Tribute acts have been part of the entertainment landscape since the 1960s when any self-respecting social club would have Chuck Berry or Elvis Presley impersonator performing regularly, and now some 50 years later this is moved onto outdoor music festivals dedicated to tribute acts. Originally viewed as a novelty, the so-called fake festival is now big business with events such as Glastonbudget & The Big Fake Festival seeing steady increases in ticket sales over the last few years, and many less well-known ones regularly attracting thousands of visitors. Fake Festivals is probably the UK’s biggest organiser and in 2019 they arranged 37 venues spanning the mainland UK and of course capped off by the three day Big Fake Festival at Thoresby Park – which has been long sold out. This will feature 24 of the top tribute bands opening with New 2 (U2) and closing on the final night with Aladdinsane (a Bowie tribute). The popularity is emphasised by the fact the at the time of writing 13 had sold out.
Tribute artist Paul Higginson performing in Oasish
Image Steve Mann/Shutterstock
The Festival Experience On A Budget
One of the main attractions of a “Fake Festival” (apart from the fact that the Bands are really good) is the price. Typically a one-day festival ticket is £25.00 if booked in advance and you can get a family ticket (2 adults and two 10-17-year-olds) for £67.50 which is a pretty cheap day out. Even the food and drink is reasonably priced and drinks tokens can be purchased for £3.50 each, exchangeable for one alcoholic or two soft drinks, which is pretty reasonable for an event. Even the weekend festivals are good value with a Standard Adult Ticket to Tribefest costing £94.19 for the weekend compared to £253 for Glastonbury (both include booking fees).
Glastonbury
Image Raggedstone/Shutterstock
Ok you won’t get the full buzz of a world-famous festival but given you will struggle to get tickets even at tout price to the likes of Glastonbury or Reading but as you can see from the videos below the performances are generally superb, while the atmosphere in the large Marque tent is great and has the benefit of being somewhat rainproof – a consideration given the British weather.
What The Critics Say
Not surprisingly the music press has mixed opinions, however, this is akin to asking a Broadway Theatre Critic to write a review of the local Christmas Pantomime, of course, its not as good as seeing the real stars, but its significantly cheaper and tickets are generally more accessible. Hardcore music fans will always want the real thing, however, for the more casual music fan it is a great alternative, and we plan to attend the Carlisle one in August.
Some Fake Festival Samples
Oasish
Vicky Jackson Is P!nk
Aladinsane
List of Tribute Banks Performing at Fake Festival Events In 2019 (Most Names Are Self Explanitory)
Vicky Jackson is P!nk
Coldplace
Fu Fighters
Oasish
Jilted Generation (The Prodegy)
Antarctic Monkeys
Kazabian
Bon Jovi experience
Musest (Muse)
Stereotonics
The Stones
The Jam’d
Flash (Queen)
Fillers
Guns2Roses
The Police Force
Total Stone Roses
New2
Kings of Lyon
Green Date (Green Day)
Blondied
Aladdinsane (Bowie)
Really Hot Chilli Peppers
Duran
