Channel Steve

Thanks to Sherrene for pointing out a recent tribute band feature on Sixty Minutes.  The story was Melbourne-based, so most of the bands are ones I’ve seen and some I’ve played on the same bill with. Particularly cool was seeing Dark Room and Thunderstruck and my personal preference would be that more focus was given to them, less on the Supremes tribute, and absolutely no time whatsoever on Kisstroyer (completely over-rated, and musically under-par). Now Dynissty – there’s a Kiss tribute band of worth.

Dynissty rocks Barwon Heads

Sixty Minutes – The Great Pretenders – Watch the Video

Friday July 31, 2009

I had to laugh when I heard Andrew (Ace) from Kisstroyer say that once the band donned the costumes they also gained the Kiss arrogance. I can tell you from much personal experience that a couple of members of that band don’t need costumes to exhibit that particular trait.  Anyway, moving right along…

Bjorn Again used to be a stellar tribute to ABBA, but from the few examples I’ve heard since they created the franchise, I believe musically they have dropped a few rungs. In fact, BABBA seems to be Australia’s best exponent of the ABBA show now.  But miles ahead of everyone on the circuit is the Australian Pink Floyd Show. They don’t skimp when it comes to production quality, and in my opinion they really are the closest thing to the real deal of any tribute band on the planet.  As far as the Beatnix go, yeah they are exceptionally good, but come on – if you’re going to do The Beatles, pick an era after George Martin figured out where the “gain” control was on their amps.

Unfortunately, my old mates War Pigs have done very little since I left the band, and as a result missed out on being a significant part of this story.

Mark from War Pigs

I have very fond memories of gigs large and small, played to both adoring and morose crowds, alongside many other awesome tribute bands.  It also got me wishing I’d done more to digitise our gig video and make them available to our adoring masses. I found only two tracks on Youtube, both really poor quality in production and performance (alcohol is not always a good thing, mmmmkay?), and my six or so full gig video recordings are languishing in a drawer somewhere back in Australia.  However, just for fun I’ve thrown in one of my favourite live audio recordings from a show in Richmond in 2003.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

All of this rock chat reminds me that I must get onto that RAW project I promised myself while over here.  For those not in the know, Rock Awesomeness Worldwide will be the greatest touring rock show on the planet, with the core of the band being some of the most talented Asian rock gods you’ve never seen. I’m off to Rock City Patong again next month to start my recruiting drive, with the Hard Rock Cafe Manila next on the agenda, and Harajuku Tokyo rounding off my work.

Rock City Patong

Harajuku Rock Star

Related articles by Zemanta

• The Australian Pink Floyd Show: shine on you crazy Aussies (telegraph.co.uk)
• ABBA Tribute Act For Sonisphere (idiomag.com)