By Jordan Howe
Enter to win 2 2-night passes for AUCW here!
Get ready St. Louis! An Under Cover Weekend (AUCW) returns for its sixth year September 7th - 8th at The Firebird.
It's our favorite time of year -- 10 cover sets by 10 of the city's best local bands out to pay tribute to some of the most influential rock acts of all time packed into two September nights.
Creator Mike Tomko has sprinkled a little PR magic on AUCW, curating and marketing a night that showcases a group of local acts as the rock stars they truly are. It's the perfect night for any newbie to the St. Louis music scene to get acquainted (and likely fall in love with) acts they've never heard before, while jamming out to iconic songs we all know and love.
For those of you who need a little more convincing, AUCW is about fandom, too. The King of Pop may be dead, but Dots Not Feathers will resurrect his greatness by giving us one more chance to make sure Billy Jean knows that she's, in fact, not our lover. Energy-mongers PALACE will likely drag the dancing queen out of virtually everyone in the room by the end of their tribute to ABBA. We could go on, but instead of telling you ourselves, we thought we would let the bands do some of the heavy-lifting.
We asked all the participating bands the same question: “Write a pitch to the artist or band you are covering to convince them that they should come see you at AUCW6.”
Here are their responses:
Dearest Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn, and Anni-Frid,
Girls, were going to sing our hearts out on Dancing Queen with raw feline power like you use to belt. We will give you the respect you deserve when you see us perform sweet, unadulterated swedish dance moves in your face. Benny and Bjorn, you will be proud of our attention to detail as we encompass your multiple layering techniques on your unorthodox pop hit, voulez vous. If you can awaken those brittle bones to come out just to break them on the dance floor it will be worth your precious time.
Like staring into the eyes of your past, knowing me, knowing you, a mirror image of what once was as you will be engulfed in the existential experience of a life time… and you will finally be able to pass the ABBA torch to a young gun group like us.
We will become you in its fullest form; voice, instruments, looks, and legacy. Take a chance.
Dear Simon and Garfunkel,
When you see Arthur and the Librarian play your songs with as much passion and vigor as we are going to, you may be inspired to reschedule the postponed 2010 tour.
Dear Beck,
We are becoming you. Soon we will be you. But, there can be only one of us. Come to the Firebird on September 7th. Winner takes all.
Dear The Killers,
Ever wonder what your music would sound like if you kicked out half of the band members and doubled the volume? Invest in a few more distortion pedals and a cut-off jean jacket and come see us cover your songs at AUCW6.
Dear Neil Young,
This set is our way of saying thank you for providing musicians with the ideal response to drunks who yell 'Play some Skynard!' at gigs - just play Southern Man instead.
Dearest Bono, Larry, Edge and Adam,
Why in the world should you hop a plane, travel to the middle of the States, book a room at a local hotel, order up a slew of pints and make your way to the Firebird on St. Louis, MO on Friday, September 7th? It will remind you of a time when you played the jams for the sake of the jams. It will remind you when you once rocked a stage that was exactly that – a stage. Not a spaceship, not a production, but a stage. One night when your skill, your rehearsals and your raw power collided to send a loud, energetic and anthemic message to a room full of sweaty, excited fans. Come. Drink. Listen. Dance. Rock. Remember.
Salutations King of Pop,
You should come to our AUCW6 set if only to feel comfortable knowing your legacy of dance innovation will be continued by Ravi Raghuram and Katy Durrwachter.
This night really hits home with me since I have had the luck and honor to play two Under Cover Weekend(s) with my fellow bandmates from Union Tree Review -- once as The Postal Service and then last year as Marvin Gaye. I can verify that playing AUCW pushed our band to strive for a level out of our comfort zone by performing songs by artists we idolize. It gave us the opportunity to test our strength in front of hundreds of people. The pay off, when done well, is tremendous.
Do314 is giving away two pairs of passes to AUCW6 enter to win them here! Keep up to date on all things AUCW6 on twitter or Facebook.
Also check out our AUCW6 Spotify playlist below.
