Inuvik (Feb 27/06) - Four musicians are using theatrical panache and musical passion to entertain themselves and their audiences.

Ryan Chalupa, Ian Morrice, Candace Burke and Mark Stevens used the Mad Trapper as a venue, Feb. 25, for trying on what it's like to be No Doubt, the California quartet which rose to fame and fortune in the 1990s via a bucketload of pop hits mixed with wild fashion statements.

"I've always believed that the show is more important than the music. People come to see a band," said band leader Morrice, putting the emphasis on the word "see."

Calling themselves L.A.M.B., after No Doubt front-woman Gwen Stefani's clothing label, singer Burke - who plays the role of Stefani - explains what separates a cover band from a tribute.

"We're not just walking around on stage playing a few No Doubt songs, but paying tribute to them," she said. "We'll be in costume and Saturday, I'm not just going to sing like Gwen, but I'm going to be Gwen."

While this may sound a bit strange to some, tribute acts have actually become quite commonplace on the bar circuit, according to Morrice. And often you can gauge the popularity of a band by the amount of tribute acts paying homage to them.

"Playing in bars, you usually have to do the hits, so this will take it up a notch, the flashier the better," he said. "If you can do something special to draw people in, then that's something I want to do."

Morrice even managed to convince the Trapper's resident guitarist Mark Stevens to get in on the act.

A fan of more traditional beer drinking music like blues and classic rock, Stevens says he's finding the experience interesting.

"It's really quite different from what I usually do.

"You know, sometimes I'll be standing there for 28 bars not playing a thing and then I've got this really cool riff to go at for a while," he said after a L.A.M.B. band practice on Feb. 20.

L.A.M.B. scheduled their Inuvik premiere for last Saturday evening, headlining a benefit concert for the End of the Road Music Festival.

Legion favourites Jumpstart, a host of Trapper Saturday afternoon jammers and Dennis Allen and the Revelators, also were scheduled to warm up the stage for Gwen and her band of merry-makers.