Solo and Duo Acts

[pogo97]

1) I want to hear that song played like the original.
2) I want to hear that song the way you do it.
3) I want to hear something by that artist.
4) I want to hear something in that general vein.
5) I want you to know that I'm paying attention.
6) I want to control the agenda, if only a little bit.
7) I want others to notice me.
8) I want to start a conversation and get to know you.
9) I want to bear your children and this seems like a good first step.

[fingerpicker]

6 and 7 if they are drunk usually.
almost never 2 if its a run of the mill "Brown eyed girl" type cover.

[cephus]

At country club gigs it means "I want to exercise my power to command you to do something."

I freaking hate country club gigs. I feel like the piss boy.

[Louis Schwartz]

You forgot "I want to use you to....(show off to my date, help celebrate some occasion, send a message to someone, make an 'inside joke,' etc.)."

Louis

[pogo97]

Originally Posted by fingerpicker

...
almost never 2 if its a run of the mill "Brown eyed girl" type cover.

My currently-forming trio does BEG really really slow and wistful. I like it a lot that way. We'll see how it flies when someone requests it. Doing it "just like Van"© is not an option.

Originally Posted by Louis Schwartz

You forgot "I want to use you to....(show off to my date, help celebrate some occasion, send a message to someone, make an 'inside joke,' etc.)."

Right. And then there's "Happy Birthday" which is in a class of its own.

[rodclement]

To me it means...you just gave e a chance to engage you and the audience and to make the gig more interactive for everyone...oh and a nice $20 with that request will prevent banter from me to you! Grown man asking for Brown eyed Girl...

Rod

[Loner]

I've had them mean 1-9. (except maybe not 2)

[SusieP]

It means they are a control freak.

[Terry Allan Ha…]

It, to me, means they're paying attention.

As a general rule, it's some combination of #2 and 3.

Last time a #8 situation came up, I found myself married to my lovely wife several moinths later.

[daddymack]

10) I don't like your song selections, mine are way better, because I am far more imaginative than you...(the egocentrist)
11) you suck, here's a song I know you don't know...now be embarrassed (the buzzkill)
12) here's a song you wouldn't dare play here (the I-triple-dog-dare-you @$$#013)

[EightString]

Originally Posted by daddymack

10) I don't like your song selections, mine are way better, because I am far more imaginative than you...(the egocentrist)
11) you suck, here's a song I know you don't know...now be embarrassed (the buzzkill)
12) here's a song you wouldn't dare play here (the I-triple-dog-dare-you @$$#013)

I've had 11 and 12 a few times. Recently, someone tried to "stump" me with Autumn Leaves, which is weird considering that it's one of the first songs called out when jazz players get together and jam.

I've also had dares to do stuff like ABBA or Olivia Newton-John, so I go ahead and do it with a smile like I get those requests all the time.

[moogerfooger]

no request is taken seriously unless it is accompanied by a 20 dollar bill, then it doesn't matter what their motive was in requesting it.

[daddymack]

Originally Posted by EightString

I've had 11 and 12 a few times. Recently, someone tried to "stump" me with Autumn Leaves, which is weird considering that it's one of the first songs called out when jazz players get together and jam.

I've also had dares to do stuff like ABBA or Olivia Newton-John, so I go ahead and do it with a smile like I get those requests all the time.

perhaps this is a L.A. phenomena?
We have had people request us to do, say, a Gershwin tune (easy! Summertime...), etc. as if we are there for them to try to feel superior to...sorry, we are here to entertain you....

[Sgt. Rock]

"I want to hear you do songs that no one ever liked much."

[MartinC]

I was doing a duo gig with a concert violin guy and someone asked for some obscure classical thang. The guy knew it and ripped it out-it was a monsterous thing. Amazing that the guy had it under his fingers considering how hard it was to play. I usually don't do requests because the style I do nobody knows what to request and I don't know the tune most likely anyway. In this case I don't know what the motivation for the request was, but
I'm pretty sure the guy was trying to show off his knowledge of classical music. It was pretty sweet that the violin dude just pulled it out of his hat. We owned that gig even before that, but after that, fergetaboutit.

[davebols]

That's part of our (job). to let people talk to us like they know us and interact. It makes them feel good and that makes us feel good I hope. We all deal with the drunks but I think mostly our position is to let folks forget about there day to day shyte.

[Terry Allan Ha…]

Originally Posted by davebols

That's part of our (job). to let people talk to us like they know us and interact. It makes them feel good and that makes us feel good I hope. We all deal with the drunks but I think mostly our position is to let folks forget about there day to day shyte.

Well said!

[Potts]

People can request all they want and I'll play whatever it is I can for them.

[Notes_Norton]

If you stand on stage long enough, the people will tell you what they want to hear.

If you want to remain on stage long enough, you should learn the most frequently requested songs.

Sure there are rare exceptions, but in our gigs most of the time a request means "I like the way you sound and I would really like to hear you play one of my favorites songs."

If we don't know the song, we always compliment the requester on his/her choice and try to get something close. ("I'm sorry, that's a great song but we don't know how to play it yet. How about ______ by the same artist?" - or in the same style).

This is not a classroom or a monolog. The band and the audience should be a team, it's a dialog.

We collect requests, learn the ones that are requested the most and Leilani and I have been working as a duo steadily since 1985 playing music as our primary source of income.

Notes

[daddymack]

I don't mind requests if they make sense, but if someone walks up to you in a blues club, hands you a $5 bill and asks for 'Moves Like Jagger'...you gotta look at them as though they are totally clueless.

We came up with a solution years ago. When someone requests a song, and we don't want to do it, we announce that the club owner docks us $100 if we play that song...