BLOGS

I HATE rock concerts. In general they're over priced for what you get. Venues are too large and don't allow for a listening relationship to develop with the artists, and most of the decent concerts are out of town so add the cost of food, gas, and a room to the whole mess. BUT, these 4 groups I'd pay good money to see, and would really go if they came to town. Funny part, they're all tribute bands, and they'd all fit the TTC.
There are a lot of Beatles tribute bands out there. Rain, which recently was on TV is a good one, Revolver, which was recently in Wenatchee, was not. Both are clone bands. But my favorite is The Fab Faux, a New York based group. Founded by Will Lee, ontime bass player for Letterman's show, it features Jimmy Vivino, Conan's TV bandleader, and a host of quality NYC studio guys. This is not a dress up band, and the catch is that they perform later period stuff, that is post "Magical Mystery Tour" material, the stuff the Beatles never performed live. A modest example done last year, side 2 of Abby Road. It comes in 3 parts.

No overdubs or studio tricks here. Took a dozen bandmembers to do it, but do it they do do. The charts are perfect, and I'll admit they aren't a dress up band, but that doesn't matter. It's the sound that counts, not the visual illusion. And for them, the sound works. The walrus may have been Paul, but these guys make it work.

The amazing part is they do this in concert. The sad part is they play mostly in the northeast. But boy, they come our way, I'd sure pony up.

I don't know why, but Australia seems to be home turf for more tribute bands than you can shake a stick at. Don't know if you remember the shots I took at "Stairway To Heaven" a couple of years ago, but all of those bands doing the parodies were Austrialan tribute bands. So I guess it would be correct that the next group comes from down under.
That group would be The Australian Pink Floyd Show, a touring company that's has been around since the mid 80's, replicating a late career Pink Floyd concert. And doing it well. I haven't seen them live but KCTS-TV taped and played one of their Seattle shows as a fundraiser. And for good reason.

It's the complete package, flying pigs, light show and all. And they do tour the US, showing up in Seattle once every couple of years. Don't know if they'll be around this year, their schedule only runs through April on their website, www.aussiefloyd.com
Now there is a problem with TAPFS. Aparently they have a new lead singer who is a step down from the old one, and there was a bit of an argument within the group, as some of them split off and formed Brit Floyd, another touring act that appears to be worthy.

Again, it's a full show. Brit Floydhas only been around about 18 months, but I understand a US tour is coming. Wouldn't it be nice to see either band booked into the TTC? They're about as close as you'll ever get to a Floyd show anymore.

One more, and this one is actually something close to local. Nearly Dan is a Seattle based group that plays (can you guess?) the music of Steely Dan. Again, these guys are good. I'm not a big fan of audience shot videos, but give this a shot...

It's aparently what professional musicians do when they're having fun. For a better representation of their sound, I'm going to direct you to their website at www.nearlydan.com but I'd like to see them wander over the mountains some time. If you, in turn, wander over their direction, they're at The Triple Door Nov. 23rd. I don't know if they'd be a fit in the TTC, and Cafe Mela would be too small, but Nearly Dan's got to fit some club in town. So I guess while I'm waiting for these groups to come to town, it's back to the LPs for now.

As an aside, Rain, The Broadway Show, based on The Beatles tribute band by the same name will be coming to Kennewick at The Toyota Center March 14th. Tickets aren't up yet, but if I remember, I'll let you know when.

Comments

Want to comment on this story? All Wenatchee World members are invited to comment on stories, by using the form below. Please know that we at wenatcheeworld.com hope our site is useful, entertaining and civil. So we'll delete comments that are obscene, abusive or way off topic. We appreciate it when readers use the "suggest removal" button to flag inappropriate comments. For more about interacting with the site, see our Use Policy.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.

Sign in to comment