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Send in the Clones

Mar 14, 2008 5:03 PM, By David Simons

TRIBUTE BANDS: GIGGING IN THE LAND OF MAKE BELIEVE

Parrot Trap

Tribute acts can often fare better than the average cover band when it comes to bookings, depending on the popularity of the artist being impersonated. “In general, tribute acts are easy to sell,” says Michael Yorkell of All Access Events, a Boston-area promotional agency. “Clubs always enjoy having a great tribute act come in.”

Still, those in the know warn that any emerging tribute act that doesn't do its homework beforehand will quickly find that paying tribute doesn't pay anything. “New tribute bands really need to wait until they're totally ready — they should be nothing short of top-notch,” says Dave Hewitt of DMH Enterprises, a booking agency based in Los Angeles. “There are so many people out there who decide to be a tribute to some band, who just get out there, play a bunch of the songs, and that's it. In a way, it dilutes the power of the bands who are really good, who put on a show and care about the actual musicians they're paying tribute to.”

Yorkell agrees. “The most important attribute is looks and sound,” he says. “If an act lacks those two things, it will never make it in the tribute market.”

Although familiarity usually works in a tribute band's favor, occasionally variety-seeking club owners will balk at the one-dimensional aspect of a group's repertoire. “In most cases, the novelty of our band has opened doors for us where another run-of-the-mill cover band might not get any notice,” says Number Nine's Heffelfinger. “But it's also worked against us, when a club owner can't fathom how people could enjoy a group that covers the music of just one band for four hours straight.” At such times, Heffelfinger gets actively defensive. “We politely point out that there is probably more variety in our 110 Beatles songs than there is in the entire repertoire of any other band they currently use,” he says. “Go listen to a typical blues, R&B, or funk band for about an hour and tell me I'm wrong.”

Of course, when you're covering an act that's been active for some 40 years and has never gone out of favor, variety is a moot point. As Sticky Fingers' Dave Meyer points out, “Who is going to argue with a dead-on ringer for the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band?”

Meyer continues, “It's a guaranteed built-in audience, really. It's unfortunate that people aren't more interested in hearing new music, but that's often the way it is. They want to hear their favorite songs, and generally speaking, there are a lot of bad original bands out there performing bad songs, with no look, no presence, anything. Let's face it — with a good tribute band, you pretty much know what you're getting.”

Onstage Hotlinks

www.exposureentertainment.com
Exposure Entertainment — “Progressive Agency for Established Professional Performers and Up-and-Coming New Music.”

www.numbernine.tv
Fab four-gery.

www.promanagementinc.com
All Access Events, a management agency for tribute bands.

www.shakedownstreetband.com
Dead ringers from Denver.

www.stickyfingersband.com
Stones clones.

www.tributecity.com
An extensive site devoted to the world of tribute bands, run by Led Zepagain's Lenny Mann.

What's In a Name

Choosing a good name can be important to the success of a tribute band. One tried-and-true method is to name the band after a classic song or album by the parent act. Another way to go is to come up with a clever, evocative name. Overall, tribute names range from the sublime to the ridiculous. Here's a small sampling.

Abbalanche One of many Abba clone bands.
Fistful of Alice Playing the music of Alice Cooper.
The Danny Steele Orchestra A 12-piece Steely Dan band from the United Kingdom.
Fast and Bulbous A Frank Zappa tribute band from Italy.
Is This Tom Jones? Do we really care?
Missing Links A California-based Monkees tribute band.
Peat Loaf One of a surprising number of Meat Loaf tribute acts.
The Beached Boys Fun, fun, fun.
The Rolling Clones A facsimile of Mick, Keith, and the boys.
Tiny Tina Not the latest doll — a Tina Turner tribute.
—Mike Levine