| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Erebus |
Posted - 07/16/2006 : 16:58:39
Last night I met up with the elder of my two brothers after not having seen him for about six years. He had flown into Reno as a point of departure for a week in Yosemite and then another week across northern California (Lassen, Eureka, etc.), for which I envy him. After a couple hours of conversation which left us both smiling and promising a couple days two weeks on, we parted. But after the handshake, I had do go back downstairs to see the cover band we had just passed totally involved in a version of Little Wing that had us both nodding. Damn! There I sat sipping beers for another couple hours past 2 a.m. while these four 60-plus year old hipsters ran through a range of Allman Brothers, Clapton, Creedence, early Aerosmith, Otis Redding, etc. Dual lead guitars, one guy specializing on slide, bass player smiling like Kim Deal. Dance floor full of fun just barely short of fornication. Security guys scrambling about over some guy who apparently torched a joint in the middle of a casino floor full of thousands of people. I’m not a guy who catches many cutting edge acts, and Reno is a backwater town that the better acts usually skip, but a bunch of folks were having a swell time. Call it fossil rock but it was live last night.
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| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Homers_pet_monkey |
Posted - 07/18/2006 : 14:44:51
I dunno, maybe they are a lot better in the US, but cover bands here are largely pretty poor. Then again, I am not a fan of cover bands at all. I prefer people to have a go at writing their own songs, and if they suck at that, get out of performing music to other people.
 I'd walk her everyday, into a shady place
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| HeywoodJablome |
Posted - 07/18/2006 : 09:03:42
I love rotten cover bands. Last time I was in Laughlin we stayed at the Colorado Belle and they had a Journey cover band called Escape playing in the casino brewery. They were touting the fact on their headshot that their keyboard/KEYTAR player was a touring member of Poison. The whole time they played they had one drunk groupie dancing in front of the stage while everyone else in the audience sat at least 20 feet away from the band. It was fun, their cover of "Oh Sherry" brought it all home.
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Wait a minute, strike that. Reverse it. |
| Carl |
Posted - 07/17/2006 : 08:49:58
This popped up in my inbox, thanks to Google Alerts; an item about a jazz band called Leviathan, who have covered Pixies, Bowie and Beck, etc.:
http://www.dailybulletin.com/entertainment/ci_4059543
Their MySpace site features covers of Air, Bowie and Beck:
http://www.myspace.com/leviathanbrothers
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| Erebus |
Posted - 07/17/2006 : 07:40:23
I know what you mean about the vocals being key. This band, whose name I did not get, had the two guitarists taking lead vocals as appropriate. Both were good singers with that chameleon-like ability to sound kinda like the vocals of the original songs, and the bass player added back-up vocals. I'm not a gambler but the whole thing made me think I should spend some more Saturday nights at casinos. It wasn't a special weekend but they really seemed to be doing good business. Occasionally I'll wander through casinos on weekday afternoons, mostly to escape the heat but also to sample what is really a culture alien to me. I was surprised to see so many young people, with tons of really hot women walking around half naked. Many of us locals tend to look down on casino culture but it was fun.
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| dr.Evil |
Posted - 07/17/2006 : 01:44:07
Driving through america many years ago, we stopped for the night in Homosassa, Florida. We asked at the motel if there were any places to go out in Homosassa on a friday evening, in which she replied only with a stunned look - in homosassa? where are you boys from, really - and we had to explain in detail how on earth we ended there. Anyway, we strolled around and found a little bar with a small poster on the door: tonight - the sunset riders. We agreed the name was too good to pass on, so we decided to check it out. Three little men with beards down to their expanding bellies played a long set of country-souther rock classics, taking breaks only to dance with "the ladies" in the crowd, which was quite small. I can't remember if they were any good, but it didn't matter. Homosassa, the place, the name of the band, the dancing - that was culture for our foreign asses.
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http://myspace.com/eviltordivel |
| darwin |
Posted - 07/16/2006 : 21:05:11
I know you mean Erebus. Last summer I was at a conference in Montreal and the last night in town a group of us headed out. Some of us were looking for dinner and others for an alcohol enduced good time. After a disasterous time trying to find an acceptable restaurant, we ate and headed back through town. We had a few bad stops at empty disco clubs, but then stopped at an underground bar with a good beer special and good music wafting out. We had found a trio that was practicing for a bigger gig that they were giving the next week. They played some originals and were really tight. They were great. Maybe they could be describe as Primus singing in French. But then they was did some covers and at one point the bartender (a very cute girl) came out from behind the bar and ripped through a song (maybe it was Proud Mary). Like glacial so well said it was an obvious memory in the making. We stayed until they were done. Then we ended up in a much busier bar and with a much more accomplished cover band. The lead signer fully decked out in cowboy hat, harmonica holster, leather pants, and an age deceiving knee brace. The songs were mostly the fossil rock that I largely despise, but it was loud and the people digged it. I sat there having fun, but knowing the first band was much more special. |
| ScottP |
Posted - 07/16/2006 : 21:01:08
Cool story Erebus.
I've seen alot of cover bands pull off the music, but when the singer can't pull it off the whole thing sinks like a stone for me. Although, I have seen singers that can't nail the parts somehow make up for it with the right attitude and phrasing.
That said, some cover bands should have their equipment shut off and taken away for safe keeping. Just walk up and start turning off amps. |
| glacial906 |
Posted - 07/16/2006 : 18:36:20
That sounds like fun, Erebus, glad you had a good time. It's rare, but every now and again you kind of see outside yourself and realize that the moment you're in is a memory in the making.
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