Band Rehearsal Frustration Rant....

[jive1]

The version being played isn't the problem, basic communication and being responsible is. You can agree just as easily as a group to play a live version as a radio version of a song.

+1

There's lots of songs where the 'standard' version that bands cover is not the album version.

For songs like 'I Want You to Want Me', 'Freebird', 'Rock N Roll All Nite', etc. the live version is the one most covered as well as played on the radio. One band I worked with preferred working with live versions of songs because the arrangements were more realistic to pull off with a 3-5 piece band than what was on the recording which may have had numerous overdubs. Also, the album version of a song may fade out at the end. Hearing a live version may help you figure out a cool ending to a song.

For songs like 'Sweet Child of Mine', 'Starship Troopers', etc. the album version of the song is longer than the radio version. The radio version is usually cut shorter to accomodate shorter attention spans, and is probably the one that the casual listener is more familiar with.

As long as you can communicate to make sure that people are on the same page, you can pick any version of a cover tune and pull it off.

 

[jive1]

I have been at this for well over two decades, and have played and/or attended literally thousands of shows. In my experience, an audience of any size prefers a medley BY FAR over an "extended jam" every time.

Crowds do love medleys, but if a good DJ knows how to extend a song, why can't a band?

Lots of popular tunes have a radio version, and an extended dance version. (Remember 7" records?) For example, the extended dance version of Brick House is a few minutes longer than the radio version.

If the dance floor is packed, why abruptly end the groove they are digging? Twist and Shout is 2:36, and typically when I've done it, it's about 4:00. If we just kept to the original, the song would end while some people are just hitting the dance floor, and would be disappointed the song ended so quickly. We're not noodling around into realms of pscyhedelia, we're just repeating a verse/chorus and maybe adding a solo.

But one thing that does bother me is when a band is extending a song to kill time. It's a cop out for not having enough material prepared to do a show.

 

[BayStateBass]

Crowds do love medleys, but if a good DJ knows how to extend a song, why can't a band?

Lots of popular tunes have a radio version, and an extended dance version. (Remember 7" records?) For example, the extended dance version of Brick House is a few minutes longer than the radio version.

If the dance floor is packed, why abruptly end the groove they are digging? Twist and Shout is 2:36, and typically when I've done it, it's about 4:00. If we just kept to the original, the song would end while some people are just hitting the dance floor, and would be disappointed the song ended so quickly. We're not noodling around into realms of pscyhedelia, we're just repeating a verse/chorus and maybe adding a solo.

But one thing that does bother me is when a band is extending a song to kill time. It's a cop out for not having enough material prepared to do a show.

I would say about 95% of our songs are the radio version, or the most recognized version/artist of that particular song. We do have some exceptions that come to mind, though;

Gimme Three Steps.....Live version (people like that long drum intro it seems)

Mustang Sally (Yes, Mustang Sally), we do The Commitments version because of the ending....and we drag it out because that's the song we use to introduce the band.

Hicktown- Jason Aldean- our guitarist really wanted to include his own solo that he wrote in the song, so we made some adjustments, although he wrote it in such a way that it does not alter any of the structure from the original recording.

Six Days On The Road....we do the Steve Earle cover.

Friends In Low Places- we include the "mysterious" third verse that isn't on the radio....but fans know it.

The key with making this all work is that we communicated these ideas prior to ever playing the song for the first time, with the exception of Hicktown which just kinda evolved.

IMO, it's not a terrible idea to have the ability to drag a song out a little, there are times it works out and keeps people up dancing or singing along. But that should be about the only reason you keep it going.

If I wanted to noodle incessantly in some sort of semi-conscious haze, I'd be playing In A Gadda Da Vida. Free to carry that one as long as you can.

 

[electracoyote]

Good point about live versions. After we learn the most popular version, if it happens to be studio, we then start looking at live versions for good intro/outro ideas. Often, we come up with our own embellishments that are as good or better. And it's nice to be able to configure creative medleys and segues.

So a little flexibility doesn't hurt if it's done tastefully, but your audience probably still wants to hear the meat of the song "like the record." As a musician and a DJ, I've had people level some pretty ugly criticisms if I/we played it just a little too loose.

Why do you think McDonald's is so popular? Same thing, same way, every time. The general population average music lover wants their music delivered pretty much the same way, every time.

 

[BayStateBass]

Good point about live versions. After we learn the most popular version, if it happens to be studio, we then start looking at live versions for good intro/outro ideas. Often, we come up with our own embellishments that are as good or better. And it's nice to be able to configure creative medleys and segues.

So a little flexibility doesn't hurt if it's done tastefully, but your audience probably still wants to hear the meat of the song "like the record." As a musician and a DJ, I've had people level some pretty ugly criticisms if I/we played it just a little too loose.

Why do you think McDonald's is so popular? Same thing, same way, every time. The general population average music lover wants their music delivered pretty much the same way, every time.

Home run.

In lots of cases we might refer to a live version for the ending, because, let's face it........not too many live bands can fade out and do it successfully....ha ha.