Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

Ok Since i think my first topic got deleted, i want to do better on this one, so anybody have a setlist of bands that worked in various gigs?

I think you have to define what sort of gig you are going to do.

Bar Band rock or country
Dance Band
Wedding Band
Casino Band

Different types of gigs call for different types of songs.

Do you want to make money or are you just out for fun?

There was a book floating around called Cover Band that covers this stuff, you will get so many answers on here that just contridict each other because of where people want to play.

Good Luck with whatever you want to do. My suggestion would be instead of getting on this board, go to the venues you want to play in and see what the better bands are doing and then emulate their formula.

Sound advice, as always, JW.

My motto: If you know it, we don't play it. Well, that isn't exactly true. I wish it were, but you've got to play some recognizable tunes once in a while. We do Mustang Sally (yuk, but people love the song), I Feel Good (James Brown), Kansas City, Pride and Joy, Roadhouse Blues (Doors), and a few other more mainstream tunes, but the majority of what we play is pretty obscure and we always play 1-3 originals per set. Maybe I'm not the right person to ask what covers are best...

Once I get into a regular sort of gig I just ask the people that come what they want to hear, instead of trying to figure out what works and what I personally want to play. My monday night acoustic gig is turning into a great learning tool for me cause I ask what people want to hear and it suprises me sometimes, plus I put my own slant on things when Im playing by myself to keep myself amused and keep people entertained.

Theres probably no songlist that just works everywhere.

My biggest suggestion would be open your ears to what an audience you want to entertain wants to hear.

I mean most cover stuff is so simple that to me its just throw away music anyway. I print out the lyric and chord charts of songs I want to do and jsut do them. Someone wanted George Jones, He Stopped LOving Her Today, Ive heard it a few times and I just took the lyrics and chords and put a blues jazz slant on it. The people were freaking out about the way I did it and loved it. I also pulled Delta Dawn out of the hat the other night, just for the hell of it. You should see folks when a guy like me starts playing a womans song like that. Ive also added Cheryl Crows All I Wanna Do to me set list, so theres not telling where I will go. Ive evne thought of some Frank Sinatra.

For chords and lyrics go to chordie.com You can even transpose keys with this site, most of the songs have the lyrics, chords and the chord diagrahms to the side so you can check yourself. Its a great site for that stuff, Ive got close to 250 songs in my song book, from familiar to strange, so theres not telling what I will play at these gigs. That keeps it fresh for me, taking these sheets of a song that im not that familiar with and just winging it, most of the time I come out pretty good, but occasionally I fall on my face, and at those times I crack up at myself and laugh about it so much that folks jsut laugh with me cause they know Im trying to give them what I want. Im thankful that I have a voice that can go from Joe Cocker to Chris Cornell at my advanced age. That gives me a lot of options. The funny thing is Ive never thought of myself as a true lead singer, but Im getting offers to sing in groups all of the sudden. Truelly Weird!

Keep Rocking and have a Great Day

jmeasy wrote:Ok Since i think my first topic got deleted, i want to do better on this one, so anybody have a setlist of bands that worked in various gigs?

MetallicA MetallicA MetallicA good list

Amen Bob, play what you want and F the crowd.

I always hear this crap about "play what the audience wants to hear".

Ah no, we'll play what we want and if they liked it, we'll be back. Else it's "Done, done, on to the next one".

You can't go wrong with jw123's advise. Sound and right!

Learn to spell ADVICE.

sh*t even I know how to spell check.

Capt. Scott wrote:Amen Bob, play what you want and F the crowd.

I always hear this crap about "play what the audience wants to hear".

Ah no, we'll play what we want and if they liked it, we'll be back. Else it's "Done, done, on to the next one".

... sound advice if you want to keep playing in the your basement.

I don't care if it's original or cover music ... if you play them enough times you'll get sick of them, especially badly written originals, and if the songs you pick suck and the audience thinks they suck .. you won't get many gigs. The audience is the one that's paying you ... I think F'ing the crowd is a great business model.

I'm not advocating that you play songs like Mustang Sally ... there's a lot of other well written, well known tunes out there that are not over played.

I play a lot of gigs in genre's that I don't care for, like country .. but hay ... in the end I was playing out, getting paid and it broadens my depth in music.

Ron

The covers you select should be songs the band can do well and reflect the style of the band's originals (if any). It doesn't hurt to throw in a few the audience will probably like.

Prevost82 wrote:
... sound advice if you want to keep playing in the your basement.

I don't care if it's original or cover music ... if you play them enough times you'll get sick of them, especially badly written originals, and if the songs you pick suck and the audience thinks they suck .. you won't get many gigs. The audience is the one that's paying you ... I think F'ing the crowd is a great business model.

I'm not advocating that you play songs like Mustang Sally ... there's a lot of other well written, well known tunes out there that are not over played.

I play a lot of gigs in genre's that I don't care for, like country .. but hay ... in the end I was playing out, getting paid and it broadens my depth in music.

Ron

Provost, I am quite sure you play an awful lot and all over the place but do you truly enjoy what you are playing>? FAQ COUNTRY, it smells like it sounds.

I mean, we don't have to play FREE BIRD/MUSTANG SALLY/OOH THAT SMELL or any other of the redundant, pathetic, hackneyed crowd favorites.

Yeah, we played places where they obviously didn't like it and having said that, we didn't return. BUT the places we do go that like the music, WE play again. And they appreciate us for being who we are, not who the crowd wants us to be at the moment.

I gotta laugh, we played at this little bar that had seen us 100x or so it seems. So the other night, some f**k comes over and says, "Hey Tommy 2 tone, can you cats play 867-5309"?

I asked over the PA if we play that tune and the crowd gave out with a resounding cheer of "NoooooooooOoOoOoOoooo"!

I nodded to my buddy at the door and lo and behold, 10 minutes later that drunk was out the door on his ass.

If you want to play the same old sh*t, go for it. Truth is I think they respect you if you refuse to play what you don't want to play.

Shows you have musical morals and are not a muso-whore. lol

I associate it with the age old argument about "Whether to play originals, covers or a mix of". Everyone does what they think is right. Don't sit there and preach from on high considering no one ever heard your name in so much of a belch, let alone directly.

When you are recognized, then you can be diplomatic with the crowd.
When you are just playing because you love to, you don't need to listen to the crowd at large. That goes double if you have already played there.

Capt. Scott wrote:If you want to play the same old sh*t, go for it. Truth is I think they respect you if you refuse to play what you don't want to play.

Shows you have musical morals and are not a muso-whore. lol

Amen.


There's an audience for every style of music. You just have to have the drive to find them. This idea that you have to play the same old tired crapola of songs is ludicrous. Maybe if you're lazy and all you want to do is play the bar down on the corner. But there's a wider world out there and there are people who are dying to hear something different. Your biggest obstacle is finding them.


I have been, and will always be, a proponent of playing what you love. Because if you love it, the passion will come through. You'll never get tired of what you're doing, you'll never get bored, and you'll always want to be at your best.

Provost, I am quite sure you play an awful lot and all over the place but do you truly enjoy what you are playing>? FAQ COUNTRY, it smells like it sounds.

Yea .. I'd say I generally like what I play. I play to the groove of the song and it's the groove, dynamics and interaction with the other players, that's what gets me smiling, it brings the song to life ... even with a one chord song.

Country isn't a genre that I fond of, but if the guys get a good groove going it's great.

I'm alway suprised at some of the cover songs that a regional or national artist will cover .. some of it is the over played stuff, but with a different edge to it or groove ... so yea it can be very fun.

That said we don't do requests .. unless they're part of the artists catalog.

I think my point is, that using a blanket statement like you did Capt. can limit you.

Your milage may vary ...

Ron