Cover bands: How much time do you spend rehearsing?

[EarnestTBass]

I am envious of you guys who have the skills to play tunes live and unrehearsed.
I have to first work on my own, then rehearse with the rest of the band. We certainly avoid train wrecks by playing a new tune at least once or twice in advance of gig.
I assume no one ever cares how much we rehearse..... But they will always know if we rehearsed enough.

 

[Liam Wald]

And I don't care how prepared everyone is, you aren't going to play a night of material with one or two rehearsals and not have people looking at each other for some beginnings, endings or cues.

There are bands that I have played literally hundreds of gigs with and we are super tight. We STILL look around at each other for cues. That is a big part of being tight. It is called communication. That is what gives a band the ability to vamp, extend and ad-lib. I hate it when I am playing with someone who doesn't make eye contact and stay in touch with everyone. Those tend to be the players who either hold things back or go flying out into left field somewhere.

 

[s0c9]

Those tend to be the players who either hold things back or go flying out into left field somewhere.

or screw up because they thought we were going round one more time, and didn't bother to look at the rest of the band for cues

 

[lfmn16]

You hurt my feelings again by calling BS, so I have to come back with telling you that you can call all the BS you like, it won't change reality. Maybe you're very schooled, yet don't have the live experience necessary to do this? I don't know? Why do you think you have to know every single thing everyone is going to do in order to play tightly? If you work like that, I sure hope nobody ever effs up during one of your gigs.

As for the last part of your post above, what exactly is wrong with looking at other musicians for beginnings, endings, and cues? If you do it like a deer in the headlights, yeah, that could be a problem, but I consider communicating with others on stage a good, not bad thing. They're who I'm playing with.

I agree that there's more than one approach to this, but that's not all you're trying to say - as you state. You're saying it can't be done any other way than the way you do it. If you look closely, I never said anything like that. Sorry if this post hurts your feelings - but you promised you wouldn't hurt mine anymore . You lied. I'm very sensitive, ya know.

I'm not taking all of your posts as directed at me, I'm not sure why you think all my comments are directed at you?

I've been playing for over 40 years in a lot of different situations - rock, what used to be known as top40/disco, blues, soul, and jazz in everything from power trios to wedding bands. I was playing full time from early '76 through the early '80's and part time ever since so yea I've got some experience and I'm pretty sure I was playing live long before you were born.

You are reading things into my posts that aren't there. I'm not saying anything is wrong with what you are doing and I'm not saying that you don't sound good. I'm talking about getting to the level where you know what the other members of the band are going to do intuitively. That's what I want to do and I specifically said that every situation doesn't call for this rigorous an approach. If you think you can get to that level in a rehearsal or two, more power to you. On the other hand, if you think that you are tighter at the end of the tour than the beginning, then we are probably closer to agreement than either of us realizes.

The essence of what I'm saying is that to get really tight, to the point that you know what the other people in the group are going to play, you have to play together a lot as a group either rehearsals or live. You can argue that reality all you want.

 

[lfmn16]

There are bands that I have played literally hundreds of gigs with and we are super tight. We STILL look around at each other for cues. That is a big part of being tight. It is called communication. That is what gives a band the ability to vamp, extend and ad-lib. I hate it when I am playing with someone who doesn't make eye contact and stay in touch with everyone. Those tend to be the players who either hold things back or go flying out into left field somewhere.

I never said that you should NEVER look at each other. The point is that the longer you play together, the more you know what the other person is going to do and the less you have to look at each other. If a group of musicians have never played together they are going to be looking at each other significantly more than people that have played hundreds of jobs together.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Ok, I'll quit it. Just seemed to me that you were calling bs on things I said. And fwiw, my first gig w a band was in 1976. Played cbgb first time in 78.

 

[RustyAxe]

It's plain to me that there are players of varying levels of experience and competence, and bands of varying fidelity to the original recordings replying in the forum. We play classic country, that means that almost every song we do has been covered by various artists over the years. There is NO definitive version of many of our songs. There's nothing wrong with rehearsing ... I certainly do in some projects, especially when called on for a one-off performance ... but even then, only one rehearsal is necessary if the right players are involved. There are some fine players in the area who have called me to sit-in or sub for this gig or that gig ... I like their stuff, and like them personally, but I refused the gig because I know they like to rehearse things to death, and they ain't payin' me to drive an hour each way to rehearse. They never fail to find someone to take the gig, though.

In a nutshell, it ain't "one size fits all".

 

[lfmn16]

And fwiw, my first gig w a band was in 1976.

Nothing worst than two old guys duking it out. We're probably more in agreement than either of us know. A lot of the nuance of a position can be lost on the internet.

I've got to go get some oxygen!

 

[gregbackstrom]

Ah, you're all kids! I started seriously gigging in 1967 (with my junior-high rock band)!

 

[brianrost]

I spent over 7 years in a bar band that primarily did covers. We had a Sunday night residency in one bar the whole time and only played maybe 3 or 4 gigs a year anywhere else.

Three of us, the drummer, guitarist and myself on bass rehearsed every Monday night at the guitarist's house. The band also had two saxophones (rotating through a pool of a half dozen players) who had to wing it on the gig.

The upside of all that rehearsal was the repertoire...we ended up with a book of over 400 songs! We slowed down on adding new songs towards the end, but on average we probably added 2 or 3 new songs very week (some required a couple of weeks to get all the kinks sorted out). Unless the first run throughs were hopeless, whatever we learned on Monday would be in the the set the following Sunday.

 

[s0c9]

Ah, you're all kids! I started seriously gigging in 1967 (with my junior-high rock band)!

That made me feel so much better.. LOL

 

[lfmn16]

Ah, you're all kids! I started seriously gigging in 1967 (with my junior-high rock band)!

For kids today that's when dinosaurs roamed the earth!

 

[spanndrew]

I'm in a band new band who had three gigs booked before we even had a solid line up. We are practicing three times a week to get some basic tunes down before our gig that is about two weeks out, then dropping down to once a week after then. But our idea is to only play covers through these first few then start writing.

 

[gregbackstrom]

That was a LONG time ago. I remember the dinosaurs! Their day-gig was teaching music to young wannabe rockers. There's nothing so inspiring when you're young than learning "Red River Valley" or "Barcarolle."

 

[StayLow]

^ This ...

I bet a lot of the bands that don't rehearse could sound better if they did, and that their performance can be a bit hesitant as no-one is quite sure what the others will play all the time. At a bare minimum I think you need to rehearse beginnings, endings, breaks as those will reveal how "untight" the band is.

We're talking covers, performed by paid professionals, so I can be *absolutely certain* that the others will play exactly what's on the reference recording, including some fairly complex material, with any changes as per the BL's emails. "We'll end it the way they did at Montreux in '78... here's a link" or "I'll repeat the melody line twice when my solo is done." No need to be staring intently at each other and, to address something someone else wrote, I'm perfectly happy if people ad-lib their fills as then I'm amused since I am listening to and enjoying what my bandmates are playing.

Why would appropriate fill, meaning one that's in time and in the style, throw anyone off? Heck, I sometimes gig unrehearsed with a jazz/prog wizard of a drummer who *deliberately* tries to trip me up and while sometimes he succeed it's a lesson well-learned that I should be counting for myself and that I'm lucky to share a stage with someone at his level. Great learning experience, and it's never the type of thing an audience will notice so no harm done.

I have done this more times than I can recall, often with nobody onstage ever having played together or even met before, including a drummer who doesn't even own a kit. When nights include music that had the token one rehearsal before 1st gig and songs that we didn't have time to rehearse or that were added last-minute, inevitably the ones that weren't rehearsed at least as good and often better than the ones that were.

If players you trust will vouch for other players, you don't need to meet, baby-sit, worry about, or rehearse with them as long as there are sheets or a reference recording and any necessary notes sent around. Originals or covers.

For those of you who can't believe this is possible, or common in the pro leagues, I can relate. I used to think it was all bluster too, until I started getting gigs with pros. There just isn't time at that level with most guys in multiple active bands, and the BL usually doesn't want to pay for people and a room to rehearse. Same with "originals" (everything's a cover if you didn't write it) even on national broadcasts.... meeting the drummer in the green room and discussing the audible cues that'll come up is probably more the norm than the exception.

Another common thing is for the name artists to hire most or all of the backing band in any given city, especially for festival tours where dates are scattered and distances are huge. No need to pay travel, hotel, per-diems, etc. for a whole band. They arrive in the city, and it's uncommon to have a rehearsal since they're doing press, etc. Maybe some or all of the band gets together with the local hires, say at the hotel or backstage to go over a few unusual bits or things that have changed since the album, what to do instead of the fade out, etc. That's about it.

 

[marmadaddy]

There's no absolute here, it depends entirely on the band and the situation. If I'm subbing or something similar, rehearsal depends entirely on the money. I've done so many subs and last minute calls that for most gigs it's really not needed. Give me the song list and the keys and I'll be ready. If it's really last minute I have a good enough repertoire and ear to get through pretty much anything without it being a complete train wreck.

My last band we rehearsed once a month or so to learn new songs. No more than was absolutely necessary. Kinks got worked out at gigs. We went without a net quite a bit and it usually paid off. That's part of what we were about.

My current band rehearses weekly regardless of the gig schedule. We're a six piece and a couple of the guys do benefit from it. I just like it because it gets me out of the house during the week to play and hang out with my friends.

It's all good. Whatever works for the situation.

 

[StayLow]

If you're in a cover band where everyone nails their part just like the original (or whatever version has been decided upon), and shows up to a gig playing the song that well with no rehearsal, that is pretty impressive, and rare IME.

IME it's the norm, and most pros would look at you like you're a chump if you even suggested a rehearsal... unless perhaps it pays well.

If you suggest an unpaid rehearsal, you or your gear probably won't survive to see the gig.

 

[electracoyote]

IME it's the norm, and most pros would look at you like you're a chump if you even suggested a rehearsal... unless perhaps it pays well.

If you suggest an unpaid rehearsal, you or your gear probably won't survive to see the gig.

LOL, tough guy.

Oh, the mean streets of weekend warrior Coverband Land. lmao.

 

[StayLow]

In a rehearsal or two, you can't get to know what all of the other people are going to play. You can't know that in a certain situation, the drummer is going to do this kind of fill or that kind of fill. How do you work out all the harmonies without a single rehearsal? And I don't care how prepared everyone is, you aren't going to play a night of material with one or two rehearsals and not have people looking at each other for some beginnings, endings or cues.

The OP is about covers. You know what people will play because they are pros paid to play a cover. There's a reference recording, and any changes can be communicated via sheets or written notes, maybe a conversation between sets or an acoustic run-through backstage.

The singers can get together and work out harmonies on their own time if need be. I've never had pro singers ask a band to rehearse so they can practice singing. In fact, harmonies are best determined and worked on without band volume or grumpy guys standing around with a guitar.

 

[StayLow]

LOL, tough guy.

Oh, the mean streets of weekend warrior Coverband Land. lmao.

I'm quite easy-going, though the longer I'm at it the less tolerant I am of BS and time-sucks. I meant to say that in my experience, learned the hard way, don't even joke about rehearsing in some circles or you'll get a very stern warning from some of the others. I've never pushed it to the point of finding out if they're bluffing.