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Were not following the set list!

wcnewby

wcnewby

Guest
Feb 23, 2012
275
28
St. Germain Wisconsin
#1
It seems the only reason we have a set list is so that we can agree that we aren't following it. I understand why we do this, you have to gauge the crowd, or lack of it, and make choices... save songs for their time. Our front man chooses the songs, and does a damn fine job of it.

I'm guessing this happens to everyone, and am wondering if anyone has come up with an evolved set list. I'm thinking like an eraser board with all our songs on it in permanent marker, then you make a line through the songs that have been done(with erasable marker). New gig, wipe all the lines off and start over.

What have others tried (assuming we aren't weird)
 
#3
My regular band never uses a set list unless we're doing a short opening set. That way, we're not married to doing a song we know is going to flop. I say just go with it, and worry about it when there's a problem with audience reaction.
 
#8
We don't follow a set list in anyway..... and sometimes its awesome.....and sometimes it pisses me off to no end.

I can not STAND staring at each other and saying...."what's next? ".
Dead air sucks. We have too much.

This past Friday night though it was good because half way through our second set, we played "time" by pink Floyd......really rocked it.... and it was as if we shot someone. Took three songs to get the crowd back on our side!
Note to self: only dance rock and country at that bar from now on! Lol.
 
#10
We have dead air too, and drummer comes up with stuff. What happens is that we don't follow the list, for good reasons, but then he looses track of which songs we have and haven't done, or miss songs we wanted to do.... He sings and plays rhythm guitar, and has his hands full. This would help him keep track.
 
#12
Fugazi never used a set list. Rocket From The Crypt used to have a big wheel on stage with their songs listed and they would let the audience give it a spin to determine the next song to be played.

I'm in an originals band and we make a 12-15 song set list ahead of time. We have minimal down time between songs and sometimes piggyback 2 or 3 songs at a time. Like Floyd Eye said, it's a show that we rehearse.
 
#13
My band has found the secret to following the set list...segues. Most of our segues are three to four songs, some longer. Our last set is generally the loosest and based on crowd reaction; we often work it out between sets. Seems to work, last night was the forth gig in a row in which the owner/manager gave us more than we agreed upon, and we've got gigs lined up through next November. IMO, we're good, not great, but we are good at planning and sticking to it. We keep people dancing and the bar busy. My previous band consisted of great musicians, but there was too much empty space between songs (a lot of tuning and song discussion) and the result was a decrease in energy level. There's a lot of truth in the saying that failure to plan is planning to fail.
 
#14
Our drummer calls out the songs that that's what we do.....when we're not being very proactive. But we really don't have a set list anymore......it's more of "this is how we always do it". That can bite you in the rear though, so you have to know when to change things.
 
#15
Some people aren't as smart as TwoFingers and can't remember what they played in the first set by the middle of the 2nd set. I say do what ya gotta do to cut the dead air.

Variant on the whiteboard idea, number off your tunes alphabetically and make a list with numbers instead.

You probably need more dance tunes. Once you have brackets of dancing tunes that run well together it's easier to get a flow on.
 
#16
We always have setlists, but we don't stick to them religiously. The bandleader might call something else that's further down the list, or just leave the next one out, after judging the crowd. I think it's a good way to do it. We're in no way stuck to the list, it's just all the songs we plan on playing, in a good, solid working order, but is open to change. Plus, for some of the songs I need some notes about different parts written down, so a piece of paper of some kind is a must, for me at least.
 
#17
Custom set lists for every gig.

Minimal or zero down time between tunes.... its not a concert, it you're working a dance club or bar, you don't want to loose the dance floor mo-men-tum fumbliing around.... might be the last time you play the venue. The top bands in our area move right through their sets.... likely some even have set long click tracks IMHO. (I hate key tracks).
 
#18
Spent said:
My band has found the secret to following the set list...segues. Most of our segues are three to four songs, some longer. Our last set is generally the loosest and based on crowd reaction; we often work it out between sets. Seems to work, last night was the forth gig in a row in which the owner/manager gave us more than we agreed upon, and we've got gigs lined up through next November. ...
Click to expand...

I was in an originals band that did lots of segues. We sometimes took it a little too far though. I remember one particular gig where the whole show was three segues. We didn't stop except to take a break between sets. It turned out to be a really good show and the audience loved us. Unfortunately, the bar owner didn't like it at all because people weren't drinking enough - they spent all their time dancing. He asked us not to do that again.
 

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