Message of Love is San Francisco’s premier Pretenders tribute band. We stay true to the early era, focusing on material from the first three albums.
Message of Love is:
- Paige Weber (fmr Van Gogh’s Daughter, Pussycat Theater): vocals and guitar
- Mike Anderson (curr The Cowlicks, fmr The Big Blue Hearts): bass and vocals
- Daniel Swan (fmr The Sneetches, The Cortinas): drums and vocals
- Damon Wood (fmr Engine 88, The Smoking Section): guitar and vocals
History
One evening in late 2003 I ran into my old friend Daniel Swan at the El Cerrito 7-11. I said I wanted to get something fun and easy together, hopefully with other former rock stars like ourselves; Daniel was enthusiastic. He casually asked me, if I could choose one band to emulate, who would it be? I thought about it for about a quarter of a second and replied, why the Pretenders, of course. He nodded and we went our separate ways.
To my surprise, Daniel called within a week and we discussed who else we should enlist in the project. He was playing with Blake Davis in Opal Book Club at the time, and suggested the bass player, Ben Decker. I dug my old phone book out of a drawer and found a number for Paige Weber, who I knew played a telecaster and could deliver sultry with a cool vengeance.
We played our first show at the Kensington Pub sometime in March of 2004.
Factoids
- Message of Love was originally named Tattooed Love Boys.
- Bass and vocals were originally covered by Ben Decker, currently with Opal Book Club, formerly of the Naked Barbies and Dizzybam.
- Mike Anderson started playing with Message of Love in early 2006.
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