Rain rocks the Basie, Boomer bands should do their own tributes

Got a chance to see the Beatles tribute band Rain Saturday at the Count Basie. What an incredible show! I don't say this often about tribute bands but not only if you close your eyes, you can hear the Fab Four, but if you open them, you think you're seeing them. That's thanks in part to the lavish sets they use and intricate nuances of the band they capture. The tempo was also great as they strung together the songs which just allowed the adrenaline to build you into a frenzy instead of stopping down every 3 minutes to thank them. Not only did they perform the entire Sgt. Pepper Album, but songs seldom done live like "The Night Before" and "Say The Word."

As I watched the show, I started thinking about when I saw Paul McCartney last summer and who knows how many more summers he'll be touring? I also thought about how old these boomer bands are and in many cases don't sound the same. Part of what made them great in the first place is that they were young people singing to young people about the things young people were going through like falling in love. Then I got what I believe is this great idea to preserve that great music long after the boomer bands hang them up.

What if the boomer bands, formed and produced their own tribute bands? What if they chose the musicians and put together the shows the way they wanted to? Imagine (pardon the pun) if Paul McCartney put together his own Beatles tribute band, or sat Mick Jagger a Stones band with young musicians playing their parts? They could even write them a few new songs and imagine the frenzy that would be created every time an original showed up for a song or two? They could even feed the members stories and anecdotes about the songs that only they could tell. This is a great way for an aging band to keep there music alive and continue to profit off of it.

If I were an aging boomer band, I would be all over this idea. Remember this article if you ever see one try it and succeed. Also remember the writer who came up with this idea and like so many others, won't make a dime from it!

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