Tuesday, February 27, 2024

A Tribute to Tributes

LA's "Thai Elvis" - Kavee “Kevin” Thongpricha
I used to scorn tribute bands as being, well, less-than. 

But in the past several weeks, I realized the number of "tribute" concerts I've attended outnumbered those by actual music acts: A David Bowie birthday celebration; actor Michael Shannon's all-REM show for the 40th anniversary of Murmur; and a career retrospective of Neil Young - and I was surprised at how fulflling the experiences were. 

Does this mean I'm getting older, more forgiving - or that, at its best, the form is actually worthier than I gave it credit for? 

Back when I was at Rolling Stone in the late 80's, I pitched a piece to my editors about tribute bands. I had noticed a lot of ads for such acts in music publications. Instead of being a generic bar/wedding band covering a range of popular songs, these guys -- and yeah, they were mostly guys -- dressed up as, and sang the oeuvre of, a single band. Anything from Styx to Steely Dan. 

Being a young snobby rock writer, I found it a mixture of interesting, funny, and kind of pathetic. I had never been to one, but I imagined they could bring joy to crowds - many of whom might not have access to see the real acts, for any number of reasons, including geographic and economic, even deaths of the musician(s). 

I envisioned it as a photo-driven feature, but I also wanted to interview the musicians, about how they had ended up on this particular path to music-biz careers. 

It was rejected. Probably correctly so. The stories would have blurred together, the fun might have been sad, and it would have seemed snarky. Plus, it would have taken up valuable real estate in the magazine from actual bands writing original material trying to make their way. It would sort of be like covering Joe Piscopo doing Sinatra. 

Then when I moved to LA in 2002, I was told I *had* to see Thai Elvis. Every Friday and Saturday night at a restaurant in Thai Town on Hollywood Boulevard, a man named Kavee "Kevin" Thongpricha (above) wore a sparkly suit and karaoked a convincing Elvis. (It's a tradition that apparently has its origins in Thailand and there's another guy who was doing it in LA prepandemic who was in his 70s). 

I went, it was fun, and had an extra layer of intrigue above the usual Elvis impersonator because of his nationality, but it was more curio/camp than musically compelling. 

On the other hand, I was a huge fan of the tribute albums and concerts organized by the late great impresario Hal Willner. He started with jazz musicians and in non-rock genres - Nino Rota, Thelonious Monk, Allen Ginsberg -- but eventually lassoed rock and avant garde musicians onto albums interpreting Kurt Weill, Disney soundtracks, Harry Smith American folk and sea shanties. 

He assembled shaggy, miraculous live shows honoring Randy Newman, Leonard Cohen, and Bob Dylan's first Town Hall concert -- the last of which included everyone from Bill Murray to Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (below, with the Milk Carton Kids) -- but it all worked. 

When Hal died in 2020, he was finishing a T.Rex album which included this Nick Cave cover: 

I did once foray to a show by "Lez Zeppelin," an all-female Led Zep tribute band, because I know the brother of one of the members - and it was both serious musicianship and a hoot. 
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The only other memorable tribute-type shows I've eagerly attended were by the Fab Faux, who I saw for the fourth time last November, playing all of Revolver and "The Psychedelic Singles."
Will Lee rocking Imagine clouds suit, Beacon Theater, 11/23
Formed in 1998 by Letteman bassist Will Lee, the band of veterans - including Conan's guitarist Jimmy Vivino - take Beatle nostalgia out of the costumed realm of Beatlemania and into a whole other level of musicianship. They perform live many songs the Beatles never did, since they stopped touring as their recordings and relationships got more complicated.

One of the Fab Faux's more impressive feats was this seamless re-creation of Side 2 of Abbey Road (remember when albums had sides?) which had been pastiched together from many different sessions. 

Today - despite the Dead never really dying, despite residencies at the Sphere in Las Vegas, despite holograms and Broadway shows and IMAX concert films and live streaming and all sorts of ways to see vintage acts -- there is still a thriving tribute band business. 

A quick Google turned up dozens just in the NYC area - where "genuine" live music is plentiful. Tributes to Abba, George Michael, Queen, Elton John, Janis Joplin, Guns N Roses, Pink Floyd, and Simon & Garfunkel. There's "Jagged Little Thrill - the Alanis Experience" and "Echoes of The Eagles" -- even though those acts are alive. (Well, some Eagles). Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew themselves are touring the Talking Heads Remain in Light album. And one could argue that at this point, some of the older acts have devolved into kind of ossified self-tributes. 

So my expectations were middling when I booked tickets for the recent shows, but all of them were kind of amazing. 

The Bowie birthday at City Winery, led by upstate musician Robert Burke Warren, featured several sung by Rhett Miller of the Old '97s, a couple by Broadway star Michael Cerveris, and the soul singer Queen Esther. Perhaps the most memorable was when of the middle-aged female backup singers took the mike for a raucous "Jean Genie." Although the sadness of Bowie's early passing sometimes seeped in, it was a warm reminder of his enduring genius.
Michael Cerveris, Rhett Miller, Queen Esther at Bowie tribute


I was even more skeptical of the REM show by Michael Shannon -- even though he's one of my favorite actors, and his singing as George Jones in the Showtime series George and Tammy was admirable. 

I'd heard of him doing a show covering the entire Modern Lovers debut, and apparently he also did Bowie's Scary Monsters, The Smith's The Queen Is Dead, and Lou Reed's The Blue Mask - all offbeat choices. So he's clearly a fanboy with good taste. But trying to recapture such a legendary album seemed to border on hubris. 

Narducy & fundraiserposter
But he and his Chicago musician pal Jason Narducy had done a show in 2023 in their hometown of Chicago - and REM bassist Mike Mills had shown up and participated, and they decided to book a mini tour -- 8 shows in 7 cities in less than two weeks. 

And then the craziest thing that could happen at a tribute show happened: think Joe Cocker singing along side John Belushi on SNL
At the show in the band's hometown of Athens, GA,  all four members of REM showed up -- the first time they'd all been on the same stage since being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 -- although Stipe did not sing, the other three played a bit. 

In Philly, Kurt Vile played a song with them, and in Boston, the sax player from Morphine. So the anticipation for the NY show was high. 

The Valentine's eve show, at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, featured no such guest stars, but it didn't matter. From the opening riff of "Radio Free Europe," the music was the star.

While Shannon is not Stipe as a vocalist, he's as committed a singer as he is an actor. The 2 1/2-hour show flew by. I shot videos  and compiled a playlist adding videos from others at other shows to replicate more of a complete setlist. 

And I went home and listened to REM records, which I hadn't in years. 

Bizarrely, the exact same night, across town at Carnegie Hall, Cat Power played a show recreating Dylan's 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert when he went electric. 
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Finally, last night, my college roommate and I went to see The Losers Lounge tribute to Neil Young, back at City Winery.  (The venue knows where its bread is buttered: the smaller upstairs room also was hosting a tribute show that night.) 

I sort of fudged things above -- I have attended Losers Lounge shows in the past, and they've all been pretty great. They've tackled everyone from Prince to the Monkees. The band is led by former Psychedelic Furs keyboardist Joe McGinty, and the format is one song per vocalist (occasionally two). 
Past "Losers"
In the time since we'd bought the tickets, Neil himself had announced he was actually touring with Crazy Horse, which made me worry the show might seem more incidental. 

But from the opening strains of three women singing "After the Gold Rush" a capella, the band quickly dispelled any notions of that. In the opposite tack of Shannon, none of the songs were played true to the record. You didn't have to be a classic rock fuddy duddy to appreciate the newfound power "Southern Man" and "Ohio" had when belted out by stellar female black vocalists. There was a disco take on "Lotta Love," a punk thrash of Buffalo Springfield's "Burned" - all of it true to the music and yet reinventing it to hear it fresh. 

I only captured one full song on video, but it shows the spirit of the night - husband and wife John Cowsill and Vicki Peterson (of the Bangles) reimagining the somewhat whiny "Winterlong" from the greatest hits compilation Decade as a majestic 60s pop song.


So have I rethought my feelings about tribute bands? If they're all this good, sure. 

8 comments:

  1. Thre were about ten of us who would attend every single Loser's Lounge when it was at The Fez and had the occasional guest star vocalist- Jules Shear, David Byrne, etc. Every one of them was fantastic. I used to buy the CDs, but like everything else, it changed and I haven't been in years. I miss those shows.

    One side note re: tribute bands, about 10-15 years ago, an old friend said she was going to see Creedence Clearwater Revival. I said, "No you aren't." She said, "I am too. Sunday night in Asbury Park." I said, "It's Creedence Clearwater Revisited. NO FOGERTY!"
    She said, "Who cares, as long as they play 'Travelin' Band.'"

    And there ya go!

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  2. Ya gotta be careful when you get Thai Elvis and Joe Piscopo too close together ...

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Way_killings

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  3. Hey Dave did we see Lez Zeppelin together?

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  4. Once ventured out on a cold, rainy LA night to see Cheap Chick. 😆

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  5. Nice, David! I’ve certainly enjoyed several Loser’s Lounge shows, and other tributes, though in most cases I'd still rather listen to the original recordings, or watch a clip of the actual band. But sometimes there are pleasant surprises: a few years ago on a subway car a guy with an acoustic guitar was performing "The Man Who Sold the World"--a great song, yes, but also the right song at the right moment. It was … moving.

    When I was at journalism school 40+ years ago I did a feature for my magazine-writing class on what was then THE Doors cover band, Crystal Ship, who in those days were regularly playing NYC bars and clubs. Went to one of their shows, interviewed them. And they were good. But given that I never much liked the Doors themselves, how much could I possibly care, in the end, for a bunch of guys from Jersey who were devoted to channeling them? Still: they had their fans, and that’s great.

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  6. Seen the Fab Faux on several occasions. They are all top pro musicians and make every effort to recreate The Beatles utilizing the same gear, guitars, even their drummer will play left-handed on right-handed drums like Ringo. The side two of Abbey Road the you posted, David, is truly amazing. The respect and love that the Faux have for The Beatles comes through in every note.

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  7. Thank you David as always for another thoughtful and insightful music essay. I really appreciated and loved your observations, especially as I myself am a violinist for two tribute bands - LOVE REVISITED which included Arthur Lee before he died and currently features Johnny Echols, and THE GREAT DECEIVERS, a King Crimson tribute band. My gigs have included playing with other friends' tribute bands such as INFINITE SADNESS (Smashing Pumpkins) and an all-female Dokken tribute band. We are all professional musicians who are also diehard music geek fans... and that's what makes our tribute bands special because we share a deep mutual respect, passion, and love for our favorite musicians and try to honor their legacies. The tribute bands I play with are not just "gigs" but also family. xo

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  8. Very much adored this piece. My disdain for tribute bands caused me to co-write a comedy script with a friend and while we never had a meeting about it, it was nominated (and didn't win) for a Scriptwriter's Network award. We researched tribute bands (as the premise was a tortured tribute band singer (who wants to do his own material) is forced to resurrect the career of the burned out heavy metal star he portrays. We tried to get it to Meat Loaf and did get as far as his wife. Your blog was fantastic. I do think there's somewhat of a difference between musicians doing tributes to an artist (like the Wild Honey shows I've seen where name musicians do THE WHITE ALBUM) and bar room bands who dress up and try to emulate long gone bands. Still find the latter to be kitsch but to each his own -- and I did see Thai Elvis a few times and quite enjoyed him.


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