Same Scenario,180° different genres, I was asked to join/tryout for a classic rock cover band, they had about 10-20 song set list,mostly old 70-60s standards. Zeppelin, Beatles,Stones, Hendrix, deep purple. You know the same old ones,R 'N' R, come together, Foxy lady, Purple haze, etc. the guys seemed cool, older, 1 younger. My issue was I just backed out of the same situation Because of set stagnation IMO! I wanted to play Rock, But Newer, more Modern Stuff,Foo Fighters, STP, Alice in Chains, Nirvana and such. I was tired of going to see Live bands & hear the same old "Standards" It was BORING, A F!! No Offense but I Just thought lets set ourselves apart & play a more updated set! It would be a breath of fresh air! I wasnt asking to scrap the existing set just to sprinkle a couple of newer songs in, I didnt think that was unreasonable! but it got met with harsh resistance! I tried to plead my case , but fell on deaf ears! You think I asked them to change the entire set! so I felt it was time to move on. then the old band played a grand opening gig with 3 other bands, same style of music... that band wasnt anything special,just 4 guys playing the standard classic rock classics x3. I attended as part of my easing the transition to the new bass player. I guess that gig opened the eyes of the BL because the 3 other bands almost had the exact same set lists! IMO It was so BORING! None of them stood out! "Who wants to hear some Hendrix!" feigning excitement! The guitarist came up to me dejected "We gotta change our set", I used my time out/off to sharpen my chops & to learn new songs, I was planning on starting my own band that played newer music & some "Oldies" quite the opposite of what I had been playing. But like all band endeavors, it was hard finding like minded players, I had a singer, Lead guitarist, me(bass),but of course the Drummer was hardest to find, we tried out 3 none could break from their current bands, so it just fizzled out. The idea must have been pretty good because the singer & guitarist went on to join other already established bands, to my dismay. I concurred I must be the problem holding the band back so I backed off,& relagated myself to be just a bass player,Not BL, then Covid hit! and put every thing on hold! The singer's band became the most successful,but they were well established before they changed genres, only changing singers & new setlist. funny, because he was the most resistant to change styles!or the most stubborn, we had frequent arguments about it. like I was insulting his SO! He used to say People wanna hear the "hits" as if he wrote them! Now he sees the light, & we plan on starting something when this virus BS is finally over! He says, He likes to keep things fresh with bands, otherwise it gets boring.: D such a 180° turn. the old guitarist is bursting to play now! funny how things change!
GL, during my time trying to get things started I too had to keep my mind OPEN to new ideas, since I was asking them to be more open minded! I even learned some genres/styles I thought I would hate!( country, POP, & EDM) Ive learned to like Billie Eillish& taylor swift! you too must learn to be fluid, since bands are sooo Temporal! GL! sorry for the looong rant!
