The great pretenders' greatest hits
Tributosaurus marks 10 years with subscription shows

By Christopher Borrelli, Tribune reporter
10:20 a.m. CDT, August 2, 2011

Matt Spiegel had a dream, a vision. He was singing a Moody Blues song, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was pounding at his back and the bucolic sprawl of the Ravinia Festival was unfolding before him.

Or was it a premonition?

As lead singer of the beloved Chicago cover band Tributosaurus, which pays elaborate homage to a different artist each month, sparing no expense or hassle to re-create the sound of original studio recordings, Spiegel sang the Moody Blues last September — though with only a handful of strings, and the venue wasn't lush Ravinia but Tributosaurus' monthly showcase at the dark, wooden Martyrs' pub on Lincoln Avenue.

Nevertheless, last spring, to celebrate its 10th anniversary and improbable success, Tributosaurus took a different cue from the CSO and began to offer something more improbable: a subscription concert series.

It's called Tributosaurus X, and the premise is that for the next year, at Martyrs' (and for two shows at the Vic Theatre), Tributosaurus will re-create its most fondly remembered, uh, re-creations. The series begins Wednesday with Tributosaurus covering Bruce Springsteen, continues this fall with Queen and Pink Floyd, Prince and Stevie Wonder in the winter, and ends next year with Michael Jackson, Genesis and Steely Dan.

Now for the remarkable part: Tributosaurus has sold more than 200 subscriptions, at $225 a pop.

Perhaps that's not so remarkable, though, considering the self-proclaimed "Civil War re-enactors of rock" have evolved over a decade into, as bassist Jon Paul puts it, "more of a pleasant surprise than a bar band."

Surprise is a nice way of putting it. Tributosaurus has gone from one show at Martyrs' the first Wednesday of every month to several, to playing Park West and SPACE in Evanston, and to building a following that counts music lovers and professional musicians alike.

"We've always been careful not to do what a cover band does," said guitarist Curt Morrison. "That's why it's worked for so long. You will never see us change the key of a song, for instance, to suit the key of the singer. That's what an average cover band would do."

"If you think of the amount of time spent listening, transcribing, rehearsing and playing that goes into these shows, we aren't making much money on this," said drummer Dan Leali. "But nobody does it for the money. What other band but XTC could I be in and play XTC songs to a room full of people geeked to hear XTC?"

I smell a bit....

OK fess up. Who already bought theirs?

Why does this bother you so much??

I smell a bit....

"We've always been careful not to do what a cover band does," said guitarist Curt Morrison. "That's why it's worked for so long. You will never see us change the key of a song, for instance, to suit the key of the singer. That's what an average cover band would do."

"If you think of the amount of time spent listening, transcribing, rehearsing and playing that goes into these shows, we aren't making much money on this," said drummer Dan Leali. "But nobody does it for the money. What other band but XTC could I be in and play XTC songs to a room full of people geeked to hear XTC?"

Well Mac told me to to tell you to go FUCK YOURSELF!!! ..So now it's been said .. .

Are you trying out your new "Jump to Conclusions" mat. That seems to have been the pattern yesterday.

Which of the seven words I posted says to you that I am even slightly bothered by it?

"Beloved"?

These guys are legends in their own minds.

A good number of posters here think cover bands are a joke in general.

Why does this bother you so much??

Many that is true, but an incomplete statement.

I'm pretty sure they didn't write the article themselves.

Im pretty hammered right now.

Maybe Matt Spiegel became Christopher Borelli?

LIke when he became your mom?

Well Mac told me to to tell you to go FUCK YOURSELF!!! ..So now it's been said .. .

I am not a legal expert, how many times do I have to say it?

I hope spiegal "becomes" Amy Winehouse very soon.

really?

I am not a legal expert, how many times do I have to say it?

I have been a fan of Cover Bands since I went to see a number of "Something for Joey" shows. Yes, I know it was a movie, but it was actually a band, made of a number of guys who were in other bands that came together and tried to raise money for their friend who had cancer.

These guys took songs like "Kung Fu fighting" or "Stop" Yes, some Captain and Tenille and changed the melody, wore the drunken beer hat and performed songs hlaf drunk, but it was funny as heel and still good enough for us non musical snobs.

I enjoy a sped up version of "Spiders and snakes" while doing a shot. This is something you will never see at a Tributo show.

I have never heard Spiegs define the distinction between the Cover Bands and the Tribute bands, but I can see it happening.

All said, I would like to see the wilder side of the band (it is exists), but how can you really argue with 200 people that just paid in advance to see your band that plays places that hold 500?

Let me even go out on the limb and say they have "Tributoheads"! lol

Well Mac told me to to tell you to go FUCK YOURSELF!!! ..So now it's been said .. .

Gee whiz, fellas! Spiegel fronts a cover band that considers themselves more than a cover band, so what?!

Our hotel smelled like dead hooker vagina (before you ask I had gotten a detailed description from beardown)

Gee whiz, fellas! Spiegel fronts a cover band that considers themselves more than a cover band, so what?! And they have a fan who likes to write over the top articles about said band, so what?!

The guy has an endorsement deal for some energy company, he's getting (got?) married, he has a beloved TRIBUTE band, he sings jingles on TV, he has worked his name into the radio show he co-hosts. Seems to me that most here are nothing less than jealous. And that's fine, just be honest about.

I cannot fathom how anyone enjoys what this fool says on the radio, or how anyone would pay anything more than a cover (pun intended) charge to hear him sing....but hey, he's doing it. For whatever reason this guy ended up in Chicago - left and the came back - and is succeeding. I don't get how or why, but he is. So hate all you want, but the guy is obviously living his dream right now - showing up to his paying gig as he sees fit, playing his dream gig as much as possible, and using the former to promote the latter-all while getting face time on TV and hammering paychecks from multiple places. Good for him. He's fooling somebody (quite a bit)!

I am not a legal expert, how many times do I have to say it?

This wouldn't be an issue if it didn't eat (no pun intended) into his full time job as a talking head (pun intended) on the radio. This is why he gets ripped for it.

Welcome to the board.

Gee whiz, fellas! Spiegel fronts a cover band that considers themselves more than a cover band, so what?! And they have a fan who likes to write over the top articles about said band, so what?!

The guy has an endorsement deal for some energy company, he's getting (got?) married, he has a beloved TRIBUTE band, he sings jingles on TV, he has worked his name into the radio show he co-hosts. Seems to me that most here are nothing less than jealous. And that's fine, just be honest about.

I cannot fathom how anyone enjoys what this fool says on the radio, or how anyone would pay anything more than a cover (pun intended) charge to hear him sing....but hey, he's doing it. For whatever reason this guy ended up in Chicago - left and the came back - and is succeeding. I don't get how or why, but he is. So hate all you want, but the guy is obviously living his dream right now - showing up to his paying gig as he sees fit, playing his dream gig as much as possible, and using the former to promote the latter-all while getting face time on TV and hammering paychecks from multiple places. Good for him. He's fooling somebody (quite a bit)!

Many that is true, but an incomplete statement.

The guy has an endorsement deal for some energy company, he's getting (got?) married, he has a beloved TRIBUTE band, he sings jingles on TV, he has worked his name into the radio show he co-hosts. Seems to me that most here are nothing less than jealous. And that's fine, just be honest about.

Also if you fuck someone like they are a millionaire they might go try to be one.

I hear you on that, I do. I don't understand how he gets away with what he does, and to top it off when I do tune in all I do is hear him mocking the amount of time he takes off by talking about his iron man streak! Vaddacountry! Like I said, he obviously has somebody fooled, and good for him. I didn't think there would be any way he'd still be around, let alone get his name on the marquee, but he's done it. Unless McNeil has way more pull than I think, someone in some focus group must be hitting "really enjoy" when they get to the Spiegel section of their questionairre!

Our hotel smelled like dead hooker vagina (before you ask I had gotten a detailed description from beardown)