Interview: Tribfest

With ticket prices soaring to the far side of £200, punters are increasingly suspending disbelief to get their festival fix. Julian Owen meets the man behind Tribfest, one of the biggest gathering of tribute bands on the planet.

As ‘Paul Heaton’ in the Beautiful Couch, selling out venues across his Hull hometown, Ed Faulkner had long been aware of tribute acts’ popularity. But it was driving home from Liverpool in 2005, following a rapturously received set at Mathew Street Festival, that the “crazy idea” of a full tribute band weekend took hold. “It was a bit of a labour of love, but better than getting up at 7 o’clock and working for someone else, which I had been doing for years. We beg, stole, borrowed, and each year the festival grew.”

Now celebrating its tenth year, Tribfest is flourishing in a market also including the likes of Glastonbudget and the Big Fake Festival. 5,000 people will convene to see bands with names like Antarctic Monkeys, Meet Loaf, playing the songs of Adele, Coldplay, Bee Gees, Bowie, Motorhead, Prodigy, loads more. “As far as name bands are concerned, there’s not another festival like it. We can have them dead or alive,” says Ed. “There’s a lot of competition out there for your bigger bands, your Queens, your Abbas. We get probably two-dozen Queen tributes contact us each year, so you’ve got to be at the top of your game.” Alas, the band featuring his favourite-named tributeer are no longer: a Rolling Stones act from Newcastle, lining up with a bassist glorying in the name Bill Why-Aye-Man.

Ed doesn’t hesitate when asked the reason behind the festival’s appeal. “First and foremost it’s affordability. Families want to go to a festival, but can’t afford the bigger ones. A few years ago we had a family up from Glastonbury itself, who said that for a family of four they were looking at a cost of £1500, including spending onsite. We haven’t put up prices on beer in eight years – it’s still £3 a pint. Our demographic is, as I put it, pushchair to wheelchair. Unintentionally we’ve created this really lovely atmosphere, where you can bring a full family including granddad and grandma, and parents can sit and watch a band and let the kids roam around the site without worrying.”

Not that it’s all about economy and homeliness. “Our stage would grace any major festival, with a big screen alongside it. We do create that big festival feel, with over 150 acts. People think everything is tribute, but on a smaller scale we put on what all the majors do: unsigned tent, comedy tent, under-20s, acoustic, silent disco, kids’ area, everything.”

It’s the real festival deal, right down to certain acts taking themselves too seriously. Ask Ed whether he ever has to deal with prima donnas, and there comes a knowing chuckle. “Good question. We’ve had a few who think they actually are the real thing, on and off the stage. I love the idea of them being the real thing on it, that’s what it’s all about, but we’ve had a few that turn up and expect caviar and champagne. Then they get a hot dog and a can of coke…”

More typical, happily, was the overawed post-gig reaction of “a Muse from Holland. When they played a couple of years ago, they came off and said ‘We play pubs and clubs all around Holland and Germany, but this is our Olympic Games’.”

Tribfest, Aug 18-21, East Yorkshire. Ffi: www.tribfest.co.uk