In the neon-lit heart of Las Vegas, I found myself face-to-face with an unfortunate truth about my favorite classic rock groups. Sometimes, the best way to preserve the past is to recreate it.
Andrea and I were in Vegas earlier this spring visiting my old friend, Noel, and his wife. They were hard core regulars of "The Neon City", and so we followed their lead when it came to entertainment.
One evening, we wound up in a hotbed of activity that is the Fremont Street Experience, a 24-hour mall covered by an LED embedded canopy. The continuous light show successfully brought out the tourist in me as I was continuously gawking upward. We made our way deep into the complex to one of the stages where, teed up for entertainment, was Spandex Nation.
Spandex Nation is a tribute group to all the great '80s hair bands, replete with '80s hair jacked-to-Jesus and skin-tight spandex unitards. Their repertoire was a roll call of hair band greatest hits from 1980 to 1989.
I'm not gonna lie, when they first came on stage, their teased out hair was obviously wigs and, unless you're Jason Momoa, spandex is rarely flattering. But as soon as they let rip with the first opening chord and their lead singer cut loose on the vocals, my jaw dropped. Holy cow! These guys rocked it. They flowed seamlessly from the genre's calls to action like Poison's, "Nothin' But A Good Time", and Quiet Riot's "Come on Feel the Noise" to the Crüe's soulful ballad, "Home Sweet Home".
I was all smiles, standing near the foot of the stage, as they progressed through their setlist. It was like catching up on every concert I'd missed in high school.
I realized we were witnessing more than just a performance – we were experiencing a living, breathing time capsule of rock and roll. It hit me hard afterwards that, unfortunately, we're approaching the time when tribute bands may be the only way to hear these songs live. As our favorite groups retire or strut off to that sold out gig in the sky, live performances will become rarer and rarer. Even if the original acts are still touring, the decades will still have taken their toll.
Noel was telling me he took his daughter to catch Mötley Crüe live (a parenting win). It became apparent, however, Vince Neil hadn't been keeping up his cardio and was getting winded on stage. Noel's daughter, a rare Gen-Z'er who's caught both original and tribute bands in concert, leaned over to her dad and pronounced, "Yeah, Spandex Nation did it better."
If Keith Richards's boundless vitality is any indication, we're still years away from my ultimate playlist's D-Day. Meanwhile, Spandex Nation and other tribute acts keep the live experience authentic, and the studio world is pushing boundaries with fresh interpretations of classic songs. This blend of preservation and innovation is evident in recent covers and collaborations.
One collaboration that caught me off guard was Bone Thugs-n-Harmony sampling Phil Collins's "Take Me Home" into their 2003 release, "Home". The transition from rapping storyline to Collins on the chorus made a flowing point - counterpoint that worked for me.
Johnny Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" won him a posthumous Single of the Year and Video of the Year at the 2003 CMAs. Trent Reznor, who wrote the song when he was going through his own dark period, after hearing Cash's version, famously said the song "wasn't mine anymore."
Bruce Springsteen covered the Commodores classic 1985 release, "Night Shift", on his 2022 album, Only the Strong Survive. I remember the original, and it still stands out as one of my favorites from the Commodores, but Springsteen's soulful rendition absolutely did it justice.
As we navigate this transition period in live music, where tribute bands might soon become our primary connection to the classic performances of yesteryear, I'm reminded of the cyclical nature of art. The '80s rockers were themselves inspired by earlier generations, and now they inspire both new artists and faithful imitators. In this way, music doesn't just survive. It evolves, reinvents itself, and continues to bring joy to new audiences, whether through original artists, unexpected collaborations, or dedicated tribute acts like Spandex Nation. The beat, as they say, goes on.
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