Article published September 22, 2005
It's only rock 'n' roll: Tribute bands for Stones, Pearl Jam satisfy musical fix
by Regis Behe
Tribune Review

Close your eyes and listen. Is that "Evenflow"? Wait a minute, that song sounds like "Brown Sugar."

Is it really who you think it is? Could it really be ...

Local tribute bands Ten and Jumpin' Jack Flash provide fans of those more famous Pearl Jam or Rolling Stones a chance to hear a living, breathing version of "Alive" or "Street Fighting Man," even if it's not exactly like the original bands who will perform at PNC Park on Wednesday.

Last year at this time Ten was struggling to find an audience. Since then, they've traveled as far west as Chicago and as far south as Florida to perform. Earlier this month, they played a packed house at B.B. King's Blues Club in New York City and met actors Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick. At another gig in Florida, a young fan approached guitarist Craig Reznik and requested an autograph.

"I told her, I'm a probation officer from Pittsburgh," Reznik says, laughing. "Why do you want my autograph?"

"There are no rock stars in a tribute band," says Todd Kaczorowski, the bassist and founder of Ten. "There are only fans of the band."

Kaczorowski conceived Ten last year after a rehearsal with another group was canceled when the drummer failed to show up.

"I realized I didn't have time for this," says Kaczorowski, married and the father of three young children. "With where I'm at in life, all the effort that goes into putting all the work into it with no gain, it's tough. That's why I'm not in an original band."

Jim Bachert, the founder of Jumpin' Jack Flash, had a similar experience. His former band, Overland, had been together five years. "A good run," he says, but he had little to show for their efforts. He wanted to start a group that could draw an audience and get them dancing. That's when he noticed there wasn't a Rolling Stone tribute band in the area.

"I thought there was something basically wrong with that," he says. "The Stones have a catalog of radio hits second to none. It's amazing how many hits they have."

Bachert began recruiting musicians and rehearsing songs from the enormous Stones catalog. It was a new experience for him, playing songs that weren't his own, even if they were "Angie," "Paint It Black" and "Wild Horses."

"I did wonder if I would get tired of playing the same songs," Bachert says. "But so far I haven't. I can listen to 'Sympathy for the Devil' again and again and never get tired of it."

At the band's first gig at the Hard Rock Cafe in Station Square, fans were turned away at the door. Since then, the band averages two gigs per month in the Pittsburgh area. At Jergels in Ross on a recent Friday night, the band was shoeboxed onto a cramped stage, the result being a two-tiered effect.

It didn't matter. The band ran through a series of songs, including "Wild Horses" and "Happy," that piqued the crowd's interest. But when lead singer Garrett Andrae hit the high notes in "Miss You" that Mick Jagger can no longer hit, the dance floor quickly filled. By the time the band got to "Honky Tonk Woman," it didn't seem to matter it wasn't really the Stones. It was the music that mattered.

Bachert admits there are some nights when the audience and the music don't connect.

"You go into every gig and try to have the best time that you can" he says, "and not think about how many people are into it. If it's slow, it's just like a paid rehearsal. We just try to have fun."

An evening at Jay's Sport's Bar in Canonsburg seemed to be one of those nights for Ten when the band was entertaining itself. A few diehard fans crowded the stage, but most seemed to be more concerned with their beverages or attracting the opposite sex. As the second set progressed, however, the audience became more engaged.

Kaczorowski says such scenarios seem to play out at every show. Rare is the evening where the audience isn't won over.

"The first set, they're really not sure," he says. "Usually the second set is where you take it over the top. We've never had a gig where we didn't get them. It takes longer on some nights, and depending on the audience, it might come at a different time of the night. But somewhere every night, you realize, 'Hey, we finally got them.' They're up and dancing and bouncing around."

It can't be an easy thing to try to mimic Eddie Vedder or Mick Jagger. Ten has utilized a number of different vocalists. Currently, Nick Rhodes, who lives in Long Island, and Justin Sellers, who also sings in local original band Still Small Voice, split duties.

But as daunting as it must be to try to re-create a Vedder howl on a song like "It's Not For You," imagine what Jumpin' Jack Flash vocalist Andrae has to deliver when he steps into Jagger's shoes.

"What he does in 'Miss You' is entirely different than 'Gimme Shelter,'" Andrae says. "There are totally different things he does with his voice."

Andrae was in other groups before signing on with Jumpin' Jack Flash. When he first auditioned for the band he didn't get the job. But when Jumpin' Jack Flash's first selection backed out, the Erie native got the call and uses his background in theater to abet his performances.

"It's like doing a musical (theater) version of the Rolling Stones," he says. "And while I don't try to emulate Mick in terms of his look, I do try to emulate him in terms of his sound."

That's probably wise: No one can do Jagger like Jagger can. Nor can any singer exactly emulate the fierce presence of Vedder on stage.

But being in a tribute band is not about doing an impersonation of a singer or the music. It's more of a love note, a way for fans and the bands to get a fix of their favorite musicians in lieu of the real thing.

"We create this environment every night where we get together with other people who enjoy Pearl Jam," Kaczorowski says. "We don't make a whole lot of money doing it. When we go on the road, we're basically covering expenses. We're not making a million dollars. ... It's the opportunity to meet other people and have fun, that's why we do it."

Regis Behe can be reached at rbehe@tribweb.com or (412)320-7990.

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