First-timer in cover band, got a few questions...

[ArtechnikA]

...An acoustic is nice for certain songs, but it is ABSOLUTELY USELESS on 80% of cover material.

Never did he mention a genre.
If it's a folk/rock concept (e.g. Peter, Paul & Mary...) or LOTS of stuff from the 60's - acoustic is fine.
I agree electric gives you options.

This is a startup. If they do everything they 'should' they'll never get off the ground.
I think it'd be a good idea to be straight with the venue owner - don't represent a 'seasoned veteran' band if you're not - but that's just me.
On the lack of material, you either be straight with them up front, or you go with 'forgiveness vs permission' and say you did what you had...
Judgment call...
If you -do- have to repeat, make sure you keep your energy up and sell it...

 

[Worldeeeter]

You need more songs. The cover band I just left had 2 hours of music starting out; we played a couple of two- and three-band shows, and we headlined, playing our two hours of music with no breaks. We added songs until we could fill 4 hours, at which time we moved to our own shows. We played three sets, with a 15-20 minute break between each. This allowed us to play from 10pm - 2am with no problems. Depending on the crowd (or lack thereof), we would knock off between 1:30-2:00AM.
If you are playing drunk-people-dance-music, you need 40-50 songs minimum. We did hard rock, and some of the songs were longer (6-7 minutes); 35 songs was our magic number.

BEWARE - Egos get the best of most musicians (some more than others); I have heard stories about bands demanding that new members donate their take of the $$$ up to a certain $$$ amount to "cover equipment costs, etc.". I have also heard that certain members (read: singers) have demanded a larger cut than other band members. NONE of these scenarios are acceptable, unless you have a famous musician in your band that is doubling attendance at your shows, and earning the band more $$$ overall.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

What kind of venue is this? Do they expect dance music all night? Or are you playing just a couple of showcase sets?

For dance venues, we will repeat a song or two if we get special requests (i.e. $$). Otherwise we plan set lists with 11 or 12 songs per set for four sets, not repeating anything.

Back when I was first getting started (late 60s, early 70s), every band I joined would strive for that magical number of 40 solid songs. Then we knew we could play all night and repeat only a few of the best, most requested songs. Then in the heady days of the late 80s and early 90s we would have to play 5 sets a night in a lot of the honky-tonks and dives. That's right, 45 on and 15 off, from 9:00pm to 1:45am, 5 sets with 10 or 12 songs per set. And we were doing great to make $75 each. Some places paid only $50 or $60.

Once you've been doing this a while your repertoire will grow. I've got 200 songs in my personal book. My band knows 300 or 400 together. But we've all been doing this for quite awhile now. Even the youngest guy in my band has been doing this for over 10 years.

So, you've got your work cut out for you. You may not be able to learn enough songs so as not to repeat any but do your best to learn as many as you can. Most of us who have been doing this any length of time can play easy "standard" bar songs like "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Sweet Home Alabama" in our sleep. Everyone knows lots of Creedence songs, Beatles songs, and other classic rock and popular country songs like "Friends In Low Places" and "Folsom Prison Blues". Use these types of tunes for "filler" between your big numbers. I'm sure you can make it through the night.

EDIT: Back in the early days, to stretch the material we would add in an extra solo (or two) to most songs.

Splitting the pay evenly is a good place to start. But the "band leader" should get a bit extra if they are doing all the legwork like booking the band, providing and running the PA, or has extra expenses for promotional materials and the like.

I wish you all the best.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[Febs]

I have never, ever, been in a bar 4 hours straight and yes, that means I have never played a bar gig.
The staff is probably there longer but there may or may not be a shift change in 4 hours.
The point being - (almost) no one who heard your first set will be there for hours 4, IMO / IME...

The staff will almost certainly be there for the whole 4 hours, and they're the ones who will be reporting back to whoever does the booking.

I don't think I'd rerun the whole first set - but if you're short on material and have to repeat stuff anyway, I'd think you'd be pretty safe remixing the songs from Set One and Set Two into Set Four.

The OP says that they have just under two hours of material "learned well enough to fudge it." That means that they'll have to repeat their entire repertoire, starting two hours into the gig. Not cool. They need to learn more songs.

 

[Lesfunk]

A cover band needs a minimum of 40 songs before gigging.

 

[Jamesray740]

IMHO you should never repeat songs at the same gig unless requested to at the end of the night. Wait till you can play four 45 minute sets.
Reason being, if you were a club owner, would you hire back a band that couldn't do this when you can hire a band that can and will? Dont forget, there are few places where there are a shortage of cover bands. Competition is rampant everywhere, and if your in a cover band, you will be compared to the rest of them whether you want to be or not.
No matter your skill level, experience, how serious or not serious you are about playing, when you play out you are representing yourself and your band. Repeating a set comes off as lazy, mediocre, and unprofessional. Plus if you tried to stretch out your two hours of music by taking breaks, you would have to be on break for the same amount of total time you would be playing. Would you pay to see that?
If your worried about being able to get more tunes down in time for the show, just throw some old standards in there to cover time, like one of the previous posters said..
Some rare exceptions:
A. Its a free show and you dont care.
B. You really don't care if your asked to come back.
C. Literally 0 of the same people who heard the 1st set are still there. (including bartenders ect.)
D. Some drunk requests a song you already played (assuming said drunk wrote it on a 5 dollar bill, bought you a beer, or its his/her birthday).
E. The audience is rude and you want them to hate you.
F. Its the greatest song ever written and it must be played multiple times daily
Your singer is right. Throw together some extra tunes, do your best, and have a good time.

 

[AllanBass]

It depends on the type of gig but in general nights are usually split in to sets with breaks in between. 4 hour booking is usually 4x45 mins sets or 3 x 60mins sets. In the end of the day tho, it depends on the event or the club and it's best to get as much information from the person booking the gig as possible. 4 hour booking is definitely a long one for a new bands first gig (especially if the band isn't made up of people with lots of pro covers experience) there are a lot of things you pick up, little tricks of the trade, that are slightly different form the usual original scene and they take time to learn.

4 x 45mins is roughly only about 50 songs, but it's good to have at least 100 to start with so that you have the choice of songs to suit a crowd. It's also good to have at least a sets worth of every pop genre you can think of (as long as your band are comfortable playing them and doing a good job of it) Because if you get a crowd only dancing to one genre and your setlist is is 90% unrelated genre, you might have problems. Or if all you got is up beat songs and it turns out your playing for diners and need loads of quiet ballads and show tunes. Usually the booker wants to see your repertoire list to see the sort of thing you play and if it's right for their club/event anyway to prevent that sort of thing from happening.

clubs or events organisers sometimes book a DJ to play during the breaks and after the band is finished. Sometimes the band is DJ too. (If there is a DJ... Give him your setlist so you don't play the same songs). Sometimes the club manager, bar staff just put on an iPod. Sometimes the club only want you to play for 2 x45's and the DJ does the rest............


I've depped for plenty of bands at weddings that only have a 50 song repertoire and they've done fine and had the dance-floor jumping all night.


It's good to make a checklist to go through making sure you have all the info you need about playing times, load ins, gear needed, setlist preferences, important contacts numbers, client details, size of the room, size of the stage, is there an engineer? Is there a noise limiter? Deposit amount, payment amount, how you're getting paid etc... And type it up in an email so everyone in the band has the same info and know what to expect and where to be when. It might seem like a lot of work, especially if you end up gigging a different place 4-5 times a week... But it really helps to keep organised.

In the UK there are guidelines set out by the Musicians Union regarding playing times and pay (that are never usually enforced but give musicians a good idea of what they should be aiming at) do they have a similar thing in America? The MU also covers you with Public Liability insurance... I'm not sure how much that applies to America and if it's needed. It's also always good to get a contract or at least get the booking in writing or a deposit to cover any overheads incase of cancelations (van hire, PA hire, rehearsal costs).

Most of all, have fun, play the songs you can play well, work for your audience... They aren't there for you, you arethere for them!


Hope there is info in there you find useful, forgive me if I've just written a needlessly long essay stating the obvious and stuff you already know!
Good luck with the gig!

 

[AllanBass]

Also... repeating songs isn't very good, it's a complete and utter last resort (unless there was a specific request and it seems appropriate)

 

[Vinz Clortho]

I read all of the replies and I appreciate them; gonna touch upon the main points.

Regarding expectations, good impressions... this gig is pretty low-stakes. I'd normally be running around worrying about checklists, load-in times, etc. but this venue is a bar on an island that closes at midnight on a Saturday. It's actually a pretty ideal gig for us to cut our teeth on as an ensemble. The pay isn't inconsequential but it's not professional-grade based upon figures that I've seen quoted here and elsewhere. The whole booking process is about as loose as you can get - nothing in writing, no written expectations, etc. I see now that I was under the wrong impression regarding repeating sets; thanks for enlightening me. Our dilemma basically boils down to whether we want to try to learn more songs that might not go over well due to lack of rehearsal or play ones that we have relatively down pat twice. Playing into this is the disparate levels of musical literacy in our band - while I don't necessarily know as many Top 40 songs as some of the other members I can remember a few progressions and a key signature and just "go," which other members can't [as easily] do. Based upon these considerations I've decided to either get another guy to play acoustic for a bit (suggestion of our BL) or have me and keys/bass dude throw together percussion-less and intermittently vocal-less versions of songs that we either both know or can learn rapidly. In the latter case we have an extra set at the minimum and two at the most if we decide to do a "freeform jazz odyssey" (though a listenable one, not a Spinal Tap one :-D) From what I gather the crowd isn't super dancy or anything so this should be alright, and even if they are I've seen some serious ass-shakin' happen with nothing more than a dude playing a Roland Octapad for percussion.

I'm running sound with my PA, the drummer's mixer/mics and his cooperation. Given that BL is booking everything and keys/bass dude is pulling extra weight with me to learn another set in a few days' time I think equal share is in order.

Thanks for all of the advice either way.

**EDIT: Did the math and we can do ~30 songs as a band safely and 10 songs with me and keys player as a duo so I think we're actually set. Again, thanks immensely for all of the help.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

It's good to hear that it's a low pressure gig. That should ease your anxiety. If it is a high turnover crowd then you can repeat more songs from your earlier sets. I've heard some bands play the same song three times in a night. Can you do lighter, easy listening songs earlier in the evening with your duo? Then you can pick it up with full band dance material later. I wouldn't worry too much. But having too many songs is better than not having enough. Just have fun. Google some words to some easy 12-bar blues songs. A few blues numbers always go over good with most crowds. Break a leg!

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[obimark]

People seriously repeat cover songs during a single gig and get paid for it?

OMG!?! _ A repeated song? the dumpy bar didn't get to ream my band over properly for our lousy pay? Say it ain't so. How will the world go on when we played Cold Hard Bitch twice... in the ... same... NIGHT??!
Seriously, repeating a song or two is OK, but don't do a whole set in the same order. And yes, you need to learn more songs, and here is a tip do some LONGER songs (if you can). My band has 4 songs that are almost 10 minutes each.
Personally IME the typical 4-hour bar gig sucks, and is not worth it for anyone, the band or the bar...

Everyone clears out before your last set. Without the crowd you don't have the energy, and get tired by the last set... Just not worth it.

 

[hhirbe]

Don't forget to tip the bar staff.

 

[Vinz Clortho]

Just an update... apparently now we only need to fill three hours. Prior to me making this post I'd been under the impression that we needed two, which became four, which just became three. Either way the keys player and I are meeting tomorrow to hash out 10 songs or so that we can do with a minimum of effort and without the rest of the members' involvement should it be necessary. In any event I'll be sure to write a post-mortem report after the gig.

 

[Depth_Charge]

...And now, let's take a walk through the Black Forest!

 

[hrodbert696]

Just an update... apparently now we only need to fill three hours. Prior to me making this post I'd been under the impression that we needed two, which became four, which just became three. Either way the keys player and I are meeting tomorrow to hash out 10 songs or so that we can do with a minimum of effort and without the rest of the members' involvement should it be necessary. In any event I'll be sure to write a post-mortem report after the gig.

I would have been surprised if it were more than three hours for a place that closes at midnight. They don't usually want a band loading in till the dinner crowd thins out. At any rate, +1 to the people that have said a cover band's repertoire needs to be at least 40 tunes before they're ready to do a gig. Sounds like you've found some ways to fill the time without putting the whole band on the spot for 40 tunes, but that should be the goal if this is an ongoing project. If need be, you can always pull out Louie Louie and Wild Thing and just jam on them.

In general, money splits evenly, but then consider any additional responsibilities/contributions people are making - PA, rehearsal space, booking, marketing materials, website, etc. Sounds like you're good on everyone contributing something and even splits. The important thing is to have the conversation and have agreement on this BEFORE any money is actually made.

Enjoy the gig!

 

[ArtechnikA]

Just an update... apparently now we only need to fill three hours.

Thanks for the update. I agree with the guys who mentioned longer songs, especially if you (the plural you) can improvise. Structurally there's not much difference between a 3-verse 12-bar blues and a 12-verse 12-bar blues... Not a lot of words in 'Green Onions' and that can go on pretty much forever...

So - please complete the backstory - what kind of music is this you're trying to cover for 3 hours.

I have a friend who plays in a 2-guitar/2-vox duo that basically does early Beatles through 80's pop. Basically anything non-metal. Around here, 'cover band' means "classic rock" to a lot of people, I think. Please tell me you're not trying to do 'mellow-acoustic' thrash metal covers. Rodrigo y Gabriella can pull it off, but...

 

[lfmn16]

Regarding expectations, good impressions... this gig is pretty low-stakes. I'd normally be running around worrying about checklists, load-in times, etc. but this venue is a bar on an island that closes at midnight on a Saturday. It's actually a pretty ideal gig for us to cut our teeth on as an ensemble. The pay isn't inconsequential but it's not professional-grade based upon figures that I've seen quoted here and elsewhere.

A professional acts in a professional manner for their pride, not because of the merits of the gig. I've seen an unbelievable amount of 'amateur hour' antics because it's only, [fill in the excuse].

Sorry, but if you are accepting a gig, any gig, you owe it your best effort.

 

[Ric5]

Have enough songs so you don't repeat any songs ... that probably means you need 40 songs.

 

[Nev375]

I would say if you are a new band and you got to repeat a few songs from a few hours earlier, it's no big deal. You gotta start somewhere and if you are 90% there, you may as well get busy and get a bit of cash coming in because that's one thing that will help solidify your bands motivation.

I've put a lot of work into groups that never took off because someone didn't think we were ready enough. Eventually people get tired of waiting and start thinking the band is a dead end. Everything can fall apart. Also, you need the audience feedback to change and refine your setlist. Your band should always be a work in progress.

It's only gonna be a couple times before you have a complete set. Get out there.

 

[rtslinger]

We have over 100 songs any of which we can pull out at a moments notice. We perform nightly on average 54 songs which does not include encores. We do 45 minute sets usually, but it depends on how the night is running if the momentum is up and the crowd is rocking, we will extend sets just to give them more of what they ask for. Only time will we repeat songs is if someone requests it, who wasn't there for it the first time. Yeah you need more songs. unless you do a few Grateful Dead songs then you would only need to add a few to take up the rest of the 2 hours