Yeah, with a person known for their original songs I prefer if they are doing a cover they just do it in a way that makes it their own. In a cover band that is playing the songs because they are doing an entire show to replicate what the real band did, then I expect them to try to get close to the sound of the real band. Within reason and sometimes changing the song to make it fall in more with your voice or skill set is better than stretching to get to try to get close to the actual band's sound.
When I see a cover band I really like to be at the back of the room or as far from the band as possible. I think being further away in this case enhances the experience, plus the sound at the back of the room is usually better.
Not being able to see them well can help give the impression you have time traveled back to seeing the original band.
In the 1980s, there were two big cover bands I recall going to see and people really thought they were great. They both looked and sounded like the original bands. One was a Rolling Stones cover band called The Blushing Brides and the other was a Led Zeppelin cover band called Physical Graffiti. I was amazed to learn that both of them still exist and are still doing shows. Not only that but the Zeppelin cover band is still the four original members, meaning they have been playing the songs of Zeppelin as a unit longer than Zeppelin did.
Here's a video of them from back in the early 1990s:
I think the key is the singer, Doug Putnam, has a voice that gets into the Robert Plant wail range better than I think, anybody else I have seen attempt it.
When I saw these guys in the 1980s and 1990s, standing at the back of the room, it was, I thought, as close to seeing Zeppelin as you could get. They actually still sound great but don't bother anymore to try to look like Zep and they only play around Connecticut where they are from now.
The Blushing Brides still put on a high energy Stones show and the singer, Maurice, has pretty well mastered his own version of Mick.
They are Canadian, eh.
