For the current pop cover bands...

[mstreck]

Some members of the old guard (Full Steam, NIAB) haven't been posting very often, but I still see a lot of posts from the Trickie Dickies, Ostrich Hat, Jump Start, and Broke by Sunday. What about the rest of you that concentrate on a primarily "current" pop product? I know you're on here, but where are you located? How often are you gigging? What's your lineup/instrumentation like? Where are you on the food chain? Bars only? Weddings? Corporate events? 

Tell me everything about you so I can steal... I mean... learn from you.  Seriously, though... please make your presence known. We're all different, but I still think it's good to see what others are doing in their own context.

My band's web link is in my sig. We've been playing primarily in Delaware and on the Eastern Shore of Maryland since 2008. We have a standing Saturday night beach gig throughout the summer. Female lead vocals, lead guitarist, bass, drums. I switch back and forth between backup guitar and keys. Youngest band member is 26 and oldest (me) is 44 - very similar to our target demographic. We're definitely not a wedding band - more for people who are looking to tear loose. We've slowly transitioned away from the classic rock in favor of more current pop. Biggest challenge is keeping  our setlist current and our off-season schedule filled.

So what's your story?

[Opus Antics]

I'm in a "current pop band".  It's a relatively new project - a little over a year old.  We are in Massachusetts, and we are looking to play around Massachusetts and into Rhode Island.  Right now we are working on making a name for ourselves in the bar/club circuit.  We are gigging once a month to once every other month. 

I've had trouble getting this band off the ground for a number of reasons.  We originally started being fronted by two female lead vocalists.  Both attractive with amazing voices.  But they pretty much sang in the same range and once we started hitting our groove they started having difficulties with each other that grew to the point that we had to pick one and drop one.  That was a huge setback as all of my promo materials, photos, etc. were all based around showcasing the two women and their amazing voices.  So then we brough in a guy to be the co-lead with the other woman.  He's the best front man I've ever played with, which is why I brought him in.  But he's a classic rock kinda singer and so there has been a constant tension between him pulling for classic rock songs and the rest of the band pulling for current top 40.  He also hasn't committed to being "fully in" so I have been reluctant to spend any kind of time or money on new promo materials, etc.  And that has pretty much shut me down in my marketing efforts.  Other obstacles - venues where I had contacts and prior giggin history dried up - two of them went to all DJ formats and one of them closed.  So that's three venues I had planned on working into the rotation that are no more. 

So that has really stagnated the progress of the band and our ability to create a unique identity.  We have two singers, one bassist, one drummer, and one guitarist.  We are trying to bring in a keyboardist to really make the pop songs pop, but finding a keyboardist has been incredibly difficult - just getting people to respond to ads has been a challenge.

 

I know this band can really become something.  The bassist and drummer are the best rhythm section I've ever played with.  The vocals are excellent.  We just need some stability to move forward.

[RoadRanger]

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Opus Antics wrote:

We are trying to bring in a keyboardist to really make the pop songs pop, but finding a keyboardist has been incredibly difficult - just getting people to respond to ads has been a challenge.

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I've got a similar thing going not far from you but if you're getting out a time or two every month you're doing WAY better than us  . I'm on bass, my primary instrument and the only one I'm proficient on. As for keyboards, have you actually had a good listen to the keyboard lines in the songs you want to do? Most top40 keyboard parts are just too simple to interest a "good" player - mostly banging on chords and simple fills. As that's pretty much all I can do on keys I've been trying to find a project where I can do that and grow my skills. Anyways I'd suggest you lower your expectations and try to find someone like me who can play fills and sing backups  .

[wheresgrant3]

Well I haven't contributed much simply because we had a rocky spring with some unexpected lineup changes (I'll provide more insight regarding that in a future thread). We really got things moving along again with a new singer, drummer and guitarist in April and haven't had an opportunity to add new material since then. In fact we've only had a handful of rehearsals since April and that was to get everyone up to speed on our old stuff. So there is not that much to share on that front. 

 

I see a few bands in my area marketing themselves as 'pop' only bands. My first thought about that is 'WOW' way to marginalize your audience. Anyone over 30 is not going to hear anything they like and the feedback I hear about those bands is about that... they play to strictly a young audience. It's hard to market a band beyond core destination clubs... it's hard to attract listeners who are not into that music. I'll even argue that it's hard to build a big following given people are really there for the songs and not really for the band. In my market these bands are using mostly backing tracks for their entire show playing along to a click. Are they successful? . Not sure really... I know most are making about half of what we make and I don't hear people buzzing about them... and the ones that are being buzzed about is because of the marketing they do not because word of mouth is it's a great show. Our approach has always been to offer a little something for everyone. And while our setlist is stocked with previous chart toppers from the last 5 summers I don't see anyone leaving the show or complaining that we're not playing the new Keisha? We did add an Imagine Dragons and 'Get Lucky' recently... sbut that being said people are still going crazy for 'Party Rock Anthem, Dynamite' as well as 'Crazy Bitch', "Don't Stop Believing', Living On A Prayer..... 

 

 

 

As for ourselves we are just trying to hold our ground with some new faces and energy. We haven't heard a ton of negative feedback and the crowds seem to still accept the new lineup but I know people that really miss our old singer. 10 years is a long time to front a band. They still come out and have a good time but in their minds Sammy Hagar has taken over where Diamond Dave has left off. 

[TrickyBoy]

We stumbled on a new source of songs that is working really well for us.  Again, depending on your crowd this may or may not work.  But for us, we're getting some of our best responses from songs that 25-year olds listened to in Middle School / Early High School.  Stuff like Ocean Avenue by Yellow Card, Suger by Fall Out Boy, Dammit by Blink 182, Semi Charmed, The Middle (damn song won't die), Wannabe, Swing Swing, etc.

Gonna be adding some more stuff from then.  I'm definitely thinking Bye Bye Bye and I Want It That Way.  Maybe Mmmmm Bop and American Idiot.  YMMV

 

 

[mstreck]

 

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TrickyBoy wrote:

 

 

We stumbled on a new source of songs that is working really well for us.  Again, depending on your crowd this may or may not work.  But for us, we're getting some of our best responses from songs that 25-year olds listened to in Middle School / Early High School.  Stuff like Ocean Avenue by Yellow Card, Suger by Fall Out Boy, Dammit by Blink 182, Semi Charmed, The Middle (damn song won't die), Wannabe, Swing Swing, etc.

 

Gonna be adding some more stuff from then.  I'm definitely thinking Bye Bye Bye and I Want It That Way.  Maybe Mmmmm Bop and American Idiot.  YMMV

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We tried a lot of those songs - as have some other bands that we know - they just don't seem to get a wide-appeal reaction. More regional differences, perhaps? Grant's menu analogy is spot on - we all seem to offering good main courses, but with different desserts..

On a somewhat related note, I can't find what I consider to be a good cheesesteak in Lower Slower Delaware. At least not one that compares to what I can get at O.I.P. back in central PA. To the point where I've considered opening a pizza/sub shop down here (I had one back in PA), but I'm not sure it could survive with all of the other pizza offerings around here because I don't think many people would choose my pizza shop simply because of a good cheesesteak - especially if they want pizza or if they like the cheesesteaks that are already available. I wasn't trying when I first started typing that, but I think I just extended Grant's analogy. Really, I was just bitching about crappy cheesesteaks. Damn.

[jeff42]

 

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TrickyBoy wrote:

 

 

 

 

 

Gonna be adding some more stuff from then.  I'm definitely thinking Bye Bye Bye and I Want It That Way.  Maybe Mmmmm Bop and American Idiot.  YMMV

 

 

 

 

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Mmm Bop works decently well with us. We don't play it all the time but when there is a large amount of 20 somethings in the crowd we pull it out and works. 

[TrickyBoy]

Latest Set List:

SET 1

• Everybody Talks (G)

• I Want You To Want Me (A)

• What I Like About You (E)

• Walking on Sunshine (B)

• Semi Charmed Life (G)

• The Middle (D)

• Sweet Child Of Mine (D)

• Your Love (E) ? Jesse's Girl (E)? Raise Your Glass (A)? Teenage Dream (A)

• I Gotta Feeling (G)

• Hello ? My Sharona (E)

• Purple Rain (Bb)

 

Set 2

• ET ? We Will Rock You ? Zombie (F#)

• Superbass (F#)

• I Love It (A)

• Locked out of Heaven (Dm)

• We Are Never Getting Back Together (G)

• Proud Mary -> Shout (D)

• Grease Megamix

• Tricky ? Wild Thing ? Push It ? Baby's Got Back (E)

• We Got The Beat ? Hey Mickey (A)

• Three Little Birds (G)

• We Are Young (G)

 

 

Set 3

• Lose Yourself (D)

• My Own Worst Enemy (G)

• Living on a Prayer (E)

• Don't Stop Believing (E)

• Tik Tok -> Teen Spirit -> Ice Ice Baby (F)

• I Believe In a Thing Called Love (F#)

• Sugar We're Going Down (E)

• Dammit (D)

• Song 2 (F#)

• Paradise City (G)

• Are You Gonna Be My Girl (A)

• Tubthumpin ? Sweet Home Alabama ? etc. (D)

• What's Up

[stratotastic]

I'm not doing modern pop anymore but the concept of keeping a crowd is still the same. We either do one 4-hr set straight through, or take a short break for 2 long sets. We do the one long set when people are really into it, which is most of the time.