REVOLUTION LIVE TRIBUTES
by David Rolland
A wise person once said none of us are getting any younger. And that holds just as true for our rock star heroes. With the glory years of rock and roll fading further into the rear view mirror, what is a music fan to do who wants to see the songs of their youth performed live?
Enter Tribute Bands! While there had long been Elvis impersonators, the phenomenon where a group of musicians imitate and play the songs of a famous beloved musical act really took off at the turn of the 21st century when our most famous rock stars began noticeably aging, or much worse, shedding their mortal coil. And so while without the hardest of hard drugs or the invention of a time machine you will never again be able to see Jimi Hendrix, Frank Sinatra, or Amy Winehouse perform live, a great tribute act truly allows one to actually live out what the experience was like.
This summer Revolution Live will pay tribute to tribute bands with a Summer Tribute Series. June already saw tribute bands rock out to Led Zeppelin and Van Halen. You still have a chance on July 10 to catch Nirvanna shred Smells Like Teen Spirit. On July 17 Audioecho will perform Chris Cornell songs from his Soundgarden and Audioslave days. July 24 will have Roll the Stones do their best Jagger and Keef impressions, with a special bonus of opener Jaded paying tribute to Aerosmith. Finally, July 31 will feature Take This to Your Grave playing emo songs from Fall Out Boy, Dashboard Confessional and other pop/punk faves. Tickets for each show costs $10 or you can get a pass to enter all the shows for $30.
“Our tribute series is a great inexpensive night out in downtown Fort Lauderdale. They even dress and look like the real acts,” Revolution Live’s marketing manager Hydee Mustelier told PureHoney, “Plus be prepared to be blown away by our new sound system for the full show experience.”
While some will argue that there is no substitute for the original, there has been the unlikely pattern of members of tribute bands being recruited to join the original outfit. The Mark Wahlberg movie Rock Star showed how Tim “Ripper” Owens from the tribute band British Steel was asked to join Judas Priest. Tommy Thayer, went from KISS cover band Cold Gin to playing Detroit Rock City with the actual KISS, and Jim Morrison mimic Dave Brock was asked to join The Doors survivors in the band Manzarek-Krieger.
So there’s always the chance the tribute act you see tonight could be the real thing tomorrow. For additional concert listings and tickets visit JOINTHEREVOLUTION.NET
