When is a band a tribute band?

PhilKing

Went to see Foreigner last night.  I was originally going to see them on the 2020 tour, but Covid hit and it was cancelled.   The band was great but Mick Jones didn't play, so there was no-one from the original Foreigner line-up on stage.  My wife said we could have gone to see a tribute band and saved a lot of money.  I guess I did get the tour T-shirt.

blobb

Try being a Soft Machine fan.

Philly_Q

Are there any actual Foreigner tribute bands?  I guess there must be.

BillDL

Philly_Q said:

Are there any actual Foreigner tribute bands?  I guess there must be.

Yes, at one of my employer's other larger depots down South a Hungarian, a Romanian, and two Polish guys that work in the warehouse have formed a Metallica tribute band and I am led to believe they are rather good

horse

Philly_Q said:

Are there any actual Foreigner tribute bands?  I guess there must be.

 These seem to have been going a few years:

https://aforeignersjourney.co.uk/

bloodandtears

horse said:

Philly_Q said:

Are there any actual Foreigner tribute bands?  I guess there must be.

 These seem to have been going a few years:

https://aforeignersjourney.co.uk/

and despite a few member changes along the way (3rd singer at least, 2nd lead guitarist), they are excellent.

Roland

Face it, Jagger and Richards play in a Stones tribute band, and not a particularly good one at that.

axisus

I kind of feel that you need Mick Jones or Lou Gramm in there to call yourself Foreigner. The rest could be anybody, I have never had a clue to any of their names.

PhilKing

Roland said:

Face it, Jagger and Richards play in a Stones tribute band, and not a particularly good one at that.

At least they are original members.   Ticketmaster must think that I like Foreigner tribute bands, they just sent me an email about "Head Games", a US Foreigner tribute band.

Philly_Q

axisus said:

I kind of feel that you need Mick Jones or Lou Gramm in there to call yourself Foreigner. The rest could be anybody, I have never had a clue to any of their names.

The other original members might take exception to that.  Although they all left years ago and at least two of them are dead.

Philly_Q

@PhilKing was Jeff Pilson sitting down for the whole gig?  I heard he hurt his knee, or something.

PhilKing

Philly_Q said:

@PhilKing was Jeff Pilson sitting down for the whole gig?  I heard he hurt his knee, or something.

Hi @Philly_Q, yes he was.  When they moved the chair to the front for him to play piano, you could see how he was struggling to walk.  I think it is a back injury that needs surgery.

Mind you when I saw Peter Frampton in June, he had the whole band seated, as he can't stand anymore and walks with a cane. 

Musicwolf

The recording contracts for most bands will include a 'key man clause'.  This identifies which members of the band are key to the band's identity (usually front man / song writers) and therefore if these people leave / are fired / die the band is in breach or the contract terminated.  In the Rolling Stones I believe that it's Jagger and Richards and I'm sure that I've read somewhere that Ronnie Wood has said that he has never had a contract.

The thing with these 'Trigger's Broom' bands is that there are also all sorts of claims as to who owns the name.

Philly_Q

PhilKing said:

Philly_Q said:

@PhilKing was Jeff Pilson sitting down for the whole gig?  I heard he hurt his knee, or something.

Hi @Philly_Q, yes he was.  When they moved the chair to the front for him to play piano, you could see how he was struggling to walk.  I think it is a back injury that needs surgery.

Mind you when I saw Peter Frampton in June, he had the whole band seated, as he can't stand anymore and walks with a cane. 

God's way of telling them to retire...?  Although I know Pilson has loads of projects which will continue after Foreigner.  I hope he gets his back sorted out.

Blueingreen

 I saw the Hamish Stuart Band a few years back and Hamish pointed out that although they didn't have the rights to use the name Average White Band they had more original members (3) than the band touring under that name, who had 2.

Sporky

As I recall, it was at one point possible to see a Sugababes tribute act composed entirely of the original members of Sugababes. 

Litterick

blobb said:

Try being a Soft Machine fan.

John Etheridge had better not retire.

hollywoodrox

Musicwolf said:

The recording contracts for most bands will include a 'key man clause'.  This identifies which members of the band are key to the band's identity (usually front man / song writers) and therefore if these people leave / are fired / die the band is in breach or the contract terminated.  In the Rolling Stones I believe that it's Jagger and Richards and I'm sure that I've read somewhere that Ronnie Wood has said that he has never had a contract.

The thing with these 'Trigger's Broom' bands is that there are also all sorts of claims as to who owns the name.

Woody became an official stone quite a few years ago but for a long time he was a hired gun 
Still the greatest rock n roll band in the world 

Philly_Q

Lynyrd Skynyrd has recently joined Molly Hatchet in having no original members in the current lineup (I know Rickey Medlocke was on Skynyrd's First and... Last, but he wasn't in the first lineup of the band).  And in both cases none of the original members are still with us. 

ICBM

When I saw the Ink Spots some time in the late 80s, the band still featured the last *second* generation member - ie someone who joined when at least one of the founding members was still in it.... the original band was formed in 1934 and split up in 1954 - although since 1967, the name has apparently been ruled 'public domain' and it isn't actually necessary to have a connection with the original band anyway. I would guess some of the longer-running rock bands could end up going the same way.

Stuckfast

There was something very apt about this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devo_2.0