TRIBUTE BAND OR REAL DEAL- WHICH ONE ROCKS IN 2010?
Some of the rock and roll gods are a little long in the tooth and some of them are just plain dead. Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell were basically right because there really” ain’t nothing like the real thing”.
Sometimes the choice is not quite as cut and dried, so let’s talk about fake vs. real in 2010.
The Beatles: Have to go with fake in this one, because two surviving Beatles, including one named Ringo, means that a tribute band is your best bet. The death of John Lennon was the end of the Beatles, even though Paul McCartney was a big part of the lead vocals. No John means no Beatles. Maybe Paul should join Rain, the Beatles’ best tribute band.
The Rolling Stones: The Rolling Stones are their own best tribute band. Plus the two lead hands (Mick Jagger and Keith Richards) are still alive, even though Richards has cheated death for decades. Mick still puts on a good show and nobody ever accused him of being the world’s greatest vocalist- just a charter member of the world’s greatest rock and roll band.
These guys are good to go until Mick accidentally struts off a stage and shatters on an arena floor, or the law of averages catch up to Keith Richards. Then you can go with a tribute band.
Led Zeppelin: The death of drummer John “Bonzo” Bonham spelled the end of the line for the Zep. But the truth is that the heart of this pioneer metal band was Jimmy Page and Robert Plante. Led Zeppelin could still put on a show with these two guys in the band. Don’t expect Plante to hit the high notes with ear-shattering regularity, but Page still knows his way around a guitar better than most. I would go with the real deal on this one.
Creedence Clearwater Revival: John Fogerty actually is Creedence- even if he doesn’t own the name. He got into a legal wrangle for many years, so he saved his pipes and refused to play his old hits. He still sounds the same and does justice to the CCR sound. Go with Fogerty over a tribute band on this one, because the rest of the original band was just the hired help who ironically now do their own CCR tribute gig.
The Who: The line-up for The Who has shrunk down to two original members. Fortunately they are the most important members of the band. Roger Daltrey and Peter Townshend will play at the Super Bowl this year as The Who, and they will be better than any Who tribute band on the planet.
AC/DC: These guys are already an AC/DC tribute band. Current lead vocalist Angus Young pulled off that stunt shortly after original lead singer Bon Scott checked out in 1980 after a night of overly excessive merriment. The beauty of the AC/DC sound was that it was based upon a power guitar sound and vocals were only a part of the formula. Enter Angus and a loud and proud sound that doesn’t miss a beat.
The final tally in this? Real bands 5 Fake bands 1.
COMMENTS
DENNIS:"Lest ye forget The Eagles. They still put on a pretty good show. But ya gotta admit, watching a grey haired Joe Walsh in a 3 piece suit, wearing glasses, singing "My Maserati does 185", looks more like a case of Alzheimer's than a tribute to rebellion.
