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How much $ to see a cover band?

Schoonerman

Recruit
May 29, 2001
64
13
8
68
Marietta, GA
The wife was surfing concerts coming to ATL and saw a Prince cover band called The Purple Experience is coming to town in a few weeks. She absolutely LOVES Prince and bought a pair of tix for $40 each, plus $5.75 for "processing fees" :mad:.

I know there are some good cover bands out there, but how much would you be willing to pay to see a cover band, especially if the band covers one of your favorite artists?
 
I'd pay upwards of $500 a pop to see a decent kiss cover band.

If mrs schoonerman does something female like and you're only out 90 bucks God bless her you are a lucky dude.
 
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Point of fact, cover bands just cover general music - usually covering several musicians. They play 3 hour bar gigs.

Tribute bands are what you guys are talking about and the good ones are typically a whole different animal. Characters, instruments, costumes, set pieces and very accurate covers down to the tone and don't take shortcuts. They cost a lot more to book. Mine costs about $4k for a 90 minute concert - you provide sound, lights and hire an opening act.

whereas you can get a decent cover band for $400 to do 3 hours. And they usually bring their own sound.

The best tribute bands are often better than the bands they represent. Not saying we are, but it's been said about us, so we got that goin for us.... Which is nice.
 
For the record, there are a handful of tribute bands - that can command that kind of money. They are all highly professional tours. The ones I know of are several Beatles tribs and a few Pink Floyd. I'm sure there are others.

You can only make real rock star money doing this when the real band dies or retires.

I think $20 is the most we've ever charged for tickets and that was a charity event where we made $0.
 
Point of fact, cover bands just cover general music - usually covering several musicians. They play 3 hour bar gigs.

Tribute bands are what you guys are talking about and the good ones are typically a whole different animal. Characters, instruments, costumes, set pieces and very accurate covers down to the tone and don't take shortcuts. They cost a lot more to book. Mine costs about $4k for a 90 minute concert - you provide sound, lights and hire an opening act.

whereas you can get a decent cover band for $400 to do 3 hours. And they usually bring their own sound.

The best tribute bands are often better than the bands they represent. Not saying we are, but it's been said about us, so we got that goin for us.... Which is nice.

Mega, Thanks for weighing in on this one. There is a big difference in cover bands vs. tributes, so I guess the $90 the wifey paid for the tix is not a bad deal. I've always been tempted to see a Led Zep or Pink Floyd tribute band, but just never pulled the trigger. Maybe next time one of them rolls into ATL, I'll give them a try.
 
Mega, Thanks for weighing in on this one. There is a big difference in cover bands vs. tributes, so I guess the $90 the wifey paid for the tix is not a bad deal. I've always been tempted to see a Led Zep or Pink Floyd tribute band, but just never pulled the trigger. Maybe next time one of them rolls into ATL, I'll give them a try.

Go see Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience. It is a fantastic show.
 
Follow up to my original post.....

Wow. Much respect for Tribute bands after seeing The Purple Experience in ATL. They had a "cover" band open the show, who played 80s' rock hits, and they were pretty good. But the The Purple Experience tribute band was exceptionally good and put on a helluva show. Jerry Fink, the "Doctor" who was the keyboard player for 12 years with The Revolution and appeared in the movie, "Purple Rain" was on stage and the band introductions included a brief resume of the bands and artists that each member performed with during the years. Michael Charles, the "Prince" character was outstanding. Needed to work a little on his dance steps, but his vocals, guitar and piano peformance, costumes and interaction with the crowd had me believing for a second or two that he was Prince reincarnated. These guys had the crowd of about 1,300 people really into the show and eating out of the palm of their hands.

Now that I've seen my first Tribute band, I'm tempted to check out the Austrailian Pink Floyd Tribute band when they roll through ATL in a few weeks. And as I said in my first sentence, I now have new found respect for tribute bands and can clearly see the distinction between tribute and cover bands.
 
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Follow up to my original post.....

Wow. Much respect for Tribute bands after seeing The Purple Experience in ATL. They had a "cover" band open the show, who played 80s' rock hits, and they were pretty good. But the The Purple Experience tribute band was exceptionally good and put on a helluva show. Jerry Fink, the "Doctor" who was the keyboard player for 12 years with The Revolution and appeared in the movie, "Purple Rain" was on stage and the band introductions included a brief resume of the bands and artists that each member performed with during the years. Michael Charles, the "Prince" character was outstanding. Needed to work a little on his dance steps, but his vocals, guitar and piano peformance, costumes and interaction with the crowd had me believing for a second or two that he was Prince reincarnated. These guys had the crowd of about 1,300 people really into the show and eating out of the palm of their hands.

Now that I've seen my first Tribute band, I'm tempted to check out the Austrailian Pink Floyd Tribute band when they roll through ATL in a few weeks. And as I said in my first sentence, I now have new found respect for tribute bands and can clearly see the distinction between tribute and cover bands.

Some great tributes out there. Australian PF is among the best. Some of these bands are technically tighter than the originals they perform as.

Great way to get an intimate venue concert experience without paying A list prices.
 
Speaking of tribute bands, there's going to be a pretty darn good Hendrix tribute act called 'Kiss the Sky' playing at The Shrine in Tulsa on December 1st. Talk about a hard to act to follow.
 
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