Help! "Cleveland Rocks" as opener at HOB CLEVELAND for benefit show?

[undercool]

We are in a HUGE disagreement on this.

The band is split.  One's personal dislike for the song is factoring in, as is another's connection to time and effort put into an arrangement.

We are playing at HOB in a few weeks - covers - for a beneif show.  Benefits a local hospital (where we work).  Crowd loves us.  All Clevelanders. 

Seems like the song would be a perfect start.  We're in CLE, we're with people FROM CLE... people know the osng.   So...thoughts?  Is it too cheesy?  Song sucks and we're to CLE-brainwashed to know it?

(rest of the setlist is all danceable rock and old school rap.  This fits right in.)

[sweatpat]

I think the song is cool...I guess the question is, can you convince the other dudes? Is it worth the effort to you?

 

[n9ne]

 

I wouldn't have a problem with it.  Cheezy and schmaltzy.....sure.   Pandering to the crowd?   Absolutely.   But if done well, I think it would work.

That being said....I think it would be much better as a closer than as an opener.   IMO, opening with that song almost comes across as a bit needy....kinda like you're desperately seeking the crowd's approval from the get-go.   I think it would be more effective as a closing number.   Use the rest of your set to set the tone, then finish it off with a bang that the crowd can remember you by.

 

I would also caution you against opening with a crowd-pleaser like that.   Even if we assume it goes over....is the rest of your material strong enough to follow it?   Or is it going to be the one crowd-pleaser followed by 45 minutes of average material?    Because if that's the case, then by the time  you're done, most the crowd will have forgotten what the opening number was.

Plus, depending on the venue and timeframe, it's quite possible that you won't have much of a crowd  when you first start playing.  I've played a bunch of places where you'd begin playing the first set to a nearly-empty room...but by the end of the set, the room had filled up and there was a pretty good crowd.  It would suck being in a situation like that knowing that you'd already played your strongest stuff before anyone was there to appreciate it.

[undercool]

Thanks n9ne.  You helped my thought process on this one.

We'll be the third and final band playing, so we'll have a good crowd.

Really hadn't thought about using it as a closer instead of an opener.  We wanted to end with some "togetherness" feeling for the crowd, and everyone yelling "Cleveland Rocks" sounds like a really good way to do it. 

Shameless cheesy schmaltzy pandering... thats actually why I started playing in this band anyway.  

thanks.