Goldman, Queen, France Gall: why the tributes are a hit

A tour of almost eighty dates over a year and a half in Zénith and other large venues until April 2027, a tour bus which crisscrosses the country to transport the group’s sixteen musicians and technicians to their destination every morning… This is not the daily life of a recent winner of a Victoire de la Musique but that of the Goldmen, a group which has not yet written a single song.

Since 2010, this group, from Hauts-de-France, has taken up the repertoire of Jean-Jacques Goldman. “Today, we benefit from exceptional conditions,” enthuses singer Alain Stevez, who experienced balls where the musicians were also the handymen. “They bring me my guitar on stage, I don’t even have to tune it anymore. It’s such a comfort…”

The Goldmen are part of the family of tribute bands. This English term, which is translated as “tribute groups”, designates these groups specialized in covering songs from a group or singer who, generally, no longer goes on stage. Like Jean-Jacques Goldman, whose last appearance dates back to 2004 during the Francofolies in La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime).

If ballroom groups have always played standards, tribute bands of the 21st century have given the revival another dimension: by specializing in an artist’s repertoire, often adding a scenography evoking the original concerts, they offer real shows, capable of attracting hundreds, even thousands of people for the most ambitious.

“Today, the public is ready to pay several dozen euros to see a tribute », notes Philippe Tassart. The producer of the Goldmen knows his subject: he largely contributed to the success of one of the first of its kind, the Rabeats, four boys who filled theaters for twenty-five years, including the Olympia in Paris, by covering the Beatles.

Édith Piaf, Queen, Abba, Dire Straits, Kiss, Pink Floyd, France Gall, Supertramp, Johnny Hallyday, the Bee Gees, Daniel Balavoine… The proposals of tribute have multiplied. Gone are the days when theaters looked at the movement with a certain condescension, even with contempt.

“The communities are very fond of it,” adds François Joyeux, producer of Rideau Rouge Organization, where the tribute represent 30% of the catalog. Some even dedicate festivals to them, like in Lucsur-Mer (Calvados). Since 2017, two free evenings at the end of June attract between 10,000 and 12,000 people. “I would never have imagined such an influx,” recognizes Natacha Clairet, delegated municipal councilor, at the origin of the adventure.

Schedule a tribute is the assurance of filling the room, of transforming the party into a success, which is not necessarily achieved with a composition artist. “Everyone knows the hits, most spectators can repeat the refrains,” remarks the Norman elected official. Musicians who alternately officiate in formations tribute or composition recognize the ease of filling the rows with the tubes of another. Enough to “earn four times more than with a classic concert”, admits Tino Valentino, who takes over Simple Minds and launches Police on the Moon, a group around the group The Police, in April.

“A comforting, reassuring side”

Nostalgia, the marketing lever of our time, obviously explains this success. “From our first concert, in Denain (North), we realized that people were hungry for Jean-Jacques, that there was a deep lack,” assures Alain Stevez.

Mireille, a septuagenarian from La Rochelle, adds: “Even if I didn’t particularly listen to Goldman, he is part of the soundtrack of our lives, we have heard him so much… His songs evoke events in our existence, it is a benchmark; and for some, these tribute even have a comforting, reassuring side. But we also meet a lot of young people in their audience. »

The phenomenon goes beyond simple time travel, especially since many of these musical clones – which are not really (read box below) – pay tribute to singers or groups still active.

Muse, Indochine, Renaud, Coldplay, M, AC/DC, Eddy Mitchell… But why go see the copy rather than the original? “I have already seen Muse in the flesh, but when a tribute passes not far from Thouars (Deux-Sèvres), I go there, says Nathalie, 51 years old. It’s cheaper, it’s the opportunity to listen to songs you like, to rediscover the atmosphere of the pit in a more intimate context. »

An opinion shared by Valentine, a thirty-year-old from Tournai (Belgium): “When I attend a Morphine concert, I find the soul and the universe of Indochina, but with their tone, a little different, more rock on the old songs. I love the atmosphere. »

“We experience sharing”

One of the common denominators among all these followers remains the desire to live an experience live and authentic, analyzes Gérôme Guibert, sociologist specializing in popular music: “The tribute work because we experience something live, with people who like the same music as us. By attending one of these concerts, you know in advance that something is going to happen. We experience sharing. » Like a snub to music generated by artificial intelligence, which is invading our listening platforms at the rate of 40,000 songs daily on Deezer, according to an Ipsos study.

The vogue for tribute is it sustainable? From the moment the original group has made enough hits, a condition to offer a full show of covers, there is no real reason for it to run out of steam. “There will perhaps be a glass ceiling,” moderates Rodolphe Bonneau, keyboardist at Queen Spirit, in the west of France. If there are too many tribute around the same artist, in the same geographical area, there is a risk of stepping on each other’s toes, and skimming will take place. »

That being said, it can happen that a cover band almost takes over its source. Thus, Annick, a Bordeaux resident, has attended around fifty Goldmen concerts over the past five years… The one who loved Goldman, without being a groupie, assures her: the tribute the best known in France does not take it back. “They really made the songs their own: above all, I come to listen to the Goldmen, Goldman being a very good support. They give off something. And with this new tour, they have set the bar very high again. » When the copy exceeds the original!