Tribute bands

[Bloopy]

I've got a record of all the bands I've seen. I randomly wondered which artist I've seen the most different tribute bands of.

The Australian band Masters of Rock used to say the difference between a covers band and a tribute band is that the tribute band goes all out with costumes, playing the same kind of instruments, the mannerisms etc. So for their tribute to The Doors the vocalist was swaggering around the stage holding a bottle of whiskey. I won't be that strict... I'll just count any full set of a particular band's songs. I think I tallied them all:

6× Metallica (Fade to Black, Harbinger, Metadeth, Narcosis, The Four Horsemen, Dyers Inc.)
4× AC/DC (Acca Dacca, Masters of Rock, Sniper Alley, Squealer)
3× Black Sabbath (After Forever, Hammer of the Gods, Hand of Doom)
2× Deep Purple (Black Knight, Masters of Rock)
2× Iron Maiden (Anubis, Dennis Stratton)
2× Led Zeppelin (Hammer of the Gods, Masters of Rock)
2× Megadeth (Demon Fetal Harvest, Metadeth)
2× Ramones (Der Ramoans, Ga-nomes)
2× The Clash (Clampdown, Wazzo Clash)

Plus one tribute band to each of Death, Joy Division, Kyuss, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Motörhead, NOFX, Pantera, Sepultura, The Cure, The Doors, Thin Lizzy and W.A.S.P., and solo artists playing Hole, Misfits, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Church. I also saw parody band Black Metal Sabbath who plays Sabbath tunes altered until they're black metal.

Dennis Stratton was on holiday here and had organised a band of local musicians to play Maiden material with him at a NYE metal fest in 2013!

 

[Winmar]

I've always been in two minds about tribute or cover bands. I've enjoyed seeing some in the past but haven't seen a lot. You've obviously had good experiences with them then, if you've seen a lot of them?

I'll have to pull out a short list of the ones I've seen. Quite a lot play not far from me.

Hah that must have been fun re Stratton!

 

[Bloopy]

In some cases there was nothing better on, some happened to be on the bill of a show I was going to anyway, and a few had friends playing in them. Sometimes worth it just to see one song I love performed up close for cheap. Definitely a few great ones out there though, so usually worth taking a chance.

Anubis is a Kiwi band I'd known about for 10+ years before I saw them. I actually hoped they'd play a couple of originals. Now that I look it up, it wasn't only a Maiden tribute set but they did only play covers and the show was Maiden-themed. I'll have to post more of the story which involves Maiden's Trooper beer.

The band playing Thin Lizzy is a current one from a couple of mates. Such a great choice of band to cover. They also do some Motörhead.

 

[Cooee]

I saw a Van Halen tribute band Jump when they came out to tour Australia recently. I thought they were really good.

Are there any currently active tribute bands that you'd recommend going to see?

 

[Bloopy]

Despite the thread I'd probably just recommend getting out to see more originals bands. The bands I know here are pretty good at getting someone different on the bill with them each time, so I'm always discovering more good ones to follow.

Lately the Masters of Rock guys have been associated with the Cold Chisel tribute Forever Now - that's one that may be worth seeing for those of us who dig the music but aren't big enough fans to splash out for the real Cold Chisel just to squint at them from way back in a cheap seat or something.
https://www.facebook.com/mastersofrockshow

 

[Winmar]

These are the ones I can remember seeing:

The Cult (Pure Cult)
FNM (The Australian Faith No More Show)
Slayer (War Ensemble)