Poison and Rocket Mafia drummer Rikki Rockett has issued a warning to original artists about the growing threat of tribute bands, in comments shared via Rock 955.
Rockett observed that tribute bands are increasingly outperforming original artists in terms of production quality and stage presence. He urged established acts to raise their standards before losing bookings to their imitators.
“There’s equal blame in some ways. So, what you’re seeing a lot of right now that’s getting booked is a lot of tribute bands. You’ll see an AC/DC tribute band. You’ll see, what Lynyrd Skynyrd, whatever it is, right? And most of those bands do a really good job. Not all of them, but most of them do a really good job,” Rockett said. “And they really have to work at it to pull off the look and the sound and the setup and everything like that. And then you get a lot of the original artists that come out and they kind of halfass it. You know, they’re on rented gear and they just they fly in with the suitcase and a pedal board and that’s all they do. And you’ll have this tribute band coming in with a LED panel and you know they’re like doing it up for half the price and you know it’s it’s starting to affect the platinum and gold artists that have come before me or after me or whatever.”
Rockett went on to directly address original artists, urging them to commit more fully to their live performances.
“And so all I can say is guys, you know, step it up a little bit or these kids that are, you know, paring us or the ones that are going to get paid and get the gig. That’s what’s going to happen and it is happening,” he continued. “And so, you know, all I can say is just step it up. Get an abandoned. Stick with it for God’s sakes. Be that, you know, be that force to be reckoned with. Quit being all over the place with 50 million bands. Anything you can do to make a dime. I get it. Everybody’s got to survive. But you’re going to thrive if we can make more of an impact.”
Acknowledging that his views may not be universally shared, Rockett also spoke about his personal commitment to delivering quality shows with his current project, Rocket Mafia.
“I know a lot of people disagree, and that’s okay. Disagree with me. But I just want to see us go back to really delivering a show and I really want to do that with Rocket Mafia. It’s going to evolve over time and uh as as we do more gigs and we get more experience playing with each other, the show’s going to improve and things are just going to get better and better and I want to just keep that going,” he said.
Rockett’s comments reflect a broader concern within the rock community about the declining production standards of established acts on the live circuit.
