As Bob Doran mentioned in The Hum this week, this was a big weekend for tribute bands. Friday night, Journey Unauthorized was out in Blue Lake for the casino’s motorcycle run, and at HumBrews, Full Moon Fever and the Solitary Men came together for a night of classic rock (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) and shmaltz (Neil Diamond). Solitary Men (and Strix Vega) bass player Andy Powell suggested on Twitter that it would be a flannel vs. sequins showdown.
As it turned out, only one member of the Solitary Men wore his sequined shirt (Powell), and I don’t think any of Full Moon Fever wore any flannel, though cowboy boots and a velvet shirt were present. The crowd sang along to both bands and tended to keep the chatter down, at least until the end of the show when the Full Moon Fever guys started getting to their Nucleus roots — half the band is members of that group — and got a little bit jammy on their Petty covers.
Saturday night, on the heels of Weezer announcing that they will be touring their Blue and Pinkerton albums in the next few months, Wepeel performed songs from those albums at the Alibi. The band, which only covers songs from 1994-1997-era Weezer, played as a three-piece, which did limit their scope a little bit (Pinkerton definitely requires a second guitar player, and Wepeel’s was unable to make it up from the Bay Area for the show), but technical difficulties were overcome and mosh pits broke out a couple of times. Sadly, lead singer CJ’s Buddy Holly glasses frames fell victim to one of the mosh pits, during which an audience member fell head-long over a monitor and landed on the band.
Photos of the three tribute bands I was able to catch this weekend:
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
(For shots of the Interlopers, who played with Wepeel at the Alibi, visit my website, RadioRadioHumboldt.com)
This article appears in The Town Downer.
Too bad Monica Topping’s photos suck so bad. We might actually get to see nice photos of the performance if they didn’t. Why doesn’t that faker stop taking work away from real professionals? She goes around claiming to be some master photographer yet actually upbraids real professionals to their faces for using the proper technique. I know at least one local pro photog who didn’t get a job because Topping elbowed her way into the gig, offering to dump hundreds of junky photos on the client for free, instead of getting a few dozen superb, top-quality images for a fee from the pro. Of course once Topping’s snapshots came back the client was immediately sorry she hadn’t hired the professional. Remember from the Eureka Reporter: just because it’s free doesn’t mean it’s worth a smelly coon turd. And just because you talk on a crummy, teeny radio station out in the sticks doesn’t mean you’re anybody at all.
Gardawful– your imagination is impressive. You should put it to better use, maybe writing books or something.
@Godawful: As opposed to hurling insults anonymously? Does that make you somebody?
I gotta disagree, Gard. I can smell the sweat and spilled beer off these shots. But I’d love to see your portfolio.
Wait… talking on a “crummy, teeny radio station out in the sticks” doesn’t mean you’re anybody at all? OH MY GOD, my life’s work – meaningless! Monica, what SHALL we do to become anybodies at all? This is such tragic news. I can feel my ego deflating all around me, landing on my head like a spent parachute. Woe!
Well, Monica, it’s a good thing you’re a kickass photographer so that you have something to fall back on. You know, that and the other 14 jobs you excel at.
See you in the sticks!
I know, Jen! Who are we if not “the girls from K-Slug”? What else do we even have to live for?
I think I need to go back to school and work on doing something meaningful with my life, post haste!
I am being crushed by my lack of meaning as we speak.
Monica’s a fine photographer. I do wish some of the the talented musicians hereabouts would give the tributes a rest and do their own original music.
I wish you’d use “the” when you mean it and not when you don’t want to say “the the” when you really mean “the,” Mr. Herzog.
If that is even your name.
Original music stopped being original in 1996.
Goff’s right. After the Macarena there was nothing left that I could dance to.
I was actually hoping for a “The The” tribute band.
Anyone heard of them? I prefer tributes to bands that no one knows.
Yeah, didn’t they do that one song?
A The The tribute band? That would be awesome — “The The The,” perhaps?