What is the difference between a tribute act and a cover band? A tribute act is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act – sometimes one which has disbanded, ceased touring or is deceased. The main way in which a tribute band differs from a cover band that simply plays songs by many other artists is that the tribute act strives to capture every nuance of the imitated artist’s actions and appearance for a perfect imitation.
Brenna and I saw an amazing tribute act the other night. They call themselves Sin City KISS and as the name implies they are indeed a KISS tribute act. Sin City KISS is made up by Luis Reyes as Gene Simmons, Steve Mitchell as Paul Stanley, Rolly DeVore as Peter Criss and Keith Robert is the quintessential Ace Frehley.
(Correction: I was contacted by Carl Ciadella who informed me it was in fact Carl Ciadella on drums that night. My sincerest apologies to Mr. Ciadella. His drum playing and signing of ‘Beth’ was fantastic and definitely warrant credit. Thank you to Mr. Carl Ciadella for the correction. You rock!)
We got tickets for the show a few hours before hand and went for a bite to eat. Over dinner anticipation for the show grew and we were not disappointed. I try to create my own luck and as is very often the case we were seated in the front row. This of course was super cool because the show was awesome and to be so close to the performers the energy was off the charts!
The thing about sitting in the front row is, and take this into consideration ladies, ‘Gene Simmons’ will make sure you get to see his tongue up close and will attempt to toss guitar picks into your cleavage. Oh yes. Good times.
(And yes, Luis Reyes does have a tongue just like Gene Simmons.)
Here is a little tribute band trivia for you. Maybe it will win you a drink at the bar. You are welcome. Tommy Thayer, who once played with the Kiss tribute act Cold Gin as Ace Frehley, became Frehley’s replacement in Kiss in 2002. Prior to these events, Thayer had worked with Kiss as a songwriter on their 1989 album Hot in the Shade and a session guitarist on the 1998 album Psycho Circus, and had assisted Frehley in re-learning his guitar parts to old Kiss songs for a reunion tour after the latter’s long long hiatus from the band.
If you get the chance, buy your tickets to check out Sin City KISS. You will definitely rock and roll all night!
Have you ever seen Sin City KISS? What tribute acts have you seen? Let us know in the comments. Would love to hear from you.
Images were stolen borrowed from the Sin City KISS website and are property of the band and credit to the photographers is left intact where possible.
Hey Troy,
I’m a great Elvis fan and I was never lucky enough to see him perform live. I did see an Elvis impersonator once though and that was pretty cool because he was really good.
The first time I heard of the word ‘tribute’ in regards to performers was when I came across a guy, now deceased, James Ellis who’s stage name was Orion.
This guy was unbelievable!! He sounded so much like Elvis even when he seemed to be speaking naturally. Anyway, in one of the songs I have on CD, they were playing introduced him as the greatest tribute to Elvis acts, or something along those lines.
Those Kiss guys look the part, especially the tongue. In wonder if that was part of the props 😀
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Troy, great article. One correction, the drummer that you watched at Planet Hollywood was Carl Ciadella not Rolly.
Thank you for stopping by and squaring me away. I posted the following in the body of the post and will again here:
“Correction: I was contacted by Carl Ciadella who informed me it was in fact Carl Ciadella on drums that night. My sincerest apologies to Mr. Ciadella. His drum playing and signing of ‘Beth’ was fantastic and definitely warrant credit. Thank you to Mr. Carl Ciadella for the correction. You rock!”
Thank you again Sir. Please pass this on to the other members of SIN CITY KISS. I hope they enjoy the post even if only half as much as I enjoyed your awesome show! I hope to see you guys around again soon and that we can all rock and roll all night!
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Thank you for the correction. Rolly is a member of SCK but me being a Vegas local, I perform the majority of the Vegas gigs.thanks again and rock on!!!
Great article, they are plenty of great tribute bands and acts performing today. I enjoy going to Blackpool and watching a show called ‘Legends’. The show features top UK tribute performers with a live backing band!