Tribute bands are an interesting phenomenon that seems to have become more popular over the past couple decades. I’ve been to two tribute bands in the past year, one being a tribute of Queen and the other was Johnny Cash.
There’s something to be said culturally about how we live in a time of nostalgia. I believe that because we are so over saturated with the millions of musicians that we’ve essentially stopped picking favorites. There is such a huge range available that everyone’s playlist has become a combination of both the niche and the more popular.
Essentially now that everyone is a musician, no one is. Because of this, we don’t have bands that capture an entire generation. We instead listen to our own personal preferences instead of sharing the fanfare with the masses. The most popular modern musicians like Taylor Swift and BTS really only crack into a tiny segment of the population i.e. teenage girls and weebs. Their popularity really is because these groups are the most fanatic and willing to spend their cash on pop culture.
It therefore makes sense that without modern bands to celebrate as a group, we would instead praise old bands. For example, songs from The Beatles are known to everyone in existence despite being abandoned in the 1980s. Tribute bands are a way to keep these cultural moments continuing.
And this brings me to my first problem. At the tribute band events I’ve been to, I always hear the same tired phrase “they aren’t as good as the original.” Obviously, no tribute is going to be as good as the original. Also, the authentic band would have never come to our garbage tiny town and charged $8 and two cigarettes at the door. Consider your expectations are that high, then you are automatically setting yourself up for disappointment.
I had some similar thoughts when I first went to these tribute concerts. However, I found the perfect answer to this and learnt to maximize my experience. It’s simple; alcohol will solve all your tribute band problems. I get a three beer buzz going and become the happiest audience member there is. A little alcohol in the system makes you instantly believe that you are watching the real thing. It also enables you to sing the lyrics perfectly.
I guess the moral to this story is that facts and logic can ruin your own experiences. Sometimes it’s best to play dumb and pretend for everyone’s feelings. Ruining your satisfaction to prove some point is worse than just enjoying the false presentation… And a bit of alcohol can certainly help with this feat.
