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WideAngleWatcher 
Forum Groupie
Joined: January 18 2008
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Points: 64
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 Posted: February 24 2008 at 13:39 |
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Of course tribute bands are a good thing. As an 18 year old Progressive Rock fan many of my favourite bands from the genre are well past their peak, or simply don't tour anymore. If it was my dream to see Genesis fronted by P.G. for example I couldn't. Unlike some of you people who got the chance for me it it's impossible. A good tribute band allows people like me (And people who did see the real thing and wish to do so again) a chance to do so. Although I have seen Rush live you people will know how they like to reject a lot of the earlier material so where do I go to hear it? Bravado - a local Rush tribute band who last year on 1st June pulled out the exact setlist Rush played in Sheffield 30 years before. Amazing.
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Jared
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Joined: May 06 2005
Location: Hereford, UK
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Posted: February 24 2008 at 14:06 |
 prog-chick wrote:
The other edge of the sword is of course a side effect of the damage done by illegal file-sharing etc etc, if bands get less and less income from their original recordings they need to make up the short fall in revenue, and if they can get a gig playing someone else's tunes then they jolly well have to take it. |
like you say Rach, there have been some very interesting points raised...
it would be interesting to do a survey of tribute band musicians, to see how many, if given the choice would in fact prefer to put on a show, playing their own music, if they were convinced they could get the same number of people in through the doors... I suspect many of them would jump at the chance...
unsurprisingly, I would say that the average age of the audience last night would be early to mid 50's. I suspect many of those supporting Genesis tribute bands, do so through a sense of nostalgia, as Genesis were well know at a time in their lives when discovering new music was an important pasttime...and for most 50 somethings, it isn't any longer...that time has been taken up by home, work and garden, and these days as a consequence, they know what they like, whether it is in a wardrobe or not...  ..and wish to stick with it.
The older members we have on PA probably represent the minority of 70's Genesis fans, for whom discovering new music continues to be an important part of their lives (God bless 'em...  ) but for most, if you gave them a CD and said 'give this a listen, it's quite like Genesis', they wouldn't be interested....
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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sleeper
Prog Reviewer
Joined: October 09 2005
Location: Entropia
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Points: 16449
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Posted: February 24 2008 at 16:28 |
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As I was born towards the end of 85 I've obviously never had the chance to see many/any of the classic bands live, and havnt. The alue in these tribute bands is that I can get to here great music from the classic bands in a live setting when the band is either nolonger in existence, doesnt play their best materiel any more (just the most popular) or charges the earth to go see them.
I've only actually seen one tribute band perform so-far. The Progz opened last years Summers End festivel and performed a mix of Genesis, ELP, Steve Hackett, Peter Gabriel , Camel etc. This, I think, is a brilliant idea.
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Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005 
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Ivan_Melgar_M
Special Collaborator
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Joined: April 27 2004
Location: Peru
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Points: 19535
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Posted: February 24 2008 at 16:58 |
Living i Perú and onńy 12 in 1976 when I became a Proghead (Already Gabriel had left Genesis and even W&W reeleased), it was hard for us to seea Prog band, the first ¨Prog cocert I saw was Kansas in 1978 in USA (The first Prog concert in Perú was Wakeman in 1991), I became familiar with Prog thanks to Frágil, who played Genesis, Yes and Led Zep covers, but as soon as they made a name and had enough material of their own, they refused to play covers and this lead to the release of the excellent Avenida Larco.
But in their case it was necesary, people got familiar with Prog thanks to them, I discovered Genesis in their concerts, so they used the covers to let people know what they were going to play.
Iván
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Jared
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 06 2005
Location: Hereford, UK
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Points: 17674
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Posted: February 24 2008 at 17:10 |
^^ yes, that's an interesting perspective, Ivan... a band playing prog covers in a country which isn't traditionally associated with Prog makes a degree more sense...
as an aside, what is the picture like in Peru today...do you have many more opportuinities to see bands at Gigs & Festivals, than you would have done say, 20 years ago?
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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
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stevek
Forum Newbie
Joined: February 25 2008
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Points: 1
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Posted: February 25 2008 at 11:48 |
I've been reading this thread about tribute bands and just wanted to let everyone know about a book I've written: "Like A Rolling Stone: The Strange Life of a Tribute Band." It follows two Rolling Stones bands as they follow the real Stones 2005 tour, and discusses other tributes and the pros and cons, like "Tributitus," the psychological disorder of taking on hte characteristics of the rock star you portray. It's being published in April by Random House in the States but is already on Amazon.com.
Ultimately, I came down on the side of tribute bands being a good thing because it allows fans to experience the music of their favorite band in an intimate setting - something that's impossible to do if your favorite group is a) no longer together or b) playing in stadiums and charging $100 a ticket. Also, I've found that tribute musicians do it out of a genuine love of the music, not out of a calculated attempt to trick the public. I also discovered that a lot of tribute guys are really gifted musicians who just didn't make it in an original band for whatever reason.
Regarding darqDean's point about likening tribute bands to orchestras, that came up a few times from people i talked to and it is a valid analogy. The one flaw in that argument, though, is that orchestras who play Mozart don't dress up in powdered wigs. Because so much of rock and roll is also about fashion and attitude and image, the tribute performers often feel they have to dress up.
-Steven
likearollingstonethebook.blogspot.com
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Chicapah
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 14 2006
Location: United States
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Points: 8238
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Posted: February 25 2008 at 12:20 |
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Interesting topic. When I was playing almost nightly in bar bands back in the 70s we usually played music that we loved and/or admired and still we'd get tired of performing any given song within months of playing it over and over. My point is that I can't imagine being limited to just one artist/song list for years on end. You've got to be one dedicated (or obsessed) son of a gun to do that, I figure! There's a group in my city that is a Beatle cover band and they've been doing it for well over a decade. They're good, no doubt, but I don't know how they can stand to play "Ticket to Ride" even one more time. But maybe that's just me....
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"Literature is well enough, as a time-passer, and for the improvement and general elevation and purification of mankind, but it has no practical value" - Mark Twain
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Ivan_Melgar_M
Special Collaborator
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Joined: April 27 2004
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Posted: February 25 2008 at 13:48 |
fandango wrote:
^^ yes, that's an interesting perspective, Ivan... a band playing prog covers in a country which isn't traditionally associated with Prog makes a degree more sense...
as an aside, what is the picture like in Peru today...do you have many more opportuinities to see bands at Gigs & Festivals, than you would have done say, 20 years ago? |
The problem of Perú is in the taxes, until a few months ago the Government charged:
- 30% of Income Tax over the arist salary plus plain tickets and hosting.
- 19% Tak over the price of the ticklets for sales tax
- 15% Municipal tax over the whole number of ticketts sold
- 10% payment to the Artists and Coimposers Association for royalties (Why must a band that plays only THEIR OWN MUSIC, has to pay royalties????)
- The producer has to pay his income tax also.
So at the end it made more than 100% extra over the original cost, because one tax is over he other.
Recently a tax reduction has been made, the Municipal tax was eliminated and the income tax is being made lower.
But still we were able to see:
- Wakeman (2 times)
- Jethro Tull (3 times)
- ELP
- Yes
- Supertramp (That was how it was announced but it was Hodgeson alone, still great show)
- Santana (2 times)
- Roger Waters (Imagine I had a 30% discount in the price and still paid US$ 150.00 for a VIP seat, there was Super Vip and Premium, I posted some photos here that have vanished.
- Jon Anderson
- Asia
- Phil Collins
No need to say that I didn't went to the last one.
The Steve Hackett concert was cancelled due to lack of interest, while a few blocks away Ricky Martin was playing La Vida Loca in front of 15,000 idiots.  Also cancelled last year's electro acustic Tull show.
Hope that with the new tax system we get to see beter acts, Rush and Maiden are being mentioned, I wish it's true..
Iván
Edited by Ivan_Melgar_M - February 25 2008 at 13:50
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Marwin
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 13 2005
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Points: 166
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Posted: February 25 2008 at 17:51 |
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I feel it's a good thing!
In jazz and classical music the idea of standards and playing other peoples songs is very common so why not in progressive rock. And many artists are getting very old and probably don't tour anymore so if people want to hear some great music live, let's face it not everyone can write songs like Tony Banks or (insert favorite song writer here), so why not go see a "tribute" band.
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http://myspace.com/toxicmindfin
http://myspace.com/porcelainprog
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rushfan4
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Joined: May 22 2007
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Posted: February 25 2008 at 18:48 |
When I was in Toronto a couple of years ago, The Musical Box was there, but they were asking the amount of a normal concert for ticket prices and as tempted as I was to see them I couldn't get myself to pay that much to see a tribute band.
To an extent I liken it a bit to the theater. The original plays are performed on Broadway in New York or London or other large Metropolises, and then a touring theater performs the same shows throughout the country with performers who are mostly different than those that performed on Broadway. The fact that the performers are different doesn't necessarily lessen the enjoyment of the show or the theater experience. I've never actually seen a show on Broadway so maybe I would be extremely disappointed on how "Bad" the touring theater company is in comparison to those performing on Broadway, but I suspect that I probably couldn't tell the difference. To an extent a band like Genesis is the original Broadway performer whereas The Musical Box is the touring company performing a similar show.
As far as playing the same songs over and over as a tribute band, it probably isn't much different than playing the same songs over and over as the original performer. Obviously, there is a certain pride in knowing that you are performing something that you helped to create, but to play the same thing every day 300 days a year for 30 years has got to be monotonous even if it is yours. That is why you hear so many bands not play their hits because they are sick of them too.
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Jim Garten
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Joined: February 02 2004
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Posted: February 26 2008 at 12:48 |
I've seen a fair few tribute bands over the years, from Think Floyd, Noddys Puncture (ELP tribute), to ReGenesis, The Musical Box & The Muffin Men (Zappa) & overall I've found them a great night out, listening to music you never hear played live now by the original bands (if the original bands are still around at all), for considerably less that it would cost you to see a mainstream gig. I think these bands are essential to keep the flame of older 'traditional' progressive rock alive - if just a fraction of those who see these bands go back & re-discover the music of a lost generation & thus keep it alive (not to mention contribute to the pension fund of an ancient musician in his dotage), this cannot be a bad thing. The main thing is - are they a good band in their own right? Some are undoubtedly better than others & in the pile of Genesis tribute bands (none of whom seem to cover the 1980/1990 period for some reason  ) The Musical Box stand out - music played superbly, on original instruments (this last causing a delay when I saw them, due to a Mellotron failure... how authentic is that?  ), but never falling into clinicality. It always amuses me though that when you see a Genesis tribute, the audience will always be enthusiastic & receptive, but as soon as they play Firth Of Fifth & get to that solo... it's all eyes on the guitarist & God forbid he buggers the solo...
Edited by Jim Garten - February 26 2008 at 12:48
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 Jon Lord 1941 - 2012
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mpomy
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Posted: February 28 2008 at 14:30 |
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I never heard RPWL when they were a Pink Floyd tribute band, but they've turned into a VERY good original band and they are not afarind to show their prog roots. As has been said earlier in this thread - the tribute bands do a remendous job of 'keeping the flame lit', especially for those of us who never got to see the original.
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the_rider
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Posted: February 29 2008 at 06:27 |
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I think it's just great, why shouldn't it be?
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rushfan4
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Posted: March 01 2008 at 18:14 |
This coming Friday, March 7, 2008, Michigan-based Pink Floyd tribute band, The Surrogate Band, is performing The Wall live at The Magic Bag in Ferndale. Probably should be posted in the Gigs and Events area or the Tribute band area, but I thought it was appropriate to post it here in this thread too. Has anybody heard this band?
Here is a link to their website:
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kenmartree
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Posted: March 03 2008 at 04:53 |
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I wish I could still afford to go see a concert. The combination of ticket prices and duties of family life make it rare. I would jump at the chance to se the Musical Box if they came to Portland oregon, fat chance though. At some point here I will make it a point to see the Decemberists since they play here regularly. Quality tribute bands will live on and bad ones won't so I don't see a problem.
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domizia
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Posted: March 04 2008 at 08:16 |
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My personal experience is, that I was far more fascinated and captured the first time I saw the Musical Box playing The Lamb in 2006, than last summer in Berlin at the actual Genesis show. Obviously a good 70% of this is because, as Jim Gaten points out, I knew that it's quite impossible to have Genesis do The Lamb live...
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Jim Garten
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Posted: March 04 2008 at 08:46 |
That's right - In fact, if you listen to last year's Genesis live album, they can barely play the old material as a medley, these days; they just sound like an under-rehearsed tribute act... ...and not a very good one, at that 
Edited by Jim Garten - March 04 2008 at 08:47
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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012
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mrcozdude
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Posted: March 04 2008 at 09:43 |
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I find tribute bands quite good,but useless if the original band is still gigging.I saw Whole Lotta Led it took me a while to forgot im watching four guys pretending to be other people.I really enjoyed knowing i could hear some of my favourite songs played live and found it really fun.But if Zeppelin and Whole lotta Led were gigging frequently then....well....thats just silly.
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domizia
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Posted: March 06 2008 at 05:12 |
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What was that process called..."suspension of disbelief", I believe.
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Credo Man
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Posted: March 06 2008 at 05:37 |
Tribute bands remind of a kebab at 2 a.m. after a night out on the beer.....
- They seem like a really good idea at the time
- You think you know what you are going to get
- It seems fulfilling at the time
- Being dissappointed and unfulfilled
- A bit of a nasty tast left in the mouth
- And you promise yourself you won't do it again......
Just my thoughts..............
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Tribute Bands; A Good or A Bad Thing?
