Cover bands, share your set list!

[Mike N]

Last band I was in had all the typical 70's thru 2000's stuff....

I Need To Know
Running Down A Dream*
Love Gun
Think I'm I'm Love
American Band*
Bad Motor Scooter
Long Way Down
Far Behind*
I Won't Forget You
Heaven
Brown Eyed Girl
Mustang Sally

*I sang lead on

 

[Mike N]

Current band is a mix of metal and party tunes with a twist.... we play stuff from Anthrax to Tone Loc....

Madhouse
22 Acacia Avenue
Princess Of The Dawn
Wild Thang
La Bamba
Start The Fire
Kiss Me Deadly
You're The One That I Want
Seasons In The Abyss
Children Of The Grave
Cold Sweat
99 Red Balloons

 

[Thumper]

Give Me 3 Steps
Pearl Necklace
Dancing Days
Come Together
Have You Ever Seen The Rain
Brown Sugar
Long Cool Woman
Cinnamon Girl
Honky Tonk Woman
Lodi
Jealous Again
When I’m Gone
Needle And The Spoon

Mary Jane's Last Dance
Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers
Whiskey In A Jar
Free For All
We're An American Band
Rock And Roll Fantasy
Shine
Smoking In The Boy's Room
Everything About You
Sin City
Rocking In The Free World
Whole Lotta Rosie

This is the first gig in over 20 years we didn't do at least 2 Black Sabbath

 

[danharris]

You should scratch the jazz itch if you can. And also do a cover band. You may find songs that you aren't really interested in listening to for fun, might end up being fun to play in a band, or at least just engaging enough to enjoy as a part of a band putting on an engaging show, song by song... IF you have the right people that can all be on the same page and similar skill level.

I know this as someone who has a degree in classical music and has done everything from play basements, backyard barbeques to clubs to world-known concert halls and all kinds of styles. It has been true for me that some music I don't really care to listen to (The Bachs, Beethovens, Brahms, Traditional Jazz, Classic Country, Sweet Home Alabama, etc...) in the right situation with the right people, to perform some of this music ranges from a pretty cool blast that I really enjoyed to kinda fun, and at the very least mildly engaging and a way to spend some nice time musically communicating on stage. I think that's a really important point and why I expounded on it.

In general, I'd say keep enough ego to know or believe you belong on stage doing well and putting on a great show, but otherwise let as much of the "Well I'm not ever going to perform X for Y reason" go by the wayside as much as reasonably possible. Have standards and expectations and to strive to differentiate yourself in a marketplace of cover band music, but also have latitude and flexibility to TRY some things at first glance which you might be less than enthusiastic about.

"I know this as someone who has a degree in classical music" i wish i took it that far i did proper consevetory piano into my teens and did competiave concert band . played in a thrash band in my garage at the same time. so i can listen to a lot... and really understand how to play a song properly. even the buckcherry song had some stuff worth practicing if you wanna do it "right". just having a song list to learn has been an experience. were having a great time now too we started with those old radio tunes cause everyone knows them. we are playing some proper heavy metal now and having so much fun. what you said anout engaging, its unreal the autitory signals and the eyeball prompts...im finding there is a lot giong on and im not ready for the jazz room yet. im still getting lost trying to hear myself and listen at the same time. its great thanks for the message. id never turn down a gig even if it was just ccr and ac/dc over and over and over....

 

[fig]

This is from the last band I worked with. This is about 1/3 of the songs between 2 'modern country' bands I worked with in a row since latter 2000's. Both bands were friends with each other, players filled in for each other, went to each others gigs (schedule permitting). Both bands have a reliable following that likes to line dance and have fun. Side note: I got fired from the first and picked up by the second LOL.

A Little Less Talk - Toby Keith
All Summer Long - Kid Rock
Alone With You - Jake Owens
Better Man - Clint Black
Boot Scootin' Boogie ... Brooks and Dunn
Born to Boogie ... Hank Williams Jr
Bottoms Up - Brantly Gilbert
Brown Eyed Girl ... Van Morrison
Can't You See ... Marshall Tucker
Day O/Ballad of Jed Clampett/Hillbilly Rap ... Neal McCoy
Fast As You
Free Bird
Gettin' You Home ... Chris Young
God Blessed Texas ... Little Texas
Guitars & Cadillacs ... Dwight Yoakam
Heartache on the Dance Floor ... Jon Pardi
Honky Tonk Woman ... Rolling Stones
I Don't Want This night to End ... Luke Bryan
Jenny Jenny ... Tommy 2 Tone
Keep Me in Mind ... Zac Brown
Keep Your Hands to Yourself ... Georgia Satellites
Knockin' On Heaven's Door ... Guns N' Roses
Kryptonite ... 3 Doors Down
Long Train Running ... Doobie Brothers
Much Too Young
Mustang Sally ... Wilson Pickett
Neon Moon
Play That Funky Music ... Wild Cherry
Redneck Girl ... Bellamy Brothers
Should've Been a Cowboy ... Toby Keith
Silver Wings ... Merle Haggard
Some Girls Do ... Sawyer Brown
Some Kind of Wonderful ... Grand Funk
Somewhere With You
Suzie Q ... Credence Clearwater
Sweet Caroline ... Neil Diamond
Tennessee Whiskey ... Chris Stapleton
The Chair
The Dance ... Garth Brooks
Trouble ... Travis Tritt
Turn the Page ... Bob Seger
Wagon Wheel
Wonderful Tonight ... Eric Clapton

Addons over time I didn't alphabetize...

Like I Love Country Music ... Kane Brown
There Was This Girl ... Riley Green
5150 ... Deirks Bentley
Brandy ... Looking Glass
Darlene ... Graham Brown
Hillbilly Shoes ... Montgomery Gentry
Knockin' Boots ... Like Bryan
Minimum Wage ... Blake Shelton
Point of Rescue
Redneck Life ... Chris Jansen
Spooky ... Atlanta Rythym Section
The Shake ... Neal McCoy
Thunder Rolls ... Garth Brooks
Whenever You Come Around ... Vince Gill
All Night Long ... Montgomery Gentry
Don't Close Your Eyes ... Keith Whitley
Drinkin' My Baby Goodbye ... Charlie Daniels
Black Dress
Footloose ... Blake Shelton
Good as You ... Kane Brown
He Stopped Loving Her Today ... George Jones
Homesick ... Travis Tritt
If Tomorrow Never Comes ... Garth Brooks
Lookin' for Love ... Johnny Lee
Mountain Music
Mr. Lonely ... Midland
Reggae Cowboy ... Bellamy Brothers
Simple Man ... Skynyrd
Swinging Doors ... Merle Haggard
Thank God for You ... Sawyer Brown
Trashy Women ... Confederate Railroad

If some of y'all haven't heard the Day O/Ballad of Jed Clampett song, it's a fun song and worked for us as an audience participation thing.:


For what little it's worth, I don't listen to country music. It was a big learning curve learning this stuff and play it as if I'd listened to it for years. But it was worth it, 'cause I just like to play (and was steady income LOL). Don't care about the genre if I'm technically capable of playing it.

Recently saw a setlist from the mid 2000's when I was workin' in the rock community. It's on a thumbdrive and I'll post it when I see it again.