Dance Floor Packers/Dance Floor Clearers

[Hoffman6000]

Alright cover band aficionados, we all have had the misfortune of calling the wrong tune at the wrong time and clearing a dance floor that was buzzing with energy. We killed the energy somehow but didn't see it coming, even though the tune was performed well. In your experience, Which songs (any genre) are consistently dance floor clearers and which are the dance floor packers? These would be songs that you have DROPPED from your setlist even though they are popular songs, they just NEVER work. If you'd like, include an explanation of WHY you think they don't work? i.e. too old, wrong feel, wrong tempo, wrong placement within the set, etc...

The point is to help create better setlists and to avoid pitfalls.

[Stinsok]

Good subject. On a side note I know that originals (in most cases) send people running.

[Hoffman6000]

I'll Start

Packers: All the standard stuff....Sweet Home Alabama, Play That Funky Music, F*** You, Billionaire, Feel Like Makin' Love, etc... we all know which tunes I'm talking about... The surprise packer song? Stay by Sugarland

Clearers: 500 Miles (too Old?), Holla Back Girl (not the same w/o the huge drum sounds), Stuck in the Middle With You, Yellow (or any Coldplay), most Greenday and most 90's rock.

[Phalex]

Hairband stuff works surprisingly well. Poison, White Snake, Great White......


A lot of the old 60's stuff that used to work well 20 years ago we dropped because the kids just don't dig it.

[Hoffman6000]

Originally Posted by Stinsok

Good subject. On a side note I know that originals (in most cases) send people running.

We just discussed this in our meeting... How to keep peoples attention with originals while surrounded by great covers they know...Usually ends up in a mass crowd bathroom break.... Considering doing a 45 min cover set, followed by a 1 hour all Original set and finish up with the dance/party set....but don't know if that would work...unless you're KNOWN as that band and thats what the crowd expects and shows up at the various times accordingly....but that concept would take a year or so to build your audience into accepting that.

We decided that the best way is 2-3 Originals in a row, because the people that are engaged get their original fix because that's their thing, and the people who only like covers get a 12 minute drink/bathroom/conversational break.

[JohnMCA72]

Anything that you, as a musician, thinks is "good music" is probably more likely to send people to the bar for a drink, washrooms, & outside for a smoke.

[WardEarth]

Originally Posted by Stinsok

Good subject. On a side note I know that originals (in most cases) send people running.

Well that's a creativity killer.

[MikeBass]

Clearer????
Pretty much anything by Sting. Or Steely Dan
And I LOVE Sting/SD.

And sadly, I've pretty much always seen success with a band playing "Mustang Sally".....

[eyeballkid]

but unfortunately true..
Ive watched in amazement as some of our simpler tunes were the ones that people grooved to more than any of the really cool ones... ( and i dont play with any guitar wank heros.. just GOOD songs!)

[fish slapper]

Subscribed. This is a current discussion in our band too. We recently had the dance floor packed with "What I like About you" and promptly had them heading for their seats with "Lay Down Sally". It's definitely not an exact science. I suggested adding "Jenny, Jenny" to our set list as it was a consistent dance floor packer in my previous band but so far all we see in this band is audience reaction resembling an oil painting.

[fish slapper]

Originally Posted by MikeBass

Clearer????
Pretty much anything by Sting. Or Steely Dan
And I LOVE Sting/SD.

And sadly, I've pretty much always seen success with a band playing "Mustang Sally".....

+1 on both accounts with the Steely Dan material. We love it/ love to play it but clears the dance floor every time. Sigh.

[ksandvik]

A good energetic band could keep the floor dancing with Louie Louie. A bad band clears the stage with Let's Dance.

[JimK]

Back when I played in an '80s Pop/R&B cover band-
"What I Like About You"- The Romantics
...packed the floor.
So, I see fishslapper is also with me. 25+ years later & it still works, eh?

I used to shake my head over this, too...probably the 'least technical' thing we did. IIRC, we played it in the 1st set & the last set...and twice as long as the 3-minute Romantics' version.

[Richland123]

Originally Posted by Hoffman6000

Clearers: 500 Miles (too Old?),

That is the complete opposite for us with I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles). We started doing it about 6 months ago and everytime we play it no matter where or the age group, the dancefloor gets full and everybody in the place sings along. It has become a huge hit for my band.

Three songs that always seemed to clear the dancefloor even though we played them very well were The Safety Dance by Men Without Hats, Devil Inside by INXS, and Good by Better Than Ezra.

[Johnny Crab]

Clearer and running for the door:
G-L-O-R-I-A
Watched this in all it's gory(yeah, I meant gory) reality when the band did a birthday/re-union gig and the previous bassist was onstage when this got called. Folks left in droves.

Jenny Jenny works here as do older tunes(60's) BUT those get toes tapping and women dragging guys onto the dancefloor no matter where we play them UNLESS they're asleep.

Subscribed.

About originals: If some resemble your covers and/or sprinkled lightly throughout the night, OK. An entire set might empty the place even if it is great music. Save a lengthy run of originals for your "CD Release Party" when you give them away.

[Phalex]

Originally Posted by WardEarth

Well that's a creativity killer.

Not at all. It's a challenge.

[fdeck]

The song that always clears the dance floor is called "dead air."

[Hoffman6000]

Cool! Lets keep it going. After 20 yrs experience, I understand that anything technical, musical, or interesting to musicians is not widely accepted by the standard bar audience. I find that working transitions out of one song into the next for about 6-7 songs will keep them dancing. We have had great success with this linup:

Save a Horse
Dixieland Delight or Fishing in the Dark
Fat Bottom Girls
What I got
I Love Rock And Roll
Hard to Handle
There are NO breaks between songs.
and then we CLEAR it with Funk #49 and an extended pointless drum solo over Chameleon bass line/more drum solo/end of Black Magic Woman/back to Funk #49....and I mean CLEAR IT LIKE AN ETCH-A-SKETCH! Gives everyone a small break, get a drink, catch a breath...

This makes way for Angel Eyes (packs the floor) and At Last (keeps 'em ALL out there)

Then we immediately hammer it home with danceable singalongs:
September
Celebration
Kiss (prince)
Don't Stop Believing
(again, No breaks between songs All songs are dance floor PACKERS)

This set has served us extremely well as a middle set slot. It makes our other sets look timid by comparison, but that middle set time (11-12 pm) is the sweet spot where everyone has been sitting on the sidelines listening/watching/drinking and are now ready to conquer their fears and loosen up. Originals seem to work well in the middle of the 1st or 2nd set (2 orig. in a row).

Last set of the night we rock it out with the hair metal/blues/rock

Still of the Night (open up with it, and the reaction is W T F?)
My Own Worst Enemy (dancefloor Clearer/Packer...hit or miss)
Pride and Joy (meh...use it as a filler with solos on slow nights)
Smokin' in the Boys Room (dancefloor Clearer/Packer...hit or miss)
Alright Now (packer everytime)
Listen to the Music (hit or miss)
Life in the Fastlane (packer, everytime)
Crazy Bitch (Packer)
Livin on a Prayer (Packer)
Pour Some Sugar on Me (Packer)
Summer of 69 (Packer)
Lights (singalong, letdown to let everyone know the bar is closing)
Hot for Teacher (Impressive closer when played well)

OK, my point of this thread and my posing question is this....all of these songs are old...what NEW songs pack the dancefloor??? Our sets work well, and I know that if it ain't broke don't fix it, but we're getting bored and don't want to fall on our faces picking new music....we're also getting older, and less hip to the new danceable stuff. We have a great spring break gig in a major Spring Break destination coming up, and need to be a little more current. We're capable of anything, including rap, and have tracks/loops capability if we need it.... So what's current and has worked lately for you?

Sorry about the lengthy post, hope it helps someone....

[Phalex]

Originally Posted by Hoffman6000

OK, my point of this thread and my posing question is this....all of these songs are old...what NEW songs pack the dancefloor??? Our sets work well, and I know that if it ain't broke don't fix it, but we're getting bored and don't want to fall on our faces picking new music....we're also getting older, and less hip to the new danceable stuff. We have a great spring break gig in a major Spring Break destination coming up, and need to be a little more current. We're capable of anything, including rap, and have tracks/loops capability if we need it.... So what's current and has worked lately for you?

New(er) winners:

Are You Gonna Be My Girl

Bad Girlfriend

Crazy Biotch

Faith (Yeah, it's not exactly new, and we pretty much do the George Michael version, but it's humorous as hell to make the singer sing it, and it goes over VERY big)

Life Is Beautiful (It took a while, but this one has caught on)

Man In The Box

Paralyzer

Save Me

Second Chance

Sex On Fire

So Hott

PornStar Dancing

[kringle77]

Here are two pointers.

1)while you're playing, does it make you want to move or do alittle dance. If it does, the chicks will dance, the dudes will come out to get with the chicks, drinks are consumed, and you are instantly the best band around. Remember, when you are in a cover band, you are there to make the buisness money first and foremost. If you don't think that is true, then you probably are one of those bands playing to 3 old runk chicks and 10 creapy dudes that are standing way too close.

2)Just because you play covers, doesn't mean that you have to play he same tunes as the other 10 bands in your town. The last band I was in was very popular because we went out on a limb and took chances with tunes that the others guys didn't. When the tunes took off, the bands that always complain about everybody playing the same stuff were the first ones to copy what we we're doing. Im talking even using the same samples that we used. My new band is almost ready to go and we purposely worked up a set with about 90% stuff that nobody else is playing. I gaurantee that 3 months after we start, 3/4 of our set will be copied and once again, everyone else will "sound the same". Thats not really true because, most of the bands end up sounding like hacks anyway, but I think you get the point.