A conversation with Nick, a longtime Hung Dynasty friend, got me thinking: What’s the best strategy for a cover band that wants to get the crowd really into the music?
Some bands will sound pretty much like you’re scanning the FM radio dial. You’ll hear whatever tunes fit their interest that get frequent regular airplay.
Me? I like it a bit different. I’ve got a good example: There’s this local Joan Jett tribute band called Bad Reputation. They did all the usual stuff, but also whipped out “Light of Day.” I’d completely forgotten about that song, and it was really cool to hear it again. I could see the movie poster with Joan and Michael J. Fox (looking quite uncomfortable as a male rocker skank) clearly in my mind.
Then Bad Reputation really surprised me: They played a Rage Against the Machine tune! And did a nice job of it.
That’s the way I like cover bands to operate: Dig up something I’ve forgotten. Surprise me with your spin on a well-known tune. And maybe even play something totally outside your genre.
Hung Dynasty isn’t a cover band. We love making original music in the vein of the bands we listened to growing up. But we also like to cover a few things here and there. We try to surprise, like our heavy metal mashup of “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers and Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.” Or playing “Down Under” by Men at Work likes it’s a Dio tune. Or digging really deep in the Iron Maiden catalog for “Wrathchild.”
So what about the rest of you? What do you like best from a cover or tribute band?
