Last Wednesday I saw SLF for the second time in 3 years, they did not seem quite as tight as they had on the previous occasion, but that may just have been due to my expectations being raised by the performance they gave that night and them not being the caricature of their former selves that I had imagined they would be beforehand.
It was also my distinct misfortune to witness, also for the second time in 3 years, the worst tribute band that I have ever seen (can there ever be anything but a bad tribute band), although my experience of this type of band is severely limited to this one band.
S and I discussed, why if you were a fan of a band would you try to then go on stage and do third rate covers of your heroes music? They couldn't be that deluded to think that they did any of the tracks the justice that they deserved, could they? If they were fans then they would have played these records hundreds of times and would have realised that what they were peddling was absolute pish in comparison. Which brings us back to why? I just can't fathom it out.
I have to confess though, me and S were definitely in the minority as most of the rest of the crowd gave them hearty applause after every murder and atrocity they committed. I can understand the urge to sing along to lyrics that have been seared into your brain but to applaud and give encouragement to what can only be classed as crimes against music makes those who do, complicit in those crimes in my eyes.
Still it could have been worse as S informed me that he had to endure Chelsea the previous year.
Here is my favourite ever Clash song, which is also one of my top 21 tracks ever and which that band totally ruined by taking all the subtlety away from and playing the song at about twice the speed of the original missing the whole point of the track in my eyes.
To paraphrase Joe Strummer - " Please mister, leave them alone"
The Clash - (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais
3 comments:
the last time i saw strummer live there was a mass of clash songs that turned it into as near a tribute act as you could get. even with him there it was fairly difficult to bear
x
With the more recent SLF, I liked what Bruce Foxton added to the mix.
Would agree with your take on Tribute bands on the whole. However, I would recommend Limehouse Lizzy who tour frequently.
Ally - that is kinda sad.
DVD - alas, never saw them with Foxton but remember thinking at the time, you can't have been in 2 seminal late 70's bands, that's just wrong.
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