Dale Davis believes The Amy Winehouse Band is creating a new genre of live music.
The group of musicians served as the original band of ‘Tears Dry On Their Own’ singer Amy – who tragically died in 2011 at the age of just 27 – and now play live to honour her memory and musical legacy.
Bassist Dale insists the show is a homage to his friend and a celebration of her iconic songs and has more in common with what Queen and Adam Lambert are doing at their concerts than a traditional tribute act.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz, he said: “I think we need to create a new genre as there are a lot of people passing and the band is still going out, even bands like Queen. Tribute is a different thing now. I think we have got to create a new genre out of that.”
Dale – who has worked as a musical consultant on the upcoming Amy Winehouse biopic ‘Back to Black’, which stars Marisa Abela as the Grammy-winning singer – insists the band’s vocalist Bronte Shande isn’t trying to copy Amy in any way and doesn’t dress like her for the audience.
The bass player describes Bronte as a student of Amy’s music and a musician who embodies her spirit when she sings songs like ‘You Know I’m No Good’, ‘Rehab’ and ‘Stronger Than Me’.
He explained: “We don’t anyone to look like Amy, I don’t need anyone to dress up like Amy, it’s just someone who gets the spirit of it and has massive respect for Amy as well. That’s what we need.
“Bronte is 28 and she’s studied Amy since the age of eight, so when ‘Frank’ first came out she was into ‘Frank’ then. She sings in a way that does remind me of Amy in the early days and she sings so good every night. She’s been doing it now for nearly three years and she kills it every night. It’s the same sort of band spirt that we used to have with Amy.”
The Amy Winehouse Band perform two shows in 2024 at Koko in Camden – the London borough where Amy lived – on December 20 and 21.
Go to Ticketmaster.co.uk for information and tickets and Foreveramylive.com for news on the group and other live dates.