Tribute Bands Are The Enemy of Art: U2 Edition

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LemonMelon

LemonMelon

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Now, I know that a similar thread was started in B&C on this very subject, BUT I feel that the man who started it (who will remain nameless) went about presenting his case in the wrong way. It is known to all that visual aids are an important key to relating a point to another individual. Sound is even better. So, without further ado, I present to you the incontestable proof that tribute bands not only destroy the cycle of art, but could create mass hearing loss to all humans by the year 2015. Thank you for your time.

YouTube - U-TURN (U2 tribute band): MysTeRiOuS WaYs

YouTube - U2 VERTIGO COVER LIVE BY STATION ROAD

YouTube - FORK - Discotheque (U2 cover)

YouTube - GLAY - WITH OR WITHOUT YOU (U2 cover)

YouTube - Kite

YouTube - U2-Sunday Bloody Sunday Cover

YouTube - Bullet the blue sky U2 cover by WHYNOT (fête de la musique)

YouTube - Sticksbass: U2 cover, New Years Day

YouTube - Beautiful Day (U2 cover) - ioHann & JenSomeone

YouTube - New Passengers Staring At The Sun var (u2 cover) - for fans

YouTube - Rock Superstars

YouTube - I Will Follow U2 Played by Roel

If we continue to let amateurs like this take up our precious time, where will the true art find its place? :down:
 
Oh my. Lucky for me, you didn't put my band in that list.

As with all things in life: if you don't like it, don't listen to it. If you are afraid that it will make you go either blind or deaf or both: don't listen to or look at it.

If you really don't like anyting of the above youtbute movies and wish there were no tributebands at all: don't give them any free exposure on a U2 forum.

With that said: I think tribute bands serve several purposes. First of all, the band members have fun, practising their passion by playing their favorite music instrument and their favorite music. When they're booked, they also serve fans like you and me who get to see U2 only once every 5 years because u2 just don't play that much.

Some are better than others, some are really really bad (and some ofthe movies you posted are not tributes, just covers) and none can be anywhere near the real thing. But apparently there's a market for it.
 
I played a gig with The Doppelgangers, who were the Official U2 tribute Band for a while. They were also in the video Even Better Than The Real Thing. From recollection they weren't too bad either.

Some of these though are just plain dreadful. You probably shouldn't single any particular ones out but it can't be helped. Mr Sunday Bloody Sunday should probably learn to tune his guitar first and then learn the art of harmonics and Mr I Will Follow will learn in time that playing the right notes, in time to the music, generally helps...and as for the drummer in 'New Years Day'.....I think he needs to remember the golden rule...always play the same song the rest of your band are playing otherwise it just sounds shit!

Fair play to anyone who tries though....
 
i would argue that the extremely talented artist in the Beautiful Day video is introducing a new form of art: MIDIRock. she's just a little Avant Garde. don't you worry though, the rest of the world will catch on someday.
 
There are lots of bad tribute bands out there. There are also a lot of bad musicians out there with their own original work. If you see a YouTube video of a band performing their own song, and it's terrible, does that mean that all original music is terrible? Of course not. So...just because there are some bad tribute band videos on YouTube, that doesn't mean that tribute bands are all horrible.

I realize that's stating the obvious, so if people could refrain from the, "Well, DUH!" comments, that would be great. :wink: I guess I just don't like to see all tribute bands get lumped together negatively when there are some who have a lot of talent and put on a good show.
 
Bonochick said:
There are lots of bad tribute bands out there. There are also a lot of bad musicians out there with their own original work. If you see a YouTube video of a band performing their own song, and it's terrible, does that mean that all original music is terrible? Of course not. So...just because there are some bad tribute band videos on YouTube, that doesn't mean that tribute bands are all horrible.

I realize that's stating the obvious, so if people could refrain from the, "Well, DUH!" comments, that would be great. :wink: I guess I just don't like to see all tribute bands get lumped together negatively when there are some who have a lot of talent and put on a good show.
Click to expand...

Only one of these videos listed is from an actual tribute band.
 
Bonochick said:
There are lots of bad tribute bands out there. There are also a lot of bad musicians out there with their own original work. If you see a YouTube video of a band performing their own song, and it's terrible, does that mean that all original music is terrible? Of course not. So...just because there are some bad tribute band videos on YouTube, that doesn't mean that tribute bands are all horrible.

I realize that's stating the obvious, so if people could refrain from the, "Well, DUH!" comments, that would be great. :wink: I guess I just don't like to see all tribute bands get lumped together negatively when there are some who have a lot of talent and put on a good show.
Click to expand...

I agree with your last statement. My wife took me to see a band called "Pride", in New York City, a few years ago. I didn't think I'd like it, but I actually found myself enjoying the group. They were surprisingly talented - they translated the songs a little bit so that they weren't just copying U2 - and there was an element of humility about the whole thing (in other words, they weren't trying to replicate the personalities that make U2; they were borrowing their songs and being very respectful about how they did it).
 
Obviously, the thread title is more or less an exaggeration (unlike the thread it's playing off of, where it was absolutely dead serious). Mostly, it was just an excuse for me to post some particularly awful U2 covers. :wink:

Tribute bands, by definition, could never destroy art, because the music they play is not attempting to be art. And, judging by the videos above, it would be best if many of them kept it that way. Seriously, that guy playing SBS needs to learn how to tune a guitar.
 
LemonMelon said:
Obviously, the thread title is more or less an exaggeration (unlike the thread it's playing off of, where it was absolutely dead serious). Mostly, it was just an excuse for me to post some particularly awful U2 covers. :wink:

Tribute bands, by definition, could never destroy art, because the music they play is not attempting to be art. And, judging by the videos above, it would be best if many of them kept it that way. Seriously, that guy playing SBS needs to learn how to tune a guitar.
Click to expand...

Exactly, I think moving this thread to EBTTRT is making it into something that it's not, and could lead to misunderstanding. I'm also disappointed the vid with the girl kicking the dog didn't make the cut :wink:
 
Would you think it possible to draw a mathematical correlation (perhaps plotted on a graph, for visual aid) between the extent to which tribute bands are the enemy of art and the extent to which that other thread starter (who shall remain nameless) is the enemy of reality/common sense?

:wink:
 
Well, not to get all philiosophical.....I love listening to my favorite U2 tribute band---I'm like a junkie and they're my methadone. But I think its funny that I have a particular cover band that I'll only go see...but thats only cos the other I've seen, I don't find very good.

Hi Elevation :)wave:USA)
 
gvox said:
Would you think it possible to draw a mathematical correlation (perhaps plotted on a graph, for visual aid) between the extent to which tribute bands are the enemy of art and the extent to which that other thread starter (who shall remain nameless) is the enemy of reality/common sense?

:wink:
Click to expand...

U2 ticket sales - (ticket sales of crappy tribute bands + the ticket sales of decent tribute bands) x pi to the 15th power = the amount of damage tribute bands do to the cycle of art each and every day.
 
What about good tribute bands?

Under the criteria presented in this thread, ANY band with poor musicians are the enemy of art...but it's a slippery Slope/argument of false correlation fallacy to presume that all tributes "kill" what can't be killed.
 
This is all a bit silly. To suggest that tribute bands will destroy art (and by art, I assume you mean Original Music) is like saying that if bicycles are made then no-one will drive cars any more. Tributes exist in an age where to see a massive rock band like U2 you have to pay over £100, to stand in a football stadium in no way designed to incorporate live music (i.e. the sound's shite), and 9/10s of the time watch the band on a massive side-screen. And that's if you can even get a ticket.

Saying that, people will always much rather see the real band than a tribute, which is why the best a tribute band can hope for is to sell out a 1,000 seater theatre whilst the likes of U2 will play to 100 times more than that and not even have to worry about filling it. So to suggest that they're affecting ticket sales is utter nonsense.

As a member of a U2 tribute band, I'd much rather be playing my own stuff to the sort of accolades that I get now, but in reality my own written material is pants and it's nigh on impossible to get anyone interested or spend anywhere near enough time doing so whilst I'm studying for a degree.

Besides, you're missing the point, they're not killing art, merely performing an art of their own. In my band we perform small venues and working men's clubs, we charge at most £5 a ticket and people get to see 2 hours worth of the best known tracks with us dressed up as Bono and the guys. Everyone gets a good view and a good sound from an intimate environment, and genuinely everyone (especially myself) has alot of a fun. I don't see how anyone can begrudge that, really.

In addition, I know your gripe was with crap tribute bands, but if the band is crap, don't go and see them. In the case of the one tribute you had on your post, it doesn't look like anyone has anyway.
 
Actually, I kind of enjoyed the Vertigo cover. Sort of a punk-lite, the way they seemed to be doing it, but obviously cared enough to get the song right.

The rest were pretty bad, but most of them had at least something positive (i.e., the singer for Fork managed okay).

Relax, guys, there's no such thing as a good tribute band. I don't want to watch other people play my favorite music, I either want to see U2 do it, or I want to do it myself.

And I suspect that's the point of view of most other tribute bands, as well.
 
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