At 6:45pm on a Monday night, a line formed outside Whisky a Go Go, a West Hollywood music venue that has hosted storied musical acts including Guns N’ Roses, Jimi Hendrix, and The Doors.
“I’m a huge Doors fan, and I’ve always wanted to go to the Whisky,” said Chris Mullins, who was visiting Los Angeles from Pennsylvania.
The fans outside that night were from all over the country. Ross Seiffert, who was right in front of the line, flew in from Wisconsin just to be there. “And I fly out tomorrow,” he said.
These fans were there for a celebration of The Doors’ frontman Jim Morrison’s 82nd birthday.
So when a man walked into the venue sporting curly dark hair, a cross hanging from a chain on his neck and leathery pants, a whisper of excitement went through the crowd.
“My life revolves around Jim Morrison,” said 25-year-old Sterling Sinclair, who said she feels nostalgia for the music of the 1960s. “I don’t remember it, but it’s most of the music I listen to,” she said. “And I mean, never going to be able to see [Morrison] live.”
Of course she won’t, because Jim Morisson famously died in 1971. You can visit his well-decorated grave in Paris.
Which means that the guy with the dark hair who was taking the stage that night is just a guy. Specifically, a 45-year old finance guy named John Nagle, who works at an investment management firm in Santa Monica.
“All the classic rock stuff was kind of my favorite stuff growing up,” said Nagle. He played in cover bands in college, but got back into it when he and another dad he got to know while chatting at a kids’ birthday party decided to jam together.
“My guitarist and co-leader of the band was like, ‘You know, we should just do The Doors because you sound just like Jim Morrison.’”
Nagle says all four members of Mojo Risin’, which is a lyric reference to the Doors song, “LA Woman,” have day jobs. They get paid a few thousand dollars for gigs like this one.
“The whole tribute band scene has given us an opportunity just to have fun and, you know, make a little money on the side, but to me, the main thing is, just the audience reaction,” he said. “You get such a kick out of that.”
“It’s just like the real thing, but less expensive, which ended up being our tagline,” said Michael Twombly, who runs a booking agency for tribute bands.
He got into the tribute scene in 2008 (in a tribute band called The Cured) and now develops and maintains a roster of other tribute acts. “I’ve got 1,700 of them, and I keep an eye on all the others,” he said.
Tribute bands are not new. As Elvis Presley’s fame exploded in the 1950s, the first Elvis impersonators began performing. The 1960s saw the rise of Beatles knock-offs, such as “The Buggs.” And a new Hollywood film starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson called “Song Sung Blue” is based on the true story of a Neil Diamond tribute band that formed in 1989.
But in recent years, Twombly said, a lot more tribute bands have popped up. “It was a coastal thing, mostly California,” he said. “Now you’ve got [tribute] bands coming out of the woodwork in, you know, Oklahoma.”
Over the past couple of decades, live performance has become increasingly important to musicians’ bottom lines. Some tribute bands are made up of professional musicians, trying to supplement their income, while some are just hobbyists, like John Nagle.
”The problem is,” said Twombly, “They start them [based on] whatever their favorite band was in high school, not what the market needs.”
Twombly said the market is crowded with tributes to classic rock bands, such as Led Zeppelin, the Grateful Dead, and AC/DC. “So we are focusing on building Taylor Swift’s, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, that sort of thing,” he said.
Tribute bands typically don’t pay royalties directly for the songs they play live. Those fees are normally covered by venues, under the same licensing agreements that allow any band to play cover songs. And tributes can play on a range of stages, from 10,000 seat casinos to free concerts in the park.
“What’s the other option?” said Twombly. “Hire the real act for $70,000—and at $70,000 you get an act with three hits in their career—or they can get in a Fleetwood Mac tribute band and know every song over 90 minutes.”
At a time when average concert ticket prices have reached triple digits, and the labor market is cooling, consumers may pull back on spending on pricey shows. According to an analysis by Pollstar, the live entertainment business grossed 6% less this year than 2024’s record highs.
“It actually helps us, [because] the big concerts will go before tributes go,” said Twombly. “We’ve had Live Nation call and go, ‘we don’t want to take a risk on these acts — we’re going put in a bunch of tributes in to tide us over, because the risk is way less.’”
By the time that Mojo Risin’, the Doors tribute, took the stage at the Whisky, about a hundred or so people had gathered. The cheapest tickets were $23, including fees, though VIP tickets were available for more. And the bar was packed.
“They bring a lot of people,” said Tisa Mylar, Whisky a Go Go’s general manager. These days, the club usually hosts tribute bands a couple of times a month. “They enjoy all the songs that they play, and if they’re doing the ‘80s and the ‘90s, people love that stuff,” she said.
Ross Seiffert, the guy who flew in from Wisconsin to be there, hung onto the edge of the stage the entire set. Sterling Sinclair, the 25-year-old Jim Morrison fan, swayed to the music with her date, singing along. And on the wall, a drawing of the actual Jim Morisson with an angel halo above him, faced the stage where another Jim Morrison (kind of) closed out the night.
John Nagle, a Jim Morrison impersonator, looks toward a drawing of the actual Jim Morrison while performing on a stage where the late musician used to play.
Maria Hollenhorst/Marketplace
Correction (Jan. 15 2026): A previous version of this story misspelled Neil Diamond’s first name.
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