A change of band in the Piazza Angelio this evening and a complete change of style as onto the stage walked the band called Synchronicity. They are perfect examples of what is possibly a very Italian phenomenon – tribute bands. These are musicians who emulate particular famous bands and perform on stage a close as possible rendition of their preferred “idols”. There are many hundreds, possibly even thousands of these bands playing in Italy at any one time especially during the summer festa months. Some Beatles or Stones tribute bands even dress up like the Beatles or the Stones but most hone down their musical skills to sound – note for note as close to the original…….. and there is the problem – note for note as close to the original disc and not note for note as close to the original band playing live.
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Anybody who regularly goes to see live music played knows that the recorded sound of certain bands has nothing compared to the live sound. The raw energy and playfulness that often occurs in a live gig is so difficult to transfer onto a studio recorded version. It has to be perceived, received and enjoyed live from the stage. Almost every Tribute band take as their pattern, their source material – the recorded sound.
This evening nobody in the audience could doubt the professionalism of the four musicians of Synchronicity – a Police tribute band.
The Police were an English rock trio, from London, England, formed originally in 1977. The trio consisted of Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar, vocals) and Stewart Copeland (drums, vocals, percussion). The band became globally popular in the late 1970s and are generally regarded as one of the first New Wave groups to achieve mainstream success, playing a style of rock that was influenced by jazz, punk and reggae music. Their 1983 album, Synchronicity, was number one in the UK and the US and sold over 8,000,000 copies in the US. The album’s title was inspired by Arthur Koestler’s The Roots of Coincidence, which mentions Carl Jung’s theory of Synchronicity. Sting was an avid reader of Koestler, and also named Ghost in the Machine after one of his works.
They gave an almost faultless performance and entertained the crowd right up until the last note (the drummer at times giving an almost beat for beat impersonation of Stewart Copeland’s style of drumming that was stunning but for this observer at least, they left a little nagging doubt at the end of the evening about the value of tribute bands as a whole.
Nobody else questioned during or after the event thought it worrying and so I prepared to be wrong on this but if they were painters and not musicians would we still think it a worthwhile thing to view a gallery of Picasso look alike paintings or a room full of Manet or Monet copies ?
Click on the link below to hear the sound of Synchronicity in Piazza Angelio this evening
