Cover bands and Halloween — two traditions now hopelessly intertwined.
Take a look at your local show schedule this weekend and you’ll find a bevy of costumed tribute outfits with myriad ridiculous names; you know, something to the tune of Led Zombie or Eddie Van Helsing.
But tribute bands aren’t the only groups that enjoy channeling their favorite rock stars.
Local bands of all stripes frequently include covers in their sets, paying homage to the stars that inspired them to pursue music in the first place.
And though this isn’t an aspect of performances that most bands like to play up in the press, the crew here at Dive figured with it being Halloween and all, that we could have some fun with this often maligned, rarely respectfully done pastime.
Catching up with three local bands who routinely play cover songs in their sets, we convinced them to play those cover songs for us.
So, bringing along our cameras and a fervent adoration for Halloween mischief, we invaded the homes and practice spaces of three bands, filming a performance of one of their cover songs and sitting down for a quick Q&A afterward. And in the spirit of the holiday, we convinced them to play these songs dressed as the original artists.
After all, what’s All Hallows’ Eve without a little bit of masquerade fun?
So head on down to the bottom of the page, check out some pictures of the bands in their costumes and get some insight into why it’s so much fun to dress up and play as your favorite artist. And after you’re done with that, go to The Daily Tar Heel’s Web site and check out video of the performances and Q&As.
Happy Halloween.
Luego as Bob Dylan
Patrick Phelan of Durham classic rock outfit Luego has felt close to the music of Bob Dylan for some time. As a result, the song “Girl From the North Country” has become a regular addition to his band’s sets.
Dive: What do you like about this song?
Patrick Phelan: In 2005 I listened to The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan a lot, and that was the song. It was one of the first songs I learned. We didn’t have enough material in a set one time, so I just started playing it. It’s just three chords so I thought they could figure it out. It’s obviously a profoundly great song. Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan is a really special record.
Dive: You’ve studied Bob Dylan a lot. Why?
PP: I was 18 years old, and I saw “Don’t Look Back,” a movie about Dylan and his last solo acoustic tour in England, 1965. I saw it and I said, “That’s what I want to do and that’s how you do it. That’s how you do it. “
I learned the “Lonesome Death of Hattie Carol” off of The Times They Are a Changing. From there I just ate up everything about the guy. He’s like a father to me as far as that can be.
Dive: What is it like to take on a different persona?
PP: I don’t try to be Bob Dylan. I try to be like him. I want to be like him for sure. I want to be like Mike too.
Dylan did it. And he did it, and he showed you how to do it. But you got to do it your own way. If you want to be great you’ve got to be your own yourself. The Beatles showed you how it was done. Tom Petty showed you how it was done. People show you how it’s done, but it’s a different world, different time. You learn from them in the beginning.
I Was Totally Destroying It as U2
Chapel Hill pop-rock band I Was Totally Destroying It is no stranger to U2. The band has a standing gig at Raleigh’s Tir Na Nog where the group covers the Irish rockers as I Was Totally Destroying U2.
Dive: Why do you like U2 so much?
John Booker: I grew up with them. I grew up in a house where The Beatles were kind of the only band.
U2 was the one thing that I brought into the house, and everyone else was like, “OK, this is good.” So while everyone else was learning the lyrics to the Vanilla Ice song I was listening to “With or Without You.”
Dive: You get very into the theatrics of being U2. What is it about dressing up as somebody else and playing that you can get into?
JB: I hate it. These sunglasses are really stupid.
Curtis Armistead: That’s a lie. He wears these around the house all the time.
JB: I think for some weird reason though, I can see why Bono does it. It’s something to hide behind, the jacket and the sunglasses. When you’re up there singing these really theatrical songs — big, epic, sweeping things — and you have on a T-shirt, it’s a little different.
Dive: When we asked you to play a U2 song, “Where The Streets Have No Name” was second on your list. Why do you like this song so much?
James Hepler: Every once in a while a band or a singer will hit something that the dynamics of it, it just gets bigger and bigger. It just kind of pulls emotions out of people. It’s a really powerful song. People get misty-eyed when they hear U2 play it.
Red Collar as Tom Waits
“Going Out West,” a song featured on the soundtrack to “Fight Club,” was the first introduction to Tom Waits for Jason Kutchma, singer of Durham punk rock band Red Collar. Though he is usually in the practice of including it in his solo performances, he was joined for this Dive performance by his bassist and wife Beth Kutchma and drummer Jonathan Truesdale.
Dive: What do you like so much about this song?
Jason Kutchma: His writing in the song. He says these really, well, not odd-ball things. “I’m going out west where the wind blows tall ‘cause Tony Franciosa used to date my mom.” Do you know who Tony Franciosa is?
Dive: No.
JK: He’s some actor. He wasn’t like an A actor. He’s one of those guys back then that you knew him when you saw him. But it’s something if you know ‘50s movies that it just evokes something. His mom used to date this B-or-C-list actor. That says so much.
Beth Kutchma: You got to love a man who says he looks good without a shirt.
JK: It’s kind of like the Springsteen line where he says, “You’re no beauty, but hey, you’re all right.” It elicits a chuckle. The equivalent with this song is “My friends say I’m ugly, but I’ve got a masculine face.”
He has all those little twists in this song. I think a lot of people think of words as just a way to get through a song. But with him you can tell there’s a lot of care.
Dive: What did you see from Tom Waits that you were trying to bring out in the performance?
JK: Tom Waits, he’s a performer, he’s an entertainer. You can tell this guy’s been doing it for a while. He’s animated. He’s playing to the back row.
He’s a great performer, total commitment.
Total commitment.
Dive: With dressing up like somebody else and going after it, it gets to the point of Halloween, hiding behind someone else. Did you find that appealing?
JK: It is really fun to act like somebody else. I think a lot of indie rock went through this “this is me” kind of phase. I’m just going to go up there and play for you and it’s not going to be a big deal.
I actually like it a bit more amped up. This is a show, let’s have some fun here. I can’t imagine it being any more fun than being Tom Waits or Tom Waits’ band.
