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Tribute bands don’t get record deals or generate chatter on People.com, but musicians have found it a good way to make money and play before a large, appreciative audience.
“The tribute scene is where it is at,” said Kevin Todd, lead guitar player for Arch Allies, a band that covers REO Speedwagon, Styx and Journey. “If you’re good, you can make good money doing it. It’s also a kick. It’s the closest you can come to being a national act.”
Arch Allies is one of 10 bands performing this weekend at Tribute Fest, a two-day music festival at the Buffalo House featuring bands covering classic rock from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. The shows start at 4 p.m. Friday and concludes late Saturday.
Leni DiMancari plays guitar in Bad Animals, a Heart tribute band. In the mid-1980s, his glam-rock band Hurricane Alice was signed to Atlantic Records and they won Best New Artist at the Minnesota Music Awards. The band broke up soon after, and DiMancari went on to record solo albums into the 2000s.
He’s retired from solo work and now favors the tribute scene.
“It’s the one avenue the clubs have looked at and said: ‘This is a guaranteed draw. We know how many people they’ll draw, we know the audience,’ ” DiMancari said. “[With tribute bands] people know what they’re going to get. They know the catalogue.”
Todd said he would like to play his original songs, but he can make between $1,500 and $1,800 a month, per musician, during the summer, as a tribute band.
“If you’re an original band, sometimes you pay to play,” he said. “Original music, unless you’re on the national scene, it’s for the love of doing it.”
DiMancari said Bad Animals played for 16,000 people at Moondance Jam in Walker, Minn. Their set was sandwiched between Lita Ford and Whitesnake.
Playing original material can fall on the other end of the spectrum.
“The hardest thing is when you’re playing to a bartender and a couple waitresses,” DiMancari said. “You’re playing for relatively cheap, just to get your message across.”
Success in the tribute scene requires studying a band’s gestures and expressions, and finding vintage clothes similar to those the band wore. The levels of mimicry vary: Bad Animals is mostly concerned with their versions of Ann and Nancy Wilson, and not so much about the guys in the background. The Tom Petty cover band Freefallin’ has purchased guitars and amps that Petty and his Heartbreakers used.
“We try to be as true to the original band as we can,” Freefallin’ drummer Mark Larsen said.
But every tribute band audience has at least one music geek who knows every nuance of every song.
“As a guitar player, you have to play these songs exact,” DiMancari said. “The true Heart fan wants to hear the songs exactly like Heart did them on the record. A musician in the back of the room will be the first to fold their arms and say: ‘I could play that better.’ ”
GO SEE THE TRIBUTE BANDS
What: Tribute Fest is a two-day festival featuring 10 tribute bands playing classic rock from the 1970s to ’90s. It also is a benefit for homeless veterans.
Where: Buffalo House, 2590 Guss and Buffalo Valley Road.
When: Doors open at 3 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday
Tix: $20, Friday only; $25 Saturday only; $30 two-day pass, tax not included. Profits from ticket sales go to the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans.
More info: Go to www.thetributefest.com
FRIDAY LINEUP
4 p.m. 10,000 Days (Tool)
6 p.m. TNT (AC/DC)
8 p.m. Ultimate Ozzy (Ozzy Osbourne)
10 p.m. Strutter (Kiss)
SATURDAY LINEUP
Noon Freefallin’ (Tom Petty)
2 p.m. Arch Allies (Journey, REO Speedwagon, Styx)
4 p.m. The Bad Animals (Heart)
6 p.m. Van Halen Army (Van Halen)
8 p.m. Freebird (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
10 p.m Zed Leppelin (Led Zeppelin)
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