Local tribute bands a worthy alternative

Zepparella, an all-female tribute band to Led Zeppelin, performs almost all of their songs…excluding only the most iconic of their hits. (photo by Larry Sabo)

Some of your all-time favorite rock stars went to rock ’n’ roll heaven years ago. Others don’t tour anymore. And those who still do perform don’t play cheap.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t attend a live performance of the greatest hits by the Beatles or Led Zeppelin.

Northern California is booming with popular tribute bands with names like the Unauthorized Rolling Stones and AC/DShe (an all-woman tribute to AC/DC), recreating the music you love at a price you can afford.

Tom Petty’s summer tour will bring him no closer to Sonoma County than Los Angeles, but the cleverly named tribute band Petty Theft played his hits last weekend (March 2) at the HopMonk Tavern in Sebastopol.

“It’ll cost you $150 to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in an arena,” said guitarist Monroe Grisman of Petty Theft. “Most of our shows cost $15 to $20. It’s a comparatively cheap night out.”

Tribute bands not only play at the right price, but their music is a known quantity.

“The audience knows what they’re getting,” said Grisman, son of famed Petaluma mandolinist David Grisman. “They know they’re going to have a good time.”

Aqua Nett

Alan Williams of Santa Rosa, bassist and backup singer with Aqua Nett, believes in offering audiences more than a faithful recreation of songs they know and love.

“You need to do more than showing up to play,” Williams said. “It’s about the total show. If people are going to go out to a show, you need to give them their money’s worth.”

For their salute to the heavy metal, “big-hair” bands of the 1980s, from Poison to Whitesnake, the players in Aqua Nett don wigs, lipstick, eye-liner and tight costumes, and the crowds love it.

“People come dressed up in ’80s garb,” Williams said. “They love to drag that stuff out of the closet. It brings back their youth. The ’80s were a fun time.”