The Onion's AV Undercover has come up with a great idea: Have 25 bands perform live covers of 25 songs by artists big and small. Here's the catch: The list of 25 songs is finite, with one song performed a week. After a song is performed, it's scratched off the list, leaving fewer choices for the next performer.
Week to week you don't know who the performer will be or what song they'll choose.
So far, artists as diverse as Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, Alkaline Trio, Cursive and Justin Townes Earle (Steve Earle's kid) have had their shot in the spotlight, covering songs by Tears for Fears, Archers of Loaf, Starship and Bruce Springsteen.
Songs yet to be performed include M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes"; REM's "Driver 8"; and Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here." Journey's "Faithfully" is even on the list, which is some kinda curveball. I'm waiting to see who has the courage to tackle The Replacements' "I Will Dare."
It's all great fun, and a cool way to show off some fresh artists adding their own twists to great songs.