Ok I’ve been mulling this thread over for a while.
Suppose that you are a member of a tribute band. That means your band plays the song of one particular band or artist. For the sake of this thread you automatically have the talent to do this and your band is good so you guys play six nights a week.
So who are you? What is the band you pay tribute to? What is your band name? Who are you in the band? What is your favorite song to play each evening? What is your least favorite?
For example
You may be in a Beatles tribute band. Called The Fab Four. You may want to play the drums/be Ringo. Your favorite song could be Yellow Submarine. (cause everyone likes that song and you get to sing) Maybe your least favorite is Yesterday because you have to just sit there and then all the hot chicks want the guy who plays at being Paul McCartney.
Now I’ve delayed posting this because I don’t have a reply to my own questions. I really don’t. sorry. I am interested to see what band we will fill out first.
I would pay tribute to R.E.M. Basically, the length of their career is what attracts me. Having somewhat of a tendency to get bored easily, I would need access to a very large catalog so I could always be turning the set list over.
The name of my tribute band would be M.E.R. It readily identifies us. It’s easy to spell. It is open to interpretation. And it’s the first thing that popped into my head.
I would be Peter Buck. The chiming guitar is kind of the instrumental hallmark of the band.
Given my aforementioned tendency to get bored easily, neither my favorite song to play nor my least favorite song to play would remain the same for long. But I don’t want to dodge the question, so I can imagine that “Shiny Happy People” would be a bit of a drudge. I like the song just fine, but I think it stands the chance to be the song where the difference between the number of times it is requested and the number of times I’d like to play it is the largest. As for a favorite, I dunno … possibly “Driver 8,” because I can kinda sorta play it in real life.
Now, if we’re extending the definition to, for instance, any project that Musician X has been a part of, then I could make a case for Bob Mould. Between Hüsker Dü, Sugar and his solo work, that’d be enough songs to keep me happy.
I’d be in a Talking Heads tribute band. Since the bassist is a chick, I’d be happy on drums or lead guitar (the latter which I don’t play at all IRL). Don’t have a name for the band (Little Creatures perhaps?), but my favorite song would probably be “Cities” or “Found a Job”. And while I love “Once in a Lifetime”, I find the live versions to be a bit overblown, so while it’s a song we’d have to play, I can think of a lot of songs I’d prefer on the playlist.
Oh, and I wouldn’t sing at all (except back-up occasionally), just play.
The Bonzo Dog Band, of course. Probably named “The Urban Spacemen.”* I’d probably handle the robots and explosions a la Roger Ruskin Spear. Set list would start with “The Intro and the Outro,” of course, and would include “Urban Spaceman,” “Mister Apollo,” “Monster Mash,” “By a Waterfall,” “Tent,” “Death Cab for Cutie,” “Humanoid Boogie,” – oh, hell, just about all their songs.
*since “Death Cab for Cutie” is taken.
We are called Jimmy is Full and we cover Jimmy Eat World. I’m Jim Adkins (lead singer and guitar). Only reason I’d be lead singer and guitar is because the rest of my friends hate talking in front of people.
We’d be good? Then I’d be Garfunkel in a Simon and Garfunkel tribute duo.
And that would mean I can sing like an angel, which is awesome. His voice is fairly high, so I can stay female. I’m willing to leave the genders alone in the songs. I can sing about a girl, no biggie!
It’s a Clash tribute band, called London Calling (which is, incidentally my current ringtone). I’m Joe Strummer. I’m not a big fan of The Call Up, but I like playing Should I Stay or Should I Go.
I started this band when my English Beat tribute band disbanded.
Next gig is either a Ramones tribute band or a drag tribute to Miley Cyrus.
The band is Äzure Scallop Religion, and we’re, of course, a Blue Öyster Cult tribute band. As much as I’d like to be Eric Bloom, the scowling, dangerous-looking vocalist with the dark shades, I’d probably end up as Buck Dharma, the short, shrimpy guitarist with the silly-looking facial hair.
We’d love playing The Golden Age of Leather night after night, but we’d spit beer at anyone who shouts out “…play Don’t Fear the Reaper! Or Godzilla!”
I’m in a Queen tribute called “The Champions”. I’m Freddie, but just to switch things up a bit, I sleep with the lady groupies. Favorite song is “Fat Bottom Girls” cause I get flashed a lot of tail, least favorite is “Bicycle Race” cause it really is pretty stupid, but we have to do it cause its called out at end of FBG and you can’t split them up, kinda like, We Will Rock You /We Are the Champions, which is how we gotta open the show.
We’d be called Material Girls and we would cover Madonna (back before she got all scary and old) and I would be the lead Madonna. I already have her vocal range so it wouldn’t be too much of a leap, just a big improvement on what I’ve already got. Like a Virgin is my favorite song and I would hate that Lucky Star song. Stupidest song she ever sang and I don’t know why it gets so much radio play, quite frankly.
Back in the day (at The Late Great Chuck Westerman’s high school, if you must know), there was a “Benny Goodman Without Their Instruments Orchestra”, where the curtains would open on just a long row of mics, and each member of the A Capella Big Band would come out and mimic a clarinet, or trumpet, or bass, etc.
I was JUST thinking of that earlier today: why couldn’t you do that with a rock band? I thought of it as I was “singing” along with a Journey guitar solo. “Hey”, thought I, “what if I could find someone that could beatbox as well as Neil Peart?” And a castrado like Steve Perry…
But Journey gets too sappy for me, so:
I guess mine would be an a capella 60s British Invasion tribute band called… umm… “Catch Us If You Can!”
referring to the Dave Clark 5 song, AND how infrequently we would get gigs!
Definitely The Mamas and the Papas. I guess we’d be called The Daughters and the Sons. I want to look like John, but sing like Denny. Or look like Michelle, but sing like Cass. My farorite song is “Creeque Alley.” I have no “least favorite.”
And I’d give anything to play the clarinet solo in Benny Goodman’s “Let’s Dance.”