Members steve mac Posted September 17, 2015 Members Share Posted September 17, 2015 i have had a thought (always dangerous) that it would be a good idea to be able to go to a venue booker with an idea for a themed evening, so I would provide the entertainment around that theme and they would be able to provide that theme drink and food specials, as well as decorations and give aways. Most of us do Christmas, Valentine's night and Paddys night which are natural special set nights. But my crowds love the idea of dressing up and getting involved. Therefore I have started putting together appropriate set lists, which has meant learning quite a few new songs and re learning others. So far I have a Beatles Set, a Christmas set ( which I thought would be funny to do mid summer), an Irish set (this is taking the longest so far as I only had one in my repertoire) and a country set. Of course together with the music I will have to work out my outfit (this wil mainly be a change of hat!) Anyhow, in the interest of keeping posts coming in here, I thought I would just inform (bore) you all with what I am upto. Maybe someone could come up with other ideas for themes. But please consider that the tunes have to be playable by a solo guitarist (with a bit of harmonica thrown in)) and the bar has to be able to easily be able to decorate the place and offer themed food and drinks etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted September 18, 2015 Members Share Posted September 18, 2015 I've got a friend that just got back from a multi country tour of Europe. He was saying that there were a lot of interesting ways musicians were finding work there, including the whole cabaret thing. Themed evenings would seem to be another way. How about a Jimmy Buffet, tacky shirt and tropical drink evening. Maybe combine it with some other Island tunes if a night of Buffet was too much. Maybe a British pub night with sing along tunes (printed out) like Knees Up Mother Brown. Way back when, there was an entertainer that had a house gig here in Vancouver at Expo 86 (I said it was way back). I think his name was Bobby London. His repertoire was all of the old pub songs, sprinkled with some corny jokes and funny hats. Worked for the old and young crowd. Bangers and mash, bubble and squeak and so on, for the food. A Fab Four evening complete with some ill fitting Beatles wigs is another one. You could even just pick an era like the sixties, and let the paisley and brown rice fly. On second thought the fifties with burgers fries and Budweiser sounds more appealing. Good luck to you. I might try looking into themed evenings myself, if I can come up with something that appeals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted September 19, 2015 Members Share Posted September 19, 2015 I'll do era themes -- 30s, 20s, whatever. Recently played for a fashion show of prohibition-era clothing using only music from before repeal. I also have a Christmas book. Diane and I have done war-era themes around Remembrance Day. But… These things can only work if the venue buys into it and keeps things honest. This year's prohibition event had me, playing an era-appropriate set between two bands playing pretty much whatever with a sprinkling of standards. The people who care about this stuff (and who started the event three years ago) have been elbowed out by the venue and it's really just entertainment as usual. And they're not very happy about it. I doubt it will return next year, which is a pity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted September 19, 2015 Moderators Share Posted September 19, 2015 Ska night...you will need to burn something that smells like sacramental ganga though... R&B night...Motown, Watts/Staxx...big afro wig maybe...platform two tone shoes... Madonna night...wear a sequined pointy bra.... Blues night...show up late, too drunk to play...then just mumble for an hour or two while you play an E7 chord.... Thelonius Monk night...pork pie hat and esoteric jazz....... Woodstock night...have the bar manager make people line up to use the restrooms while you play too loud... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted September 19, 2015 Moderators Share Posted September 19, 2015 Pink Floyd night...you will have to remove all the bass tracks halfway through the show.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted September 19, 2015 Members Share Posted September 19, 2015 pork pie hat beret tea cozy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members senorblues Posted September 19, 2015 Members Share Posted September 19, 2015 I'm back . . . finally making some progress on getting the solo act together. The last time I did a themed night was Cinco de Mayo. We worked up a set but saved it until we realized most people were leaving. Sunday night - DOH! Seems to me that this sort of thing rarely make sense from a ROI point of view unless you can play most of the songs more than once a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve mac Posted September 19, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2015 ^^ I think the thing is, you can perform these themes a few times over the season, that's sort of the point. It will also enable you to get more "return" from say the songs you learn for St Patrick's day, which is a huge earner. Plus all of the songs except perhaps the Christmas ones can be used in ones usual mixed sets. I always put myself in the bar owners perspective. Now baring in mind that my performing area has almost exclusively "non themed " bars, anything that would differentiate a bar will certainly pack it. They will be able to sell premium markup drinks ie "Mersey Margarita" or a "Liverpool Lemondrop" for a Beatles theme. To say nothing of an easy set themed menu. Great to see you back Seniorblues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pogo97 Posted September 19, 2015 Members Share Posted September 19, 2015 Seems to me that this sort of thing rarely make sense from a ROI point of view unless you can play most of the songs more than once a year. I'd agree with that. I can do era themes because I basically play old songs. Christmas songs, less so, but I've already got that done, so it's small potatoes to haul it up for a few gigs a year. On the other hand, my then-partner and I did a couple of remembrance day gigs and I researched and learned several dozen WWI specific songs that I would not have otherwise added to my songlist. Spend dozens of hours listening and practising. Then, in order to enhance the product, my partner hired a drummer to sit in (for the swing dance fans) and a young guy to read sections from "Billy Bishop Goes to War" and a bagpiper ffs. And at the end of the gig my partner and I each made $75. If any single event was the beginning of the end of our partnership, that was it. And on the other other hand, I make my most consistent money from playing pipe organ at funerals -- that count as a theme? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members senorblues Posted September 21, 2015 Members Share Posted September 21, 2015 Despite my reluctance to learn a boatload of tunes that I won't be able to play on a regular basis, I'm interested in this idea. At the most basic level, you have a style of music and at least a dozen songs that exemplify that style. Do you play them all back to back in one set to highlight them, or do you intersperse them with a variety of other songs throughout the night? If you want to highlight your signature songs, is that something that the venue can bank on, even though it's just one set, rather than the whole night? I guess a lot of it depends on how often you play at one place. If you play a lot of different places, then you might as well make every gig a special event, but if you're at a venue monthly or even weekly, then you're looking at an evening that will be promoted as a departure from what you usually do. If you can repeat that special night a couple times a year, great, but for a blue-eyed soul guy, I can't see learning a night or even a set worth of Irish songs regardless of how popular that annual celebration is. (They don't pay you extra to learn those songs, even though they expect a very good ring, right?). Let them hire someone else for that one. Christmas is different for most of us because it's a season, not just one night. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bob Dey Posted September 23, 2015 Members Share Posted September 23, 2015 What about TV theme songs? People eat that stuff up because they know the words and can sing along. Of course it would get old too fast for a whole night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members steve mac Posted September 23, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 23, 2015 What about TV theme songs? People eat that stuff up because they know the words and can sing along. Of course it would get old too fast for a whole night The closest I come to this is my start music (comes on as the bar music ends and just before I hit the first note) is the " 54321 standby for action anything could happen in the next half hour" from Thunderbirds and my end music is The closing theme from The Beverly Hillbillies" which starts as I take my leave, but I love the idea of doing a few TV show themes. Occasionally I do "I wanna be like you" from the Jungle Book and it does go down a storm. Suggestions for others more than welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted September 24, 2015 Moderators Share Posted September 24, 2015 I do the Sanford and Son theme [the streetbeater by Quincy Jones] solo, took a while to work it out, but it is fun...and people hear it and go 'yeah. what is that from...?'. Our bassist one night started on the Barney Miller theme, and just to blow his mind, I figured it out...what a great piece of music...I also can do the Green Acres, Patty Duke theme, the Flintstones, and Gilligan's Island, and have done 'Suicide is Painless'[M*A*S*H*] in other bands...I would like to learn the original Get Smart theme, too [would be cool with the looper, I think]...and the one from Taxi. I don't think an actual set would be that great, but I do intersperse these in....sometimes the old 'can you name the TV show?' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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