Music

Local music scene: Why the sudden covers craze?

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Cover tunes are cool, but why is the local scene suddenly all about them? Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Smiths, Neil Young, the Pixies … how long until Supertramp gets a tribute night? Or did I already miss that one?

Clearly, a lot of work goes into these events, and they do produce some cool moments. At Friday’s Royal House Pixies party, we got to hear Dreaming of Lions’ stripped-down “Silver,” Dead Neon’s savage “Cactus,” Deadhand’s spot-on “Mr. Grieves” and Heidi Guinn & Friends’ fun romp through “Gigantic.” But how much time and energy did Vegas musicians spend learning songs they’ll probably perform once, when they could have been advancing their own art?

Maybe Same Sex Mary has the right idea, replaying its powerhouse “Where Is My Mind?” cover 24 hours later at the Artifice. Wonder if they’ll pull it out again on Talking Heads night ...

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