Cover bands that play medleys

[Pacman]

Not technically a medley, but this one people really dug

 

[Budbear]

My last Classic Rock cover band did a number of medleys. The Kinks "You Really Got Me' into 'All Day And All Of The Night' , Van Morrison 'Gloria' into Santana "Gypsy Woman' , Beatles 'I'm Down' into Zep 'Rock 'n' Roll' , Yardbirds 'For You Love' into 'Train Kept a Rollin' , The Byrds ' Mr. Tambourine Man' into 'Turn,Turn,Turn , Beatles 'Birthday' into 'Back in The USSR', and , of course , 'Midnight Hour' into 'Mustang Sally'. Always very popular with our audiences. It works if the selections make sense musically. Tempos always stable or increasing, never slow down. Keep the keys complimentary.

 

[Whale guy]

Oh man! I cant list them all from my feeble memory, here are some

Bill Deal and the Rhondels medley
The Spinners medley
ABBA (2 songs only medley)
Temptations medley
Many more that aren't specific to one original artist

 

[hbarcat]

I was in a band where we did something like five songs in a medley, all with the same chord progression and beat, think "Hang on Sloopy," "La Bamba," "Twist and shout" etc.

BOOOOOOOOOOH!


Sorry, but I had to.

 

[hbarcat]

Had a band back in the 80's that did a nonstop "trip through time" medley, that sometimes lasted the entire night. We'd start with the 60's, run through those, into the 70's, and finally into the 80's. About a decade per set. People LOVED it! There was NO STOPS throughout the entire set. Closest we came to a stoppage would be a bass and drum breakdown if we were moving from one key to another , or a different beat/feel.

I love this. It's exactly why I started this thread!

 

[hbarcat]

We're planning a Zeppelin medley for our closer at an upcoming show. It's going to start with the drummer and myself playing the intro to How Many More Times and while we're doing that our singer is going to introduce the members of the band. The guitar player is going to jump in for a few cords, then we pause and he starts Whole Lotta Love. When we reach the solo, we switch to Communication Breakdown, play the entire song and then go back into the solo of WLL and finish that song. As it fades out, the drummer and I will jump back into HMMT while the singer thanks everyone for coming out.

That's really creative. I want to see that.

 

[Killing Floor]

I was in a band years ago that did originals under one name and covers, frats, weddings, etc. under a different name. We used to mash up and medley quite often. My favorite was theme medleys like Fire (Hendrix) and Light my Fire (Doors)...you get the picture. We also did some actual medleys of BeeGees, Toto, others. It's fun to play because it keeps you on your toes, you can't go autopilot. It's how we made the pay/cover gigs more fun for us. And usually people would think you played all the songs and wouldn't remember that it was a medley.

 

[bbh]

We did a Zappa medley in 1 band but I never really knew the names of the songs. Mostly instrumental stuff.

 

[zontar]

Medleys can be a lot of work, but when they work it's cool.
Live I have seen some bands do it--and in a way it's better to hear part of a song than not hear it at all.
But it also depends how it's done.

I saw Weird AL a few years ago and he did some medleys--one playing the songs as he originally did them, and another was an acoustic "Unplugged" medley (Including Beat It done similar to Clapton's unplugged Layla. And of course his polka medley.

When I taught I had bands that did medleys at times--a Bond Theme medley, a Satriani one & a Hendrix one.

 

[StatesideRambler]

A friend (former bandmate) in Reno was in a band that had several medleys they could choose from when the times were right. Guys from another band used to razz them about how lame medleys are. Guess which band was booked to the max and which was spending too many weekend nights sitting around, feeling sorry or pissed? Well chosen, well played medleys keep people on the dance floor and keep the gigs coming.

 

[fhm555]

I subbed with a band once that did New Orleans is Sinking into Enter Sandman. Crowd went nuts. The first song is a long time hit for an iconic Canadian band called the Tragically Hip. That particular gig took place just up the road from TH’s hometown.

New Orleans Is Sinking was my introduction to TH. It came via a morning drive DJ on a Florida radio station i listened to if i was in my car when he was on. Been a big fan since then.

As for medleys, i was in a band that did a medley of Johnny Cash songs but played like punk. We called it Johnny Cash meets the Clash. The same band worked up ska versions of Sweet Home Alabama and Swing Low Sweet Cadillac for a medley, and a trio of Tom Waits songs done with a heavy latin influence. We’d do one of them a night, usually to open the third set and it never failed to energize the crowd.

 

[basted]

There was a local band that would do a big rock and roll medley at the end of their last set. Very energetic that the crowd would love. By the end of it all the dancers would need a break. There was no one calling for more songs and the band would finish on time. A clever move from an old hand band.

 

[jmon]

Used to do several. Some key changes yes.

What I Got (Sublime)>Prince of Bellair(Theme song)>What I Got>Joker (in G), Sweater Song (Weezer)>Gin n Juice (Snoop)

Forget You (Cee Lo) > Sweet Caroline>Don’t Stop Believing

Shut Up and Dance(Walk on the Moon)>Dynamite (Taio Cruz)>Raise Your Glass (Pink)

 

[DirtDog]

New Orleans Is Sinking was my introduction to TH. It came via a morning drive DJ on a Florida radio station i listened to if i was in my car when he was on. Been a big fan since then.

As for medleys, i was in a band that did a medley of Johnny Cash songs but played like punk. We called it Johnny Cash meets the Clash. The same band worked up ska versions of Sweet Home Alabama and Swing Low Sweet Cadillac for a medley, and a trio of Tom Waits songs done with a heavy latin influence. We’d do one of them a night, usually to open the third set and it never failed to energize the crowd.

Awesome. I was down in Daytona for spring break in 1990 or so. The DJ at the bar (701 South) put up a big fuss playing that song. Didn’t understand how Canadians like that lame song! I’m surprised he didn’t get his ass beat! But all in good fun!

I like the punk covers of Johnny Cash. Social Distortion’s cover of Ring Of Fire is one of my perennial faves....

 

[Guild B301]

Back when they were still considered ‘punk’ - around ‘79- Blondie used to do a great punk version of ‘Ring of Fire’.

This one was from an outdoor show at ManorDowns horse race track in Austin around that time.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I would love to do medleys but my guitarist friend hates them. He just thinks is the song is good enough to play, play all of it.

 

[adk teleman]

I subbed with a band once that did New Orleans is Sinking into Enter Sandman. Crowd went nuts. The first song is a long time hit for an iconic Canadian band called the Tragically Hip. That particular gig took place just up the road from TH’s hometown.

Are you talking s about the Rain Kings? They were killers at doing medleys when I saw them at the Merchant.

 

[DirtDog]

Are you talking s about the Rain Kings? They were killers at doing medleys when I saw them at the Merchant.

No.... it was an Ottawa band called 3 Guys and a Drummer. Venue was the Phoenix in “BrockVegas”.

 

[adk teleman]

No.... it was an Ottawa band called 3 Guys and a Drummer. Venue was the Phoenix in “BrockVegas”.

Great group! I live across the river in Alex Bay!

 

[mdlewis]

No space between songs, whether a medley or not, rules. I love it when the band never stops playing. Bar owners may prefer otherwise, but that’s the way you keep the dancers on the floor.