few dodgy lookalikes trying to recreate the songs is of no interest to me.

Highly skilled Zappa tribute with a few early Beefheart songs thrown in. In the proper spirit of the composer they tend to alter their arrangements of the choons from tour to tour and as their lineup fluctuates.

In recent years they've played mostly on the continent, especially Germany, with only a handful of UK gigs at the beginning and end of their tours. They don't tend to cover their expenses playing UK gigs so they don't do many of 'em.

They used to do short tours spring and autumn every year, with ex-MOI drummer Jimmy Carl Black as featured vocalist in the second half of their show. In more recent years they only used to tour once a year in the spring.
Jimmy, of course, died a couple of years ago and the Muffs have only recently resumed gigging after that setback.

There are YouTube clips, should anyone wish to see/hear what they do.

Most of my experiences have been pretty positive. The first big tribute band I saw was the Australian Doors in Cardiff’s Student Union some time in the early nineties. I took my younger sister as a birthday present as she was a big fan of The Doors at the time. I liked a couple of songs but I always found them dull and I could never really understand the Cult Of Morrison.

Seeing the tribute band really altered my views of The Doors. I think they really must have been an amazing live experience. You can listen to the records, see the movies, watch clips on YouTube, but nothing beats that beered up, sweaty, visceral live experience.

Since then I’ve seen quite a few tribute bands and, to be honest, with a few exceptions, I’d rather see a good tribute band in a pub or a small hall than the real thing in a large venue. Hand on heart – Björn Again were one of the best party-concerts I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen an AWFUL lot of bands). I’ve seen The Musical Box and Genesis both three times: Genesis in ’80, ’82 and ’85; The Musical Box in ’06, ’07 and ’09; and if I was given the choice between the two of them now I’d go for The Musical Box every time.

I've seen Regenesis a couple of times, G2genesis and The Musical Box three times each and really enjoyed all of them, more than I enjoyed the Genesis reunion at Twickenham, but not as much as the first few times I saw Genesis in the 70s and early 80s.

I've also seen a couple of Led Zepp tributes; both worth seeing.

And Yes tribute band Fragile were excellent.

Plus Aussie Pink Floyd and Think Floyd. They were good too.

Are absolutely brilliant! They really are. The crowds are always lovely too. I just can't recommend them highly enough.

so many good bands to see out there, young & old, why go to see pantomime. Each to his own

I go to the theatre occasionally and there’s nothing wrong with a good pantomime. A lot of tribute bands are there to fill the gap left by bands it’s no longer possible to see live. I agree with Mr. Jung above – seeing Genesis the first time in ’80 was fantastic and there’s no way The Musical Box could replace that. But I’m one of the boring fans that believes that Genesis has produced nothing of worth since 1978 and the chance to see a band producing the songs I love live, loud and with passion (if not quite the level of musicianship, admittedly) is preferable to going to your nearest ernomodome to see the current line-up.

Your right about there being a lot of good new bands out there, and I try and do my bit to support them, but sometimes you can’t resist a bit of old.

In fact, if I remember correctly, didn’t the whole ‘tribute scene’ start in Australia as a way to fill the gap left by being ignored by most of the big band’s tour schedules? I know that three of the most successful and well established bands started there (Björn Again, The Australian Doors, The Australian Pink Floyd. I suppose there’s a clue in the names now I come to think of it).

Well, there are very few new bands I'm bothered about seeing - Sigur Ros, Explosions In The Sky, Fleet Foxes, Arcade Fire and that's about it for me, off the top of my head.

The Sisters Of Murphy they looked nothing like The Sisters, didn't really try but they had the sound nailed.
They even played the songs the fans wanted to hear unlike the real life tribute act that tours as 'The Sisters Of Mercy' these days.
Paddy and the boys and girl hung their smoke machines up a few years back but they were shit hot and even supported the Mission at one of their farewell gigs.

as long as they can pull it off musically.

They don't really 'tour' outside the US but have performed during Liverpool Beatleweek many times over the years.

This clip isn't great, but you get the idea. The chance to hear/see 'Don't Bother Me' live? I'll take it :-).

Almost Abba. Yep. That's what they're called. With the emphasis very firmly on the Almost.

Are a band I have always wanted to see. They are supposed to be a good ELP tribute band by all accounts and Keith Emerson has jammed with them in the past. I have seen others in pub venues but was too pissed to remember their names 8-}

Yep, I'm happy with that.

Dutch melodic-prog-bonkers outfit Focus had been out of action for many years, when I think lead organist/yodeller/flautist Thijs van Leer saw a Focus tribute band and recruited them to become a new version of Focus. Then a bit later Focus' original drummer joined up. I felt a bit sorry for the tribute band drummer - he could hardly refuse could he?

And isn't the current singer in Yes from a Yes tribute band?

No

of course have no choice. If they want to see the songs of Led Zep or Genesis or whoever performed live it will be a tribute band they will have to turn to.

this blog had existed 150 years ago, would there have been people saying "Yes, it's all very well seeing Beethoven's 5th peformed now but you should have seen it with Ludwig himself conducting."?

with their one drummer...

Excellent. Seen them twice, and would again. Terrific songs played by great musicians. What's not to like?

Rick Buckler had flounced off by the time I saw them. Bruce Foxton, however, was there. With the bloke who did the Paul Weller stuff in The Jamm. And a drummer.

Tribute band?

What was left of the original band?

Difficult to tell. Bruce was enjoying himself, though.

Dirty DC are pretty good, but the singer is a Brian, not a Bon.

I saw The Bootleg Beatles in 1988. Are they still going?

...but there are a remarkable number of Mahavishnu Orchestra tribute acts out there. Many have released CDS, consisting entirely or largely of original MO material - which I imagine is relatively rare in the tribute band world (as a live act, yes; but as a recording act....?). The best 'standard' tribute act (ie not a total; reinterpretation like a string quartet or big band, and yes, both exist) is Gregg Bendian's 'Mahavishnu Project'. Gregg's also involved in the Musical Box, I believe.

Here's the 11 piece MP doing a sublime track from 'Visions Of The Emerald Beyond' (1975):

My wife was a huge T.Rex/Marc Bolan fan and whilst she still loves the originals she has a great time dancing to these guys doing the songs live. This is from the 30th Anniversaey gig hence Visconti's involvement with Blondie's drummer bongoing away.

I've never had a problem with tribute bands if they cover acts that I could never hope to see live i.e. The Beatles. T Rex, The Doors etc. However, a mate of mine last year asked if I fancied seeing a Killers tribute band. The real group had only played in Brum weeks before for Chrisakes! There is also a local UB40 tribute act that only play their Labour of Love covers material. Aaaargh!

...covers album? Bloody hell!

tribute band I saw was a Carpenters one probably over 20 years ago and I thought it was a bizarre concept. From memory they were very good but I'm not sure if they made a career out of it.

One I can recommend is "Keep It Cash". The frontman sounds more like Johnny Cash than Johnny Cash does and has been a fan of Johnny Cash since his teens. The band also includes an old "Housemartin" who'd left the band just before they made it. They pride themselves on been able to perform any Cash song.

Not the best quality but this gives a flavour of them.

...would be a Ken Dodd tribute act.

Our local amateur promoter booked Letz Zep for our village hall - max capacity 100 - a couple of Xmases ago. 'Jimmy' and I had a chat in the mosh pit before he put his wig on. Terrific gig nonetheless - great musicians and 'RP' really looked the part too.

The Eagles band 'Talon' a year later didn't quite cut it, in comparison. But the third band The Hamsters (ZZ Top/Hendrix) are stunning. I suppose in theory they too are a tribute band but in a different class to most of them. Def recommend.

The point of tribute acts is that you can see a faithful approximation of your favourire band doing the songs you want to hear about 30 seconds away from a decent bar and a toilet, in a venue near you tonight. Couldnt be any better!

Letz Zep, Hamsters, Think Floyd, Livewire AC/DC, TRextasy, etc, etc. All great!

The Hamsters are a covers band, a different & much better IMHO kettle of rodents.

I saw this band support the Happy Mondays and the Farm at Brixton Academy a few years back. They were way better than either of the headliners (the Farm in particular were simply embarassing)and, given that the 'Ian Brown' person could actually sing, they were probably an improvement on the original.

.....(if you can't do it in an hour, don't do it) so, someone should get together a Tintern Abbey tribute band that plays their one single ('Beeside'/'Vacuum Cleaner') about three times during the evening.
Now, I'd pay a tenner to see that, especially if the lead single incorporates the bird of prey on his shoulder.

I love tribute bands, but mainly for the terrible punning names. I have no real desire to see anyway, but I do like a good pun.

...if it wasn't for puns (and even better, the ridiculously contrived scenario beforehand which is often required to set up the gag - if, of course, it isn't in reaction to something someone else has just said) most of my friends would suggest that I had, in fact, almost nothing to say.

Bjorn again are often cited as being one of the better tribute bands. You must be bloody joking - I saw them at xmas and it was clear that they were miming - it was even a convincing mime. They shouldn't be allowed to get away with it.
I am with Jo on this - not interested in cover bands really. I prefer artists playing their own material but maybe throwing in a random cover which can be interesting. Prince is very good at doing that.
I dont see the point of tribute bands and I am not particularly in favour of seeing reformed bands doing the nostalgia circuit either although I saw the Searchers a few years back and they were excellent.

see my 2009 thread on this fascinating subject.

http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/tribute-bands-youve-seen-and-their...

Wasn't that a tribute band on the One Show tonight?!?!? They even managed to get Brian Wilson on there with them! (well he was there in body but not in mind!)

were good when Nirvana got them to support at Reading, they played an "Abbaesque" version of 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. They pitched it just about right with the humour and note perfect renditions of the Abba classics.

Japan has some great cover bands, The Parrots are a well known Beatles cover band that Oasis checked out while they were touring there, yeah, I know...I don't need to say anything do I...?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14813744

A whole festival of tribute bands! What more could you want?

http://www.glastonbudget.net/index.html

Has anybody been?

...Glasgowvegas sound like they chose their name on the same principle: the promise of something international and a reality rather less exotic.

Saw them two or three years ago, and they were excellent.
Mind you, twenty-odd years ago I saw Pink Floyd and Roger Waters in the same year, and Waters put on a better Floyd show than they did.
(It was the Radio Kaos tour, where he played that album for the first half of the show, and in the second a big collection of Pink Floyd numbers he'd written.)

has some guy called Sicknote Steve performing there. I can't imagine what Seasick Steve must think about having his act copied note for note by this bearded young upstart.

There does seem something grossly unfair about spending your lifetime developing a unique act and becoming famous, only to have it copied almost immediately.

What's wrong with originality, can't these people come up with their own ideas?

Led Zep are well known for, ahem, having used other people's songs but at least they put a new spin on things. Unlike the tribute acts who emulate them.

Great name, great show.

I saw "Meat" a year later - around 2003? - and he was lacklustre by comparison.

called The Rolling Stones at Wembley Stadium some years ago. They were pretty shit, looking back on it.