Great Closing Songs for Cover Bands

[Koog]

Big Al Carson....Take Your Drunken Ass Home.

I hosted a weekly blues jam at an old timey dive joint for several years. This was our closer every session for about seven years....through late 2019. It became a tradition. Crowd loved it and sure knew it was time to go home.

 

[soundsupport1]

Two songs called closing time: Leonard Cohen, and Semisonic.

Enjoy the Silence, by Depeche Mode works too. A little tongue-in-cheek goes a long way.

Also, Won't Back Down by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is the most straightforward thing you'll ever play, people can sing along, the band can close with a song they can wind down to.

Peace,
SoundSupport

 

[TREYontheBASS]

Purple Rain and Pour Some Sugar for us usually.

 

[Pauly 4001]

My old band used to close with extremely fast and aggressive versions of Burning Love and I Saw Her Standing There. The guitarist would start Burning Love alone and he cranked it out faster and faster over the years: we'd kick in and hold on for dear life like a speeding train careening down a mountain track.
We added Born To Run towards the end of my tenure but I wasn't as wild about that one.

 

[Lo-E]

Great rock closers I've played include Heart-Barracuda, Kiss-Detroit Rock City, The Who-Baba O'Reilly and Cheap Trick-Surrender but the one that got the best audience reaction, hands down, was always Radar Love.

 

[Rhino Rob]

Sometimes we would end with a medley start with
Dark side intro - when that kicks in switch to what I like about you, halfway through that swap back to dark side then flip into R.O.C.K. in the USA.

 

[Michedelic]

 

[Sparkl]

Do you have to have a fixed closer? I mean, there's so much music out there to choose from... Keeping things stale only increases the boredom in the band if you ask me.

Learn a couple of famous tunes and rotate them - this way you will always have an appropriate song for certain public. If you are a cover band, as you say, you highly likely not only cater to a certain type public - being able to accommodate is very important.

Even if you do only play for a specific type of public, it is still good and refreshing to be able to call tunes based on your current impression, it certainly elevates the bands vibe.

 

[beaglesandbass]

We're a 90s early 2000s rock band, so we're not playing the typical bar songs. We do Petty, but not American Girl etc.

Lately we've been closing with Tool's 46 & 2. Catches people by surprise and we get a good reaction from it.

 

[g-dude]

 

[LBS-bass]

This one always went over well. You need an organ player though.

 

[Dabndug]

It's All Over Now - The Rolling Stones

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

Sultans of swing.

 

[john_g]

Lately we have been doing Welcome to the Jungle.

 

[LBS-bass]

After we lost our keys player we would do our end of night thank yous and play this one. A few clams in here but what the heck, that's live music.

I think our singer lost track of the lyrics. You can hear me thanking the patrons as they were lighting up the tip jar.

 

[MegaSwing]

I was in a band once that used to close with 'Tie Your Mother Down', by Queen. I always thought it was a perfect thing to throw out there at the end of the night.

 

[BluesWalker]

I always wanted one of my bands to use this one, I never had a taker.

 

[LBS-bass]

Do you have to have a fixed closer?

Not necessary, but if you have a following it's a clear signal to those who have seen you before that the night is over. Bars appreciate when patrons clear out quickly, so it can help there.

 

[Paul Corrosion]

my instrumental/jazz/funk/whatever band plays purple rain for some audiences, mercy mercy mercy for some audiences, hey jude for others, and we have a few more we like as closers --- but since it's instrumental we can do tricks with almost any tune to use it last. i like hey jude for the nah-nah-nah out-chorus --- we're essentially accompanying our audience who is singing it to/for us!

We open our show with "Hey Jude". BL starts it as just vocals and guitar, the rest of the band all come in on the nah-nah-nahs. "Purple Rain" is also a second set staple.

 

[cool breeze]

Heard Hootie and the Blowfish do Surrender by Cheap Trick. The place went crazy!!