Members Vito Corleone Posted March 11, 2014 Members Share Posted March 11, 2014 This tag line came up at the last gig, and I'm trying to think of clever and effective ways to incorporate that into our promo material. The reason it came up was this: As part of the course of selling the band, we offer clients the option to tell us which songs they do and don't want to hear off our songlist (while also emphasizing that we do this professionally and are very good at knowing which songs to play to suit particular crowds, of course). Sometimes this is more of a pain in the arse than others as sometimes people get waaaay to nitpicky with the setlist. The wedding we played last weekend was definitely one of those times. The bride and groom had both previously been members of an 80s cover band and wanted us to play ONLY 80s material. (You think they'd be sick of 80s stuff, but whatever....). We do some great 80s material, but some of our strongest set pieces are built around 70s disco and modern pop stuff. But the bride was having none of that. She hates disco and new music. 80s 80s 80s. Hmmm.....ok. Gets to the point where a few days before the gig she wants to see a copy of the setlist. Well, no WAY I'm letting her put together the actual setlist for us (which I was pretty sure she'd do) so we just sort of forget we heard that request.... So we start off our first set and it starts off well enough, but by the end of the set it's getting pretty clear that the crowd is tiring of the 80s-only material (at least the songs we are playing, anyway) and the energy in the room is starting to sag. During the break we decide 80s Enough already! and pull the bride and the wedding coordinator aside and tell them "hey...we're losing the crowd here. This ship is going down. How about you let us do what WE do best and mix up the setlist a bit?" They both agree. We come out for the 2nd set with a revamped setlist and do our thing and by the end of the night the party has been a huge success. The bride and groom and wedding coordinator are raving about how much fun they and everyone had. The result being that, while I think we should still allow people some limited options to pick what they want to hear, we have to be even more aggressive about letting people know that they are hiring us to do a particular job---namely, make sure everyone has a wild, raucous time for 2-3 hours at the end of a long day--and that they need to let us do our job. What we do isn't Rocket Science, for sure. But there IS a method to the madness. Let the Party Scientists come up with the right chemistry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rangefinder Posted March 11, 2014 Members Share Posted March 11, 2014 Hah, nice one! I'm sure it's a challenge to give people what they say they want vs. what you know will work. I think the takeaway may be to allow the client to specify "heavy on the 80s" but not "exclusively 80s" by pointing out that the latter hardly ever works for a mixed crowd. Then you have some additional leeway for how you interpret "heavy on the 80s". That's the approach I'm going to keep in mind, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDLMUSIC Posted March 11, 2014 Members Share Posted March 11, 2014 Yeah, it always drives me crazy when somebody hires me after hearing what I do then, when I get to the gig, they ask me to do something completely different. I had a trio called "Rock This Town" in Lancaster, California. We specialized in oldies and classic rock. Can't believe the number of times I've done a private party where they requested Country & Western or easy listening lounge music. You'd think the band name might be a clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted March 11, 2014 Author Members Share Posted March 11, 2014 Hah' date=' nice one! I'm sure it's a challenge to give people what they say they want vs. what you know will work. I think the takeaway may be to allow the client to specify "heavy on the 80s" but not "exclusively 80s" by pointing out that the latter hardly ever works for a mixed crowd. Then you have some additional leeway for how you interpret "heavy on the 80s". That's the approach I'm going to keep in mind, anyway.[/quote'] Yes. And letting them know that what they might like or dislike about a song or an artist when it comes on the radio or they see a song title written down on a piece of paper isn't the same thing AT ALL as how the song works in the context of a live gig and a full set list. Worst is when they decide they like and don't like songs that are bits of mashups and medleys that we do! But it takes all kinds, for sure. Here's a new one I just got today for a wedding coming up in a few weeks: the bride and groom printed our songlist out on a spreadsheet and each of them ranked each song between 0 and 3. They then gave us the list in order of combined ranking, letting us know that any song that got a "6" was something they both really want to hear and anything that got a combined "0" they are asking us not to play. They also included a column for the "difference" between their individual rankings, although I'm not sure what we're supposed to do with that.... Seriously, you can't make some of this stuff up.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members modulusman Posted March 11, 2014 Members Share Posted March 11, 2014 Yeah' date=' it always drives me crazy when somebody hires me after hearing what I do then, when I get to the gig, they ask me to do something completely different. I had a trio called "Rock This Town" in Lancaster, California. We specialized in oldies and classic rock. Can't believe the number of times I've done a private party where they requested Country & Western or easy listening lounge music. You'd think the band name might be a clue.[/quote'] One of the bands I play with website is http://bestclassicrock.com/ We played a wedding last week where the first dance song was George Strait and the other requested song was by Little Texas. We played just about every country song we could play. I just wonder what the bride and groom were thinking when they were searching for a band. It actually went over well and the wedding party were happy but I think my other band would have been a better option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ski219 Posted March 11, 2014 Members Share Posted March 11, 2014 This happens all the time in my working life. I produce marketing videos and people tell me "exactly" what they want. I have to work to keep my eyes from rolling. Then I give them what they really need because if I gave them what they asked for it would suck. It would be DOA. Been doing that since I was in TV and creating stuff for programming and marketing execs. I used to gig at a place where the bartender/manager loved 80's hair bands and that was all that played when we got there, when on break, when we were packing up. It drove most of the regular crowd away and she was eventually let go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted March 12, 2014 Author Members Share Posted March 12, 2014 One of the bands I play with website is http://bestclassicrock.com/ We played a wedding last week where the first dance song was George Strait and the other requested song was by Little Texas. We played just about every country song we could play. I just wonder what the bride and groom were thinking when they were searching for a band. It actually went over well and the wedding party were happy but I think my other band would have been a better option. We play a lot of country songs for wedding special requests. Partly this is because there is an entire sub-genre of wedding-specific country songs. Even people that aren't country fans often request songs like My Wish and My Little Girl. Partly it's because even though sometimes one or both of the wedding party might be country fans, they realize that most of the people attending their wedding won't be and they want more variety. Then you get those who don't seem to care what their guests will want..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rangefinder Posted March 12, 2014 Members Share Posted March 12, 2014 Here's a new one I just got today for a wedding coming up in a few weeks: the bride and groom printed our songlist out on a spreadsheet and each of them ranked each song between 0 and 3. They then gave us the list in order of combined ranking, letting us know that any song that got a "6" was something they both really want to hear and anything that got a combined "0" they are asking us not to play. They also included a column for the "difference" between their individual rankings, although I'm not sure what we're supposed to do with that.... Seriously, you can't make some of this stuff up.... Ha, reminds me of my Silicon Valley days, I bet they work in computer software. I could just see them saying "Dear, it's a live band, now how does that work?" "Oh, I think it's like Spotify where we tell them what we like and they play it." "Cool, let's make a spreadsheet for them to plug into their ranking algorithm!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SpaceNorman Posted March 12, 2014 Members Share Posted March 12, 2014 Hmmm.....ok. Gets to the point where a few days before the gig she wants to see a copy of the setlist..... We've run into this a couple of times - where the client seems to have the mistaken impression that they're going to dictate the details (i.e., sign off on every song, select the order, etc.) of the evening's set list. When I've run into this - my approach is to share a list as a sample and invite their feedback with regarding specific songs they like/don't like. I'm stress that the set list is only a sample - and that the songs that end up being played will be determined by the band during the show itself. I then go on to explain that lots of things - such as instrument changes, consideration of vocalists' throats (i.e., making sure that a single vocalist doesn't get loaded up with difficult songs back-to-back, etc.) I also explain that we use audience response (i.e., dancefloor) to help determine what to play next. I make it clear that we welcome their feedback regarding the songs on our list that they especially like and/or dislike, that any guidance they have regarding genres they'd like / not to hear, etc. - and that we'll most definitely give that heavy consideration as we play through the night. BUT, I also make it very clear that the band is ultimately responsible for determining what gets played - and in what order it gets played. I've never had a client yet who didn't ultimately agree that that approach is probably best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Iamthesky Posted March 12, 2014 Members Share Posted March 12, 2014 Ha, reminds me of my Silicon Valley days, I bet they work in computer software. I could just see them saying "Dear, it's a live band, now how does that work?" "Oh, I think it's like Spotify where we tell them what we like and they play it." "Cool, let's make a spreadsheet for them to plug into their ranking algorithm!!!" It actually is kind of like Pandora, though, right? They get to tell you what they like, and you take that and play songs they also will like, modified by the Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down of crowd response on the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FitchFY Posted March 12, 2014 Members Share Posted March 12, 2014 It actually is kind of like Pandora, though, right? They get to tell you what they like, and you take that and play songs they also will like, modified by the Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down of crowd response on the day. That's eerily spot-on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rangefinder Posted March 12, 2014 Members Share Posted March 12, 2014 It actually is kind of like Pandora, though, right? They get to tell you what they like, and you take that and play songs they also will like, modified by the Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down of crowd response on the day. IDK it seems like a little bit of a stretch to me. I think it's more that you want to consider their input, but what you are REALLY doing is making sure they don't screw up your well-proven set lists too much. In any case I think a spreadsheet is over-the-top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted March 12, 2014 Author Members Share Posted March 12, 2014 IDK it seems like a little bit of a stretch to me. I think it's more that you want to consider their input, but what you are REALLY doing is making sure they don't screw up your well-proven set lists too much. In any case I think a spreadsheet is over-the-top. Definitely a "techie" thing. The do/don't play list for the wedding last week came to me on a spreadsheet as well. We play a lot of 'techie' weddings in the Bay Area. The key is just letting the clients THINK they have more control than they really do. "Tell Me What You Want And I'll Give You What You Need". 90% of them aren't even going to remember which songs they did and didn't want by the time we play them anyway. And when the dancefloor is packed and everyone is having a good time, they'll forget all about how much they 'hate' that song. As long as it's not "that's the song that was playing the night my dad came home drunk and my mom shot him..." we're probably all good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nchangin Posted March 12, 2014 Members Share Posted March 12, 2014 "getting to know your customer and or client" indeed it does help to listen and suggest variables of what they desire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rangefinder Posted March 12, 2014 Members Share Posted March 12, 2014 As long as it's not "that's the song that was playing the night my dad came home drunk and my mom shot him..." we're probably all good. Yeah, that would be a good one to avoid! I don't remember where I read it, but there was a band playing a benefit for a fire victim.... and that ruled out like 2/3 of their set list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trevcda Posted March 12, 2014 Members Share Posted March 12, 2014 ~~You can all imagine the abject horror of walking in and seeing your set list printed and on every table. Now imagine that it's for a configuration of the band featuring horns, singers and steel drums that they decided they didn't want to hire. We have had brides come literally screaming to the stage from the back of the room to get us to quit playing a song she didn't like. Made a complete scene and really killed the vibe of the reception. We joking requested that her father not request any more songs without consulting her first. Yeah, that would be a good one to avoid! I don't remember where I read it, but there was a band playing a benefit for a fire victim.... and that ruled out like 2/3 of their set list. I'm pretty sure that was me. We had no clue how many songs we had with a predominant "fire" reference in it until we started putting together a set list for the evening. We got through it, but it felt like skirting bad taste all night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trevcda Posted March 12, 2014 Members Share Posted March 12, 2014 Getting a "Do you want to open or save 95eb186a.json from harmonycentral.com?" message. And double posting. What's that all about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted March 12, 2014 Author Members Share Posted March 12, 2014 ~~You can all imagine the abject horror of walking in and seeing your set list printed and on every table. Now imagine that it's for a configuration of the band featuring horns, singers and steel drums that they decided they didn't want to hire. We have had brides come literally screaming to the stage from the back of the room to get us to quit playing a song she didn't like. Wow. I feel better now! We haven't had anything quite THAT bad.... yet! Worst similar situation we ever had was playing a wedding once where the bride had a bunch of do/don't songs but one song she neglected to put on either list was "Jessie's Girl". So I included it in the set. Well, turns out that (apparently) was the one song she MOST didn't want to hear. Apparently the groom's ex-gf was named Jessie. You'd think that A) the fact that "Jessie" in the song is a dude, B) SHE'S the one who ended up marrying him, not Jessie, C) we don't even sing "JESSIE'S" Girl when we do that song at weddings---we turn it into a 'bit' by changing it to the name of the groom--would have all been enough to make it OK...but NO! At least not for one bridesmaid who comes up yelling at me in the middle of the song (while I'm singing and with IEMs jammed in my ears, of course....) and starts yelling at me that we weren't supposed to do that song. I yelled back "no one told us NOT to do this song. It wasn't on the list". She says "you've been playing songs you were told not to ALL night!" I tell her, no...we haven't. We are playing nothing off of the "don't" list. She proceeds to grab my setlist and stomps off with it. I'm not sure what she thought she was going to do with it, but I never saw her again for the rest of the night. .....lol. Not one of our biggest success gigs for sure. But all in all, it actually turned out OK. I think. No complaints from the bride and groom afterwards anyway. And we got a good story to tell from it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted March 12, 2014 Author Members Share Posted March 12, 2014 Getting a "Do you want to open or save 95eb186a.json from harmonycentral.com?" message. And double posting. What's that all about? Yes I get that. I usually just hit cancel. And then it just says "working" forever. But it DOES post right away apparently. And I don't get double posting unless I hit "post reply" twice. Don't know what a .json file even is. Pretty sure I don't want one, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members trevcda Posted March 14, 2014 Members Share Posted March 14, 2014 Your Jesse's Girl story reminds me of I don't know how many newly wed couples who selected "The One You Love" by Glen Fry as their wedding song. Pretty song. Lyrically and content-wise not what I'd be looking for the first dance at a wedding, although occasionally eerily foreshadowing. Here's the lyrics for those who don't know it: http://www.metrolyrics.com/the-one-y...lenn-frey.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opus Antics Posted March 14, 2014 Members Share Posted March 14, 2014 Your Jesse's Girl story reminds me of I don't know how many newly wed couples who selected "The One You Love" by Glen Fry as their wedding song. Pretty song. Lyrically and content-wise not what I'd be looking for the first dance at a wedding, although occasionally eerily foreshadowing. Here's the lyrics for those who don't know it: http://www.metrolyrics.com/the-one-y...lenn-frey.html Always amusing when someone picks a song for how it sounds and maybe one or two sweet lines without really understand what the song is saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted March 14, 2014 Members Share Posted March 14, 2014 Like "Brown Sugar". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.