Matthew Murray Photographs and interviews Tribute Bands and Acts, photographed in Birmingham and the Black Country

Murray, Matthew ORCID: 0000-0001-8956-8062 (2004) Matthew Murray Photographs and interviews Tribute Bands and Acts, photographed in Birmingham and the Black Country. i - D. pp. 109-115. doi:1002 Eye

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Abstract

POPPELGANGER! A Tribute to Tribute Bands: Photographs by Matthew Murray Did you know that you can see 'Christina Aguilera' performing in Redditch, 'Eminem' in Stourbridge, or even 'Freddie Mercury' at The Hunters Moon pub in Nechells, Birmingham? Matthew Murray's irresistible photos capture the urge to break out of our humdrum daily lives by dressing up in spandex and bursting into song, to wild applause. His witty exhibition affectionately portrays the lucky few that get to do it for a living! In November 1995, the Sunday Mercury ran a feature called ‘The Copy Cats’. This recorded the spectacular rise of a new trend in the entertainment industry: the tribute band. The feature suggested that there were some 500 tribute bands performing across the country, and no less than 50 performing in Birmingham at that time. Fast forward a decade and the listings for forthcoming gigs in pubs and clubs around the Midlands reveals how the phenomenon of these dedicated dopplegangers has grown into a massive business with acts covering the entire spectrum of popular music. Matthew Murray’s tribute band series was conceived over a period of two and half years, from the end of 2000 to the summer of 2003. The project came about after he went to a party where a friend had booked one the local acts, D'ran D'an (Duran Duran). Murray subsequently travelled to pubs, clubs and theatres in and around Birmingham to photograph a number of the acts. He only had 3 to 4 minutes to photograph the band before or after their performance, so he decided to photograph all the performers in the same way, framed in the centre of the of the 6x6 format photographed head to toe and backstage. Text By Peter James. Peter James is Head of Photographs at Birmingham Central Library and Chair of the Committee of National Photographic Collections.

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Personal Project. Exhibited at the Symphony Hall Birmingham, published in i-D Magazine: The Substance Issue
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Tribute Bands, Music, Bands, i-D magazine, Fashion, Trends, mimic,
Related URLs:	Organisation
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR N Fine Arts > NE Print media N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general T Technology > TR Photography
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Creative Arts
Research Priority Areas:	Culture, Continuity, and Transformation
Depositing User:	Matthew Murray
Date Deposited:	16 Jun 2017 13:51
Last Modified:	31 Aug 2023 09:24
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/4708

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