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Throughout 2009, I have really enjoyed a large number of the tribute and cover bands that have become a mainstay on Fremont Street.

Last week, I finally got around to looking at my full footage from New Year’s Eve, and I went over some of my TributePalooza videos.

Now, I know some people who do not like tribute bands on principal.  They believe that they are inauthentic, and generally look down their noses at these bands.

Personally, I generally disagree with this position.

If any group of musicians on the planet play solely “for the love of the music”, it is the tribute/cover band.

Think about it.

When you are in a tribute band, you are acutely aware of a few things:

First of all, the tribute artist knows that he or she will never get radio airplay, nor will they ever see their faces on MTV.

Second, the artist knows that he/she will never get a recording contract.  They will never release an album, never be signed to a record label, and will never win a grammy.

Third, because of the above realities, the tribute artist will never make a large amount of money.

Tribute bands are a labor of love, pure and simple … and for this reason, I consider them to be perhaps more genuine than the average pop musician.

“Rex, how can you say that … they don’t write their own songs.”

Well, neither does Shitney Spears, and her debut album was certified 14x platinum.  “Hit Me Baby One More Time” was written by a guy named Max Martin.  That should creep out those of you who’ve fired one off to the video.

Usher, Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timerberlake, … these people spend years recording someone else’s (often horrible) music and getting the lion’s share of the credit for it.  Few Motown artists wrote their own songs.

Cover bands travel around in personal cars, cramped vans, or if they’re really, really lucky … a bus. They play in front of intoxicated assholes in venues that may or may not make good on their promises to pay.  In a sea of corporate crap, it seems ridiculous that people would play music for music’s sake, but that is why these guys do it each and every night.  Well, that and drunken road p**sy.  Nothing unlocks the pooty quite like a few power chords.

Anyway, while I’ve seen more than my share of just such bands while visiting and living in Las Vegas, two particular groups have really stood out within the last year.

The first band was Byron Bordeaux’s band who covered Jimi Hendrix, and the second standout group was “Appetite For Destruction” — the Guns N’ Roses tribute group which helped Fremont Street ring in the New Year.

While I have already covered Mr. Bordeaux in some detail, I would be remiss if I did not mention Appetite.

They were the featured band on Fremont Street this New Year, and the group was extraordinarily fun and entertaining.

How good were they?

So good that I witnessed something that I have never before seen in my life — a tribute band was called for not one, but two encores.  Not only were they called, but they had the stones to come out and perform them.

Even after the second encore (Live and Let Die), the crowd still chanted “one more song, one more song”.  Appetite probably could have played all night to the remaining crowd on Fremont. It was a beautiful thing.

Not only did the guys get the sound of the real GNR down, but they got the visuals down as well.  Axl, Duff, Izzy, Slash, Adler … they were all plausible.  “NotQuiteAxl” (their official stage names are those of the actual artists prepended with “notquite”) had the dress, look, and movements of the real front man down so well, that at times it did feel as if one were witnessing a private show put on by the original GNR.

The audience was into every song, and the band also immersed themselves into the performance.  Toward the end of the last set, NotQuiteSlash came down off the stage, and played directly into the crowd.

Again … this was the first time I have seen such a band get this interactive with an audience, and I would have advised them not to do it had I been consulted … but I’ll be goddamned if it didn’t work.  The crowd ate it up, and it was just F’ing brilliant. These guys were extraordinary entertainers, and damn good musicians.

I’ve seen so many great tribute bands in Las Vegas over the years that I almost hesitate to crown a “best” group, but I will say this much — these guys were close to the top.  The look, the sound, the stage presence, and the crowd combined to make it arguably the greatest tribute concert I have personally ever witnessed.

In all honesty, I would go to see these guys play even if they didn’t look and dress the part.  The band was musically tight, and even if they were clad in normal street attire, I think they could have played two hours of covers (or even possibly their own tunes) to a wildly appreciative audience.

Downtown has really surprised me quite a bit in the last 18 months.

At first, I was skeptical about the concerts.  I didn’t think that people would turn out in real numbers.  I didn’t think the Summer of ‘69 thing would work.  I could not have been more wrong.  These concerts are a huge hit to the people who frequent Fremont Street, and they are far more entertaining than I thought they would be.  Hell, I’m now one of the genre’s biggest fans.

If Appetite For Destruction is scheduled to play in your neck of the woods, do yourself a favor and see the show.  If you have even a basic affinity for the music of GNR, you’ll absolutely be glad you did. I hope they come back to Las Vegas in the near future, and perhaps even set up permanent shop at a local venue a/la Yellow Brick Road or Steel Panther. They would pull a crowd every night. I can almost guarantee it.

It is also my sincere hope that Downtown Las Vegas continues the tribute band concert series throughout 2010.

For some reason … it just works.

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