Should I accept a gig with a band where the set list seems trite?

[phil.c60]

Dakota raises another point. The Stereophonics vocal is (to me) rather good: he's a great performer and he really lifts the song above it's basic (very) format. How many covers bands achieve that - not many, probably, and certainly not the guy who sang when I played it last. But....to the audience, when they hear it they recall the original, and that's what's in their heads, so as long as you get somewhere close, they react exactly as if they were hearing the original and come over all emotional. Or they're just pissed.

[T-Bay]

There is no accounting for taste with a lot of people. We play don't look back in anger as it's very popular but we are dropping it when we we overhaul the set after the next round of gigs is done and we have some time. It's is just so dreary. It goes on for 4 1/2 minutes but feels like hours but again everyone in the audience seems to love it.

[arthurhenry]

Are the other people in the band great musicians with whom you enjoy playing? Playing "Trite" covers with them will be a lot more fun and rewarding than playing songs you love with poor musicians.

[arthurhenry]

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1490385676' post='3264853']
As is Dakota. Dull dull dull... but the punters seem to go crazy for it. Never been able to get why.
[/quote]
I've never understood this opinion of Dakota. Digging in hard on the 8th notes, a few octave skips on the C#, open E against the octave, the Eb/E accent turnarounds in each verse done in two octaves, fast triplets between open E and A and a few power chords in the chorus, sixteenth notes in the outro. Great fun.

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1490389382' post='3264891']
I've never understood this opinion of Dakota. Digging in hard on the 8th notes, a few octave skips on the C#, open E against the octave, the Eb/E accent turnarounds in each verse done in two octaves, fast triplets between open E and A and a few power chords in the chorus, sixteenth notes in the outro. Great fun.
[/quote]

I don't know this particular song but many of the much lambasted crowd pleasers actually have something about them that you can learn from and is rewarding, some nuance that can be appreciated, that is assuming of course that someone is prepared to pull their finger out of their arse and actually listen to and learn the song rather than busk it from memory or play it from a bare chord chart. Well almost all of them - I draw the line at rocking in the free world which really is sh*te.

Edited March 24, 2017 by bassman7755

[Woodinblack]

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1490389382' post='3264891']
I've never understood this opinion of Dakota. Digging in hard on the 8th notes, a few octave skips on the C#, open E against the octave, the Eb/E accent turnarounds in each verse done in two octaves, fast triplets between open E and A and a few power chords in the chorus, sixteenth notes in the outro. Great fun.
[/quote]

Sorry - I agree with the original point - it is one of the dullest covers, luckily most of the groups I played it with got bored of it and dropped it.

Edited March 24, 2017 by Woodinblack

[Telebass]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1490191463' post='3263073']


From a purely personal perspective, I find it is far easier to write a new song than it is to learn anything but the simplest of covers.
[/quote]
Whereas I wouldn't know where to begin writing songs...

[steve-bbb]

the biggest 'disappointment' with this type of crowd pleasing covers band scenario is sometimes the band themselves and their lack of imagination or creative input in curating their setlist

yes, there are a handful of staples which the crowd will expect

yes you could do the lazy thing of looking at band discographys on itunes/spotify etc and just pick your entire setlist from the top one or two most popular

if you want to be different maybe try and pick the tunes which everybody knows and likes but arent always at the top of the list and hence are [u]much less often covered by other covers bands[/u] - what you're aiming for is those songs where people be all like ... ooh ooh ooh i really like this iknow this one what is it what is it and get all unnecessarily excited as their memory fails them all the way up until the chorus

result you still end up playing TRITE OLD sh*te but its not the same TRITE OLD sh*te as all the other local TRITE OLD sh*te bands and the punters hopefully enjoy themselves and leave the gig with the impression of you being 'a bit different from all the other cover bands around here'

hope this helps

[Deedee]

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1490427731' post='3265026']
the biggest 'disappointment' with this type of crowd pleasing covers band scenario is sometimes the band themselves and their lack of imagination or creative input in curating their setlist

yes, there are a handful of staples which the crowd will expect

yes you could do the lazy thing of looking at band discographys on itunes/spotify etc and just pick your entire setlist from the top one or two most popular

if you want to be different maybe try and pick the tunes which everybody knows and likes but arent always at the top of the list and hence are [u]much less often covered by other covers bands[/u] - what you're aiming for is those songs where people be all like ... ooh ooh ooh i really like this iknow this one what is it what is it and get all unnecessarily excited as their memory fails them all the way up until the chorus

result you still end up playing TRITE OLD sh*te but its not the same TRITE OLD sh*te as all the other local TRITE OLD sh*te bands and the punters hopefully enjoy themselves and leave the gig with the impression of you being 'a bit different from all the other cover bands around here'

hope this helps
[/quote]

I agree. The trick is to play songs that people will know, but don't necessarily hear very often.

Edited March 25, 2017 by Deedee

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1490426944' post='3265019']
Whereas I wouldn't know where to begin writing songs...
[/quote]

It's a skill that you learn, just like the way you learnt to play the bass.

[PaulWarning]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1490437591' post='3265115']
It's a skill that you learn, just like the way you learnt to play the bass.
[/quote]and just like playing the bass, some people are a lot better than others, everybody thinks their own songs are good because you get to close to them, everybody needs a Lennon saying, that's a load of crap Paul, trouble is they tend to fall out

[lonestar]

My take on this is if playing pubs where people have gone out on a Saturday night to see a band why assume that they are such philistines that they can only accept mustang on fire, brown eyed now, honky tonk sugar etc and have any less sophisticated or eclecttic tastes in music than me or the rest of the band. As someone said earlier in this thread, with 60 years of popular music to chose from can it really be that hard to find numbers that people like to listen to, get drunk, or dance to and are fun to play. Be a little adveturous, see what works and throw out what doesn't,or is getting a bit stale and you end up with a great setlist

Edited March 25, 2017 by lonestar

[lojo]

I got back into playing in 2009 after a long break , for a few years I played all the "frowned upon" covers in bands, but I was happy just to be playing again . As time went on I got bored and over the last few years I've played in bands which tick my boxes a bit more and would be unlikely to go back to run of the mill bands unless depping to help a mate.

So it's all to do with where you are at and nothing to do with what's right or wrong imo

[lonestar]

[quote name='Deedee' timestamp='1490429216' post='3265038']


I agree. The trick is to play songs that people will know, but don't necessarily hear very often.
[/quote]

Yes

Edited March 25, 2017 by lonestar

[lonestar]

Yes

[mike257]

I'll play anything for the right paycheck, and I get a kick out of a full dancefloor so still enjoy knocking out the standards on a function gig. I really enjoy the chance to rework things a little bit though, or rock up some pop tunes.

Frustratingly this week, I was scheduled to shoot some live promo video with a bunch of lads who are brilliant players and good friends too, but for various reasons it had to be postponed. Me and the drummer tried to salvage the day by tracking him in his rehearsal space and put down drum parts for our crack at a few pop tunes - we were made up but the two guys not in attendance have protested the choice of songs and said they're not interested in doing them and want to stick to the "classic" stuff. The annoying part is that we've gone for songs that are always on the DJ playlist either side of our live sets and consistently go down a storm, so I reckon they'd work.

I'll be finishing them off with other players/singers anyway, so I'll still get some use out of it, but it's just a shame when you've got a bunch of killer players who aren't up for widening the spectrum of the set a little bit.

[MoonBassAlpha]

What are these 2 tunes, and how do they differ from the rest of the set?

[blue]

[quote name='AdamWoodBass' timestamp='1490364718' post='3264625']

I do agree though, a good funk band by their very nature should be very entertaining and have no problem filling a dancefloor. Problem is not enough bands out there willing to take the risk.
[/quote]

Headlining regional and national acts (200-250 seat venues) might do well with funk, but IMO not at the local level.

I grew up playing in East coast funk bands back in the early 70s when funk ruled.

Not so much anymore. As my youngest son once told me;

" Dad, nobody gives a rip about tight horns anymore." 😁

Blue

Edited March 25, 2017 by blue

[julesb]

I've just succeeded in persuading my bandmates into doing 'carry on my wayward son' by Kansas as a compromise to me doing some 'trite'.