Forum News

Powered By SirLook

They Can Give You Satisfaction

You can’t always get what you want, but time is on the side of this local Rolling Stones tribute band

STORY BY KERRY M. KIRSPEL

Few bands can boast of sudden success. Most musicians have to struggle for years just to get noticed by promoters and agents.

Satisfaction ... A Rolling Stones Experience, on the other hand, is finding that it is an aptly named rock group. In a little over a year, the Shreveport-based group, a tribute band which performs the music of The Rolling Stones, has found themselves touring the country to overwhelming success.

“The band kind of got discovered before it got ‘discovered,’” founding member Chris LeGrand said somewhat cryptically.

LeGrand had been performing in local bands and wanted to try something different. Having frequently been ribbed about his resemblance to Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger, he decided to capitalize on it.

He began researching the tribute band marketplace. “Tribute bands have been around a while,” LeGrand said. “Elvis impersonators have been around forever. Las Vegas has had a lot of impersonators.”

In researching Rolling Stones tribute groups, LeGrand found “there were several in the United Kingdom, and there were three or four in the United States, but all of them were far away -- one in New York, one in Philadelphia and one in California.”

But there was no such tribute band in the southern United States. “We decided to make a run at it.”

LeGrand knew it would be a specialty group, and he founded the band on three building blocks. “We had to have the look, we had to have the sound, and we had to have the attitude,” he said. “If we could master all three of those, then we had a product that would sell.”

Satisfaction’s initial incarnation consisted of five Shreveporters who assumed the roles of The Stones. “We started rehearsing, I guess, in spring of 2001 in a warehouse downtown. We were just rehearsing, and our first live show wasn’t until August of 2001.”

But fate intervened in a way LeGrand and his bandmates could not have anticipated. LeGrand said that every September, a popular motorcycle rally is held in south Louisiana, featuring live entertainment including a couple of tribute shows. He called a toll-free phone number to ask about possibly performing at next year’s rally, as it was too late to sign up for the present one.

Angelo Piazza, president of the Louisiana Motorcycle Riders Association, told LeGrand that he would be in Shreveport in a couple of weeks and was interested in hearing the band. “This is before we ever did a gig,” LeGrand recalled. After the band played a few songs, Piazza told him, “I really like the group. Would you guys be interested in going in the show this year?”

“Well, sure,” LeGrand said. “I didn’t have the heart to tell the guy we hadn’t played a show yet.”

Satisfaction managed to get a few performances under its collective belt before the bike rally, which featured several headliner acts, including Black Oak Arkansas. They had initially been told that they were to perform at 3 o’clock as a warm-up to the evening’s entertainment, but instead Piazza scheduled the band to play in the evening right before the headliners.

“The manager of two of the headliners walked up and said, ‘I don’t know who you guys are, but I am totally against this, but this man (Piazza) is the promoter and he runs the show,’” LeGrand said. “So we’re in the middle.”

Piazza told him that he believed in the band enough to put them before a crowd of some 4,000 people, adding, “if you can sell this manager, he can help you.”

Satisfaction played before the crowd, which responded enthusiastically. “This was, like, our fifth show,” LeGrand said. “We got two encores.”

After their set, the manager of Black Oak Arkansas met with LeGrand to sign the band. “And that’s who our manager is today,” LeGrand said. “He was ready to throw us to the wolves, and then we did this great show and he offers us this contract.”

Today, Satisfaction is represented by AME Professional Entertainment.

All from one telephone inquiry.

Since then, Satisfaction has performed all over the United States, from Philadelphia to Miami to the Dakotas.

And June looks to be a busy month for the band. “We’re going to play for the queen of England,” said LeGrand. Satisfaction is scheduled to perform June 1 and 2 at a stateside Golden Jubilee Celebration for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

The band is also negotiating with the Hard Rock Cafe chain. “We’re doing one in Ft. Lauderdale and one in Texas. If they like it, what they want to do is put us on tour for all of them.”

Locally, Satisfaction will perform for three days at Horseshoe Casino and Hotel beginning with the Rockin’ on the Red rooftop party on June 20.

In the entertainment industry, timing is everything, and that is certainly the case with Satisfaction. “The reason is, 2002 is the 40th anniversary of the Rolling Stones. That’s what our show is based on, a 40th anniversary tribute. When word of that got around, our phone just really started ringing. Our agent said, ‘I’ve never had a band that got to this point this quickly.’”

Since signing up with AME Professional Entertainment, the band has undergone a personnel change. Two of the Shreveport musicians decided they did not want to give up their local jobs to become performers. Two Dallas musicians have since joined the group.

Satisfaction today consists of LeGrand, performing as Mick Jagger; Shreveporters Jerry Howard as drummer Charlie Watts and Chad Coffey in the role of guitarist Ron Wood; Eddie Burns as guitarist Keith Richards; and Allen Brooks in the role of bassist Bill Wyman.

While LeGrand has not heard from the real Mick Jagger, he said, “Most artists support tribute shows because it is the ultimate form of flattery.” And the Stones once had a tribute band perform at a press conference before coming out to announce a tour.

“Tribute shows are a multimillion dollar industry,” said LeGrand. People can see a replication of a popular act for a fourth or a fifth of the price of a ticket to see the originals.

“One thing I’ve noticed when we started doing the shows is the wide audience appeal. I’ve got teenagers and grandfathers that appreciated it because the Rolling Stones spans generations. Once, I signed pictures for a 21-year-old son, a 45-year-old father and a 65-, 66-year-old grandfather -- three generations and all three wanted pictures. And I knew right then, if I could please all these generations, this is going to be a pretty successful show.”

And the success is reflected in the responses the band has received. Earlier this year, Satisfaction played at Borrowed Bucks, an 800-seat club in Sioux Falls, S.D., and will return this summer. “They did a great job,” said club manager Kirk Keupp. “They very much sounded like the original and put on a really good show. The people that were here really enjoyed it.” Keupp said he had seen similar bands before, but none that performed such a strong tribute to the Rolling Stones. “(They were) truly one of those bands that if you weren’t looking real close, you’d think you had the real thing.”

Kevin West, morning radio personality for 98 Rocks, KTAL-FM, described Satisfaction as “awesome, a most entertaining band, surprisingly authentic and delightful in the way they entertained the crowd. They’re very Rolling Stones-like, right down to the British accents and the look of the band.”

Currently, the band has a busy schedule touring the country. “I expect us to be strong in casinos, fairs and festivals,” said LeGrand. “That’s really our strong suit. Clubs are OK, but I like being able to play on a bigger stage outdoors.

“I enjoy playing for kids in college. College kids love this thing. It’s unbelievable how well college kids like it. They appreciate the roots of rock.

“It’s strange. We get the most obscure requests as far as Rolling Stones songs are from college kids. They’ll request something from side four of Exile on Main Street, which was released in 1972. These kids have really gone back and listened to some of these albums. It’s really, really neat, though. I find that fascinating.”

And how does LeGrand keep himself grounded in reality and not letting himself get caught up in all of the glamour? “It’s hard not to,” he admitted. “It’s a lot of fun. Meeting people is one of the greatest things. We get to meet fans of the Rolling Stones, and everyone has a story. In a way, you’re emulating these artists, and these people say, we saw them in ’75 and ’81.”

LeGrand is still amazed at how far the band has come. “It’s really taken me by surprise how lucky we’ve been in such a short time.”

But he and his bandmates have worked hard at their success. “We studied hours and hours of videotape. We had to do our homework. I’ll not let the band compromise on any one aspect. We pay close attention to details. You’ve got to look at the clothes, at the hair and makeup, the sound of the instruments.

“The authenticity is what sells it. The more authentic you are, the more successful you’re going to be. We have these band meetings, almost like a coach talking to a team before a game. We discuss the look, the sound and the attitude. As long as we do that and we maintain a healthy group that treats it as a business, then I think we’re going to be successful.”

Return to Satisfaction Main Page