Are tribute bands killing music?

If you fancy watching a live performance of Fleetwood Mac’s hits, there’s plenty of choice in tribute band land: Fleetwood Shack or Fleetwood Bac, McFleetwood or Rumours of Fleetwood Mac – or perhaps Tusk, Tell Me Lies, Fleetwood Macrame or Gypsy Dreams. Or you could wait to see if the real Fleetwood Mac tour again, minus keyboard player Christine McVie who died two years ago and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham who is currently ostracised from the band in true Fleetwood Mac falling-out tradition. Ultimately… you can go your own way.

But are tribute acts – no matter how good or authentic – ‘real’ music, or are they cheating? Are they a harmless piece of nostalgia, or clogging up small- to medium-sized venues and preventing the new acts of tomorrow from performing today?

My musician cousin brands tribute bands the bed-blockers of music venues, preventing up-and-coming artists from having an opportunity to play live

I hadn’t really given it much thought until I mentioned I was going to see Fleetwood Bac to my cousin Philip, an accomplished musician and a band member.