A number of popular bands books shows in small, intimate venues under fake names.
REM has done this a number of times.
Bingo Hand Job was the name they used at
The Borderline in
London on March 14 and 15,
1991. They took it a step further by using fake names for each of the band members and guest musicians:
Michael Stipe – the Reverend Bingo
Peter Buck – Raoul
Bill Berry – the Doc
Mike Mills – Stinky
Peter Holsapple – Spanish Charlie
Billy Bragg – Conrad
Violet (on March 14) – Robyn Hitchcock
Ophelia (on March 15)
The opening act was the
Chickasaw Mudd Puppies, playing under the name
Stump Monkey.
The second night they recorded a
parody of
Suzanne Vega’s "
Tom’s Diner" called "
Tom’s ?", which later ended up on a
B-side and a
cover album.
By the way, I’m not a total REM freak, I just got this information from a zine a friend of mine published a while back.