...Monday, march 25 2002...

After many online discussions with tributes "co-workers" from the whole world, I must say that in Italy we don't have at all a real search-engine for tribute-bands, like TributeCity or MockStars, just to make some examples, we just think about spit and "betray" each other in order to keep our sacred work place only for ourselves, just like in the most common traditions of a musical "third world" (I know what I'm saying for all those times I did try to establish good and trusting friendship having back only insults too much often!!! :-). So I decided to dedicate a whole page on AXTRA website, as also on the ONYRIA one (And after, once completed, also on the PUMPKIN website), to a list of the best italian tribute-bands of every style, from Pop, Rock & Heavy Metal generally, I mean that I've visited all their websites and I did find them excellent for executions, their downloadable audio and video files, or just I've trusted their look, always very precise and cured. :-) This is why I write here now, first of all to make everybody my sincere compliments for their work and to warn everybody that we've yet added more than 30 bands with links and logos obviously, hoping to make proud you and the italian clubs of the original bands :-) But my intentions were even more ambitious: I did like, in future, the idea to cooperate till the point to give everybody a good help organizing each other's tours, also because we all come from different parts of Italy; also I did want to create a real website dedicated exclusively to the universe of the tribute-bands, a sort of "online agency" for all those of whom I've had the possibility to check the professionality and the quality "live", and, in order to commercialize the official opening of this musical portal, I did want to organize for the first time a really big event in significative venues of our country... I know that yet many valuable similar tries have been made, but I did like to give the thing the right national, more than local, resonance, so I've "flight" highest possible... :-) With the help of famous venues and international promoters, we've given birth to the idea of two big festivals reserved to tribute bands only, to be done in the beginning of this summer in open-air venues generally used for yet-famous bands... The first project will be called "GODS OF TRIBUTE" (from "Gods Of Metal"), with tributes to Iron Maiden, Ac/Dc, Deep Purple, Megadeth, Kiss, Metallica and Guns'n'Roses, for three "hot" appointment: in Borgaro (TO), Friday June 21st at the CHICOBUM and in Milano, Sunday June 23rd at the PALAVOBIS, to be after repeated Saturday June 29th in Vicenza, at the PALALAGO. We are also deciding about making first a "test" date in a covered structure in Codevilla (PV), Sunday May 26th at the THUNDER ROAD... The second project, that's been named "TRIBUTEBAR" (from "Festivalbar"), will see bands tributing Pink Floyd, Vasco Rossi, U2, Madonna, Aerosmith, Carmen Consoli and Bon Jovi, will be hosted @ Piazzale MICHELANGELO in Firenze, Sunday July 7th. Also in this case we're thinking about a "test" appointment, to be done most probably in Follonica (GR), Saturday July 6th in Piazza XXIV MAGGIO... We've yet also interested many booking agencies of the original famous bands, trying to form a sort of "expert people jury", made with rockstars from Italy and the rest of the world, who, hosted by the festival, will give a symbolic tropheum to the best performed act of the day for their opinion and obviously will carry us all lotta interest by all kinds of medias and the audience itself. We'll host also, in order to symbolize Italy in this jury, the friendly special appearence by WINE SPIRIT, yet in the real "Gods Of Metal", and by the mighty DANIELE TEDESCHI (Original Vasco Rossi's drummer) in the "TrubuteBar". We'll see after, considering the budget, how many "special guests" will be confirmed between first and second day... :-) ALL the possible support has been granted to us by all the italian fanclubs, official or not, of the relative tributed bands, for this reason we'll give them great space during the festivals themselves, to let them commercialize their own activities and search for new "members", asking in change a usefull cooperation in organizing and commercializing the events, following their passed experiences that will be shared with ours, in order to obtein the best result for everyone at the end. It must be clear, I'm not a promoter or a manager, I'm just a musician too inside one of the tribute bands, so my goal is not the money making behind your shoulders, on the contrary, I want the maximum for each one of you, because you deserve it!!! :-) Who will think most about the financial aspects, will be for sure the hosting venues' organization, seeing basically that all the interested bands have accepted spontanously to help our project asking back only for a correct money refund, agreeing with us that all the money must be spent for the jury's "special guests", for the stage decorations, that will have to be most possibly similar to the orginal ones, and generally for the promoting. Being a festival created by the tributes for the tributes, all together we'll have to help spreading the news, obteining all the possible commercial information, using all our contacts, from the televisions, to the radios and the sectorial newspapers, convincing the fans to come to see the show, distributing the posters one by one where we come from, helping to organize the ticket sell, obviously to a really special price for the involved fanclubs' members and maybe, why not, recruiting some sponsors... :-) Personally, I've yet received many offerings, even in money, but I would like better simple exchanges of services instead, so that the cost of the entire operation will not increase and we'll have the biggest possible promotion for the show... In the end, the idea can really work out and we can make talk for long time about the "Tribute phenomenon" even people who normally ignore us, but we have to help each others, united, with no competitions at all, only this way we'll win against who, for years, has taken advantages on our work in some infamous lil' italian venues. I hope my efforts will find you happy and proud, so that I will soon read about your progresses. Anyway, thanks yet since now and let's wish each other a big "BREAK A LEG", we'll need it!!! :-))) ...Thank you... Eddie