ATL artists and promoters talk cover band fantasies
Locals weigh in what tribute bands they would start
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The Machine, the Pink Floyd cover band, conquered Variety Playhouse on Sunday night. To celebrate the arrival and inspiration of a band that “focuses on making every show an authentic Floydian experience for their fans,” a handful of Atlanta musicians and show promoters weighed in what tribute bands they would start and why. No matter how long or short their answer, their enthusiasm is endless. My dream band is real and it’s two dudes playing Coldplay’s Clocks on hydraulophones. I wish my tears of joy could be the water.
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Grace Bellury, Del Venicci: “No question, I’d start a Foreigner tribute band. I love Foreigner. I love singing “Jukebox Hero” in my car. I love singing “Cold As Ice” in the shower. I love singing “Head Games” to my opponents in the middle of chess battles. I love Foreigner. I’d plan a big “Waiting For A Girl Like You” medley that’s mashed up with Rihanna songs and then Rihanna and Beyonce would come out and dance and be like, “You’ve all been waiting for girls like us!” And then we’d all take a bow together. That’s how much I love Foreigner.”
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George Pettis, Wowser Bowser: “I had some friends in Greensboro, NC who started a Kraftwerk cover band. I thought that was a pretty awesome choice. I think the best part about seeing cover bands is watching them try to recreate all the theatrics and eccentricities of the original bands. So, if I was going to form a cover band I’d probably go with someone like Bowie. Frankly, I’m a huge fan of putting on costumes and doing sensual hip gyrations so, yeah, Bowie. Second choice would be Lou Reed, just because of how fucked up we could be onstage and still do the songs justice. I saw Lou Reed play one time and he had this huge ATM-sized Teleprompter thing right in front of him onstage, just feeding him his own lyrics. Not that it really helped anything. He annunciates about as well as the grown-ups on Peanuts cartoons.”
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Chris Brooker, deadCAT: “I think I’d personally start a Can cover band because as long as you know the riffs you wouldn’t ever have to practice and you could play whatever the fuck you wanted. Find a homeless dude off the street, give ‘em a mic, turn on the amps, and watch the magic happen. Everybody loves krautrock! Who’s coming with me?....”