I've been playing in a classic rock/country cover band for the past three years. We basically just get together and jam every Fri night, and have only played out four times. The first two times we put together our own show at a local rest. and invited our friends. We packed the place and had a good time. No pay, just jammin', drinkin' and having a good time. As we've gotten better, the idea of playing out for money has gotten more appealing, and that is what we are now working towards.
We've had a new singer for the past 1 1/2 years, and he is into the singer/songwriter tunes and his own originals. He signed with a small record label ten years ago, and never made it, as the label went under (and he has only a little talent and absolutely no work ethic). Now he is trying to revive his career, and seems to be using us as his backing band. We have had numerous arguments about this, but he never changes, and constantly brings songs just because he loves them and wants to sing them, not because they are good to play out. He also refuses to consider dozens of classic rock songs that we already knew as he just doesn't want to sing those. It's really funny, because after slamming all the songs we know and love, he brings these crappy depressing songs and tells us how "people will love this one," even though it sounds just like the previous dozen songs he's brought.
Well, to cut to the chase, a couple of months ago, our guitarist told us we got booked for a Valentine's dance. Surprised me, because we are not a dance band. When we've played out before, there was very little dancing, as our songs are not really danceable tunes. So for the entire time we were (should have been) getting ready for the dance, I tried to bring some easy to learn, grooving songs that we could mix in with some of what we arleady do to make a couple of danceable sets. I spent time listening to songs with a metronome, etc. so I could group songs and then put them in an hour set list. My sets started moderately up-tempo for 3-4 songs, then brought it down for 2-3 slow songs, then brought the tempo back up with a special section of beach music(set 1) or funk(set 2) that would get people out dancing and keep them out there for a few songs. Then we could bring it back down for a couple of slow songs before we ended the set with a good strong up-tempo finish. By adding some very good songs, it made our current songs more danceable as I grouped them to blend together with similar grooves. I did two set lists and explained that it was a starting foundation, and we should all use it to finish our third set and make the two I did better.
Well that was two weeks before the dance, and instead of using what I had done and improving/building from there, our singer wrote three set lists and had them for the next practice, saying this is something we can use to get started. Like I hadn't done that just two days prior. It was also very evident that his only consideration was what order he wanted to sing them in, not what order would be good for the gig(dance). Also, he had ten songs in each set that was supposed to fill up an hour. ("So what do we play for the last 20 minutes of the set?) So bascally, three days of my work was thrown aside and completely ignored, as well as all of the song ideas I had to get people grooving. By this time, I had just shut up and expressed no opinions, as it's like talking to a brick wall. All of the problems we have had before (getting set list 1 hour before the show, etc) were happening again.
So finally, less than a week before the dance, our guitarist and singer get together at the beginning of practice and hash out our set lists in 15-20 minutes. The second set started with three up-tempo songs, but then went to a stretch of seven slow songs in a row, and finished with one up-tempo beach song. The third set was in the order that we remebered songs that had not already been mentioned. Again, I just kept my mouth shut, as it does absolutely no good to say anything, even if I know what I'm talking about.
So that practice we worked through the first set, and we were to go through the next two sets at the next practice (the night before the dance). When we practiced last Fri night, we started the second set, and after the 8th song, they were bored to tears and so depressed we had to take a break. Gee, no mention of maybe changing the set came to anyones mind (except mine). Then we moved on and finshised practice playing random songs, including many that were not going to be played at the dance.
Being pretty well educated, I understand that a good indication that a theory is true is whether or not predictions based on that theory turn out to be correct. So, my prediction is that this dance would be a horribly boring event with very few people dancing. We did not have the right mix of songs to get people out dancing, and our singer still only has one stance/look, and it's in front of a music stand 1/3 of the time. No crowd interaction.
One final note, we were playing a local private club with an older membership. 1/2 to 2/3 of the crowd would be over 60, and the rest would be our families and friends.
So how do you think our dance went? I'd really like to get comments on what you think would occur with this type of preparation for a gig. Do you think I was being too critical, and the dance was fine, or do you see the train wreck coming like I did?
We've had a new singer for the past 1 1/2 years, and he is into the singer/songwriter tunes and his own originals. He signed with a small record label ten years ago, and never made it, as the label went under (and he has only a little talent and absolutely no work ethic). Now he is trying to revive his career, and seems to be using us as his backing band. We have had numerous arguments about this, but he never changes, and constantly brings songs just because he loves them and wants to sing them, not because they are good to play out. He also refuses to consider dozens of classic rock songs that we already knew as he just doesn't want to sing those. It's really funny, because after slamming all the songs we know and love, he brings these crappy depressing songs and tells us how "people will love this one," even though it sounds just like the previous dozen songs he's brought.
Well, to cut to the chase, a couple of months ago, our guitarist told us we got booked for a Valentine's dance. Surprised me, because we are not a dance band. When we've played out before, there was very little dancing, as our songs are not really danceable tunes. So for the entire time we were (should have been) getting ready for the dance, I tried to bring some easy to learn, grooving songs that we could mix in with some of what we arleady do to make a couple of danceable sets. I spent time listening to songs with a metronome, etc. so I could group songs and then put them in an hour set list. My sets started moderately up-tempo for 3-4 songs, then brought it down for 2-3 slow songs, then brought the tempo back up with a special section of beach music(set 1) or funk(set 2) that would get people out dancing and keep them out there for a few songs. Then we could bring it back down for a couple of slow songs before we ended the set with a good strong up-tempo finish. By adding some very good songs, it made our current songs more danceable as I grouped them to blend together with similar grooves. I did two set lists and explained that it was a starting foundation, and we should all use it to finish our third set and make the two I did better.
Well that was two weeks before the dance, and instead of using what I had done and improving/building from there, our singer wrote three set lists and had them for the next practice, saying this is something we can use to get started. Like I hadn't done that just two days prior. It was also very evident that his only consideration was what order he wanted to sing them in, not what order would be good for the gig(dance). Also, he had ten songs in each set that was supposed to fill up an hour. ("So what do we play for the last 20 minutes of the set?) So bascally, three days of my work was thrown aside and completely ignored, as well as all of the song ideas I had to get people grooving. By this time, I had just shut up and expressed no opinions, as it's like talking to a brick wall. All of the problems we have had before (getting set list 1 hour before the show, etc) were happening again.
So finally, less than a week before the dance, our guitarist and singer get together at the beginning of practice and hash out our set lists in 15-20 minutes. The second set started with three up-tempo songs, but then went to a stretch of seven slow songs in a row, and finished with one up-tempo beach song. The third set was in the order that we remebered songs that had not already been mentioned. Again, I just kept my mouth shut, as it does absolutely no good to say anything, even if I know what I'm talking about.
So that practice we worked through the first set, and we were to go through the next two sets at the next practice (the night before the dance). When we practiced last Fri night, we started the second set, and after the 8th song, they were bored to tears and so depressed we had to take a break. Gee, no mention of maybe changing the set came to anyones mind (except mine). Then we moved on and finshised practice playing random songs, including many that were not going to be played at the dance.
Being pretty well educated, I understand that a good indication that a theory is true is whether or not predictions based on that theory turn out to be correct. So, my prediction is that this dance would be a horribly boring event with very few people dancing. We did not have the right mix of songs to get people out dancing, and our singer still only has one stance/look, and it's in front of a music stand 1/3 of the time. No crowd interaction.
One final note, we were playing a local private club with an older membership. 1/2 to 2/3 of the crowd would be over 60, and the rest would be our families and friends.
So how do you think our dance went? I'd really like to get comments on what you think would occur with this type of preparation for a gig. Do you think I was being too critical, and the dance was fine, or do you see the train wreck coming like I did?
