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Cover band set-list conflicts.
- Thread starter TjMetalhead
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- cover band
Yep, well the guy responded basically with some of the stuff you guys were saying. Said I had no place to negotiate the set, and with my attitude I wouldn't make it LA (which is where he's from), and mocked me some more. That's fine I don't like LA anyways. I'm not looking for a career in "professional" cover band, I'm going to school to become a dental hygienist for crying out loud!! I have more fun with my original band anyways. Well this whole incident was exhausting, forget I even started this thread.
Sure seems like it. I told him not to contact me again and he emails me 10 mins later saying "damn I contacted you again even though I was sternly told not to". I think I dodged a major bullet here.
wow, yeah. The more of the interaction you share, the more it seems like this dude was maybe a little off.
Seriously. I've lived in Albuquerque for 6 years already and this scene is toxic. I'm hoping to have better luck when I can move out to the Oregon/Washington area in a few years. I've heard the metal scene is a lot more united out there.
Play the songs well. Earn respect. Gracefully make suggestions.
In that order.
In that order.
It's good that you talked through it. Sometimes you need to make sense of a situation. You also have to be true to yourself.
In the end you may never know if you did exactly the right thing. But you can't dwell on the past.
I am really not content if I am not in a gigging band. So the decision to leave a band or turn down a new one is always very difficult for me. But struggling to get a band that is doomed off the ground is a real downer. I will not sell my soul.
All one can do is try to make the best choices at the current moment. Then be prepared to learn from your mistakes.
Cover Band Fundamentals
1. It's not which songs you play but how well you play them
2. If you are discontent with most of the bands you're in, start your own
3. 90% of all audiences are not musicians and couldn't care less that you exclusively play eclectic B side cover songs
4. Most audiences will wait through your lesser known songs then dance to commonly known songs
5. Having fun on stage translates to the audience and is contagious
6. Bar patrons having fun buy more drinks, food, fill your tip jar and increase your percentage of the bar take
7. Bars hire bands with fans first
8. Cover band music is made to be played loud but too loud will send people to the door and on to the next bar no matter how good you are.
9. Unless you are specifically hired for a political event, religious meeting or a debate conference, never interject politics, religion or hot topics into a show unless your goal is to immediately piss off half your crowd, lose fans and never get rehired again
10. Cover bands provide a service, hence it's called the music "business", treat it as such and you will be successful
Which do you prefer?
1. It's not which songs you play but how well you play them
2. If you are discontent with most of the bands you're in, start your own
3. 90% of all audiences are not musicians and couldn't care less that you exclusively play eclectic B side cover songs
4. Most audiences will wait through your lesser known songs then dance to commonly known songs
5. Having fun on stage translates to the audience and is contagious
6. Bar patrons having fun buy more drinks, food, fill your tip jar and increase your percentage of the bar take
7. Bars hire bands with fans first
8. Cover band music is made to be played loud but too loud will send people to the door and on to the next bar no matter how good you are.
9. Unless you are specifically hired for a political event, religious meeting or a debate conference, never interject politics, religion or hot topics into a show unless your goal is to immediately piss off half your crowd, lose fans and never get rehired again
10. Cover bands provide a service, hence it's called the music "business", treat it as such and you will be successful
Which do you prefer?
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Gotta say I'm with Brad J on this one. If you started letting me know what's wrong with my picks before the audition even happened, there wouldn't be an audition.
This.
I think I made the right choice. It was best to end things before they even started, avoids potential drama and tension that could happen if I had decided to pursue it. It wasn't meant to be and I'll move on. I've left plenty of bands, I've been rejected from bands. These decisions are pretty easy for me, if something doesn't feel right I'll leave or speak up. I've had the experience of being in a toxic band with toxic people and I stayed a part of it for far too long at the time. I learned since then. Already with my original band we've had people leave and had to fire a couple of them. Luckily before too much drama happened. Drama seems to be common in the music making world.
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I was lucky to be in a few really functional bands. No drama and real pro's. Life happened and I am now working on a startup band again. It's difficult and slow going. But it's a labor of love with a huge payoff. That being the thrill of being on stage and hopefully connecting with your audience.
Not even remotely. A guy that starts complaining before he even auditions doesn’t come of as wanting “fun on the side”.
I didn't exactly complain. I just said hey I thought these songs would be better and I wasn't comfortable singing backings one some of the songs he wanted, I don't think I'm the right fit good luck. Pretty much the jist of it and then drama.
no conflicts for me ... i'll the BL 99% of the time ...
whether it's for $$ or not ... you shouldn't be defensive ... since You answer their Ad .. !!??
don't like those songs ... then move on to the next Ad ... i wouldn't waste my time sharing such info .. ?!
as Victor Wooten would say .. ' find the Good in everything ' .. !!
whether it's for $$ or not ... you shouldn't be defensive ... since You answer their Ad .. !!??
don't like those songs ... then move on to the next Ad ... i wouldn't waste my time sharing such info .. ?!
as Victor Wooten would say .. ' find the Good in everything ' .. !!
Damn right! All the past now, gonna focus on my band and my music. I'm gonna abandon this thread so later everyone.
For the right money, whatever the BL wants. I went broke leading a band that played music I liked. Now I play music with people I like, with money I like, and audiences I like, and I'm the one trying to get Dancing Queen on the setlist. Life never lets you down.
^^^This. I've seen too many cover bands, and been in a few that make the mistake of playing songs they like or trying to strike a balance between what they like and what the audience likes (sometimes it takes the form of playing deeper cuts from artists with songs the crowd actually would rather hear). Musicians pick songs like musicians and not like normal people, and it is a mistake. Never seen it workout.
It doesn't work. If you want to get booked, you gotta get people to come and see you play. They aren't going to come out because of your clever musical taste.
Picking a cover band setlist should be super simple. Its not about what you like, unless you don't care about playing out. I've fought this battle many times. Heck I'm doing it right now, to be honest, after a 12 year layoff from playing (that was caused by.....setlist battles, more or less)
Not going to lie, I'm with some of the other replies here. If someone responds to my ad and says "I want you to change your set list" they aren't getting an audition. If I get a list of songs I'm not really into, I will either A. try to "get into" them or B. pass.
Hmmm... if it was me running the audition my thoughts/reaction would be, “That’s a cheek. This one’s got attitude and will just be a pain down the line. I don’t care how good a player he is, he’s failed the audition already.”
Who would go to a job interview and start telling the recruiter how rubbish the company and his product were? Same result...
This thread is confusing. Some places you’ve stated that the songs he picked weren’t crowd movers, but elsewhere you’ve stated he just wanted people to jam with.
Well if he just wanted to jam then it doesn’t matter if they’re crowd movers because he didn’t pick the songs for them, the picked the songs for him.
And before you even joined the “band” or whatever you want to call it, you were complaining about the song list. It was his project/band, so his song list.
Well if he just wanted to jam then it doesn’t matter if they’re crowd movers because he didn’t pick the songs for them, the picked the songs for him.
And before you even joined the “band” or whatever you want to call it, you were complaining about the song list. It was his project/band, so his song list.
