“Crazy Eddie” Bloom was shocked the first time someone told him he was a dead ringer for Mick Jagger, just after he’d finished singing a Rolling Stones tune at a birthday party. But soon he was locked in his living room, hands on his hips with a microphone tucked in his waistband, watching himself in the mirror as he practiced pelvic thrusts.
“You gotta step into it,” says Bloom, 62.
From that birthday party in 1994 came Hot Rocks, a Rolling Stones tribute band featuring Bloom in the role of Jagger.
Musicians in tribute bands dedicate themselves to playing the music of a particular artist, typically trying to look, act and sound as much like the original group as possible.
To that end, Daniel “Danno” Burrow has dyed his blond hair black, slicked it back and put on sunglasses that look like the ones U2’s Bono wears–augmenting an already striking physical resemblance. Each member of his tribute band, Elevation, has seen U2’s current tour, studying, practicing or purchasing every element of the Irish quartet’s show–the gear, the clothes, the songs, the accents, the stage banter. And the band’s concert schedule rivals U2’s: Elevation, which performs most often in Chicago, has played across the country and internationally.
So sure, these guys are having fun aping their musical idols. But what compels people to go watch them perform?
“It’s extremely similar, like watching the real U2 band,” says Hilary Krippel, 29, who sang along while she watched Elevation’s performance at Taste. She’s seen Elevation four times and U2 three. “I get my fix of U2 without having to wait a couple of years.”
As Burrow walks onto the Chevy Dealers’ stage at Taste of Chicago, he opens his leather jacket, recalling Bono’s gesture at the 2002 Super Bowl. Except unlike Bono, his jacket isn’t lined with an American flag.
“Taste of Chicago!” Burrow cries out with a brogue that he says has fooled Dubliners, pointing at the lining. “I’ve got my Chevrolet colors on!”
As he says afterward, “You have to bring it home to the people who are paying the bills.”
The jacket comes off quickly–the costume is important, but it’s also more than 90 degrees out–and Elevation whips through a flawless performance of “Vertigo,” the lead single from U2’s latest record. Elevation first performed the song on the day of its U.S. release, after using an MP3 from New Zealand to learn the song in advance.
Some of the people watching Elevation are nodding or singing along, but plenty have their arms folded, too. So Burrow, 38, grabs his wireless mic and heads into the crowd.
Soon people are dancing and more people have stopped to listen.
“I’ll get up in their faces, jump up on a table, whatever it takes,” he says. “Bono is always willing to reach out and take the risk, going into the crowd, climbing the scaffolding, showing people he cares and that he’s glad they’re there.”
As Burrow finishes “Vertigo,” he tilts his head back and calls out, “So this is what Chicago tastes like, huh? I think I like it!” for the crowd of about 75 gathered there. Meanwhile, the sounds of R&B karaoke bleed over from a Budweiser stage down the block. It’s one of the greatest challenges for a tribute band: creating the experience of seeing a legendary group without the benefit of a football stadium or 60,000 screaming fans.
At a Hot Rocks show at the Windmill City Festival in Batavia, the crowd is in the thousands, but the beer garden is 30 yards from the stage and no one except half a dozen elementary school kids is dancing to “Let’s Spend the Night Together.” Bloom takes his mic all 30 yards, bringing along a giant red mouth that he stitched in the model of the Stones’ logo, and starts licking people with it. Somehow, within 10 minutes, 100 people are pressed against the stage, dancing.
“I realize that this is an experience we’re creating,” he says. “People naturally want to have a good time, and we try to whip up a party.”
And what kind of rock `n’ roll party would it be without groupies?
“Doing the Mick Jagger thing in a crowd, you get a lot of license,” says Bloom. “I’m dancing around with these girls where if I wasn’t in this persona, I couldn’t get within 80,000 yards of them.”
Dana Bloom, Eddie’s wife of 40 years (they were married the same year the Stones first came to America), says, “He’ll walk by and some women will grab his butt just to see if it’s real.” Ms. Bloom, also the band’s manager, says she is not bothered by this.
But in the middle of all the dancing, Bloom is on the lookout for the groupies’ alter ego: the guy in the Rolling Stones “Steel Wheels” T-shirt, mouthing lyrics but watching the show with narrowed eyes. The Hard Core Fan.
The first target is the set list. The casual fans want the hits, while the hard-core fans want the B-sides. Then there’s the experience. Someone e-mailed Bloom to complain that he told a story drawn from his own life (rather than Jagger’s) during a show. Elevation’s Burrow has been assailed on the Internet such that he feels compelled to mention repeatedly that he is a “true blue” U2 fan. While Burrow and Elevation cater to–and count themselves among–the U2 mega-fan population, and strive for maximum authenticity, Bloom says he only takes the Jagger routine so far.
“If you’re looking for the Rolling Stones, go see the Rolling Stones. If you’re looking to have a good time, go see Hot Rocks,” says Bloom. “I don’t know one tenth of the Stones’ catalog. They have like 1,000 songs, they probably don’t even know all of them.”
Of course, when the debate is between the hits and the album tracks, tribute bands sense that a third category is really on the outs: their original music. Steve Lopez, who plays Eddie Vedder’s part in the Pearl Jam tribute band Even Flow, once earned some local radio play with a previous band. But he says he doesn’t miss it.
“It’s just about having fun and playing music. If you enjoy playing music, what difference does it make if I’m playing my own or somebody else’s? If people are coming out to see us and they’re having fun, then I’m having fun, too.”
Burrow and Elevation are thinking of bending the rules and performing some U2-esque originals. Bloom has written a couple of songs, but thinks “nobody would listen.”
Plus, Burrow says there is room for creativity in playing U2’s music. He says Elevation tries to mimic U2’s live shows rather than its CDs, and that U2 and Bono experiment and improvise a great deal in concert.
Burrow should know. He has seen U2 in concert 12 times and even met Bono in Las Vegas as the band was boarding a jet in the middle of the night. Burrow says Bono “looked at me like he’d seen his own ghost,” then autographed Burrow’s jacket, “I am Bono.”
As for those live shows, there are surely nights when U2’s performance is a little flat. Could Elevation keep up?
“Strike me dead right now,” says Burrow. “People tell me, `You sound way better than Bono,’ and I tell them to shut up and leave me alone. Don’t say that, don’t even go there.”
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Something like the real thing
Catch a tribute band at one of these upcoming shows.
HOT ROCKS (ROLLING STONES)
When: 9 p.m. Friday
Where: Hemingway’s Bar inside Key Wester Fish and Pasta House, 1975 Glacier Park Rd., Naperville
Price: $5 (21 and over)
More info: 630-778-8700 or www.portillos.com
Band Web site: Hotrocksband.com
TRIPPIN BILLIES (DAVE MATTHEWS BAND)
When: 10 p.m. Friday
Where: Durty Nellie’s, 180 N. Smith St., Palatine
Price: $7 (21 and over)
More info: 847-358-9150 or www.durtynellies.com
Band Web site: www.trippinbillies.com
TRIBUTOSAURUS (DIFFERENT BAND EACH MONTH)
When: 8 p.m. Sunday (as David Bowie)
Where: Retro on Roscoe Festival, Roscoe Avenue and Leavitt Street (west stage)
Price: Free (all ages)
More info: 773-244-2451 or www.roscoevillage.org
Band Web site: Tributosaurus.com
ELEVATION (U2)
When: 8 p.m. Monday
Where: House of Blues Chicago, 329 N. Dearborn St.
Price: $15 (18 and over)
More info: 630 969-0600 or www.hob.com/venues/clubvenues/chicago/
Band Web site: www.tribute2U2.com
AMERICAN ENGLISH (BEATLES)
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Old Town Park, 111 Third St., Bloomingdale
Price: Free (all ages)
More info: 630-529-3650 or www.bloomingdaleparks.org
Band Web site: Americanenglishbeatles.com
EVEN FLOW (PEARL JAM)
When: 10 p.m. Aug. 19
Where: Penny Road Pub, Route 59 and Penny Road, South Barrington
Price: $8 (21 and over)
More info: 847 428-0562 or www.pennyroadpub.com
Band Web site: Evenflowrocks.com
TEQUILA SUNRISE (EAGLES)
When: 9 p.m. Aug. 30
Where: House of Blues Chicago, 329 N. Dearborn St.
Price: $13-$15 (18 and over)
More info: 312-923-2000 or www.hob.com/venues/clubvenues/chicago/
Band Web site: www.tequilasunriseband.com
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onthetown@tribune.com
