Booking a tribute band

A tribute band plays one artist, and that makes booking straightforward. You choose Queen, ABBA, Golden Earring or the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and your guests know in advance what they will hear. This page sets out what that means for your night and how to find the right band.

What you are booking

You are booking musicians who devote themselves to the work of one band or artist. They play the songs as close to the original as they can: the solos, the backing vocals, the tempos you know. Some bands copy the clothes and stage moves as well; others stick to the music. How this differs from a cover band is covered in What a tribute band is (and isn't).

Cesar Zuiderwijk, drummer of the Dutch rock band Golden Earring and a judge on The Tribute – Battle of the Bands on SBS6, told the Dutch magazine TV Gids what he listens for:

(Translated: "The most important thing is to get close to the original. A good tribute band gives you the same feeling.")

That feeling is what you book: a room that knows where it is from the opening notes of Radar Love or Dancing Queen.

Choose the artist first, then the band

Start with your audience. Who will be standing in front of the stage, what were they listening to at twenty, and do they want to dance, sing along or listen?

• Singing and dancing with a broad crowd: disco and pop from ABBA, the Bee Gees or Donna Summer.
• Stadium rock where the whole room knows the choruses: Queen, Golden Earring, Bon Jovi.
• Funk and rock for a crowd that wants to jump: the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which is our trade.
• Dutch-language music for a village fête or a local pub: tributes to Doe Maar, BZN or Guus Meeuwis exist too.

Not sure? Take the quiz: which tribute band suits your party? Six questions and you will know which direction fits.

How to book a tribute band

Booking one differs little from booking any other live band. Ask for a proposal with the date, venue, type of event and length of set, listen to the band beforehand, and put the agreements in writing. The full plan is in Hiring a tribute band: step by step. For what to sort out with the venue (power, stage, times, music licence) use our checklist for organisers. What drives the price is explained on what a cover band costs.

By type of event

A tribute band plays a festival differently from a wedding. At a festival you want one set with all the hits back to back. At a wedding or company party the band usually plays a few sets around dinner and the speeches. We wrote up how that works for each kind of night, with De Peppers as the example:

• Festivals and village fêtes
• Bars and music venues
• Weddings, company parties and birthdays

Tribute bands in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands tribute bands play everywhere from the community hall to Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome. Since 2022 the SBS6 programme The Tribute – Battle of the Bands has had tribute bands compete each season for concerts at that arena; in April 2026 four bands from the fifth season took the stage there. In Eindhoven, the Klokgebouw hosts Tributeland every autumn and calls it the largest indoor tribute festival in the Netherlands; the 2026 edition is on Sunday 22 November.

Who has been at the top in recent years is in The best-known tribute bands in the Netherlands. What musicians from that scene say about their craft is in From the archive: what makes a good tribute band?.

De Peppers: the Red Hot Chili Peppers live

We are De Peppers, a Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band from North Brabant. Daan sings, Mark plays guitar, Tom bass and Jan drums. We play sets of 45 to 120 minutes, bring our own mixing desk and build the setlist with you from our repertoire. Everything about booking a Chili Peppers night is on book a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band.

Would you rather see what you are booking first? Come to our show.

More in this guide

• What a tribute band is (and isn't)
• Hiring a tribute band: step by step
• The best-known tribute bands in the Netherlands
• From the archive: what makes a good tribute band?
• Column: tribute bands are not photocopiers
• Questions about booking a tribute band
• Poll: which band would you like to see as a tribute?

Would you rather have a band that plays a bit of everything? Read Hiring a band for your party. Want to see the Chili Peppers themselves? Read Red Hot Chili Peppers live in the Netherlands.