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VETO POWER
- Thread starter LYNCHMAN
- Start date
Sorry, but you must not have gotten the memo.
We VETOed your use of that name.
If you could change your band name, that'd be great.
vitOWNED
Yeah, that was me for about a year. But in my defense, they were picking songs off of "that" list. Songs that I'd worn out when they were new, that they were referring to as "low hanging fruit" and then not putting any effort into learning the song and the few parts that made it interesting. Instead doing completely amateur versions based on whatever they could get off of listening to it in the car on the way to rehearsal that night. I finally told them that I realized I was being difficult and that if they would give me a list of songs they wanted to learn, I would learn them and perform them with a smile. We have learned precisely ZERO songs since then. And for those of you keeping track at home; out of the three requirements, it's the hang and the money. I've started looking for another situation to get the mental stimulation, challenge and desire to actually improve my skills.
Lots of RVA in the thread! Yo from right up I-64!
I guess every band I play in is different. In one there is a group discussion, but we've only had two or three vetos. Helps that 3 people can sing lead so usually one of them is game. In another band the sole lead singer is pretty much a benvolent dictator. But he's very talented and pretty benevolent. Usually the drummer is the issue there, but he forgets what he vetoed and stuff has a way of working out. Most of the time.
I just started a blues project that is doing some bluesy funk and soul jazz, we each picked a bunch of tunes and the singer has been totally game to sing any of it. We're absolutely not going for note-for-note so we transpose and he'll sing an octave down, whatever works.
I guess every band I play in is different. In one there is a group discussion, but we've only had two or three vetos. Helps that 3 people can sing lead so usually one of them is game. In another band the sole lead singer is pretty much a benvolent dictator. But he's very talented and pretty benevolent. Usually the drummer is the issue there, but he forgets what he vetoed and stuff has a way of working out. Most of the time.
I just started a blues project that is doing some bluesy funk and soul jazz, we each picked a bunch of tunes and the singer has been totally game to sing any of it. We're absolutely not going for note-for-note so we transpose and he'll sing an octave down, whatever works.
The only problem is you are constantly having to change up for whoever is running things ATM.
Unless you have a written policy you follow and you swap up who gets to be the a-hole and enforce the policy when someone else feels like bucking it, it's a revolving door of who does what.
I've never done a revolving BL thing but I've done a democracy and a BL situation and the democracy thing is cool if everyone is on the same page, but if you have someone with their nose out of joint they can make a democracy hell for everyone else.
I much prefer the BL thing even if it's just a band member assigned the task of splitting the labor and cracking the whip when needed, but my favorite situation is a pro BL who hires and fires and hands me a setlist and expects me to have it down next time we get together. They take care of all the booking, promoting, hiring/firing, etc. They may ask for an opinion but the final say is all theirs. They have always been the lowest pressure, easiest most fun bands I've been in. The thing that makes it so good (at least for me) is if someone starts showing their ass they are soon replaced with a better attitude and the BS is history and the band just continues to chug along with minimum drama. You show up on time, scrubbed and presentable, with your part(s) down cold and you work for a few hours and get paid. You don't have to like everyone, just approach it like any other job, cop a professional attitude and get on with it.
What's not to like?
No BL in one of my groups. It works only because everyone is pretty mature. We do the veto thing when we're looking at new songs. as a matter a fact 867-5309 was just recommended... I cringed a little... but one of our guitars said he hated the song, but had never played it.
he earned points from me for escaping that one for his entire life.
As for dumping songs we've been doing, this is one of my sore spots. There's nothing worse with a new group than having a folder full of deleted song charts that's bigger than the active file. Be smart up front and you won't waste time learning songs that'll be dumped.
he earned points from me for escaping that one for his entire life.
As for dumping songs we've been doing, this is one of my sore spots. There's nothing worse with a new group than having a folder full of deleted song charts that's bigger than the active file. Be smart up front and you won't waste time learning songs that'll be dumped.
Blasphemy! Every singer should have to sing "My Best Friend's Girl."
The audience should be the ones with Veto power. If a song gets no response at all, drop it.
bands rarely work without a leader. The best bands work when there is a benevolent dictator - someone who takes charge, makes decisions, but consults with the rest of the band before they do and does what's in the best interests of the band not just themselves. pure democracies in bands rarely work for very long.
most musicians have large egos. Everyone has opinions. A band can break down if everyone has veto power.
In one band I'm a hired gun so the boss says play this and I do. Even Madonna.
My primary band we're pretty much all adults and anyone can veto. It works pretty well although there are some vetoed songs I'd love to do. We also have playlist tunes that got shelved because the person singing was tired of it or had issues with it. We have a huge list of songs we play and used to play. Some we've just forgotten we do.
Now and then I try and dust one off and put it back in
My primary band we're pretty much all adults and anyone can veto. It works pretty well although there are some vetoed songs I'd love to do. We also have playlist tunes that got shelved because the person singing was tired of it or had issues with it. We have a huge list of songs we play and used to play. Some we've just forgotten we do.
Now and then I try and dust one off and put it back in
It's great if it works in your band, but I know it wouldn't work in mine. There's 8 of us, different age groups, different musical backgrounds, etc. If every band member had veto rights, we probably wouldn't play anything. There's been only a few cases (I can think of 2 in 3 years) that were extreme enough for several band members to object, and the bandleader was sensible enough to put that particular song aside. Otherwise, it's understood that every now and then, you have to "take one for the team".
When I was a 'band member' this was always the way these things were done.
I continue to do it this way.
Not so when doing weddings( does NOT happen often anymore); When weddings are done, the client decides what music is played. Noone vetos that.
We all have tunes that we hate to play...but in the end, its about what the crowd wants to hear. I can think of many songs that I'd just assume never play again, and yet, they still go over every time...so I play the hell out of those tunes, just like the ones I love! I am just happy to be there...we're entertainers, lets entertain those who showed up!
We have that. There's five of us and anyone can say no way to a song. We do have a BL and he vetoes the most songs, but that's expected because he has to sing them and make them sound well. I probably use it the second most because I'm the only one in the band that doesn't like the beatles, but I don't veto every single beatles song, either. If someone was using it to veto every song or even using it way too much that's definitely a sign that they should be in a different band. It's worked well and if someone says really no way then that's it. We have a little over 100 songs in our master list to pick from when making setlists, but I could see it being a problem if you had more than five or six people that you have to accommodate.
The veto was a pretty problematic device in the Roman senate, and even they had limitations on it. My band doesn't operate that way, but I don't really know how cover bands work so my experience might not apply.
My thought is that anyone being allowed to completely shut down anything at any time limits the potential for more moderate suggestion and discussion between members.
My thought is that anyone being allowed to completely shut down anything at any time limits the potential for more moderate suggestion and discussion between members.
