Let me ask you a question.

What kind of band appeals to people of all ages, from people in their 50’s and above to 14 year olds? You guessed it. Cover bands. However, to get any kind of good reaction from such a wide age range in an audience you have to be a really good cover band that covers a wide range of artists and styles and, in most cases, the songs have to sound like your seeing the original band.

Boy, did we see a great cover band yesterday at the Wisconsin State Fair.

The band I’m talking about is called The Now. These guys are, hands down, the best cover band I’ve yet to see. There is nothing cooler than seeing an audience built of such a wide age range all dancing and getting into a band on stage and somehow these guys make that happen. There was a huge crowd and there were few that were standing still.

The Now is a local band based out of the Milwaukee area. Their set list includes songs by Autograph (“Turn Up The Radio”), to Journey (“Separate Ways” and others) to Bon Jovi (“Runaway” and others) to songs like “Play That Funky Music”. The range of styles and the ability for this band to pull off every song to the note was really something to see.

There was something else about this band that was cool though. As they were playing their sets, they looked like they just absolutely loved being there doing what they were doing. As an example, after their first set I walked up to the guitarist to ask when their next set was. Normally when you walk up to someone like this, they act like they have better (or at least more important) things to do — since they are on break. This guy treated me like I was his best friend (ok, a little exaggeration, but bear with me). With all the stuff going on around the stage, each one of the guys in the band gave their full attention to the people they were talking to and didn’t seem rushed. They acted like they actually liked talking to the people who were enjoying hearing them play.

Seeing a good band is one thing. Seeing a good band that looks like they are honestly enjoying themselves and the effect they are having on an audience is something entirely different. When the show was over, each of us was a little disappointed that they were done.

For me, this show was awesome. Most of it was a combination of the fact that they are really a great band. The other part was their attitude, both while they were playing and how they dealt with their audience, even on their breaks. Check out their web site, find a place they are playing and go see them.

You won’t be disappointed.

By the way, we did get a few pictures of the band. They’re over in the photo album.