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The Real Reason Why Bands Play the Same Old Tired Covers

#321
avvie said:
Yeah, you shouldnt turn down requests if possible. One of my bands turns down requests all the time because it's fronted by people who are not musicians and have little experience outside of this band. It's frustrating at times, but it's not MY band, so....

And yes, all genres have crap. High energy dance music and techno fall might fall under the umbrella of pop in some folk's minds but there's a great distance between that and No Doubt or Taylor Swift. I dont know how some here can just throw everything out that isnt a worn-out Grandpa Standard and then bash anyone else who doesnt. Threads like this one really seperate the men from the boys. And then they wonder why DJs get their work....smh...
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I actually agree with you that there's good music out there that's current and worth covering if that's your thing. What cracks me up about you is how you complain about narrow minded people bashing pop music while in the same sentence or paragraph you degrade other peoples choices in music. Some of your posts here have been a mess of contradictions that I find amusing.
 
#322
They're not a mess of contradictions at all; they're dependent upon contexts that readers are ignoring in the conversation. I cant write a novel explaining every nuance related to the entire production, technology and or entertainment issues related to our field on every post. Just like a little while ago somebody is talking about computer production for no reason at all related to the discussion...that's not MY failure.
 
#324
I'll add that the NOTABLE EXCEPTION would be the CORPORATE EVENT BAND who's JOB is to play CURRENT MATERIAL. This is NOT A CONTRADICTION but is instead a shift to a DIFFERENT CONTEXT than the usual band situations in this thread.
 
#325
avvie said:
Sorry, bluesblaster, but I havent met anyone over 50 who wasnt about just that. I've had to quit a few projects because the bandleader thinks the audience wont accept anything less than 40 years old and refuses to update. Probably because they're just plain lazy if the truth be told. One just hates his audience...if they're not his age and like the same things then they can go pound sand.

And it doesnt matter how music is produced now; this discussion is about live setlists.
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This statement shows your viewpoint is limited at best or you have not seen enough of the big wide world. I'm 57 and I'm the youngest guy in my band. We are a rock band but we are not stuck in 1972. Our set list caters to a wide age group. 25% of our current set list is less than 10 years old. 50% of our set list is less than 20 years old & about 5% of our set list is over 40 years old. We play to our demographics.

You are coming off as arrogant and condescending at this point and are contradicting your original post somewhat. Me thinks thou must protest too much. Just because someone is over 50 does not mean Brown Eyed Sally is on your set list. Let's take the blinders off aye?
 
#326
You're doing it right ;)
And I wouldnt say arrogant and condescending; just friggin frustrated as hell that I cant -and have never been able to- find four other people with an open musical mind. Yeah, maybe its only my experience but its my experience nevertheless.
 
#327
jive1 said:
I played a gig where someone asked for Brown Eyed Girl, and the guitarist replied with "I'm sorry, I used to sing that song everyday to my wife who got killed by a drunk driver last year. I just can't do it". After that, I told him that he was the wind beneath my wings.

I think you need to read the crowd. I played a gig with a Country band where there was an obnoxious dude who was constantly requesting Black Sabbath. Although, I know alot of Sabbath tunes, it would have turned off the rest of the crowd that was really into the Country music we were doing. Sometimes you can do a request for a handful of folk that will turn off the rest of the crowd.
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Yeah, I had a guy offer me $100 to do Pantera at a country gig a few weeks ago. While I could have done it, the rest of the crowd would've hated it, and we'd probably have gotten fired. Which is exactly what I told the guy.
 
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#328
avvie said:
You're doing it right ;)
And I wouldnt say arrogant and condescending; just friggin frustrated as hell that I cant -and have never been able to- find four other people with an open musical mind. Yeah, maybe its only my experience but its my experience nevertheless.
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OK, now you sound like you are being more open. You may in fact be a victim of your own demographics. The area where I live consists of about 3 million people. All with in an hours drive. Expand that rage to 2.5 hours and the population is roughly 7 million. 45% of the population ranges from 25 to 54 in this circle.

There are many, many larger metropolitan areas here on the mainland than mine. Maybe it's time to consider widening your boundaries. Just a thought.
 
#329
Demographics victim?...probably. I had the same problem in Greensboro NC where everyone I came in contact with wanted to play the same set list that was being played on Rock 92 three times per day and saying thats what everyone wanted to hear. I'd say that Ben Fold's success showed that "they" were wrong.
 
#330
Finding the ideal project can literally take a life time. Believe me I know. You have to work with the talent pool available to you. It is what it is and all we can do is try to make the best of what is available to us. Can it be frustrating? Oh yeah. Sometimes you got a give a little to get a little though. Dealing in absolutes can be very disappointing.
 
#331
smogg said:
Finding the ideal project can literally take a life time. Believe me I know. You have to work with the talent pool available to you. It is what it is and all we can do is try to make the best of what is available to us.
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Or join the dark side. We don't need bandmates, get to play all the Rihanna we want, and can even play every Martin Garrix song at once.
 
#332
To come back to this debate- I remember my old band spent all this time trying to get two "New" songs down a couple of years ago- These songs were "Bad Girlfriend" and "Porn Star Dancing"-
Guess what?
Nobody remembers or wants to hear EITHER of these songs now.
We wasted HOURS trying to get these two songs to sound right (the second one has all kinds of stupid studio effects on it) the first is a rip-off of EVERY cult song ever.
What a waste.
 
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#333
obimark said:
To come back to this debate- I remember my old band spent all this time trying to get two "New" songs down a couple of years ago- These songs were "Bad Girlfriend" and "Porn Star Dancing"-
Guess what?
Nobody remembers or wants to hear EITHER of these songs now.
We wasted HOURS trying to get these two songs to sound right (the second one has all kinds of stupid studio effects on it) the first is a rip-off of EVERY cult song ever.
What a waste.
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I have an issue with bandmates who insist on doing obscure stuff. I just don't dig it. And it's less acceptable in my genre and demographic (R&B, Soul, Motown and Funk and some Pop stuff). I know this is not what the thread is about though. I'm also one of those older (55) guys who have no issue playing newer material.......if it's good material. Gotta be Top40 and danceable.
 
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#334
The set has to rotate quickly, to be sure...and that does mean he bandmates have to have the talent to grasp a passable delivery quickly. Currently I'm working with a guitarist who is struggling hard with "Rolling In The Deep", which exposes two problems: 1-still pushing a pop tune thats getting long in the tooth ( not that it doesnt have value with our audience) and 2- a guitarist who hasnt ventured out of his chosen genre (blues) enough to know how to approach the variations on the theme necessary to keep the song interesting past the first chorus.

It rarely takes, but if a guitarist keeps talking about Hendrix and Clapton and Santana all the time then I try to push them to temper it with some Nile Rodgers and Jamie West-Oram.
 
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#336
DWBass said:
I have an issue with bandmates who insist on doing obscure stuff. I just don't dig it. And it's less acceptable in my genre and demographic (R&B, Soul, Motown and Funk and some Pop stuff). I know this is not what the thread is about though. I'm also one of those older (55) guys who have no issue playing newer material.......if it's good material. Gotta be Top40 and danceable.
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There it is again. I believe you have touched on this before. "Know your demographic" should be #1 of the 10 commandments of live music. In my area live rock is still very much alive. But the younger crowd (say 25 to 40) doesn't have much interest in the old standards. They will get up and sing along to and dance to the more modern bands.

IMHO an open mind and a good work ethic can go a long way to keep a live band gigging (even if we are a bit older now) :)

So back to the OP I agree that the set list should be and needs to be ever evolving. Stagnation is a dead end.
 
#337
Avvie, we get it ...... your all about the new s**t, well I got news for ya pally, Its all about the energy and execution, doesnt have a damn thing to do with what decade the song comes from. If you have a lame drummer and the rest of the band is a bunch of shoe gazers or legends in there own minds this becomes painfully obvoius to your audience. People want to be entertained, they want a show, so long as you make the attempt to blow the roof off the joint and are competent musically, people will respond regardless of the genre or date of the tune your playin. Trust me, Ive been doin this a long long time.
 
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