How Many Is Too Much ?!?! Set list rant....

[hennessybass]

This for the win. For me its more about not repeating key signature, style, etc too often to where the set starts to sound repetitious. Most people outside of band circles don’t know who the artist is.

I used to play in a blues/rock band where the singer liked to do tunes in Amin. I don’t care how good they are, after a while it starts to blur together.

Rough. I used to do a gig that was like 4 hours of Texas Country in the key of G. Every song -- I-IV-V-vi -- all night long.
Occasionally the singer would put a capo on two, and play the exact same chords - but now we were in the key of A but literally still playing in G with a capo.

That was a ROUGH gig in more than one way - but always paid real good

 

[Slater]

There’s no hard right or wrong answer to the question. It’s all subjective. Some people will think one song by an artist is too much. I’ve been in bands that have played entire albums by an artist and the crowds loved it.

 

[whero]

The vocalist in the band I was in in high school was a big Rolling Stones fan so we had a lot of Stones covers in our repertoire (it was the 70s). One of the guitarists wasn't such a fan and kept trying to drop some. We "compromised" by arranging six tracks into a medley. It started with Paint It Black, and from memory (it was the 70s) ran through Get Off Of My Cloud, Happy, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Satisfaction and Brown Sugar. SO we weren't doing full songs. It was fun to play and crowds generally liked it.

 

[Hurricane Jimmie]

So Anyway, you can have a dozen songs by the same artist in your inventory... Just don't play all of them at every gig.
I wouldn't play more than one a set unless you get a request or do an extended dance medley.
Rotation!

 

[kevindahl]

I have said 1 previously. My thinking has always been that the more artists you cover, the higher the chances of engaging more patrons. However, this has changed over the years and I am more open to doing 2 or 3 songs from the same artist. The only thing I care about is the singer must do an awesome copy and the band sounds killer then I am fine. I certainly don't want to do 3 Stones songs if the singer sounds like Steve Perry and the guitarist has a 80's hair metal tone all night. Stick to what you are good at drop the songs that just don't cut it musically and/or vocally.

 

[MynameisMe]

Typical gig , multi genre Cover tunes , four sets , forty songs.
How many songs by the same artist is too many ? I say two is enough , but the vox guy keeps on wanting to add songs by the same artists.
With there being hundreds of songs out there that “ sell beer” and “ move feet” , I feel variety is the spice of life.
Being in north Florida, certain bands are staples and crowd favs. But there has got to be a stopping point .
Doesn’t there ?
Rant over.
Thank you for your time.

Come on man, you're right next to Middleburg.
Admit it, they're all Skynrd songs!

 

[MynameisMe]

After seeing your list I now ask the following question:
Where are the Molly Hatchett, 38 Special, Blackfoot and Train songs?
They seem to be a huge staple around here also.
What a bunch of song slackers for North Florida you seem to be.....
Also no Tedeschi Trucks songs? Fake it till you make it!

 

[troy mcclure]

To the OP..my band plays 6 journey songs.. normally I use 3 sometimes 4 per night.. 1 per set. Rock crowds want to hear hit songs with great vocals. Your setlist is not vocal driven but simple guitar driven tunes , the vocals seem to be an after thought.

 

[chuck65]

After seeing your list I now ask the following question:
Where are the Molly Hatchett, 38 Special, Blackfoot and Train songs?
They seem to be a huge staple around here also.
What a bunch of song slackers for North Florida you seem to be.....
Also no Tedeschi Trucks songs? Fake it till you make it!

Only ten weeks into it !!! Already have gigs in the Burg ! LOL ! I am just going with it right now , but everything you just mentioned has been on my mind since day one ! This is just the starting point . Our debut gig isn’t until Dec 14 but have a paying private party on Nov 30th so we had to find some decent common ground pretty quickly. LOL!!

 

[chuck65]

To the OP..my band plays 6 journey songs.. normally I use 3 sometimes 4 per night.. 1 per set. Rock crowds want to hear hit songs with great vocals. Your setlist is not vocal driven but simple guitar driven tunes , the vocals seem to be an after thought.

Actually, they are mostly picked by the singer based on his range and current ability..

 

[StatesideRambler]

My favorite band to cover multiples of was Allman Bros. Everybody wanted to hear more AB. The best second set opener was One Way Out. We landed on that when one night everybody but the rhythm guitar and drummer were dawdling instead of getting back on stage. They started the opening riff which dropped the hint to get back up there and join in. It was a smashing way to start a set! Even better, we’d never played that song together before. It was sweet!

 

[crucislancer]

View attachment 3604178
We are a newly formed band . This list is from rehearsal once a week , five songs at a time , so it is an evolution from set one to set four. We are in week ten . Gigs booked for 2020 as well as a couple this holiday season.
I’m new to all of this music . I come from the days of Ozzy , Rush , Zep, Boston , Iron Maiden ect .
This is fun and interesting, I just kept seeing some of the same artist being added each week and was just curious if this is common .
Back in the “day” two of each was enough for us .

I've been where you are at. When I joined my current band in July of 2018, which is a cover band with a lot of classic rock and a bit of pop, there wasn't much on the set list I had played live before, and all the bands I had been with previously were originals bands that leaned heavily on the influences you mentioned above. So there's a lot of material that I had heard in the past, but never thought I would play live on a regular basis. But in the end, even when the song is something I wouldn't have played in the past, I'm having a blast doing it.

We have, at most, 3 songs from a single artist that we play in a given night, and I don't put them in the same set, typically. Anything more and we'll start moving into tribute territory.

 

[diegom]

Once the bourbom, scotch, and beer start to flow I doubt the audience cares. We've done 4 and 5 Journey songs across a night and never heard who nor boo about it. And I doubt we would as long as the songs are popular and we don't try to do Side 1 of Jethro Tull's Songs from the Wood or launch into a free-form jazz exploration.

Didn't go too well for them...

 

[Biggbass]

depends on the original artist and what your vocalists are capable of singing well.

 

[Kmonk]

Two or three. No more than four.

 

[lowendrachel]

Wow that's alot of songs. I'd say 2.

 

[MynameisMe]

Only ten weeks into it !!! Already have gigs in the Burg ! LOL ! I am just going with it right now , but everything you just mentioned has been on my mind since day one ! This is just the starting point . Our debut gig isn’t until Dec 14 but have a paying private party on Nov 30th so we had to find some decent common ground pretty quickly. LOL!!

Admittedly I like your song set.
We are probably equally old.
Lol.
Looking at your username I am guessing we are real close in age.

 

[NoSlapForYou]

Four full albums, max.

 

[Rib 13]

Being in north Florida, certain bands are staples and crowd favs.
.

as a guy that also lives in N. Florida, I find that to be a fallacy perpetrated by many musicians who don't want to put a lot of effort into changing or reinventing themselves...........

 

[MynameisMe]

as a guy that also lives in N. Florida, I find that to be a fallacy perpetrated by many musicians who don't want to put a lot of effort into changing or reinventing themselves...........

For the most part there I was poking fun at the music that I know is popular here.
I like some of it but people seem to get locked into it tremendously.