QUOTE (Licentia Per Oris @ Aug 31 2012, 02:58 PM)

why play covers?
When you can play your own stuff :-)
First off, any songs their band would have written would have had two guitar parts, they aren't going to write a new set in five minutes. Besides, have you ever performed? Its shitscary. Playing music that is already successful is one less pressure.
Covers are also a solid aspect of any performance, and are often used either to warm up an audience or as an interesting finale, even by professionals. It links your act with another (in this case more) popular artist; 'you like these, well we also play this type of music'.
And frankly, when people listen to music they
want to hear something they know already. Even people who like to listen to new music its only to find things they like so they can listen again in the future. You can't sing if you don't know the words, and its generally not a good idea to dance if you can't follow the rhythm