Caught the band in the week not 'arf bad! top musos and shut your eyes youd think you were listening to Christine and Stevie.
Also saw the ‘original’ Mac at the 02 and thought they were just going through the motions plus the much missed Chritine Mc Vie (the only reason i followed the band)only came on late in te show
Definatley a band worth checking out!
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Thanks for the report. Its a band I have considered going to see.
Problem is… the costs to see some of these tribute bands is now quite high… 
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Have seen them half a dozen times,always a good show,going again in June.
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Peter Green is missing… he was amazing
As were Danny Kirwin and Bob Welch.
There is a golden era of Fleetwood Mac post Peter Green and pre Buckingham/Nicks that is so overlooked.
Yep I quite liked Bare Trees which I think falls in to that era
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Yes brilliant album - Future Games is my favourite.
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Not familiar with that but will check it out. Bob Welchs French Kiss is good too
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Oh Future Games is such a brilliant album. It’s got such lovely songs. An overlooked gem in their catalogue.
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Rumours is in my top five favourite and most played records after that they just don’t do it for me but before I can’t say I’ve even tried any other records I’ll give these recommendations a try though.
The previous album to Rumours just called ‘Fleetwood Mac’ has the same lineup and is excellent if not better than Rumours imo.
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I would agree. Its overshadowed by Rumours.
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I would agree with that opinion too!
Tend to agree with you here.
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I just don’t get why people pay so much to see tribute bands. Same as the people who are willing to fork out to go and see bands where there’s only one original member left.
For example, The Undertones are soon to be playing at a local venue. How will The Undertones sound like The Undertones without Feargal Sharkey?
I’ve seen an Abba tribute and a Queen tribute, neither whom were more enjoyable than many a local band I’ve seen at the local boozer.
At the “Queen” show the guy next to me said “you know, if you close your eyes, it IS Freddie Mercury!”. I replied “Nah, if you’ve seen Freddie Mercury, this guy sounds more like the announcer at Lime Street Station”.
In the case of The Undertones Fergal didn’t write any of the songs or play any instruments. It was the O’Neill brothers who were the brains behind the operation.
But I agree The Undertones without Fergal isn’t right. It would be like The Who without Roger Daltrey.
I’m the same with classical music - It’s all cover bands playing covers.
Yeah, The Undertones have every right to call themselves The Undertones, I’m not disputing that, but they wouldn’t be The Undertones that made me jump off my bed as a 14 year old to whack the volume up when I first heard Teenage Kicks. That’s the band I’d pay to see.
I don’t mind bands playing covers, just do your version and don’t pretend to be someone you’re not. I’ve seen a band called The Sex Pissed Dolls who are great fun. They’re an all girl band, who despite the name aren’t a Pistols rip off. They cover old punk stuff - Ramones, Clash, Talking Heads as well as the Pistols but they’re definitely themselves.
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With respect their are tribute bands and tribute bands!
RFM really are a top class band and absoluty better than the ‘real’ bands present lineup ditto The Illegal Eagles for the same reason a couple more to mention ‘Dire Streets’ a Dire Straits tribute band(!) and a Steely Dan band whos name escapes me
though have to agree about the myriad Abba Tributes have to say the only reason to see them are the girls!!
I think there are several fairly obvious reasons.
1 Not all of us live anywhere near the type of venue that will ever host Mac, Eagles, Queen etc. For example, in round trip terms, I live 700 miles from London, 500 from Birmingham & even nearly 400 from Bristol (that virtually none of the really big acts visit). To see one of these acts requires an overnight stay, time of work from limited holidays, bumping up the cost considerably & eating into valuable holiday time.
2 Not easy to obtain tickets for the ‘real thing’. Easier for a tribute act that is probably far more local.
3 The ‘real thing’ does not perform often due to various factors such small number of performances in the UK, limited live performances due to age &, related to the last point, will not be, or already, aren’t around to see any longer.
Related to point 3 above, tribute acts do, & can continue to, keep the music alive for fans & new audiences everywhere. This is regardless of whether or not the original artists are still performing or are, unfortunately, dead. There is obviously a thrill actually having seen the real acts in the flesh but the reason we actually go to see them is for the music, not the performers themselves. So, if the tribute act sounds good, then why not?
I have not seen too many tributes but those that stick in the mind are Rumours of Fleetwood Mac, Illegal Eagles & Think Floyd. For the first two, I happened to see both in 2008 locally, a week before seeing the ‘real thing’ in Birmingham & London. Fleetwood Mac (minus Christine McVie) were a bit disappointing & Rumours of FM would likely have sounded just as good. Illegal Eagles Eagles were excellent but the real thing was noticeably better. Think Floyd were also very good musically but their light show was rather lacking compared to the real thing!
I could be wrong, but I would guess that you live in easy reach of a major venue or venues & may not have considered some of the points I am putting forward.
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Actually, most of my gigs involve an overnight stay. I’m in Wales and we don’t get many big bands playing so the wife and I try to turn it into a mini break and if possible pick a city we haven’t been to before. Some sightseeing and a nice restaurant offset spending money just on a gig.
My local venue tends to host bands that are on the way up or on their way back down. I’ve seen PiL there, Dan Baird (ex Georgia Satellites), Gun, Bernie Marsden, Jason & The Scorchers, L.A. Guns and Miles Kane. Bow Wow Wow, Heaven 17 and Molly Hatchet have gigs there soon. Plus there’s a heap of local bands - a lot of them play covers but they’re not pretending to be who they’re not. A lot of them aren’t great but they’re still fun.
They also have tons of tribute bands booked - Limehouse Lizzy, Whitesnake UK, Clone Roses, as well as Guns ‘n’ Roses and Oasis tributes. But they’re just not for me. I’d much rather see an artist showcase their own songs than imitate someone else.
For me, one of the best things about seeing bands who are still gigging past their peak is the fact they seem pleased that people are still supporting them and most of them pitch up by the merch stand after the gig and take time to chat.