Nostalgia is big these days, and one way it manifests is in the current craze for tribute bands. 

These are different from cover bands, who play the songs of many different groups and singers. A tribute band dedicates itself to the music of just one artist or group, becoming them (with varying degrees of attention to detail, and success!) in hairstyle, clothes, mannerisms, sound, etc. 

Holland’s Park Theater has a regular series featuring Tribute Bands, the Legends Series, with groups focusing on acts who are dead and/or long gone (Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, ABBA) or even those still alive and touring (Bon Jovi, the Cure). 

As someone who loves live music, I wasn’t exactly sure why one would find this phenomenon appealing until I saw that an upcoming concert with a favorite of my husband’s youth, Metallica, would be playing right after Christmas at the Park.  I’m not a huge metal fan and definitely not dedicated enough to want to spend the time and money to travel to see the actual Metallica live, but down the street at $25 a ticket? Seemed like a good gift idea!

So, already I’m proving one reason why tribute bands might have appeal — the convenience. A big stadium show (for a group like Metallica) is always an endeavor, with the parking, traffic, bag check, crowds, to say nothing of the expense. 

None of these are a problem at the Park. It was a metal night, with the opening act being a tribute for the '90s band Alice in Chains. We enjoyed hearing some tunes from our youth, but we’d really come for “The Four Horsemen,” whose claim from their bio about being a high-energy act was no exaggeration. Mark was highly impressed by their lead guitarist, who he said nailed every solo exactly like on the albums. 

They certainly had a polished show, were seasoned performers, comfortable and entertaining on stage, and as far as I could tell, they seemed pretty tight musically.  Early in the show, the singer let us know that they focused only on a specific era of Metallica’s output, four albums from 1983 to 1988. Didn’t mean much to me, but Mark immediately leaned over and confirmed that this showed good taste already, as these were “obviously” the best years of the band.

So another reason some might like tribute bands — if we don’t love the new direction a band has gone, we may have company. Much of the audience were our age (though there were definitely youth in the crowd too), and they would have grown up listening to that particular era of the band’s output.  

But the revelatory moment came for me during a particularly well-known tune (even I knew it), when seemingly everyone was singing along, having a great time, and the band of course was doing it exactly like on the album. As a musician, I had scoffed a bit at this very point — where’s the creativity and imagination? Until I realized what was happening was the very thing I often bemoan being lost in today’s culture of private entertainment, with everyone sitting at home on their own devices. 

Here we were, out in public with a roomful of strangers, all thrashing or bobbing our bodies around and singing together! This, from a society where singing and general music skills are hardly taught in schools anymore, communal music-making is quickly disappearing, and a common factor of my childhood (servers singing Happy Birthday together to a guest at a restaurant) is unheard of anymore. And the fact that they were playing it exactly like on the album made it even easier for us to sing along. We all knew just what to expect and how it would go.  

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In discussing this with friends, I’ve had both a fellow professional musician and a fanatical music fan who doesn’t play, both point out to me that performing source material exactly as written is also what classical musicians mostly do (with some specific and nerdy exceptions, that we can perhaps discuss more in detail later …). While I would argue that there are some differences there, and our goal is not to sound exactly like anyone else, but to bring our own unique interpretation to the music, this is a fair point. (Classical Music: the ultimate tribute band?)

I guess, if I had to choose, sure I’d still prefer to hear a talented band playing their own songs, or even their own takes on others’ songs. But now I see what tribute bands offer us — the chance to gather with other fans and celebrate our love of some great music together.  

— Rhonda Sider Edgington is the Organist and Music Director at Hope Church in Holland, teaches organ at Calvin University and Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, and as a soloist and with duo Thunder & Wind (with Carolyn Koebel, percussion) travels to play concerts around West Michigan and throughout the country. Find more of her writings on music at rhondasideredgington.substack.com.