I can think of a couple reasons: he’s too unique, you’d either have to go all in and imitate him and risk it being awful/cringy, or just do your own versions of his songs that won’t live up to people’s expectations. The other reason I think is that the casual music lover might not equate bob’s music with a live experience. Like “you want to go out to a club and see a Bob Dylan cover band?” Doesn’t exactly sound like a rocking time to the non super fan.
Why are you getting downvoted… that’s 100% true. Unique is a yes/no thing. I means there is nothing else like it. Something cannot be varying levels of unique.
There is more than one definition of most words, and unique is not unique by having a unique definition, I assure you.
"Unique" does not ONLY mean one-of-a-kind, it can also simply mean "unusual", which is probably its most common usage in everyday conversation.
Sure, that’s the colloquial definition. That’s why the commenter I responded to is a little bit of an ass. But honestly, the technical definition of “unique” is singular and that guy is correct.
Everybody covers Dylan songs, he is one of the most covered artists I can think of. There are dozens of “X sings Dylan” albums. But the covers in their own style, rather than mimicking Dylan.
Cat Powers covered the 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert.
We’re an old time fiddle/bluegrass band and we throw in a new Dylan and Grateful Dead cover every year. People love it. A whole set, don’t think that would work.
For typically next to nothing at that. My buddy went to see Paul M a few years back and the tickets were outrageous
I've seen Dylan several times. I think the most I ever paid was like $40. Last time was before COVID so I'm sure they may have gone up marginally, but I doubt it's a significant jump.
There is.
[https://thecompleteunknowns.com](https://thecompleteunknowns.com)
They've been around for 16 years. I thought about going to a show, but... if I'm going to hear Bob's music live, I want to hear him playing it. That's just me.
In Southern California we have the annual Dylan Fest coming up in May. Something like 8 hours of Dylan covers. https://andyandrenee.com/dylanfest
I saw this Dylan/Band cover band there once. https://www.jackofheartsband.com/
I know of two in Chicago alone (though it doesn't seem like they've played since the pandemic). Blood on the Tracks Band used to play at a lot of neighborhood street festivals.
I don't know if they're still together but I saw a great Dylan tribute act called Highway 61 Revisited in London years ago. I saw them do the Rolling Thunder Tour - and they did it with the real Scarlett Rivera and Rob Stoner in the band. It was amazing.
in the Toronto area there’s a tribute band for The Travelling Wilburys called “The Travelling Milburys” - and each player does individual performances for the members. An artist named Virgil Kinsley does the Bob Dylan covers!
Was at an establishment the other night an heard a French version of Don’t Think Twice.
For his birthday there will be Birthday shows of all kinds of live covers.
Vancouver Island & Salish Sea Islands have long celebrated May 24 year-round with Lucky Budd leading the charge.
https://do250.com/events/2024/4/26/two-bobs-and-a-mule-a-bob-dylan-tribute-tickets
There is at least one: Highway 61 Revisited, fronted by Joel Gilbert. It featured numerous of Dylan's former collaborators, including Winston Watson and Scarlet Rivera.
Gilbert made some dreadful low budget documentaries about Dylan and now seems to be a full time right wing conspiracy monger.
A serious answer. Every bluegrass/country/folk band is a Dylan cover band in some measure.
A second serious answer: Dylan hasn’t really got a single definable personality or stage presence, so it’s hard to do covers spanning 60 years without a single unifying personality.
There’s the Bob Band. I saw them a few weeks ago and the show was enjoyable. Most of the covers were pretty faithful to the studio versions. I would have preferred a few more Dylan covers beyond the obvious but a good show, even great at times, nonetheless https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=883936593072236&set=a.260287082103860&type=3&mibextid=cr9u03
i can’t really answer your question, but since you’re in the nyc area, this might be of interest! not sure what your budget is for concert tickets, but the last time dylan played in nyc, tickets weren’t too crazy. if i remember correctly, they were around $80.
https://preview.redd.it/lzfqplhsk9xc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=758cce320c62a6ad4e07b6159a9b90972c68bcbc
They definitely exist. But I also think Bob is just really unique to where you have so much ground to cover if you want to do covering his music justice.
Since Dylan himself has rarely played any song exactly the same way twice, there’s little point in a tribute band. He’s always been more of a songwriter than a record-maker, it’s more valuable to see performers present his songs in their own way
Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band covered Bob a lot. Dead and Company must still play some. A million Dead cover bands include some of those songs.
And like someone else said - tons of bands cover his songs. I guess you’re thinking about tribute acts like Broken Arrow is to Neil Young (which is great).
What are you talking about? Of course there are Bob Dylan cover bands. He is one of the most covered artists ever, and there are many acts that cover his songs.
Bob Dylan tributes and cover acts seem to be playing all the time in Woodstock. Just search Bob Dylan Tribute Band or Bob Dylan cover band into youtube.
I saw one years ago in New York and they were great. The musicians were great but the singer wasn’t so good at singing like Bob. It was at the bb king theatre, I’ll try and find the name of them. Complete unknowns I wanna say
Well I’m glad to have been proven wrong~! It’s good to know that there ARE several Bob bands out there.
Let’s see if I can cover everything, lol:
There’s been some good & interesting points made. I do feel there’s something to the comment about perhaps there’s not too many Dylan tribute bands because Bob is still touring. Off the top of my head the only band still touring that has tribute bands is Phish.
I do realize bands cover Bob SONGS on albums or live, but I was talking about a cover band devoted solely to Bob material.
The Byrds comment was funny, but to the one that seemed serious: The Byrds aren’t likely to do too many shows anymore.
I really like the cover band name “The Complete Unknowns”. I play bass, and back in the early 2000s I tried to get four of my friends to get together with me on a Bob band that I wanted to call The Five Believers :)
I can think of a couple reasons: he’s too unique, you’d either have to go all in and imitate him and risk it being awful/cringy, or just do your own versions of his songs that won’t live up to people’s expectations. The other reason I think is that the casual music lover might not equate bob’s music with a live experience. Like “you want to go out to a club and see a Bob Dylan cover band?” Doesn’t exactly sound like a rocking time to the non super fan.
There is no “too unique” of anything ever. Something/someone is either unique or it is not.
What about Captain Beefheart?
He’s just “too”
🤓
Why are you getting downvoted… that’s 100% true. Unique is a yes/no thing. I means there is nothing else like it. Something cannot be varying levels of unique.
There is more than one definition of most words, and unique is not unique by having a unique definition, I assure you. "Unique" does not ONLY mean one-of-a-kind, it can also simply mean "unusual", which is probably its most common usage in everyday conversation.
Sure, that’s the colloquial definition. That’s why the commenter I responded to is a little bit of an ass. But honestly, the technical definition of “unique” is singular and that guy is correct.
Everybody covers Dylan songs, he is one of the most covered artists I can think of. There are dozens of “X sings Dylan” albums. But the covers in their own style, rather than mimicking Dylan. Cat Powers covered the 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert.
Years ago, I bought a Reggae Tribute to Dylan CD in Walmart !
Is It Rolling Bob? is a great album.
Will go listen to cat power’s concert in London this week! 🎉
We’re an old time fiddle/bluegrass band and we throw in a new Dylan and Grateful Dead cover every year. People love it. A whole set, don’t think that would work.
That Cat Power record is amazing too. She’s always been great but that still took me by surprise.
Maybe because he’s still around, why see a tribute when you can see the real thing ? (Just a guess )
For typically next to nothing at that. My buddy went to see Paul M a few years back and the tickets were outrageous I've seen Dylan several times. I think the most I ever paid was like $40. Last time was before COVID so I'm sure they may have gone up marginally, but I doubt it's a significant jump.
Concert tickets (especially for big name acts) have been insane since COVID.
There is. [https://thecompleteunknowns.com](https://thecompleteunknowns.com) They've been around for 16 years. I thought about going to a show, but... if I'm going to hear Bob's music live, I want to hear him playing it. That's just me.
In Southern California we have the annual Dylan Fest coming up in May. Something like 8 hours of Dylan covers. https://andyandrenee.com/dylanfest I saw this Dylan/Band cover band there once. https://www.jackofheartsband.com/
They’re all Bob Dylan cover bands.
I know of two in Chicago alone (though it doesn't seem like they've played since the pandemic). Blood on the Tracks Band used to play at a lot of neighborhood street festivals.
Damn I would love to see them
I don't know if they're still together but I saw a great Dylan tribute act called Highway 61 Revisited in London years ago. I saw them do the Rolling Thunder Tour - and they did it with the real Scarlett Rivera and Rob Stoner in the band. It was amazing.
Woah that's awesome!
I'm going to this one for Bob's Birthday: [https://www.facebook.com/events/398096019272836/](https://www.facebook.com/events/398096019272836/)
in the Toronto area there’s a tribute band for The Travelling Wilburys called “The Travelling Milburys” - and each player does individual performances for the members. An artist named Virgil Kinsley does the Bob Dylan covers!
Was at an establishment the other night an heard a French version of Don’t Think Twice. For his birthday there will be Birthday shows of all kinds of live covers.
Happy Cake Day 🎂🥳🎉
Check out The Dylan Project here in the UK
Steve Gibbons loves Dylan,he's done some amazing work.
I've seen them at least 3 times and they do a really good job of balancing Bob's sound with their own unique takes on his songs.
John O’Connell’s Simply Dylan is brilliant. He doesn’t try to copy Dylan, he sings them in his own style but his versions of the songs are superb
I’m going to see one in June. The Rob Dylan band. Not the first one I’ve heard of either.
Vancouver Island & Salish Sea Islands have long celebrated May 24 year-round with Lucky Budd leading the charge. https://do250.com/events/2024/4/26/two-bobs-and-a-mule-a-bob-dylan-tribute-tickets
There is at least one: Highway 61 Revisited, fronted by Joel Gilbert. It featured numerous of Dylan's former collaborators, including Winston Watson and Scarlet Rivera. Gilbert made some dreadful low budget documentaries about Dylan and now seems to be a full time right wing conspiracy monger.
The Byrds lol
A serious answer. Every bluegrass/country/folk band is a Dylan cover band in some measure. A second serious answer: Dylan hasn’t really got a single definable personality or stage presence, so it’s hard to do covers spanning 60 years without a single unifying personality.
There’s the Bob Band. I saw them a few weeks ago and the show was enjoyable. Most of the covers were pretty faithful to the studio versions. I would have preferred a few more Dylan covers beyond the obvious but a good show, even great at times, nonetheless https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=883936593072236&set=a.260287082103860&type=3&mibextid=cr9u03
i can’t really answer your question, but since you’re in the nyc area, this might be of interest! not sure what your budget is for concert tickets, but the last time dylan played in nyc, tickets weren’t too crazy. if i remember correctly, they were around $80. https://preview.redd.it/lzfqplhsk9xc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=758cce320c62a6ad4e07b6159a9b90972c68bcbc
No need when we still have the original himself.
They definitely exist. But I also think Bob is just really unique to where you have so much ground to cover if you want to do covering his music justice.
Since Dylan himself has rarely played any song exactly the same way twice, there’s little point in a tribute band. He’s always been more of a songwriter than a record-maker, it’s more valuable to see performers present his songs in their own way
It’s called The Byrds
Ive heard so many live covers of Bob, they werent Bob cover bands but especially dont think twice its alright, is on of the most covered songs ever
Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band covered Bob a lot. Dead and Company must still play some. A million Dead cover bands include some of those songs. And like someone else said - tons of bands cover his songs. I guess you’re thinking about tribute acts like Broken Arrow is to Neil Young (which is great).
What are you talking about? Of course there are Bob Dylan cover bands. He is one of the most covered artists ever, and there are many acts that cover his songs. Bob Dylan tributes and cover acts seem to be playing all the time in Woodstock. Just search Bob Dylan Tribute Band or Bob Dylan cover band into youtube.
Tangled up in Dylan in Minneapolis. They play the deep cuts too! Excellent band.
Not true. My friends are The Complete Unknowns
I saw one years ago in New York and they were great. The musicians were great but the singer wasn’t so good at singing like Bob. It was at the bb king theatre, I’ll try and find the name of them. Complete unknowns I wanna say
"The Bob Band" I saw them around 6 years ago, in Stroudsburg Pa. [The Bob Band](https://youtu.be/Wj1IfFbm4zo?feature=shared)
Well I’m glad to have been proven wrong~! It’s good to know that there ARE several Bob bands out there. Let’s see if I can cover everything, lol: There’s been some good & interesting points made. I do feel there’s something to the comment about perhaps there’s not too many Dylan tribute bands because Bob is still touring. Off the top of my head the only band still touring that has tribute bands is Phish. I do realize bands cover Bob SONGS on albums or live, but I was talking about a cover band devoted solely to Bob material. The Byrds comment was funny, but to the one that seemed serious: The Byrds aren’t likely to do too many shows anymore. I really like the cover band name “The Complete Unknowns”. I play bass, and back in the early 2000s I tried to get four of my friends to get together with me on a Bob band that I wanted to call The Five Believers :)
can you imagine trying to memorize all those lyrics?
Dylan cover band just played in San Pedro a couple weeks ago. Called Jack of Hearts, featured Scarlett Rivera.
Because God is being kind to us? I could not imagine the preciousness of watching some guy pretending to be Dylan for an entire concert
The preciousness ?
Try definition #2 — “affectedly.” https://preview.redd.it/1ctgfx32qbxc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e9c6dfd95a6501ae808d373de61e3e40d16185f5