There is an alternate universe to our own, where Metallica’s James Hetfield moshes along with No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani at a Green Day concert. Where Bradley Nowell of Sublime still performs with beach-bum gusto and Mr. Belding from Saved by the Bell rocks out like it’s 1999.

Welcome to the world of tribute bands. It’s a fantastical community where mega-fans and seasoned music veterans can slip on the robes of beloved performers and let loose.


Each concert (and there are a ton of them) is a celebration of songs that energized past generations and continue to enrapture youths.

On any given weekend at the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet about 20 miles east of Los Angeles, you’ll be able to see embodiments of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins and a slew of other ’90s Rock legends, for as low as $1. As Chris Knight, front man for Metallica tribute Damage Inc., puts it: “We’re kind of a budget option, if you will.”

He laughs, but judging from the technical prowess and attention to detail from the band – and the uproarious reaction from their audiences – Damage Inc. and their tribute brethren are on par with the real thing. He notes that Damage Inc. devotees have had the authentic Metallica sign promo photos of theirs. And Knight has watched metalheads of all ages show their appreciation for what they’re doing, while Herr Hetfield and co. labor in the studio and can’t play shows themselves.

Some tributes have even impressed their namesake artists so much, they’ve jammed with them.

Bassist EJ Curse portrays “Bony Yanow” in the premier No Doubt cover group, No Duh, and tells us via email that Stefani and the fellows are totally onboard with what they’re doing.

“At the band's 4th show, the actual members of No Doubt showed up (after seeing our web site),” Curse writes. “They asked if they could jam. Hell yes! So, [lead singer Heather E. Lounsbury aka Spen Gjormani] sang ‘Spiderwebs’ with No Doubt. The band stuck around for our entire set & then had shots & some very interesting conversations with us after our show. That's what really put us on the map.”

Hard rock aficionados might recognize Curse’s name, as he pioneered Silent Rage in the 1980s and later played with big-name acts like White Lion and Gilby Clarke of Guns N’ Roses. Music is 100 percent his livelihood. In addition to No Duh, he and his band mates perform in a Blondie tribute and have been penning original material. No Duh notches around 50 shows per year.

On the East Coast, another super successful tribute has been flourishing for 15 years. Badfish was born from admiration for the laidback stone grooves of Sublime, picking up almost immediately after singer Bradley Nowell died in 1996.

Badfish drummer Scott Begin recalls: “Everybody we knew liked Sublime, and they crossed so many different genres. And they appealed to so many different types of music fans, it seemed like a really cool idea to try to present this music in a live setting.”

That really cool idea catapulted Badfish into a full-time job for Begin and his mates. Former Sublime beat keeper Bud Gaugh regularly joins them for gigs, giving the stamp of approval for these road warriors. Begin welcomes the opportunity to play for thousands, even though he’s not churning out original tunes. Badfish moonlighted as Scotty Don’t for a few years, “opening” for their Sublime tribute with their own brand of reggae-ska. The final Facebook fan score: 67,678 Badfish supporters to 8,760 in favor of Scotty Don’t.

“When we attempted to do the Scotty Don’t project, and do our own music, we knew full well that it’s tough to compete with the music of Sublime,” Begin says objectively. “Obviously, it’s an already established, very popular act that’s had songs on the radio. So we didn’t have any grand delusion of us skyrocketing or anything.” In every town Badfish plays, however, people do yell for Scotty Don’t songs.

Many of the tribute acts we spoke with don’t mind the sacrifice of originals. It’s the cheering from the crowd and the triumphant sense of togetherness that fuels their fires. Bassist Jim Scarlett performs in Green Day cover outfit Green Today and confirms that it’s all about the music.

“(W)e just recently played at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney [in Anaheim, Calif.]. And the crowd was singing so loud I could hear them over what we were playing.”

Green Today, around since 2011, have amped up their concerts so much that they fly giant banners and include their own auxiliary guitarist like Green Day’s Jason White. These Southern California gents, as well as Damage Inc., try to emulate their namesakes so precisely they even use the signature instruments from Kirk Hammett, Billie Joe Armstrong and the like.

In addition to full-on tributes, ’90s cover bands are enjoying high times. New York’s Bayside Tigers play an array of songs from that decade and have been joined onstage by actual 1990s rockers. (And admitted karaoke addict Dennis Haskins, who starred as Saved by the Bell’s Principal Belding.)

“Chris Barron from the Spin Doctors just played with us recently and he is such a pleasure and a wonderful performer,” writes drummer Nate Esten via email. “Sean Nelson from Harvey Danger recently surprised us and joined us onstage, and he was terrific.”

So what is it that these great pretenders get out of being someone else? It’s that one element which inspires bands to form in the first place: fun. Without the pressure to “make it” and aggressively write to appease today’s masses, tribute bands have an ace in the hole. On the consumer side of things, with regular concert tickets pricing out the average music fan, tributes provide an affordable (and sometimes more engaging) experience.

“That’s really the payoff for all of us,” says Damage Inc.’s Knight. “It’s to play a show and give the people who have come to see that show the same feeling that I would have if I went to a Metallica concert, especially for the first time.”

And nothing else matters.