Question for cover bands

[millsbass5]

I'm in a consistently-gigging cover band that's been together closing in on 20 years. With the same members, too! And, over the years we've accumulated, at the very least, 300 songs that are in constant rotation. Which, buy the way, is one of the main things to do if you wanna keep together and make lots(!) of steady money. Besides, variety is a must if you wanna stay booked. If someone books us for a show, chances are we're gonna know that song you wanna hear, and it'll get played CORRECTLY, too. We just don't fumble through songs. That's a big, big no-no.

My question is, if you were to go through your set-list, what band's songs do you cover most?

[ga_edwards]

Easy answer from me. Queen.

Over the years we've possibly accumulated that many songs too, but an important thing to do IMO is to go through your song list every now and then and purge the dead wood. There's songs that worked way back in the day, that don't any more.

Constant rotation is a good idea, but IME I think that applies more to practice and rehearsal than gigging so that every song is gig ready should you need to pull it out of the bag on request. You shouldn't throw a few songs into a set list just because you haven't played them for a while. Every set list should be tailored to the event, like a good CV should be tailored to the job application.

[duff beer]

We know at least 10 songs by Blue Rodeo (very popular in Canada)...we've considered doing an entire set by them if the right situation arises.

[smogg]

With my classic rock band the core group(s) are The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith.
With the southern rock/new country band the core group(s) Blackfoot, Molly Hatchet, Skynyrd.

[hrodbert696]

We don't have nearly as extensive of a list, still getting started, done a handful of gigs. Our band has a female lead but everyone except the drummer also sings a few songs each night. The most-represented acts on our list are Melissa Etheridge, Journey, Pat Benatar, and the Police. I was actually about to post a thread to ask for feedback on ours, so anyone who posts here, I'd love to hear your comments over there.

[SteveHeissner]

WOW, all I can say is 20 years and 300+ songs is impressive. You guys are the Rolling Stones of cover bands. Rock on!

Stuff we do - Stones, Beatles, Aerosmith, Skynyrd, Poison, Motley Crue, KISS, AC/DC, Billy Idol, Black Crowes, Def Leppard, Foghat, Faster Pussycat, Guns-n-Roses, LA Guns, Judas Priest, Foreigner, Great White, Cinderella...

[Howlin' Hanson]

Beatles. Beach Boys.

[DWBass]

There are several top40 variety cover bands in my area who have been together at least 35-40 years! I can't really narrow down a particular artist that gets covered most but disco, motown and beach music (VA/NC thing) is tops on the playlist. Also horn band stuff (Chicago, EW&F) get played a lot also.

[millsbass5]

First off, as you can tell, the band I'm in consist of "middle-aged" guys. And, the vast majority of our gigs are the "upper-tier" type of clubs. Meaning clubs that have a dress code. You know the scene, all the "country club-types" that have good paying jobs (lawyers, doctors, etc.), and spend money like it's water. So therefor, they wanna hear the stuff they listened to once upon a time, and we're the guys that'll do it.
And, as of late, we've been playing a whole slew of LOVERBOY songs. And no, I'm not refering to their sappy ballads, I'm talkin' about their early stuff (They were actually a damn good band). It's pretty cool when you see the mild-mannered, prim & proper buttoned-up doctors or lawyers playin' air guitar to what your're playing. And, for some reason, these people seem to be "conditioned" to hand out tips like they're goin' outta style! Umm, no complaints here!

[bassgod0dmw]

I think we have more Tom Petty songs in our rotation than any other band.

[Phalex]

Guns and Roses, or maybe AC/DC

[millsbass5]

Originally Posted by SteveHeissner

WOW, all I can say is 20 years and 300+ songs is impressive. You guys are the Rolling Stones of cover bands. Rock on!

Stuff we do - Stones, Beatles, Aerosmith, Skynyrd, Poison, Motley Crue, KISS, AC/DC, Billy Idol, Black Crowes, Def Leppard, Foghat, Faster Pussycat, Guns-n-Roses, LA Guns, Judas Priest, Foreigner, Great White, Cinderella...

Yeah, it's actually pretty damn cool. We're in the position that if a booking turns out to be a rock gig, we got it covered. But, if they want an all country show? Consider it done. Hard rock? Done. Dance music? Done. I hate it when a band plays a certain genre of music and it sounds "forced". There's nothing worse than a "country band trying to play hard rock", or vice versa. You gotta be versatile and convincing, to make good money from it.
And, it's actually a big benefit, residing in a "rural-type" of state. All these multi-million dollar coal companies are just lookin' for any excuse to throw a private party, any time they can. And, most of the time we'll get the booking (with our hands out ) due to friends, family, and even band members in the coal industry.

[Stewie26]

The cover band I am in now:
Stones, Tom Petty, Doors, the Allman Brothers, etc. Most of the songs we do are dance songs.

[tmdazed]

of the covers we play , it would be Metallica , and strangely enough , the ones that get the most butts on the dance floor. Never used to be a chick thing , but they love the 'tallica. Judas Priest would be a close second, also another bunch to get the girls up for some odd reason , maybe its because we tend to throw more energy at the harder edge songs, but it could be they are so old almost everyone recognizes them. The general population loves them some familiar tunes

[seanm]

Mellencamp and Stones are tied at number one. Tom Petty rounds out the top three.

[BayStateBass]

Well, we don't have quite as many songs as you do. Our list tops out at 120. However, we seem to lean toward doing a lot of Dwight Yoakam songs, whether they're his or covers of others. We primarily play to the Country crowd. Fast As You, Little Sister (an Elvis Presley Tune), Guitars And Cadillacs, etc.. I think we do more of his stuff than any other.

In our act we cover other artists multiple times. Whether it's Sawyer Brown or Merle Haggard, you'll find multiple tunes from certain artists in our bank of songs.

We try to keep it interesting, though.

[HailCorduroy]

Been together a little over a year and have 54 songs on the list currently. We have a 7 way tie with bands that we do 2 of their songs: Van Halen, Stone Temple Pilots, Brooks & Dunn, Judas Priest, John Mellencamp, Rolling Stones, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

[JimB52]

We do more original songs than those of any other band. SRV or the Kings of Leon are the bands we cover most, but the Black Keys are moving up. .