A Different Drum: Tribute bands bring in large numbers of fans
Last Friday night, when I probably should have been at the county fair, supporting the younger members of my community, I instead spent the evening with oldsters in a neighboring community. They weren’t showing livestock like the youth I was blowing off, but rather their age and allegiance to some powerful musical memories made in the 1960s. They/we attended a Beatles tribute band show.
I’m not knocking the Boomers of whom I speak; heaven forbid, because I’m one of them, albeit someone who was born during the last two years of that post-World War II era population explosion. However, I was proud to have been able to hold my own in terms of knowing song lyrics and a considerable amount of Beatles lore pertaining to their musical trajectory, even though I was a kindergartener when they parted ways.
And admittedly, “Abbey Road” was the only Beatles album I possessed, or nearly possessed, as it actually belonged to one of my younger sisters, but I kind of took it over when a friend and I performed a skit to “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” when we were in high school. OK, I completely took it over. Surely that counts for something.
Most of my musical knowledge of the Beatles comes from being a musician. For pianists who play publicly, having Beatles tunes in your repertoire is a must. They’re not only crowd-pleasers, but give you street cred.
I began my early music career with easy versions of “Yesterday,” “Here Comes the Sun” and “I Will” in my arsenal and gradually armed myself with more difficult, storyish songs, like “Eleanor Rigby” (which no one ever wants to dance to), “The Long and Winding Road” and “If I Fell.”
Later, I ramped things it up with “Octopus’s Garden,” “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Lately, I’ve been obsessed with obnoxiously pounding out “All My Loving” “Day Tripper” and “I Saw Her Standing There” because it just feels so good!
And it’s only going to get worse. I warned my kids (who for some reason [known as sleep] don’t always appreciate my late night and early morning piano sessions), as I just acquired a great British-published, vintage book of Beatles arrangements straight from the 1960s. It doesn’t get much sweeter than that for a music geek and Beatles fan.
If you know even some of the Beatles' songs, you owe it to yourself to watch the 2019 movie called “Yesterday,” which features a smart and very funny plot that revolves around the music of the Beatles. It was a testament to the timelessness of The Fab Four’s tunes and instantly became one of my favorite films.
Not only does music wash away from the soul the dust of everyday life, it takes us back to more prime times, places and spaces from the past. Certain songs have the ability to put smiles on faces, bring tears of joy to eyes and add a little pep to steps. You’ve probably observed the change in your own mood when you’re home alone, unsupervised and a favorite song comes on. You start dancing to it as if you’re 16 again.
Tribute band concerts promote joining with other former younger people (and a few current young people) to collectively re-experience nostalgic music and moments. It matters not that the performers neither look, nor play, nor sing very closely to the original bands to which they’re paying homage. In my experience, it’s not off-putting but invites the audience to bridge the gap between the past and present.
Protributebands.com says this year and beyond will see continued growth on the tribute band scene. The popular medium, which sells 1.7 million tickets annually, has staying power, with more than 50% of the bands having been together for over a decade. That’s longer than the Beatles were a group.
I hope to see y’all at “A Carpenters Christmas” show at Miller Auditorium on Dec. 19 — my 60 birthday. If my voice returns by then, I’ll be the one singing along uninhibitedly with the Carpenterized holiday favorites revived by songstress Lisa Rock. Every sha-la-la-la, every wo-o-wo-o will shine! Happy birthday AND Merry Christmas, darling! It’s yesterday once more.
— Kristy Smith’s Different Drum humor columns are archived at her blog: diffdrum.wordpress.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: A Different Drum: Tribute bands bring in large numbers of fans
