Groundhog Day set lists...

[Rich]

I was going to respond to this -- especially after being told not to say another word -- but I've realised life is too short. So there you go, the last word on the subject was yours. Hope it makes you happy.
Many years ago I was in a blues rock trio and we played a lot of pubs etc. Our set consisted of all the sort of stuff you'd expect from a blues rock trio -- lots of Hendrix, some Gary Moore, early ZZ, some Rory & SRV. We surprised people with a Dream Theater tune and Comfortably Numb, but aside from that it was standard fare. We didn't mind, and neither did the punters.

[Roger2611]

We just introduced Back of My Hand by the Jags into our set, probably quite a left field song but it goes down a storm....I am pleased because I actually like the song as well....hopefully this has not offended anyone

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1437508487' post='2826695']
We just introduced Back of My Hand by the Jags into our set, probably quite a left field song but it goes down a storm....I am pleased because I actually like the song as well....hopefully this has not offended anyone
[/quote]great song, I think I'll suggest it to my lot, I suppose I'm in a good position where, I don't dislike any of the covers we do, I have vetoed one or two in the past, as have the others

[jonnythenotes]

And that's how two or three individuals derail a really good thread, and turn it into a mud slinging contest... Nice one chaps...

[Rich]

[quote name='Roger2611' timestamp='1437508487' post='2826695']
We just introduced Back of My Hand by the Jags into our set, probably quite a left field song but it goes down a storm....I am pleased because I actually like the song as well....hopefully this has not offended anyone
[/quote]
Excellent I love that. And yes, very unusual, never heard anyone cover it before.

[KevB]

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1437509307' post='2826701']
great song, I think I'll suggest it to my lot, I suppose I'm in a good position where, I don't dislike any of the covers we do, I have vetoed one or two in the past, as have the others
[/quote]
But if you do and it goes down well you know there'll be someone in another band at the gig who'll recommend it to his mates and so on so it'll get all popular and everyone will be playing it and then we'll all have to stop playing it.

Edited July 21, 2015 by KevB

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='KevB' timestamp='1437510301' post='2826719']
But if you do and it goes down well you know there'll be someone in another band at the gig who'll recommend it to his mates and so on so it'll get all popular and everyone will be playing it and then we'll all have to stop playing it.
[/quote]Know what you mean, there's another band in our area that does an awful lot of our punky covers, even Nellie the Elephant, not sure who did them first but we certainly didn't copy from them, They get better gigs than us as well

[Cato]

[quote name='Meddle' timestamp='1437511814' post='2826738']
I thought this thread was about the Groundhogs...

I briefly considered auditioning for a wedding band gig, but those identi-knit set lists put me off. On top of that, I've only ever heard people covering Mustang Sally. I've only heard the original on the two occasions or so that I've decided to listen to it. I never hear it when I'm out and about. Is it a myth propagated by cover bands? Is it really such an in demand song?
[/quote]

I don't think Mustang Sally was that famous in this country until it featured in the film The Commitments.

When I was at uni in the early 90s & for a good few years afterwards if you saw a band in a pub or club the chances are that at least a part of their set would be dedicated to playing soul classics from the soundtrack of that film.

My theory is that whilst you don't hear most of those songs as much these days, somehow,at some point Mustang Sally passed into the national subconsciousness as a song you expect to hear if you go to see a pub/club/functions band & stayed there.

[The Admiral]

I saw a great band last week - first two numbers : Cinnamon Girl by Neil Young and Vertigo by U2. The place was hopping from the start. They also did Purple rain by Prince as a slow blues, which gave the guitarist a great opportunity to wig out - and he was very, very good. I'm trying to remember the balance of the set list - it definitely had some INXS and Alanis Morrisette. They definitely did Fortunate Son, and Back in the USSR, going into a great version of Live and let die. Really nice to hear something different

[spectoremg]

[quote name='The Admiral' timestamp='1437513053' post='2826749']
I saw a great band last week - first two numbers : Cinnamon Girl by Neil Young and Vertigo by U2. The place was hopping from the start. They also did Purple rain by Prince as a slow blues, which gave the guitarist a great opportunity to wig out - and he was very, very good. I'm trying to remember the balance of the set list - it definitely had some INXS and Alanis Morrisette. They definitely did Fortunate Son, and Back in the USSR, going into a great version of Live and let die. Really nice to hear something different
[/quote]Sounds like a damn good set list.

[ead]

[quote name='jonnythenotes' timestamp='1437510006' post='2826715']
And that's how two or three individuals derail a really good thread, and turn it into a mud slinging contest... Nice one chaps...
[/quote]

+1

I thought I was on the wrong forum for a while.

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1437515067' post='2826769']
+1

I thought I was on the wrong forum for a while.
[/quote]best way to deal with trolls is to ignore them or agree with them, they're just looking for an argument

[ubit]

[quote name='PaulWarning' timestamp='1437511293' post='2826730']
Know what you mean, there's another band in our area that does an awful lot of our punky covers, even Nellie the Elephant, not sure who did them first but we certainly didn't copy from them, They get better gigs than us as well
[/quote]

Same thing happens to us. I've seen me come up with a really good suggestion that's maybe obscure enough that no other local band has thought of. We try it out and out guitarist posts it on Facebook with " homework, here's our new song" I get really annoyed because we are " friends " with a guy from another band, who is guilty of thinking, " that's a great idea" and they end up doing it. I like variety in bands. Ok, some standards will clash but there's got to be a difference in cover bands set lists!

[Rich]

And I bet they gig it first so you end up looking like the copycats, right?

[ubit]

[quote name='Rich' timestamp='1437547147' post='2826848']
And I bet they gig it first so you end up looking like the copycats, right?
[/quote]

It has happened. Look, I know we are playing covers and have no right to these songs, but it used to be an unwritten rule round here that you didn't play the same material, but this new band just don't care. They undercut too. Harrumph!!!!

[CHW]

Re Mustang Sally

Alongside my band stuff I also play for my local tennis club. At our NYE do I was asked to bring along a guitar and mic and do a quick spot. After doing an old blues song and a Johnny Cash number I got asked for Mustang Sally. Instantly I had a dance floor full of people, and 3 of the female members doing their best Commitmentettes "Roid, Sally Roid" BV behind me.

People just like it

[tauzero]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1437492462' post='2826502']
And, tauzero, re: dancing to 7:4; there are more ways to enjoy a gig than dancing and I suspect (although I have no evidence for this) that, overall, more people DON'T dance at gigs than do. There are also other varables. Having done many wedding/party gigs with the same band, I am often amazed at the way in which the same songs/set can get everyone dancing at one gig and hardly anyone dancing at the next.
[/quote]

I think you should go back and re-read what I wrote. I said that it was entertaining watching people attempting to linedance to 7/4. How you read anything further into that is beyond my comprehension. I quite agree with you (well, somebody has to) that more people don't dance than do.

[tauzero]

[quote name='CHW' timestamp='1437558171' post='2826965']
Re Mustang Sally

Alongside my band stuff I also play for my local tennis club. At our NYE do I was asked to bring along a guitar and mic and do a quick spot. After doing an old blues song and a Johnny Cash number I got asked for Mustang Sally. Instantly I had a dance floor full of people, and 3 of the female members doing their best Commitmentettes "Roid, Sally Roid" BV behind me.

People just like it
[/quote]

Of the last four bands (three rock covers, one social club):

Sex on fire - all four bands
Sweet Home Alabama - all three rock covers
Dakota - all three rock covers
Mustang Sally - one rock covers, social club
All Right Now - one rock covers (the current one, and I'm not that fond of the song)

So perhaps Mustang Sally isn't as overplayed as it's made out to be.

[cheddatom]

[quote name='pjb13.bass' timestamp='1437493610' post='2826519']
So we can all stop playing Mustang Sally, Brown Eyed Girl, Summertime , Autumn Leaves etc and still get regular work?...
[/quote]

Yes, if you can entertain a room full of people, and you charge within the current market rate

what I'm saying is that it's possible to entertain a room full of people, and please a landlord, without playing the same old covers

[crez5150]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1437563594' post='2827031']

Yes, if you can entertain a room full of people, and you charge within the current market rate

what I'm saying is that it's possible to entertain a room full of people, and please a landlord, without playing the same old covers
[/quote]

This!

[Bilbo]

It's all got a bit surreal.

[cheddatom]

much like the constant rotation of music in pubs and on radio2

[Rich]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1437565804' post='2827069']
much like the constant rotation of music in pubs and on radio2
[/quote]
Many years ago when I left school, my first job was in a pharmaceutical warehouse in Reading. We had the radio on while we worked, and it was tuned to the local independent radio station (Radio 210, as it was then known). I don't know if they were skint or what, but it seemed to me that they had about a dozen records on constant rotation, and you could guarantee hearing them all at least 7 or 8 times a day. I can't remember them all, but some standout ones were 'Wrap Your Arms Around Me' by Agnetha Fältskog, 'Busy Doing Nothing' by [font=Arial]Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin[/font], and 'Give It Up' by KC and the Sunshine Band.
To this day, I cannot stand hearing any of them.

[chris_b]

The original Mustang Sally is a great number recorded by the fantastic Fame gang session players, including Tommy Cogbill on bass.

The only problem with this number is that it's usually played very badly. So play it properly and it becomes one of the best grooves around. . . . which is why it's so popular with audiences.

[chris_b]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1437563594' post='2827031']
it's possible to entertain a room full of people, and please a landlord, without playing the same old covers
[/quote]

You'd think/hope so, wouldn't you.

A few years ago I was gigging a guitarist's new album of original songs. On the first gig and after a reasonably successful first set he came back stage and said, We're playing the usual set next. They've been asking for some numbers they know!

Like it or not, audiences do not think like musicians. That's why the list of the most popular songs is made up the way it is.

I play popular and obscure songs, originals and covers and we get compliments because we don't always play the obvious songs, but there is no difference between any of these songs if the audience doesn't like or react to what you are playing.