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02
Jun 2024
The Harrogate band that's part of a 'golden era' for tribute acts
Has there ever been a better time to be a tribute act than now?
Forget the image of bad Elvis impersonators playing to a handful of impassive social club members, today’s tribute bands comprise talented musicians performing to thousands of fans.
If you’re a devotee of an artist or band that’s no longer with us, seeing a tribute is the next best thing. Fans of current artists, meanwhile, can experience a performance at a fraction of the cost of the real thing – and be guaranteed a set list of their greatest hits.
For successful tribute acts, the opportunities are seemingly endless in a burgeoning industry bolstered by nostalgia for decades past. Tribute acts are in demand at dedicated events such as Fake Festival, which comes to Harrogate in July, hotels and cruise ships, European festivals and venues across the world. Some of the biggest tribute acts have even performed, like the artists they emulate, in arenas.
So what does it take to be a successful tribute act? As The Police tribute band The Rozzers prepare for a homecoming gig at Harrogate’s Blues Bar later this month, lead singer and Sting lookalike Owen James told us about his unintended journey into the world of impersonating a rock star – and why he wouldn’t want to be the real thing.
Owen James as Sting.
Owen had never intended to end up “earning half my income pretending to be someone else.” But as The Rozzers have established themselves, and his solo performances as Sting have also taken off, he’s become more aware of the opportunities that exist. He said:
It's not just end of the pier stuff; it’s big stages, big tours. It feels like the golden era for being in a tribute act. It’s massive in America, the Far East, the Middle East.
All Harrogate born and bred, three out of four of the band’s members have known each other since their school days. Each is an experienced and successful musician in his own right, with Owen and The Rozzers’ drummer Andrew Whitaker even teaching music at local schools including St Aidan’s, St John Fisher, Ripon Grammar and Pannal.
The Rozzers were formed 13 years ago following a chance request to play Message in a Bottle during a set as a covers band at a wedding. It turned out they sounded a lot like The Police, so they started a tribute act for a bit of fun.
The development of the band has been slow, running alongside each member's other activities. But since lockdown, it’s really started to take off. Owen said:
I feel like we've nailed the tribute thing in the last two or three years, and I've started to see the opportunities. With The Rozzers and my solo work as Sting, it has got to a point where it's the most serious and time-consuming thing I do. There was a huge setback with covid but it's still way bigger than I ever thought it could be.
With the help of their agent Zoe Tyler and Blue Jays Productions, they’ve now got a growing schedule of gigs through to 2026. They are currently in the middle of a major theatre tour, including Harrogate in April next year. Their Blues Bar appearance on June 16, which will see them return to the venue where they first performed as The Rozzers, sold out a while ago.
How to be a successful tribute act
YouTube is a mine of information for tribute acts trying to perfect their impersonation. Owen said:
We've spent a huge amount of time watching, listening and reading; studying how they did things. Getting a particular guitar sound right, scrutinising little fragments of old college and uni gigs. All that stuff that would have been lost or forgotten - without YouTube we would have no idea what those gigs looked like.
The look
With The Rozzers’ set list featuring songs from Sting’s entire back catalogue, and Owen also performing as Sting without the band, Owen’s appearance is the main focus. He said:
The interesting thing about Sting is that he doesn't have a ‘look’ as such. I style my hair like his, play the right kind of bass and stand on stage like him.
But sometimes I wish I had a pair of glasses or a wig that I could put on, step on stage and go ‘I'm him.’ On cruise ships, particularly, you're there for a week and people recognise you. It does affect everything, from what time you eat, to when you go out. It gives you a little insight into why a lot of famous people are so private. It's just enough of a sniff of fame to know that I wouldn't want it all the time.
The Rozzers.
The sound
Owen has a naturally similar vocal range to Sting and can hit the high notes in songs like So Lonely and Roxanne. However, he’s had to learn to mimic the singer’s unclear diction.
For Andrew, who was taught and now teaches drums in the traditional way, breaking free of the correct techniques to replicate Stewart Copeland’s famously unorthodox style has been a challenge. Owen said:
He’s had to learn to roughen things up a bit. If there's an accusation against the band, it’s that we are too accurate, but it's actually a complement to our musical ability because the police were rough and ready.
They tweak their set lists according to the venue. If they’re at a festival or on a cruise ship, where the audience isn’t just there to hear Sting songs, they’ll play the general hits. But for the more intimate gigs and the theatre tours attended by fans, they’ll add some of the more niche tracks. Owen said:
You have to decide what level you're pitching it at. Are you going to be a tribute to the music, or are you going to be a lookalike, sound-alike, even act-alike? Are you going to have a narrative, like The Buddy Holly Story?
Owen says Sting’s career “went from punk to reggae to smooth to inoffensive pop song”. The Rozzers try to accurately reflect the raw sound and uneven tempos of The Police before switching to the well-played, polished music of Sting’s solo career. And it all has to be consistent with every performance. He added:
It’s quite difficult to make a performance that's uniform and repeatable look spontaneous.
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