Oh, the cover band...

It's a concept that tends to divide a lot of music fans. Even though acts such as Zoso and Badfish have been gaining quite a bit of popularity and have sold out shows all around the world, many people still scoff at the idea of musicians performing solely (or even mostly) music originally performed by other people.

Even though some may hate on the idea of a night contributed to cover songs, there's one thing that cannot be denied about the concept: it's a straight-up entertaining experience for musicians and audience members alike.

"I have to say it is really fun to be able to get together with your friends and just jam to a bunch of tunes that you already know," said Jacob Theobald, a guitarist formerly of Casual Future. "So, for us, I think we're just having a lot of fun with it. We brought in a bunch of our other friends, and hopefully they will come up and sing with us on stage for a few songs."

This Saturday, he will be covering '90s alternative rock band Pavement when The Union hosts the Big Cover Up. This quarterly concert, which features a variety of local musicians covering their favorite artists, is a night that will feature a diverse set of cover acts, from Pink Floyd to Gillian Welch to Lady Gaga.

Jim Warner, who will be returning for his next round of Cover Ups, will be covering Poison this year after having a successful show doing Michael Jackson in the past.

"I was trying to think of something that would be fun to do. Kind of cheesy, but still something that people would want to come to and enjoy, maybe a little tongue-in-cheek. So, we picked Poison because we thought it’d be both easy and cheesy," said Warner.

"When my friend's band performed at Halloween last year, they dressed up as an '80s hair metal band, so he's already got the wigs and bandanas and everything, and we'll probably also rock the guyliner and all that kind of stuff," he added.

To the majority of the population, who may enjoy strumming the occasional cover tune on the guitar but wouldn't dare get up in front of an audience to do such, a simple question races through their mind: why do a cover set? The answer really is just a bit of good old-fashioned fun.

"I figure, why churn out something and play it just for the sake of saying we wrote it ourselves?" said Warner. "Why not play something that people can enjoy anyways and sing along to?"

"People can expect a lot of nostalgia from our set, and if they weren't around then, then they can still expect that certain cheese factor, and be able to enjoy it and laugh at it."

Theobald also mentioned the element of paying homage to a band that you love as being another motivating factor.

"I'm just excited to have the opportunity to do this," he explained. "The people who are doing this with me, we've talked about covering Pavement for a while, so it's kind of cool. We're big fans of the music, and I think that'll speak for itself. I've been listening to them since the eighth grade, and I'm a little obsessed."

And why go to the show this busy Memorial Day weekend?

"It's a pretty eclectic lineup, there's Thin Lizzy, Lady Gaga, and Willie Nelson. So, it should be a lot of fun, and there's definitely a little something for everyone," said Theobald.

Doors open at 8 p.m. Saturday night, and the first band, covering Willie Nelson, will start a little before 9 p.m.