I'm a big fan of the medley. I've seen them done by the greatest acts in the world and the local bar/lounge/festival groups and down to the garage band playing in someone's back yard.
Done well, a medley can get the crowd ramped up to maximum enthusiasm and also showcase the band's musical talents and versatility. Most importantly, a medley allows everyone to hear some really popular songs that have been thoroughly overplayed in a new context that brings some originality to the mix.
I was in a classic rock cover band in the mid 90s and we had about a dozen Lynyrd Skynyrd songs in our toolkit. We would typically play 1 or 2 of them during a gig. At that time, some people still thought it was funny to yell out "Freebird!" , which was one song we refused to play.
What we did do was play about 8 seconds of the intro and then switch to the LS song we wanted to play. Eventually, we hit on the idea of doing a medley of LS songs that we had gotten sick of playing in their entirety.
Other band medleys I've done in the past were Black Sabbath, the Rolling Stones, CCR, Pink Floyd, and even Joe Walsh.
I'd be interested to hear of some medleys other TBers have done before, including detailed setlists if you have them. Or maybe some medleys you e seen other bands play, especially famous bands.
