The Satellite Riders are an Old 97’s “tribute” band. Usually, tribute band status is reserved for those acts whose members are dead, decrepit or hopelessly divided. Occasionally, of course, tribute bands take on a shtick that makes touring simultaneously with an active act plausible, like MiniKiss (we’re Kiss, but little) or Hell’s Belles (girls, playing sexy songs about girls) that lend these classics a little novelty. But IF the Satellite Riders are just four white dudes playing Old 97’s songs, you may be asking yourself, “Why would I go see this band and forgo the opportunity to stare into the big, dreamy eyes of the actual Rhett Miller at Bumbershoot on Monday?” But trust me: if you love the Olds enough to see them impersonated, you DO NOT want to miss this show. Oh, and here’s a tribute band I would pay $25 to see: Wisp-she Town, an all female, little person Whiskeytown (who ain’t gettin’ back together anytime soon) tribute band. The singer would wear a gigantic wig that looks like the outcome of a wrestling match between Robert Smith and Paul Westerberg and would end each show falling drunk off her barstool like Ryan Adams used to do back in the day. Good times!
Sun., Aug. 31, 9 p.m., 2008
