Great Closing Songs for Cover Bands

[two fingers]

We've had a lot of fun closing out with Delbert's "Every Time I Roll the Dice" and there's a lot of room for some messin' around in between

I already sing that one about halfway the second set. It's my wife's favorite.

 

[Paul Corrosion]

Sweet Soul Music. Every single time. Including false finish

We don't do it as a closer but we mash it up with Magnificent 7 theme. We close with "Land of 1000 Dances*".
(I'm the singer in this clip, not the bass player, for shame. On bass here is Mark with his MIJ Fender Jazz 5).
*not shown in this clip, sadly

 

[biobass]

As many have written, Don't Stop Believin' is often our closer. Also, depending on our line up for the night and reading the crowd, Bobbie McGee, Save the Last Dance for Me (Michael Buble version), Goodbye to You, Scenes From An Italian Restaurant are also contenders. Personally, I like a Louis Jordanesque version of Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone that I arranged, but the band leader hardly ever calls it.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

The Animals - We Gotta Get Out of this Place

 

[two fingers]

We always close with Linda Ronstandt- "When will I be loved". (We have a female lead singer and we harmonize with her) It's a little cheesy to play, but everyone sings along and it's a hit. Go figure….

We do it as well. Good for our three part harmonies.

 

[LBS-bass]

We do it as well. Good for our three part harmonies.

One band I was in pre-Covid used this as a closer and it went over pretty well. People love the harmonies.

 

[quilanthegreat]

Friends in Low Places is always a safe bet for a closer.

 

[Sparkl]

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.

Ok but still, that's on that specific occasion. You can feel free to play the same tune in that same bar when those same patrons need to clear out quickly.

But that's not the be all end all scenario right?

And even still, what happened to the good old "thanks for the listen guys, have a great one, hope to see you next time again" type of a gig finale? After this you play your closer, and leave the stage.

I've been playing these type of gigs for the past 15 years now and in my experience, drunks and enthusiasts will want "the BIS", the rest will pack up and leave after any last tune, and the third will lurk around in the bar nonetheless. Unless there is some special agreement with the guests, but it is really up to the barman to notify guests about closing hours and that's pretty much that.

Just my reflection on the matter.

 

[Sparkl]

Oh and one more thing - experience tells me, that one of the best allrounder finishers is "Purple Rain" by Prince - literally EVERYBODY knows the song, and it's sleepy enough to put people to sleep in a second.

It really is a peacemaker.

 

[LBS-bass]

I've been playing these type of gigs for the past 15 years now

Forty years here. Lots of things work. There are no fast rules.

 

[shwabilly]

I'm in Toronto, and we do a song called S.O.S. by a Canadian band called The Glorious Sons. It goes over well.

 

[bassliner50]

"Theme from The Last Waltz"

 

[Cricket55]

My band never had a fixed closer, but big ones for us were either Sympathy for the Devil or Sweet Jane (Rock and Roll Animal version.) Popular, easy to extend, and if one wasn't enough, we could encore with the other.

 

[azureblue]

Jackie Wilson - "Higher and Higher" Bass part is a little boring but it really lit up the audience. All I had to do was start that bass riff ---

 

[Smallmouth_Bass]

More times than not:
She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult

 

[buldog5151bass]

Roll With the Changes - finish up acapella harmonies. It goes over great.

 

[staurosjohn]

*This* is one of our closing songs which has received 'rave reviews'



I am NOT a singer (but do hack thru a few) *This* was referenced, earlier, and I would concur!

 

[TheDirtyLowDown]

OK, here you go.

Our "crescendo mode" high energy closer is J Geil's "Give it to me" -- it turns into a percussion party and can go on for as long as drunk people are yelling "Oh, yeah..." In the past we've done Stormy Monday as well.

I'm also a fan, in the right setting, of (for lack of a better term) the "diminuendo" closer too, where after a crescendo type song we slow things down for the very last tune and play something chill as a way to say good night. We've done 'All Blues', or 'So What' or a vocal ballad-type tune (for us that's 'Wichita Lineman' or 'Ain't No Sunshine') -- I like those songs as closers, sometimes we'll see folks who've been sitting at tables all night come up to slow dance.

 

[JimB52]

We used to close with Voodoo Chile (slight return) into How Many More Times.
Stretch as needed, sometimes mix in Third Stone from the Sun.

 

[Brich]

For us it depends on the room. Packed we play pearl jam, alive directly into rockin' in the free world. Pink Floyd breathe directly into have a cigar. If the room is dead, we play yellow Ledbetter by PJ or lately its been jet cold hard betch into ac/DC shoot to thrill. Always end with a mashup