Christmas party bookings - Should we just stick to the classics?

[eddiesteady]

Our band (covers) has taken a few bookings for parties in December and we are trying to figure out what songs we should be able to perform.  So far the general feeling is staying safe covering dreadful all time great's like Slade's Merry Christmas and that Wish it could be xxxx Everyday Day (The Wizard) because everyone will sing along.  But I was hoping to inject some new, contemporary tunes - obvious example Bob's "Must Be Santa" that I reckon would go down well with younger audiences - even if it is a cover from the 60's

More suggestions for up to date festive bangers welcome please...Ho Ho Ho!

Entertainment Ideas for Christmas parties

Edited August 29, 2022 by eddiesteady

[Mike M]

I suggest that you don't kill yourself learning a ton of Xmass songs, maybe 4(?) would probably be good.

A sing-a-long medley; Let it Snow, Rudolf, Rockin Around the Xmass Tree,etc. can be alot of fun especially with a drinking crowd.....

The Holidays stirs feelings of family etc, thus maybe your ballads (slow songs) could be: Have Yourself a Merry Little Xmass, Merry Christmas Darling (Carpenters), or the like.

People (or a venue) hired your band because they like what you do - don't change your whole format at an Xmass party - play the gig with a few Jollies thrown in.

The above is just my opinion.

Have fun!

[eddiesteady]

Thanks for the guidance - I suppose playing our usual mainly upbeat covers will be okay - it is a party after all.  Thinking about what to rehearse for some outstanding Christmas sing-a-longs - oh no....back to blooming Slade again!?

[Outkaster]

Yes try not to overthink it.  I used to play piano for the utilities union and the university I was working for.  One of the deans knew me when I temped in the mail room.  I did it about 10 years. Carols aren't my thing but I learned enough of them to get me through and hour in a half.  Well come to find out after I did it solo there was a guitarist with a small PA and he and i just winged it. People were happy enough about it so we'd get asked back every year. 

[Notes_Norton]

Stick to the classics. Anything your intended audience knows by heart. Try to keep from doing religious songs if you are going to have a mixed audience, stick to Santa Claus, not Jesus.

 

[modulusman]

Or be like my band and don't play any. 

[Notes_Norton]

14 hours ago, modulusman said:

Or be like my band and don't play any. 

I used to be like that. But I found that if I play what they want to hear, I get booked more often. We average 15 to 20 gigs per month.

I play songs they know by heart. I do some like the record, some similar to the record and some an entirely different arrangement/rhythm/style.

I see what works or doesn't work for my audience, and learn from that experience. Since 1985, we have never been out of work, and actually have to block out weeks in advance to take a vacation.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[modulusman]

2 hours ago, Notes_Norton said:

I used to be like that. But I found that if I play what they want to hear, I get booked more often. We average 15 to 20 gigs per month.

I play songs they know by heart. I do some like the record, some similar to the record and some an entirely different arrangement/rhythm/style.

I see what works or doesn't work for my audience, and learn from that experience. Since 1985, we have never been out of work, and actually have to block out weeks in advance to take a vacation.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

Well we play what our audience wants to hear also. We have one summer gig that we have played for over 20 years probably about 300 times total. We have 2 Christmas parties booked both are repeat customers. If they want Christmas songs we will play some off our phone during a break. 

[Notes_Norton]

18 hours ago, modulusman said:

Well we play what our audience wants to hear also. We have one summer gig that we have played for over 20 years probably about 300 times total. We have 2 Christmas parties booked both are repeat customers. If they want Christmas songs we will play some off our phone during a break. 

We play about a half dozen Christmas songs. Traditional.

When St. Patrick's Day comes around, we do 8 St. Paddy songs. Because of this, we might book 5 St Pat Parties. I give the retirement condominiums a deal if they book it on a date earlier than the 17th. We call it our 'St Paddy Melt".

We do 5 Hawaiian songs, and that gets us booked at luaus.

For Halloween, we do "Monster Mash" but it's losing its sparkle, so I'm thinking about "Ghostbusters".

Whatever they want to hear, if we can cover it, we learn it. Our songlist https://www.nortonmusic.com/cats/songlist.html

I play to an adult audience, I've been playing this audience since I was 40, and not only do we get booked more than our competition, we charge more money than they do.

It's a business, and a pleasure.

I like all kinds of music. The only genres we don't play are Rap and Heavy Metal.

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[modulusman]

Well whatever works for you. I personally don't consider a duo a band so I wouldn't probably care to watch you guys for more than a few minutes. We work as much as we want summer being the busy season. We all have day jobs and we only play one bar and we are the top paid band there. I had one gig this summer where my cut was $1500.00 and we are a 4 piece band. I usually average about $350-400.00 a gig. 

[Notes_Norton]

There is more than one right way to play music.

I've played in orchestras, in a band that opened for headliners in concerts, in bar bands, and just about anywhere a musician can play. I even played for Motown for a while (when they were still in Detroit) and as a hired sax for quite a few recordings.

I went duo in 1985. I was in a 5 piece band. The bass player quit and we were out of work 2 months. A couple of months later the drummer quit and we were out of work another month. 3 months in one year was too much, since I do this for a living.

Since I play saxophone, wind synth, bass, drums, guitar, flute, keyboard synth, and vocals, I decided to form a duo with the other lead singer who also plays guitar and synth (I'm a decent conger, she is excellent and sings much better than I do).

I make my own backing tracks from scratch, and until COVID, we were never out of work. In fact, we had to block out weeks for vacation, or they would get filled with gigs. Now that COVID is waning, we are doing 15-18 gigs a month, right through the slow season, and we charge more than the trios around.

We play in a place where they have at least 2 bands per day, ranging from singles to 7-piece bands. We are the only group that gets 3 days per week. The vast majority get only 1. Why? Business is good when we are playing.

Many of the musicians in the other bands stay to listen to us and say nice things about it.

Personally, if you or anyone else doesn't care to listen to us, it's OK with me. We all have our tastes, our likes, and our dislikes. I have mine as well.

The fact that we pack the house when few others can is what matters to me. Why? Because that means I have repeat gigs.

By playing what the people want to hear, by making my own backing tracks that sound better than the karaoke tracks most duos use, by playing sax, guitar, and windsynth on stage, by enjoying playing with the audience (instead of to them), and by striving to do a better job at it than our competition, we work more and earn more than the others in the area.

And with a duo, each person brings home more money. Nobody around here pays twice as much for a quartet than for a duo.

There is more than one right way to make music, and of all the ways I tried, for the time being, this is my right way. If a better situation comes around, I'll seriously consider adapting to it.

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

 

 

[modulusman]

Just finished playing are second Christmas party for this year.  The band didn't play a single Christmas song live we played some off a phone tonight while we took a break. I made a $1000.00 for both parties and no one died.😀