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That darned request again!!!!!

#5
I played a wedding gig last night (as a drummer) with a band that is not really suited to that kind of thing. This band plays a bunch of blues, bluegrass, and eclectic music. We got the gig because the groom heard us in a club recently. We actually did really well because we played all those songs that have been done to death. Some of the stuff we whipped out:

Mustang Sally
Brown Eyed Girl
My Girl
Ain't to proud to beg
Wonderful tonight
Honky Tonk Women
You've lost that lovin' feelin
etc., etc.

We took as many request as possible (one of them was "Luckenbach Texas") and the people were really happy we did it. Somtimes requests can be drudgery, but after all, you are there to entertain.
 
#7
The part that I always found difficult was to try and find something about each song to make it worthwhile. Just some way to make it interesting, not so blatantly torturous. Sweet Home Alabama again? How about tapping the chords while playing the traditional dull bass part simultaneously? Didn't work the first few times, but eventually I got it and I bet I have more fun on that song than most of you.
 
#9
Bard2dbone said:
The part that I always found difficult was to try and find something about each song to make it worthwhile. Just some way to make it interesting, not so blatantly torturous. Sweet Home Alabama again? How about tapping the chords while playing the traditional dull bass part simultaneously? Didn't work the first few times, but eventually I got it and I bet I have more fun on that song than most of you.
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We used to have a game within the band for songs we did to death, but it made it fun. Someone would pick a song kickoff or a well known guitar/ bass lick and stick it in the song you were doing at the time. You had to do it for every song for a set, so you had to think in order to make it fit. For example: Take one of the guitar solos from "Sweet Home Alabama" and use that in "That's the way love goes."
 
#10
James Hart said:
and that says it all :cool:

cover gigs = playing what the people want.

Sometimes it's your fav...
Sometimes it's "Born to be Wild" or "Mony Mony".
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Yeah, well, on the flip side of the coin, the people who "want" those overplayed oldies (and let's face facts, folks - it's usually the f*cking liquor doing the talking when it comes to such requests, not one's heart and/or soul) aren't the people onstage controlling the instruments.
 
#11
CJ_Marsicano said:
Yeah, well, on the flip side of the coin, the people who "want" those overplayed oldies (and let's face facts, folks - it's usually the f*cking liquor doing the talking when it comes to such requests, not one's heart and/or soul) aren't the people onstage controlling the instruments.
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not directly, but they are the reason we are paid to be on that stage AND the ones that are paying the venue in cover and drinks to be entertained. If you don't get behind the "overplayed oldies", then you are cheating them.

They are there for fun. We are there to supply them a service. Doesn't matter what you think controls their choices... only that they have a good time :bassist:

also, most of the audience have their "heart/soul" in other things in life... if it was music as an art, I doubt they would be @ a bar catching a local cover band :hmm:
 
#12
If you are playing a wedding gig or some kind of function, there are alot of people there who don't frequent bars and hear the same song over and over. We have got gigs because we made these people happy and played their requests. It all depends on what you want to do musically. If you are out there promoting your original material, and want to showcase only that, I can see where doing requests would not be what you want. In the cover band world requests are a pain, but a necessary evil. After all, you are getting paid to play an instrument. How sweet is that?
 
#18
I will be the first to cringe when some of the songs that others are carping about are requested, but I really feel that a successful cover band knows which side their bread is buttered on. Hell, I have had to play "Mustang Sally" THREE times in one evening. But, you know, our tip jar was overflowing after we did and people were happy. That's the point of being in a cover band.
 

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