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How do you make your cover band stand out?

#81
Dark Horse said:
Glad I can help. It always baffled me why cover bands don't just look at the Billboard charts and choose their sets from that. Seems like the simplest way to put together a 100% successful set that people (i.e. "girls") will dig. I can put together a 40 or 50 song setlist in half an hour. Of course I look at a cover band situation as being a "job", instead of a "venue for self gratification". I understand that musicians want to be challenged - but putting together a set list that appeals to musicians is a sure-fire way to have an empty club, IMO.

But that's just my opinion... I'm sure not everyone agrees.
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200% agree! I love playing cult of personality, but the people dance to love shack! I am ok with that.
 
#83
the yeti said:
for a dude that's "voiceless" you have a mouthful of wise words. awesome!
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Thank you, I credit that to asking a lot of questions and seeking guidance from TB and from older more experienced musicians.

Again, I can not take credit for the modest success my band has had in a short amount of time. Our BL is a seasoned pro that knew how the business worked.
 
#84
Interesting topic, here's my 2 cents after having been there and done that.

If you want to make money, the most important thing is playing well and looking like your having a good time playing. Then, play songs that make most of your audience want to dance and/or sing along. Who cares what the musicians like? Who's paying who?

I guarantee if you do that, almost everything else is fluff; If you do that, you will be working lots more than bands with more "polish" than you. It's easy to add polish to a musically good group later.

Oh, one more thing, limit originals to one; and only if it is 'commercial' enough to make the audience want to dance. In this setting, originals just interupt the flow of the gig. Most likely, no one listening is going to care about your original and it's a one in a million or less chance that a producer is in the audience and is going to discover you.

There are good venues for original stuff, though they generally do not pay anything unless you have a known name and a large following, but you can get 'exposure' there.

Most venues/clubs want to be the "hot place everyone hangs out at". They become that by their clients having the best time, everytime they visit.
Do that for a club owner and the word will get around quickly that your band is the one to hire and you'll be turning away jobs.
 
#86
Dark Horse said:
Here's your setlist -

List of number-one hits (United States) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Just choose a song or two from each year - all #1 hits, things that people remember and the girls dancing in the bar will shake to. If the girls come to your show (and stay), the guys will follow.
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The charts are useful tools but you still have to think. Some songs last better than their original chart position would lead you to expect, and some songs that were huge hits are museum pieces today. Love Shack, for instance, isn't on the #1 lists - it peaked at #3 and was #78 in total for the year of its release. But on the DJs' request list for last year it's in the top 10. Meanwhile, who wants to party to Expose's #1 hit song in 1988, "Seasons Change?"
 
#87
Rockmusician said:
A couple of nights later, we were at a gig and the guitar player was in a goofy mood and started playing the song. We reluctantly joined in and were shocked when the dance floor became completely packed in a matter of seconds. The song was "Sugar Sugar" by The Archies. The guitar player's daughter loved it so he used to play it for her. I was embarassed to play it but that night I learned to never pre-judge what you think the audience wants to hear.
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I joked with a friend of mine that I was thinking of forming a bubblegum band and covering groups like the Archies, the Osmonds, Partridge Family, Brady Bunch, etc. I'd be too embarassed to play in an outfit like that but it could potentially do quite well. An Archies format would work - 2 females and 1 male fronting the band + bass, drums, guitar, and keyboards. You could also throw in a few TV show themes like the Banana Splits song. Yeah, don't deny it, you know the words "Tra la la la la la la!"
 
#88
Bass Viking said:
I joked with a friend of mine that I was thinking of forming a bubblegum band and covering groups like the Archies, the Osmonds, Partridge Family, Brady Bunch, etc. I'd be too embarassed to play in an outfit like that but it could potentially do quite well. An Archies format would work - 2 females and 1 male fronting the band + bass, drums, guitar, and keyboards. You could also throw in a few TV show themes like the Banana Splits song. Yeah, don't deny it, you know the words "Tra la la la la la la!"
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At least you're thinking outside the box. A defined and specific concept is another way to set your band apart and make it more attractive.

I'm from Columbus, Ohio, and back in the 80's there was a band called The Keepers. Only British Invasion pop rock, and some modern stuff that sounded like it. So they'd do Who, Kinks, Beatles, Split Enz, (early) Police, Animals, Stones, exclusively.

SRO packed house, every house, every night they played. Of course, they dressed in period wardrobe, played period-correct gear, etc. Had a huge British flag as a back drop. Visual as well as sonic.

There is a band here in Denver called That 80s Band, they only do, you guessed it, 80s New Romantic Girl Power stuff, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Prince, Duran Duran, Michael Jackson. Hugely popular, they get lots of upscale private gigs. It takes them a lot of technical savvy to pull it all off, but they get it done pretty well.

Outside the box.
 
#90
hrodbert696 said:
The charts are useful tools but you still have to think. Some songs last better than their original chart position would lead you to expect, and some songs that were huge hits are museum pieces today. Love Shack, for instance, isn't on the #1 lists - it peaked at #3 and was #78 in total for the year of its release. But on the DJs' request list for last year it's in the top 10. Meanwhile, who wants to party to Expose's #1 hit song in 1988, "Seasons Change?"
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Of course, but the charts I linked have ALL the #1 songs for each year...not just the "year end" song. It's a simple task to look at the songs, say "this fits us", and put together a set list. And of course you can add other songs - but the Billboard charts make life a zillion percent easier when choosing songs.
 
#91
When we formed our cover band, we had a good idea of what other cover bands were and weren't doing around town. NONE of them played bubblegum pop and they all basically either catered to classic rock and/or modern hard alternative rock. The 20- and 30-something pop market was virtually untouched. So we learned several "dare to be different" songs and put them in rotation. Here is a video of us doing one of those songs last night: Patrick n Swayze has a Party in the USA! - YouTube
 
#92
I have been saying that even though folks want to hear the same old songs, that there are a multitude of other songs that were just as successful in their time that the crowd has either forgotten about or can't think of right off---songs that they would enjoy just as much. For instance, when it comes to Motown and soul music, instead of Mustang Sally, try Shotgun, or Cool Jerk---not that no one plays them, but you just don't hear them as much.

One song that I have requested to play that has been a huge hit everywhere we play is the Animals' We Gotta Get Out of This Place. Big surprise. We did it once just for fun. Everyone loved it, including other musicians. I'm trying to get them to do Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, too.

Yet, we still do the usual worn out stuff that bores me to tears. Folks like it, but I still say there's a bunch of other tunes they would dig just as much, they just don't know it until we play it.

I've heard that the Motown stuff is becoming popular again. I dunno if that's so or not. Anyone elseheard that?
 
#96
Also to add in...
**having GOOD PA system so each member is not blasting their Amp on 10. Have a GOOD mix. If your playing dance stuff, make sure the Kick Drum is hitting pretty hard out there {not too much}
**Good Vocals as mentioned,
**Get the crowd involved, you are a hired entertainer...do YOUR job. If the dance floor is hopping, people are drinking, bar tenders are busy, bar mngrs are happy = more gigs for you!!!!!
**Don't just stand there, if the crowd see's you guys having fun, they will feed off that.
**That Fat girl having her birthday with her friends...get her on stage, We used to change Brown eyed girl to Birth day girl, get them on stage..sing to her and make her feel like a million bucks!!! {word of mouth spreads and you never know WHO they might know..I have gotten a few gigs from that.
**THIS ONE I AM ON THE FENCE WITH****
*If there is that guy and his buddy that say "we
are in a band, blah blah" Call them out. We became great friends with this other cover band, they have passed gigs to us, and us to them. Before you get them on stage, have them look at your setlist, make sure they play the same way you do...get 'em up during break and see if they REALLY know how to play..then bring them on stage for a song or 2....guess you could call it networking :)
 
#97
Playing 60s/70s covers isn't a way (at least around here) to "stand out". Unless you're booking the places where the 45 and up crowds hang out. And here, they don't really have live music for those spots.
From what I see in Houston, a "classic" rock tune once per set isnt' bad but to try and do "nothing but" just makes the tail head for the door halfway through the first set.
The most "classic" we ever got in my old band was "Highway To Hell" and we rocked it up a little more than normal so it had an edge. Sounded awesome.
But just depends on your demographics. That kinda band here wouldn't get many bookings.
 
#98
Roundwound said:
When we formed our cover band, we had a good idea of what other cover bands were and weren't doing around town. NONE of them played bubblegum pop and they all basically either catered to classic rock and/or modern hard alternative rock. The 20- and 30-something pop market was virtually untouched. So we learned several "dare to be different" songs and put them in rotation. Here is a video of us doing one of those songs last night: Patrick n Swayze has a Party in the USA! - YouTube
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GREAT JOB......I WAS NODDIN' MY HEAD LIKE YEAH
 
#99
Plenty of bands "play well". In fact, so many do it that it's not enough to stand out. You have to put on a show. Crowd interaction and just being up there and looking like you're having a great time will make people enjoy you so much more than another band that might play better than you.
 

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