Images courtesy of Jeremiah Plummer and Tributes Entertainment, Inc.
Jeremiah Plummer is the Executive Producer at Long Beach-based Tributes Entertainment, Inc., the man behind the vision for the Hall of Fame Legends Show, a free-to-the-public knockout concert that expertly recreates the music from legends such as Smokey Robinson, The Four Tops, The Drifters, The Temptations, Jackson 5, Frank Sinatra and many more, with the last live rehearsal to take place at the Forbidden City Restaurant on Thursday, April 21 at 7:30PM.
A lightbulb went off in the visionary’s head last year when he attended the Southern California Karaoke Fest and discovered about a dozen talented performers he thought he could use for such a purpose, for an idea he’d been holding onto for years, when he began to question how and why “the whole tribute band and cover band thing has been dying a slow death since ‘08,” Plummer told the Long Beach Post.
Executive Producer Jeremiah Plummer next to Tributes Entertainment cast members.
“So I thought what if you did a history about all the great artists and groups who actually had an influence on modern pop, and do it in that shotgun style where you’re just taking tasty bits of all the good stuff?” he continued.
Plummer wanted to find a way to deliver a tribute-style performance that went above and beyond the gimmicky shows he’d witnessed in Vegas, where it seemed to be more about the performer dressing up as the legend than their vocals actually wowing the audience. Hundreds of singer auditions later, with Plummer seeking performers who had more than just the ability to sing, but who also had a real desire to be a part of the project, the Hall of Fame Legends Show has been nothing but a success.
“After six months of rehearsals, a vision I have had for years is finally coming to life,” stated Plummer. “The story of the evolution of pop music, starting at the time of the electric guitar, and the artists and groups that made the transition from big bands such as Tommy Dorsey, George Gershwin and Benny Goodman to the small bands with electric guitar and how that affected the evolution of pop music.”
Plummer said he really wasn’t sure how the Hall of Fame Legends Show or The History of Divas Show would be received, but was happily surprised by the consistently packed performances Tributes Entertainment, Inc. has been able to generate, saying “it’s almost like we have developed this culture. It’s been an amazing response all around. Every eye in the place is on the stage, toes tappin’, fingers snappin’, people singing along, everybody with their phones out. It’s like an event, more than it is a performance.”
“All of the artists and groups that we do are either Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, Grammy Hall of Fame inductees, Vocal Group Hall of Fame inductees or Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, and are delivered in a very entertaining way,” Plummer said.
From left: Mr. Entertainment Ernesto Luna, Assistant Producer Jocelyn Dannebaum, Music Director Marcus Sampson.
In addition to the Hall of Fame Legends Show, the History of Divas Show will also perform renditions of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame female artists, including The Andrew Sisters, The Shangri Las, The Supremes, Aretha Franklin and more. The History of Divas was so well received that it was booked at Forbidden City for the first Saturday of each month for the next year, beginning in June.
“I now have the most unbelievable cast, and I’ve been so fortunate to have acquired the cast members that I have,” said Plummer. “Everybody wants to give me the accolades for this, but really all I had was the vision. [This team] made it happen.”
For more information about Tributes Entertainment, visit the website here or the Facebook page here.
Forbidden City Restaurant is located at 6380 East Pacific Coast Highway.
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