The Band, THE Band, are a tough cover. Believe it. Underneath the swampy roots rock grooves and the oft-imitated baying and braying ensemble vocals, the flagship rockstars of the Catskills hid a healthy load of complexity and sophistication like landmines for the naïve imitator, an arty, baroque-roots counterpoint that is naked in their more adventurous songs (like the redneck Aaron Copland homage “Jawbone”) but prevalent throughout the canon.
And the Mid-Hudson Valley makes an especially tough audience for a Band homage. Our standards here are likely a tick or two higher than Everywhere Else, USA. Just the fact that The Band Band is still booking at all locally suggests that they pass plenty of muster – they’ve been a fixture in our better venues for a number of years. They’ve also got the provenance and the bona fides: several members played with Helm and Danko, as well as with a lot of other period luminaries. They’ve got the chops and they’ve got the love, both indispensable to a good tribute band experience.
Drawing from the Band’s classic period (defined as the time from The Big Pink to The Last Waltz and including The Basement Tapes, a fruitful collaboration with Bob Dylan, The Band Band performs at the Falcon in Marlboro on Saturday, February 4 at 7 p.m. There is no cover but donation is encouraged. The Falcon is located at 1348 Route 9W in Marlboro. For more information, visit www.liveatthefalcon.com.