Covers bands - how do you agree on new songs?

[Conan]

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1481631993' post='3193851']So, bass players in covers bands: is it important to you to have some influence over new additions to your setlist (in order to have your tastes reflected in what your band plays) or are you happy to play what you're told to play (whether you like the song or not) just for the pleasure of being in a band?
[/quote]

Depends on the band, and depends on the songs! There are some songs that I have really groaned at when they were suggested, but after learning them and playing them a few times I have grown to like them.

The acid test is, of course, are they popular with audiences. Not necessarily ALL audiences, as crowds vary and you can always keep some songs for, say, beer festivals, weddings or biker parties

It's usually fairly obvious if a song is not going to work for a particular band, but sometimes a song that works well at rehearsal just doesn't go down well. The reasons are not always clear!

There are very few songs that I would refuse, point blank, to play. And if I did, it would usually be because I thought them inappropriate for the band rather than any personal preference.

[blue]

I'm happy to play what the BL wants.

I have no interest in suggesting new songs or material to my band. I'm not a good judge of what songs will work.

Plus you really have to have a decent size and engaged crowd to get a true idea on what material works.

I don't know how you know if you have a winner, but over here if the dance floor is full and the barmaids are dancing in top of the bar you have made a good choice.

Blue

Edited December 16, 2016 by blue

[blue]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1481643337' post='3193962']


There are very few songs that I would refuse, point blank, to play. And if I did, it would usually be because I thought them inappropriate for the band rather than any personal preference.
[/quote]

Agreed,however songs I thought would be inappropriate for my band have turned out to be huge crowd pleasers. It's why I keep my mouth shut regarding song choice.

I'm getting paid to play bass and sing in a rock & roll band. I like getting paid. I'm in no position to refuse to play anything.Bands with work are far and few in-between in my neck of the woods.

I try to make all songs fun to play in one way or the other.

Blue

Edited December 15, 2016 by blue

[Dropzone]

I suggest a song whilst it is pretty current, Singer says I'm not doing that it is crap, Singer chooses own song which we do, two years later singer suggests song I suggested two years ago as a brilliant tune and why didn't we do it sooner!!! Sadly a true story.

[Monkey Steve]

I've only ever been in two cover bands - one worked really well for song choice, one didn't. And this reflected how well the band got on with each other and how long they lasted.

The one that worked was because we all behaved like grown ups - we could all suggest songs and we'd discuss whether they fitted the set (not whether we personally liked them), we'd then learn them, try them out live and see what the audience thought. The drummer had a list of several songs that he absolutely hated but wouldn't dream of not playing because the always went down well with the audience.

It also worked because we had twice as many songs than we could fit into a gig, and always took it in turns to write the set lists - if you didn't like something on this week's set or were missing your favourites it didn't matter because you'd be writing the set list next week and could change it. We've never officially split up, just moved on (and in practice moved to different parts of the country), but we've remained really good mates and given any excuse we'd play a gig tomorrow.

the one that didn't work was all down to the lead guitarist behaving like a spoilt child, arguing that only his suggestions were songs that the audience would know or like, refusing to learn songs that he didn't personally like, and when made to concede that he would have to learn it because the rest of us insisted, would never quite get round to learning it well enough to play live. We tried everything to make it a more democratic, inclusive process - everybody took it in turns to choose the next song, lists that had to be learned in full before we could move on, whatever we could think of, none of it worked. So that band didn't last very long, and none of the rest of us will ever play with the lead guitarist again.

In summary, don't be a dick and let everybody have a say.

Edited December 15, 2016 by Monkey Steve

[Ghost_Bass]

Final word allways goes to the singer as he needs to be comfortable to sing it. We all chip in with ideas, we all can veto a song if somebody hates it. We try to sugest songs that work in the set list and are well known to punters and fit our style. No fights over songs, it's easy to find a song that everybody likes and the singer can sing after a handfull of sugestions.
Worst thing you can do is try to impose any song to someone that doesn't want to play it, it will sound bad, very bad, every single time...

[BrunoBass]

Some of our song choices are too obscure I think; the majority of our pub audience won't know Buckcherry or Temperance Movement. Yes they're cool songs and I enjoy playing them but they are not exactly crowdpleasers. There's a bit of an intra-band difference of opinion on this issue.

[Nicko]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1481788588' post='3195085']
Agreed,however songs I thought would be inappropriate for my band have turned out to be huge crowd pleasers. It's why I keep my mouth shut regarding song choice.

I'm getting paid to play bass and sing in a rock & roll band. I like getting paid. I'm in no position to refuse to play anything.Bands with work are far and few in-between in my neck of the woods.

I try to make all songs fun to play in one way or the other.

Blue
[/quote]

I kinda get this but surely there are some limits. There are songs that I play which I dislike intensely (Rocks by Primal Scream for example), and ones which lack any interest as a bass player but I put up with these. Personally I can't stand anythig by Bryan Adams and the band knew this when I joined. Similarly the guitarist in the band can't stand U2. Why given this knowledge would anyone suggest songs by these artists when there is so much other material we could cover?

[mikel]

There are 5 of us in the band and If one is not happy doing a song then we dont do it. We are semi pro, we dont have to do it to earn a living so why play something you hate?

We all nominate new songs, usually a youtube version of a song that we like the style and arrangement of and ask the others to have a listen. If we all agree its worth a try we agree a key and learn our parts as per the youtube video. At the first rehearsal If it sounds good we go with it and probably tweak the arrangement to suit our style. If one of us thinks its wont work we bin it. Democracy, dont you love it?