Cover Band Song List - Need Input

[RyanHutchison9]

So my band has decided to start with covers so we can get some gigs under our belt while we write original material, I have written a list of songs that I think would work well in certain situations and then the 5th column allows us to pick and mix if needed. I assume we will just send the list of songs to the client and they will pick which ones they want to hear but I thought I would group them anyway. If anyone has any criticisms of my list then please feel free!

Set 1 - Pub


Journey - Don’t Stop Believing

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama

Guns N’ Roses - Sweet Child O’ Mine

Bon Jovi - Livin’ On A Prayer

Rick Springfield - Jessie’s Girl

Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl

Bryan Adams - Summer of 69

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - American Girl

AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long

Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train

Metallica - Enter Sandman

Animals - House of the Rising Sun



Set 2 - Weddings


Wild Cherry - Play That Funky Music

Sweet - Ballroom Blitz

The Romantics - What I Like About You

Status Quo - Rockin All Over The World

Train - Drops Of Jupiter

Bill Withers - Just The Two Of Us

The Beatles - Eight Days A Week

The Monkees - I’m A Believer

Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You

Grand Funk Railroad - Some Kind Of Wonderful

Oasis - Wonderwall

Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love


Set 3 - Party (List 1)


Radiohead - Creep

Stereophonics - Dakota

Foo Fighters - Everlong

Blink 182 - What’s My Age Again

Fuel - Shimmer

Offspring - Self Esteem

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

Sum 41 - Fatlip

Green Day - Basket Song

The Killers - Mr Brightside

Foutains Of Wayne - Stacy’s Mom

Lustra - Scotty Doesn’t Know


Set 4 - Party (List 2)


Semisonic -Closing Time

Weezer - Say It Ain’t So

White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out

Jimmy Eat World - The Middle

Smash Mouth - All Star

Hot Action Cop - Fever For The Flava

Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag

Good Charlotte - Lifestyles Of The Rich and Famous

Blur - Song 2

Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl

Counting Crows - Mr. Jones



Set 5 - Mixed


Cameo - Word Up

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Snow (Hey Oh)

Tonic - If You Could Only See

Billy Idol - White Wedding

Michael Jackson - Thriller

Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son

Alice In Chains - Rooster

Van Halen - Hot For Teacher

Kiss - Rock And Roll All Night

Gorrilaz - Feel Good Inc

Kings of Leon - Use Somebody

 

[StayLow]

You are *very* good at this. No fear of the hits that people actually know and can sing along and dance to. Kudos. If your band is on board, can pull it off, and in the process learns comparable song craft then you're far ahead of most that wade into the covers arena.

The only clients likely to choose songs would be event directors and wedding clients. To them you can also offer to make special requests not on your lists, if there's enough time to learn 'em and you're open to the idea. Might help get you the gig.

Pubs, casinos, etc. and such won't likely make requests (other than perhaps "no Brown Eyed Girl") however they will book you on whether you offer a list that they feel will please the crowd that frequents their establishment. Sometimes they look for newer stuff, and the bookers tend to be mid-20's to mid-30's so consider a few hits that were top-10 more recently.

Good luck!

 

[RyanHutchison9]

You are *very* good at this. No fear of the hits that people actually know and can sing along to. Kudos. If your band is on board, can pull it off, and in the process learns comparable song craft then you're far ahead of most that wade into the covers arena.

The only clients likely to choose songs would be event directors and wedding clients. To them you can offer to make requests, if there's enough time to learn 'em and you're open to the idea. Might help get you the gig. Pubs, casinos, etc. and such won't likely make requests (other than perhaps "no Brown Eyed Girl") however they will book you on whether you offer a list that they feel will please the crowd that frequents their establishment. Sometimes they look for newer stuff, and the bookers tend to me mid-20's to mid-30's so consider a few hits that were top-10 more recently.

Good luck!

Really appreciate the feedback, I'm looking forward to showing the rest of the band tommorow!

 

[StayLow]

You're welcome. Stuff that I've gigged that's gone over very well to disparate party/event crowds, that I think would fit in with your vibe:

Outkast - Hey Yeah (extend the Polaroid picture part and make the ladies shake it)
Oasis - Wonderwall
Coldplay - Yellow
Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
Sublime - What I Got (good to jam out on, get the crowd in on the "what I got" and ad-lib things they got)
Jack Johnson - Flake (add some other acoustic guitar songs for a mellower dinner set at weddings or when pubs are converting from dinner to dance?, including some on this list, but this one can be done on electric guitar too)
Bedouin Soundclash - When The Night Feels My Song
Stones - Sympathy For The Devil (jam out, get the crowd in on the "woo-wooo" and if guest(s) of honor have any clue about rhythm get them onstage and on some percussion)
Stevie Wonder
Marley & The Wailers

Some disco hits wouldn't hurt, especially for the weddings which tend to include an older crowd that wants to boogie down...

Chic - Good Times (jam out, crowd in on lots of "good times")
A Taste Of Honey - Boogie Oogie Oogie


If there's band friction on the song list, just look up the web pages of other bands that gig where you want to gig and crib from their lists. Some people will tell you to be different, or don't play the tired hits. There's something to that, but you shouldn't be looking to re-invent the wheel. If other bands do the same songs your challenge isn't to do songs that are less popular, it's to do the songs that "work" while looking and performing better than the other bands.

In general, to get up & running and have some success to build on, go for songs that are 1. easy to play but effective, 2. simple arrangements (see #1), and 3. can be extended and if your band isn't capable of jamming without being boring or just backing long guitar solos then learn how to jam because you keep a dance floor going better with the songs that packed the floor than by pausing, tuning, talking, and ... hey where'd everyone go?! You can also more quickly build set lengths this way so if a party gig comes soon since it's summer, maybe you only know 15 tunes but you can go for a couple hours , which brings us to ... 4. Medleys.

And do not come up short on everyone dressing better than the audience, cohesively as a band, and arriving early and prepared. You need to make good first impressions to get subsequent bookings, and if that's you doing the bookings you need goodwill to book your future projects.

More than you asked for, but worthwhile in case you or others reading this are first-time cover/gigging bands.

 

[RyanHutchison9]

You're welcome. Stuff that I've gigged that's gone over very well to disparate party/event crowds, that I think would fit in with your vibe:

Outkast - Hey Yeah
Oasis - Wonderwall
Coldplay - Yellow
Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
Sublime - What I Got (good to jam out on, get the crowd in on the "what I got" and ad-lib things they got)
Jack Johnson - Flake (add some other acoustic guitar songs for a mellower dinner set at weddings or when pubs are converting from dinner to dance?, including some on this list, but this one can be done on electric guitar too)
Bedouin Soundclash - When The Night Feels My Song
Stones - Sympathy For The Devil (jam out, get the crowd in on the "woo-wooo")
Stevie Wonder
Marley & The Wailers

Some disco hits wouldn't hurt, especially for the weddings which tend to include an older crowd that wants to boogie down...

Chic - Good Times (jam out, crowd in on lots of "good times")
A Taste Of Honey - Boogie Oogie Oogie


If there's band friction on the song list, just look up the web pages of other bands that gig where you want to gig and crib from their lists. Some people will tell you to be different, or don't play the tired hits. There's something to that, but you shouldn't be looking to re-invent the wheel. If other bands do the same songs your challenge isn't to do songs that are less popular, it's to do the songs that "work" while looking and performing better than the other bands.

In general, to get up & running and have some success to build on, go for songs that are 1. easy to play but effective, 2. simple arrangements (see #1), and 3. can be extended and if your band isn't capable of jamming without being boring or just backing long guitar solos then learn how to jam because you keep a dance floor going better with the songs that packed the floor than by pausing, tuning, talking, and ... hey where'd everyone go?! You can also more quickly build set lengths this way so if a party gig comes soon since it's summer, maybe you only know 15 tunes but you can go for a couple hours , which brings us to ... 4. Medleys.

And do not come up short on everyone dressing better than the audience, cohesively as a band, and arriving early and prepared. You need to make good first impressions to get subsequent bookings, and if that's you doing the bookings you need goodwill to book your future projects.

More than you asked for, but worthwhile in case you or others reading this are first-time cover/gigging bands.

Seriously awesome info, I had to head to work but I've just finished reading. Really appreciate the insight, we want to add our own style to the covers so it's fresh if possible but we'll have to see what happens. Anyway, I really apprecaite the assistance and I'm sure anyone else who stumbles onto the thread will feel the same way.

 

[buldog5151bass]

I have never had a venue make requests - they leave that to the band.

I try to find songs by popular bands that are a little less "played" but still known. Rather than Sweet Home (which everybody plays), pick Gimee Three Steps or What's Your Name. Or if you do it, put it in a medley with Werewolfs of London and the Kid Rock song that share the same changes.

In other words, try to do things that will separate you from others doing the same/similar material.

 

[BayStateBass]

I'm stealing set 4.

No, seriously, it looks pretty good.

You may want to consider these for your "party" sets;

My Own Worst Enemy- Lit
Flagpole Sitta- Harvey Danger
She Hates Me- Puddle Of Mud
Gold On The Ceiling- The Black Keys
Bad Girlfriend- Theory Of A Deadman

These are all super easy to play and get a great response when we do them.

 

[Brelic]

As odd as it sounds, one of the songs we played that had the best response was Twilight Zone - Golden Earring. I'm always watching the crowd to see how they're grooving to the songs. In pubs/bars, the heavier songs really don't do well. It's all fine that they're hits and everything, but who's going to like those? Guys. And then you end up with a sausage fest.

Play songs that bring in girls, because girls bring in guys, and together they bring revenue.

Back to Twilight Zone, what I noticed was that regardless of where it was in our set list, something about the groove got people up and dancing. And the middle break - which my bandmates wanted to CUT short because it was 'just instrumental stuff' - is a great place for patrons to lose themselves in the groove when they're up and dancing. Everyone's different, I guess, but when I play, I want people off their asses, up and grooving to the music. If they're just going to sit down and listen, I may as well play stuff I really want to play like Rush and Dream Theater.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Not that I am biased or anything, but songs with a simple but pulsing bassline like that usually get people up on the floor. Radar Love, White Wedding, Some Kind of Wonderful (ugg - also played, but it works).

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

There's nothing wrong with those set lists.

How much of that material do you all need to learn before you start gigging it? Just curious. When I joined my current band I had three weeks to learn 50 songs because they had gigs on the books and we are still gigging fairly regularly (approx. 3 - 12 dates a month). The rest of the band knew all the tunes already, had the vocals, etc, so I just had to play the bass part.

I like the Jeff Healey band's cover of "Stuck In The Middle With You". That's the version we do. It's rocks.

Good luck to you. Break a leg!

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[awilkie84]

I wish MY cover band would choose more songs like this. Our acoustic player is constantly bringing in crap nobody's heard of, our electric player's obsessed with country, our singer throws crappy pop at us, and our drummer is all over the place trying to find crowd-pleasers.

 

[hrodbert696]

Pretty reliable standards there. A "client" is only going to pick songs off a list if it's a private party or wedding. Maybe some bar managers do so, but I've never seen it (admittedly, I haven't played in THAT many different venues).

The thing you should be thinking of is watching the crowd's makeup. Be conscious of the dates of your songs, lean on the older tunes for older crowds and more recent tunes for younger crowd. None of your tunes are all that new, but Sweet Home Alabama and Mr. Brightside are for different demographics.

 

[RyanHutchison9]

As odd as it sounds, one of the songs we played that had the best response was Twilight Zone - Golden Earring. I'm always watching the crowd to see how they're grooving to the songs. In pubs/bars, the heavier songs really don't do well. It's all fine that they're hits and everything, but who's going to like those? Guys. And then you end up with a sausage fest.

Play songs that bring in girls, because girls bring in guys, and together they bring revenue.

Back to Twilight Zone, what I noticed was that regardless of where it was in our set list, something about the groove got people up and dancing. And the middle break - which my bandmates wanted to CUT short because it was 'just instrumental stuff' - is a great place for patrons to lose themselves in the groove when they're up and dancing. Everyone's different, I guess, but when I play, I want people off their asses, up and grooving to the music. If they're just going to sit down and listen, I may as well play stuff I really want to play like Rush and Dream Theater.

Awesome advice, I might add some suggestions this morning before I head off to band practice.

 

[RyanHutchison9]

Hi,

There's nothing wrong with those set lists.

How much of that material do you all need to learn before you start gigging it? Just curious. When I joined my current band I had three weeks to learn 50 songs because they had gigs on the books and we are still gigging fairly regularly (approx. 3 - 12 dates a month). The rest of the band knew all the tunes already, had the vocals, etc, so I just had to play the bass part.

I like the Jeff Healey band's cover of "Stuck In The Middle With You". That's the version we do. It's rocks.

Good luck to you. Break a leg!

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

We don't have anything booked at this point so we can take our time, the idea was to have all the songs nailed as a group within a few months and then just gig them hard.

 

[RyanHutchison9]

Pretty reliable standards there. A "client" is only going to pick songs off a list if it's a private party or wedding. Maybe some bar managers do so, but I've never seen it (admittedly, I haven't played in THAT many different venues).

The thing you should be thinking of is watching the crowd's makeup. Be conscious of the dates of your songs, lean on the older tunes for older crowds and more recent tunes for younger crowd. None of your tunes are all that new, but Sweet Home Alabama and Mr. Brightside are for different demographics.

Yeah the reason I broke up the sets was to try and make them work for different age groups, thanks for the advice!

 

[KingKrabb]

I think this is a pretty reliable set list, man.

I've actually played a few of these on a previous band, and they go over VERY well. The only one I'd be "meh" about would be Good Charlotte, but that's mainly because I don't like the band. But if it works for you, hit it!

If you can pull it off, one thing I've found that always goes down great is rock-ified covers of current pop songs. Whether it's for the cheesy value, or just for the hell of it. (I remember we used to do a sped-up version of "Larger Than Life" by Backstreet Boys, haha.)

 

[RyanHutchison9]

I think this is a pretty reliable set list, man.

I've actually played a few of these on a previous band, and they go over VERY well. The only one I'd be "meh" about would be Good Charlotte, but that's mainly because I don't like the band. But if it works for you, hit it!

If you can pull it off, one thing I've found that always goes down great is rock-ified covers of current pop songs. Whether it's for the cheesy value, or just for the hell of it. (I remember we used to do a sped-up version of "Larger Than Life" by Backstreet Boys, haha.)

I just thought it was a well known song, not a big fan of them myself. Yeah our guitarist saw a cover of a Rhianna song he wants to do.

 

[PortlandBass77]

lol you need to move away from the hits. Almost all of these songs have already been butchered to the core. If I would you I would keep some of the hits but diversify more to music that people don't hear constantly and get annoyed with when it is played over and over again on the radio. That is at least what I look for in a cover band.

 

[RyanHutchison9]

lol you need to move away from the hits. Almost all of these songs have already been butchered to the core. If I would you I would keep some of the hits but diversify more to music that people don't hear constantly and get annoyed with when it is played over and over again on the radio. That is at least what I look for in a cover band.

I feel the same way but unfortunately it's the hits that get the people dancing most of the time as my drummer loves to keep reminding me

 

[BayStateBass]

Most musicians hate doing common, well known songs that "everyone does". I've found most bar patrons want to hear the hits, all the hits, and nothing but the hits. Songs they know and can sing along to, or immediately recognize.

YMMV.