I was lucky enough to witness the group Holy Holy recently at Manchester’s Ritz. For those of you who don’t know, they play David Bowie songs, and are fronted by Heaven 17’s Glenn Gregory. They are, by anyone’s reckoning, absolutely fantastic.
But for many, what elevates Holy Holy above a Bowie tribute act is the presence in the band of Woody Woodmansey on drums and Tony Visconti on bass. Again, for those of you who are unaware, Woody played drums on Bowie’s early records – from The Man Who Sold the World to Aladdin Sane, while Visconti played bass on one Bowie album and produced or co-produced many of his seminal records.
A decent portion of Holy Holy’s set consisted of songs that neither Woodmansey nor Visconti played on, and yet their presence somehow reassures the crowd, me included, that this is an authentic experience.
But what does “authentic” mean in this context? Why does some link to the original act matter at all? If the current line-up of Yes, none of whom were part of the group when they formed, play a song from their first album, why’s that any different from going to see the tribute act Yes Please at The Maltings, Ely?
In a similar vein, Peter Hook & the Light play the music of New Order and Joy Division (rather marvellously, as it happens). Now, Hooky was very much a founder member of both bands, but if he’s singing Bernard Sumner’s parts while his son plays his bass bits, what’s the difference between that and True Order at the Fulford Arms in York, besides the £20 I’d save on the ticket?
Whatever it is, for rock snobs like me, the difference remains fundamental. The Holy Holy gig was full of people who wouldn’t be seen dead at an Absolute Bowie gig, despite the fact that he apparently won the “Best Bowie” category at something called the National Tribute Awards recently.
Incidentally, I’d be fascinated to know how many entries there were, and in how many categories. Was there a “Best Wurzels” category? Because I’m assured The Twerzels do a great version of Combine Harvester.
One place this connection to the real group does a serious amount of heavy lifting is the Abba Voyage show. Admittedly, this features Agnetha and Frida’s actual voices, but somehow going to see four holograms is infinitely more authentic than four ersatz human beings could ever manage to be.
Personally, I knew I’d fallen for it hook, line and sinker when I found myself moved to tears at the sight of one set of pixels putting her arm around another set of pixels during I Still Have Faith in You.
At one time the difference was the venue – tribute bands were mainly consigned to establishments less associated with “proper” groups, but that demarcation has been obliterated as rock venues struggle to make ends meet. These days the Brudenell in Leeds happily slots the Clone Roses and The Smyths between its roster of original bands – and no doubt makes more money when it does. Because there are plenty of punters for whom some vague notion of authenticity comes a long way down the list of priorities when planning their precious, and costly, Saturday nights out. Weirdos.
So if it’s not that the people on stage are playing what they played on the record, and it’s not that the gig is a proper venue, what is it? Ironically, it’s probably what they don’t do that elevates the likes of the Light and Holy Holy above the likes of Proxy Music and Genesish.
Glenn Gregory makes no attempt to look or sound like David Bowie, and I imagine anyone suggesting to Hooky that he try and channel his inner Barney would be given breathtakingly short shrift. (No doubt he would also point out that the Light contain as many members of the original New Order as New Order do these days.)
Rightly or wrongly, people associate tribute acts with kitsch, which remains a no-no among serious music fans, who should probably relax a little if we’re being honest. Until we do (and don’t hold your breath) we’ll continue to seek out acts with enough of a link to the real deal to make us feel both 17 years old again and superior to the masses.
And let’s face it – is there any better feeling?
