THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

  • 28 Mar 2024, 02:08
  • Welcome, Guest
Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Cover bands...  (Read 9766 times)

dr. nervioso

  • Beyond Thunderdome
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 555
  • No more Mr. Nice Bitch
Cover bands...
« on: 18 Mar 2012, 16:16 »

So recently, I did a blog post/review of an acoustic cover band. I will quoe some of it here:

Quote
Altogether, the concert was pretty good, excellent guitar playing. However, the songs themselves seemed repetitive. This is somewhat common in most acoustic cover bands. The defintion of what is good in music can be described as specifically broad. While a band can be excellent musicians, when they are doing a cover, they are being compared to the original (or the most popular artist, as in the case of the Dixie Chicks’s “Landslide”). Also, consider the people who are going to listen to a Blink 182 cover, Britney Spears fans? I think not.

So, cover bands are hard to review because you have to ignore your reservations about the original song and judge based on questions like “Does this song fit the band’s capabilities and style?” or “Is this band in tune or are they butchering the song?” This criteria is very limiting because it only covers the surface of their musical potential. To be honest, whenever I see a band like this, my main reaction is “meh.” I want to like them, I really, really do. But cover bands  hinder themselves. They restrict the part of music that makes it art. Creativity. Now, cover bands do have their use. They serve as excellent practice for being in a band and learning what you can do with your voice or an instrument. However, without the songwriting, the presentation, or the experimentation, the music seems empty.

So you all being music-y people must have some sort of opinion on cover bands, what is it?
Logged
Quote
this forum is slowly decomposing into butts and kitties

Patrick

  • where did it cost?
  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,263
  • Used to be a cool kid
    • Troubador! bandcamp page
Re: Cover bands...
« Reply #1 on: 18 Mar 2012, 17:17 »

I'm pretty black-and-white on this, cover bands are for when you can't get the real thing. But there's two different kinds. The kind that artistically re-interprets every song, and the kind that tries to stay as faithful as possible to the original/most popular version/whatever. The former is rarer (it's a big risk; if you don't do it well, people will think you're just a bunch of pretentious idiots), the latter is in overwhelming abundance (less risk, but usually the members are less talented).
Logged
My long-dead band Troubador! licks your gentlemen's legumes on the cheap

Melodic

  • Only pretending to work
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,115
  • archive chin panties
Re: Cover bands...
« Reply #2 on: 18 Mar 2012, 20:05 »

Agreed with Patrick. There's a great band in Vancouver called Creaking Planks, and they do phenomenal covers of all kinds of stuff, but very much in their own style. It's these kind of tributes that I soak up with a grin. If you're doing your best so sound like the source material, I'd rather just go listen to the source's albums.
Logged
And if you played too hard it'd flop out and dangle around by the wire and that is just super ugly

Patrick

  • where did it cost?
  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,263
  • Used to be a cool kid
    • Troubador! bandcamp page
Re: Cover bands...
« Reply #3 on: 18 Mar 2012, 20:50 »

Logged
My long-dead band Troubador! licks your gentlemen's legumes on the cheap

Theyis

  • Not quite a lurker
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 21
Re: Cover bands...
« Reply #4 on: 26 Mar 2012, 06:34 »

Cover bands are mostly just fun for a while in my opinion. Especially if they stick closely to the original or do eveything in a particular style like Me first and the gimme gimmes p[unk covers of  varied songs. Fun, but not for long...

And then every once in a while something absolutely brilliant comes along like Johnny Cash's version of Hurt, which in my opinion is much better than the original NIN version...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prDoGmY5kj8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go
Logged

spoon_of_grimbo

  • Bling blang blong blung
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,090
  • http://signalstonoise.tumblr.com
    • http://signalstonoise.tumblr.com
Re: Cover bands...
« Reply #5 on: 31 Mar 2012, 16:31 »

from the ages of 14 to about 18, i played in a rock/metal covers band (stuff like iron maiden, black sabbath, metallica, rhcp, and at my insistence, a strung out song).  it was my first band, and it was fun (we even had a bit of a following among our schoolmates and got a decent crowd at the few gigs we did), but it was frustrating as the drummer (whose house we practiced at) wanted to pander to audiences and play well-known stuff only, and was against the idea of writing our own stuff because he got bored while the bass and guitar players were collaborating on riffs etc.  basically, band practices weren't the most fun in the world, but gigs really were. 

some of us from that band, plus a few others, are getting together this year to learn a bunch of covers and be the drummer's sister's wedding party band, which is cool, as it's a one-off, but i can honestly say i'd never want to play in a covers band again for anything other than one-offs, especially now i know the amazing feeling you get when you go into a practice room with a few ideas and emerge with an actual song.
Logged

A_S00

  • Emoticontraindication
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 67
Re: Cover bands...
« Reply #6 on: 14 Jun 2012, 12:52 »

Walk Off The Earth are the best thing ever
Holy fuck you're right.  There goes the rest of my day at work.  Thanks.
Logged

Patrick

  • where did it cost?
  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,263
  • Used to be a cool kid
    • Troubador! bandcamp page
Re: Cover bands...
« Reply #7 on: 14 Jun 2012, 16:13 »

My bandmate suggested a Bangles cover band and calling it the Dangles.

Turns out, it's been done.
Logged
My long-dead band Troubador! licks your gentlemen's legumes on the cheap

Lummer

  • Duck attack survivor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,561
Re: Cover bands...
« Reply #8 on: 15 Jun 2012, 00:07 »

I just thought of the most depressive band ever.

Joy division tribute band with a clown as a lead singer.

This is brilliant.

Other than that, I'm considering suggesting a Joy Division cover to my Grind band, more specifically "They Walked In Line"
Logged

Jimor

  • Lovecraftian nightmare
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,763
    • Twitch Channel
Re: Cover bands...
« Reply #9 on: 23 Jun 2012, 23:16 »

Just ran across these guys after a friend posted about them on Facebook. Nothing fancy, just 2 (and sometimes 3) guys sitting in a pizza parlor in Utah knocking it out of the park every time. Also some of the absolute best live music audio I've seen on YouTube.
Logged
Twitch I play games and hang out with friends.

VonKleist

  • Psychopath in a hockey mask
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 618
  • First I lol'd. But then I serious'd.
Re: Cover bands...
« Reply #10 on: 25 Jun 2012, 04:19 »

Just ran across these guys after a friend posted about them on Facebook. Nothing fancy, just 2 (and sometimes 3) guys sitting in a pizza parlor in Utah

Also motherfucking Scarlet Begonias:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf8_Ez3_kyc


OT: I love covering but it´s such a controversial thing. I like a nice cover as an encore. But cover bands that only imitate kind of lack something, at least to me. But if it makes you happy, more power to you.

Wind in the willows playing tea for two
sky was yellow and the sun was blue


gooood, I love that song :)
« Last Edit: 25 Jun 2012, 04:25 by VonKleist »
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up