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Please Toss In Some Ideas...

#21
I agree on selling the music, the sale is a real time, point of purchase thing,with the demographics of each particular crowd dictating down and distance.

* down and distance an american football analogy
When a team gets possession of the football, it gets four "downs." A down is a chance to move the ball at least 10 yards. If successful, the team gets another four downs to go another 10 yards. This continues, allowing the team to advance the ball toward the opponent's end zone. When a team can't reach 10 yards after three downs, it can either try once more or it can punt to the other team so that they will have to cover more distance. The other team, however, can return a punt to regain ground. If a team chooses not to punt and can't reach 10 yards after four downs, it surrenders the ball.
 
#22
If you're into modern counry & rock, take a look at the #1 hits on those charts the past three years and make selections from there.

If you're looking at doing classic and/or vintage rock & country take a look at the 100 top hits in rock and country of all time and make selections from there.

Our cover band is using the 100 top hits of all time technique along with recognizable standards in rock and honky tonk and all our shows are really connecting with audiences. We're hitting a lot of home runs. Road houses - festival type events.

By the way, we've been in the process of converting to this new (for us) concept over the past 6 months. Previously we did a lot of our own favorites and skipped genres from rock to country to honky tonk to rockabilliy to blues and to swing to show versatilty. We connected well with audiences some of the time, but not all of the time. We're connecting now with every show.

The charts will tell you what the audiences like. This technique will also let you slip in one or two originals a night that are in the same genre that you're playing and the crowd will think they've heard it before as a top hit.

Remember, many live audiences don't really know what they like, but they sure like what they know. If they can sing the words along with you or in the shower, and dance to it, they'll like it.

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

Koog.
 
#23
These people getting out on the floor and going nuts to dance to Mustang Sally is a testiment to how uninformed these club crowds are.

I am not going to help dumb them down further than they already are.

blue
 
#26
Mustang Sally always packs the dance floor. So does Takin Care of Business. So does Born to be Wild (in the last set). So does anything UPBEAT by Lynyrd Skynyrd such as Gimme Three Steps or Sweet Home Alabama - but NOT the slow stuff like Simple Kind of Man or Freebird. In Milwaukee, Cheap Trick also packs the floor - Surrender, I Want You to Want Me, Dream Police.

You know what song ALWAYS gets the crazies on the floor and shakin it? Blister in the Sun by Violent Femmes. I HATE that song, but unlike Bluewine, I WILL help dumb them down further by playing it.

You see, I like big crowds and repeat bookings!
 
#28
I'm probably going to be too specific, but after 35 years and having played in TONS of cover bands over the years, here's my take...

Basic Rules: Keep it dancable. Simple is better. HARMONIES sell the band. Go check out your competition and see what their doing that works. No prog, no metal in a pub, EVER. Keep it current as you can, which usually doesn't mean a lot. Club owners like new stuff, club goers like old stuff.... Balance that out.

I have always found that some songs that work with one band won't work with another. Stick to what works for your band. That said, I'm finding 80's stuff (INXS, Police) is becoming the new classic rock.

Anything by CCR, Elvis, and Beatles will go over.

The utmost over-done sure fire wedding band, gotta do covers (which, in my band, I try not to do a lot of these anymore unless I have to)

Old Time R&R
Mustang Sally
Takin' Care Of Business
Some Kinda Wonderful
Roadhouse Blues
Folsum Prison Blues
Bad Moon Risin'
Sweet Home Alabama
Move It On Over
Born To Be Wild
Rock And Roll All Night
Stuck In The Middle With You
Play That Funky Music
Should I Stay Or Should I Go
I Fought The Law
Can't Get Enough
Anything by John Cougar
Anything by The Eagles (Already Gone)
Anything by ZZ Top

Not-As-Stale Stuff:

Jesse's Girl
Sweet Child Of Mine
Anything by Journey (if you can pull it off)
The Police (Message In A Bottle works for us)
Kings Of Leon
Foo Fighters - Learning To Fly, Monkey Wrench last set.
Tom Petty - Won't Back Down, Running Down A Dream
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Fishin' In The Dark
Dwight Yokum always goes over. Garth, Brooks & Dunn...
A U2 song... "One" is a good ballad.

A reggae, anything R&B, a funk song or two (IE: Stevie Wonder), an obsure "why did you pick that?" song from somebody like Tom Jones, or Sonny & Cher... The one Pink Floyd song you can get away with is Another Brick In The Wall Pt. II. Even "Money" confuses them. Careful with Led Zep... if you NAIL it, it can work.

Ballads, ballads ballads.... Get the ladies dancing! Then the boys will follow.

New and current Top 40. Daughtry, Adele (if you have a chick), Black Eyed Peas (doesn't have to be as produced - Got A Feelin'/Time Of Your Life)

New Country - Kieth Urban, Bon Jovi/Sugarland - "Who Says You Can't Go Home", Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Toby Kieth...

Steal ideas from American Idol. Listen to Rock, pop, soul, R&B, classics, country radio and hit their websites and see what their playing as far as top 40 goes. Listen to a few and see what you can pull off. Ask your friends (the audience).

The most important thing about playing covers is that their WILL be stuff you will have to play that you might not like. Suck it up and remember, playing "Move It On Over" to a packed dance floor is more fun than playing "YYZ" to an empty one. Play for your audience, NOT YOU.

I could go on, but you're probably bored by now. Good luck.
 
#29
scottbass said:
Mustang Sally always packs the dance floor. So does Takin Care of Business. So does Born to be Wild (in the last set). So does anything UPBEAT by Lynyrd Skynyrd such as Gimme Three Steps or Sweet Home Alabama - but NOT the slow stuff like Simple Kind of Man or Freebird. In Milwaukee, Cheap Trick also packs the floor - Surrender, I Want You to Want Me, Dream Police.

You know what song ALWAYS gets the crazies on the floor and shakin it? Blister in the Sun by Violent Femmes. I HATE that song, but unlike Bluewine, I WILL help dumb them down further by playing it.

You see, I like big crowds and repeat bookings!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know the differences between the packed better venues and lets say the BBC, Linnemans, Cactus Club and Garibaldi's.
 

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