Tribute Bands

It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or something to that effect. This is no less true when it comes to All Things Rockin' which brings us to the tribute band. These are not to be confused with the cover band which specializes in performing the music of well-known acts, usually a variety of them in a particular genre and looking like themselves. Tribute bands choose one well-known act and make every effort to look and sound as close to the actual band as possible. This would often involve enlisting musicians who closely resemble the members of the original band physically or at least able to easily alter their looks with wigs, make up, clothing, etc. to achieve as close a likeness as possible. This of course is more difficult to pull off with a band that has a well-defined look such as Van Halen or Led Zeppelin (The exception to this is Kiss whose well-defined look is actually achieved with make up and clothing) Other original bands such as Steely Dan are a bit easier since the look is not so well-defined. Some tribute bands opt to simply re-create a main band member, such as Mick Jagger or Angus Young, with the rest of the band looking like whatever. Female tribute bands are not held to as high a standard for visual likeness because let's be honest, do we really want to see a female version of AC/DC's Brian Johnson? At the risk of sounding unpardonably sexist, I'll have to say umm...no. At any rate, when done well tribute bands are quite entertaining and there is definitely a place for them in All Things Rockin' because these bands are not only great musicians, they are also obviously the ultimate rock fans, and without fans there is no rock. To follow are performances from some of the best tribute bands.

  

The Glimmer Twins (The Rolling Stones)
Their Mick and Keith are spot on and they have the added advantage of the spectacular
Valori Steele handling with ease all female vocal parts. I'd love to hear them play "Sway".


Live The Who (The Who)
While their Daltrey and Townshend fail on looks but score highly on sound, their Moon and Entwistle are virtual clones in terms of appearance and playing.


Stolen Dan (Steely Dan)
No effort to replicate appearance, and none needed. They simply put together a band that nicely gets the music across. Larry Carlton would probably approve of the guitar solo


ZOSO (Led Zeppelin)
Pretty close appearance-wise. The drummer almost flawlessly replicates Bonham's look, sound and style and the guitarist has definitely done his homework.


Yessongs Italy (Yes)
Not really looking like Yes outside of the clothing, but when dealing with Yes getting the music right is an accomplishment in and of itself, and these guys do just that quite nicely.


The Iron Maidens (Iron Maiden)
These ladies look nothing like the original band (thank goodness!) but they pull off the songs convincingly. Kudos in particular to the drummer and guitarists.