At the Stadium, Classic Rock Will Never Die

Paul McCartney — once branded "the cute Beatle" in fan magazines — will turn 70 this year. Gene Simmons, the fire-spitting bass player with Kiss, will hit 65. And every member of The Eagles now qualifies for a senior citizen discount.

That perhaps explains why fans have been flocking to the to hear musical impersonators recreate the sounds of their favorite performers from decades past. Tribute acts that have filled the venue include Kashmir, playing Led Zeppelin; Klassik Kiss, playing Kiss; and 1964 - (who returned last weekend) playing the Beatles.

"It's a lot cheaper than seeing the real act, and you get to see them up close in a great theater, not from the back row of an arena," said John Charette of Burrillville as he entered the Stadium last Saturday night to see Another Tequila Sunrise, a group that plays songs by The Eagles. "And let's face it, once they're past 60, the lustre is gone."

Those who agree with his sentiments are marking their calendars so they won't miss other classic rock acts scheduled to play the Woonsocket venue in the weeks and months ahead. Las Vegas Elvis, who takes the stage with a troupe of showgirls, hits town on Feb. 4; Slippery When Wet, a Bon Jovi tribute, on Feb. 11; Back in Black, an AC/DC homage, on March 2; Adbacadabra, inspired by ABBA, on March 24; One Night of Queen, playing Queen songs, on March 30; and The Fab Faux, another Beatles act, on April 27. If you prefer casino swing, catch The Rat Pack on April 28. They resurrect Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr.

Tribute acts, sometimes called "clone bands," are musicians who've scrapped originality and instead play the songs of well-known singers or bands with devoted cult followings, such as The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, or Jethro Tull. There's nothing new about the phenomenon. Elvis Presley impersonators began popping up at Nevada casinos well before the singer's death in 1977. But in recent years, the number of tribute acts has surged, as has their popularity with fans.

At the Stadium, an historic vaudeville hall now run by a non-profit arts organization, some staff seem reluctant to discuss the tribute bands that pack the house at least once a month, as though they're afraid they'll be sullied by association with rock and roll or copycats. Executive director Cathy Levesque never returned calls from Patch. Marketing Director Jordan Harris placed emphasis on the theatre's more conventionally respectable art forms.

"We have more plays and musicals than tribute acts," he said. "At the Stadium, local people have a chance to appear in community theater. We're giving a professional platform to a lot of local artists. That's what we've come to be known for."

Harris described the tribute acts as fun, inexpensive, and popular. "We try to find the best versions possible," he said. "We're trying to offer a broad range of affordable shows, something every weekend, for people who want to go out but don't want to spend $150 a ticket. People want to hear the music they love, and if they spend that $150 here, they can see three or four bands. And there's really not a bad seat in the house, even in the back row."

Tribute acts are drawing crowds in part because some of the original performers are no longer around; Jim Morrison of The Doors, John Lennon of The Beatles, and Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead have all followed Elvis to the grave. But a bigger reason may indeed be the avarice of the entertainment industry. Tickets to see bands like The Rolling Stones and The Eagles began to soar back in the '90s. According to the website wepay.com, if you want to see Bon Jovi at an arena concert, be prepared to pay an average price of $105 per seat; for the Stones, $136; for Paul McCartney, $288; and for Elton John, $305. With economic hard times still hanging on, many fans are willing to settle for imitators.

At the Stadium, tickets for a tribute show often sell for $21 or $26. "We were able to have dinner at Ciro's before the show," said Burrillville resident Amanda Riendeau, who caught Another Tequila Sunrise with her boyfriend on Saturday night. "We'll be back to see a Beatles show."

Some tribute performers aim to reproduce both the look and sound of the original group. The band Kashmir recreates the Led Zeppelin experience with slavish devotion, copying costumes and hair as well as sound. A YouTube video of their 2010 appearance at the Stadium shows the lead singer mimicking Robert Plant's trademark gestures, while the guitarist thrashes a double-neck axe like the one wielded by Jimmy Page. Check out footage from the performance, attached above.

The same can be said of 1964, the Beatles act that played at the Stadium on Friday and Saturday. According to Nancy Bailey, a waitress at Barbara's Place who caught the show two years ago, the musicians are near doubles for the early Fab Four. "They dress like them, they talk like them, they have the
haircuts," she said. "And the music is just as awesome.”

Other acts focus on sound, with less attention to appearance. Through the Doors, a Rhode Island band that pays homage to The Doors, includes a bass guitarist, though that instrument was missing from the original band. They played a fundraiser at the Stadium last year, and they take the stage at Chan's every few months. "Some bands look more like the Doors, but we sound better," said drummer Tim Paul, a retired Woonsocket police officer living in North Smithfield.

Some tribute groups veer into parody. The band Dread Zeppelin plays the music of Led Zeppelin, but with a reggae beat, and with an Elvis impersonator on vocals. Beatallica plays Beatles songs, as they might sound if performed by heavy metal rockers Metallica. Mandonna is an all-male Madonna tribute. Several of the most macho rock acts have inspired women musicians to form all-female tribute acts. The bands Lez Zeppelin and Zepparella pay homage to Led Zeppelin. Hell's Belles and AC/DShe take their cues from AC/DC. The Iron Maidens play the music of who else but Iron Maiden.

A cynic might dismiss tribute performers as wannabees, but for the most part, that's hardly the case. More often, bands are made up of talented musicians with years of experience playing local clubs. Many are baby boomers who fell in love with rock during its Golden Age, the '60s and '70s. They're settled down with mortgages and day jobs, but still want to wail on guitars. Tribute bands provide that outlet. There are no naked groupies or trashed hotel rooms, but band members can boast they're the coolest grandparents in the world. 

Tim Paul typifies the breed. He began drumming with rock bands in 1980, when he was fresh out of high school, and later went on to play jazz and country and in pit bands for theatre. "Why are tribute bands surging? Because classic rock is eternal music," he said. "A lot of Doors fans are people who grew up listening to them, folks between 45 and 65, but we've found a lot of college-age people are grooving on them, too."

Members of Another Tequila Sunrise voice the same sentiments. "To be at this age and still be playing, that just feels great," said Rick Steinau, who sings and plays bass. "When you've invested so much time and effort into mastering the craft, you hate to waste it."

He and his band mates have spent countless hours studying Eagles songs to perfect their craft, sometimes even using computer software that separates and isolates sounds. The hard work pays off when they get to play venues like the Stadium. "The place is beautiful," he said. "And the people who work there really care how things sound. Your whole life as a musician, you dream of playing at that kind of place."

The stage isn't the only place you'll see rock star doubles. Some Woonsocket residents swear they've spied Rod Stewart - or his twin - walking on city sidewalks. That's actually Mark Tate, a local man who bears an uncanny resemblance to the singer. Several years ago Tate handled introductions during a Stadium production of Bye Bye Birdie, and appeared in a lookalike contest the same night.

He's never performed with a tribute act, however. "Sometimes I do a couple of karaoke numbers," he said. "But Rod Stewart has a really raspy voice, and I can't do that for more than two songs."