Members tim_7string Posted January 19, 2011 Members Share Posted January 19, 2011 Honestly I just think "What I like About You" is a better song overall, and would be a better choice for most bands than "Talking In Your Sleep".I know I'd rather hear it, and would get into it more if I were in the audience. Yeah, "Talking" is more of a sit back and chill kind of song, while "What I Like" is more of an engaging tune, with the handclaps, the "Hey!"s and the "ahhh-ahhhh" backing vocals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members js1 Posted January 19, 2011 Members Share Posted January 19, 2011 The person on that list who achieved his coolness most recently, Elvis Costello, did it around 30 years ago. Funny, if you have seen the Elvis Costello interview on Spectacle, he talks about the early days as being uncool, feeling like a fraud, hiding his country albums from sight. Elvis IS cool now, but was only acting cool when he started out. The people that I consider cool are confident in their abilities without the slightest bit of egotism. They let their skills speak for themselves, don't put down others, and don't consider anything beneath them. Hey, that's my definition. And by my definition, a set built of songs that speak for themselves, that you play confidently and play like you enjoy them as much as the audience is enjoying them is a cool set. js Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted January 19, 2011 Members Share Posted January 19, 2011 Honestly I just think "What I like About You" is a better song overall, and would be a better choice for most bands than "Talking In Your Sleep".I know I'd rather hear it, and would get into it more if I were in the audience. I just don't see the either/or of these two songs. Completely different tunes. The fact they were both recorded by the same band is completely meaningless when it comes to determining whether to do one or the other or both or neither. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted January 19, 2011 Members Share Posted January 19, 2011 I just don't see the either/or of these two songs. Completely different tunes. The fact they were both recorded by the same band is completely meaningless when it comes to determining whether to do one or the other or both or neither. I disagree. Bands often refer to the artists that they cover, and clients often want to see that list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted January 19, 2011 Members Share Posted January 19, 2011 Any one EVER come up to you and said "do you guys do any "Romantics"? Or heard a band say "We're going to do a little tune next by "The Romantics"...and notice ANYBODY who cared? Some songs are relevant to the band. Those two, however, are not on that list. Good luck finding anybody who even KNOWS who played those songs. And that doesn't even address the fact that they don't sound like they are from the same band at all. Different feel, different style, different lead singer. But yeah, as a general rule, What I Like is going to go over much better. As evidenced by the fact that it is one of the most over-played songs of all time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SeniorBlues Posted January 19, 2011 Members Share Posted January 19, 2011 Depending on your market, I think there are bands you have to cover. The Romantics is not one of them . . . . the drummer likes it, can sing it, is comfortable with it . . . so we'll end up playing it, I guess. I just got back from our first rehearsal where we got our recording equipment up and running. Very sobering . . . Some songs sound pretty good, so we'll try to figure out what makes them work and go find some more like it. Others, including things I really like, just aren't cutting it, and I wonder if more practice will fix what's wrong. So cool is what I like personally, but in a band context (for me), it's all about what we can pull off, given our individual skill sets. We're a start up and haven't played out yet. (The other three have in a different format.) I hope clubs (and their clients) like what we do well, because that's what we're going to give them. I don't see how we have much choice. Well we do have a choice, but we are bona fide members of the dad band genre that has a list of songs we like (can cover) and an even longer list of songs we don't like (can't cover??) That's just the way it is . . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bnelly428 Posted January 19, 2011 Members Share Posted January 19, 2011 We play "what i like about you" almost every night and always have a good reaction. "talking in your sleep" was pitched last year but since I had never heard it, and after hearing it wished I had never heard the song, was shot down. I don't think any band should play that song unless you're in a Romanitcs Tribute Band which would mean you're unemployed! It's possible to have a cool and crowd pleasing song list, but the band has to think like an audience member and not like a musician. You have to think "what would I think was cool if I got home from work had dinner then went out with friends to dance at a bar" Usually the answer to that is no where near a musicians. The successful bands take that and run with it. Do I enjoy playing half the stuff I do? No. Do I have fun when the crowd goes ape {censored}? YES. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members New Trail Posted January 19, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 19, 2011 ...It's possible to have a cool and crowd pleasing song list.... I'm not so sure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted January 19, 2011 Members Share Posted January 19, 2011 . "talking in your sleep" was pitched last year but since I had never heard it, went to #3 in 1983 and, according to Wikipedia, #1 on the "Hot Dance Club Play" chart! Dance Club music ain't what is used to be, is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members toneforhire Posted January 25, 2011 Members Share Posted January 25, 2011 by SPARINGLY adding "cool songs" into a crowd-pleaser set list is the only way imo...if you try to come up with a 90 minute set of songs that are ALL cool and crowd pleasers it aint gonna happen... imo alot of the cool songs are the ones NOT played to death on the radio...so if you start doing obscure songs of popular bands, ive seen crowds get down right pissed off...you can NOT play skynyrd to a bar crowd unless its alabama, freebird, or 3 steps LOL... my band stopped doing bars recently ...we priced ourselves out of it basically...but we used to throw in cool 90's tunes in between the crowd favorites/demands...and as long as its samwhiched between 2 popular songs, youll be ok...bottom line is know your crowd and have enough material in your back pocket to make up for whatever might happen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted January 25, 2011 Members Share Posted January 25, 2011 bottom line is know your crowd +1000 Nothing but NOTHING beats the ability to be able to read your audience and react accordingly. And that's something that's a lot easier said than done, it seems. Takes years of experience AND the ability to have a really good sense of what is going on outside of the immediate 3-feet-in-front-of-you. A BIG mistake musicians make is thinking they are smarter than the audience, or that it's their job to 'educate' them. Reading the crowd well makes you just about as smart as they are, but no more than that. Stay humble. Don't get a big head and start thinking you're smarter than they are simply because you're a musician and they aren't or because you're on stage and they aren't. The crowd is the boss and, ultimately, the people signing your paycheck. Respect them, and never look down on them, and you'll usually do just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vanlatte Posted January 25, 2011 Members Share Posted January 25, 2011 +1000 Nothing but NOTHING beats the ability to be able to read your audience and react accordingly. And that's something that's a lot easier said than done, it seems. Takes years of experience AND the ability to have a really good sense of what is going on outside of the immediate 3-feet-in-front-of-you. A BIG mistake musicians make is thinking they are smarter than the audience, or that it's their job to 'educate' them. Reading the crowd well makes you just about as smart as they are, but no more than that. . You forgot one thing....having a larger pool to draw from besides what is written on the set list Reading your crowd like a Vegas vet won't do a bit of good if you are not able to deviate from some stone cold list of "This is everything we know" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted January 25, 2011 Members Share Posted January 25, 2011 Yeah, good point. you have to know more than 35 tunes. Although even just being able to mix up the set list on the fly can often be better than nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted January 26, 2011 Members Share Posted January 26, 2011 define "cool" and then find that target following. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members New Trail Posted January 26, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 26, 2011 ...if you start doing obscure songs of popular bands, ive seen crowds get down right pissed off...you can NOT play skynyrd to a bar crowd unless its alabama, freebird, or 3 steps LOL..... Absolutely right. If somebody yells out "Play some Skinnerd" and you fire up "That Smell" or "I Know a Little" usually they won't be happy. Occasionally you will get somebody who requests or appreciates an off the wall song but that's the exception that proves the rule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted January 26, 2011 Members Share Posted January 26, 2011 Honestly I just think "What I like About You" is a better song overall, and would be a better choice for most bands than "Talking In Your Sleep".I know I'd rather hear it, and would get into it more if I were in the audience.by far, not even a contest, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted January 26, 2011 Members Share Posted January 26, 2011 We played a 4 hour show Saturday night and I don't think I once mentioned the artist when introducing a song.Drives me nuts when a band stands up on stage and feels the need to give a condensed "wiki" of every song/artist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted January 26, 2011 Members Share Posted January 26, 2011 What could be "cooler" than pleasing the crowd?not all crowds like the same thing, obviously. So if you play a certain type of stuff, the people who like what you do will find you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted January 26, 2011 Members Share Posted January 26, 2011 Drives me nuts when a band stands up on stage and feels the need to give a condensed "wiki" of every song/artist. I hate that too. And I've done it myself. No one cares. It's just a bad/lazy habit for a lot of musicians. When you gotta nothing else to say and you're trying to fill some dead space, things like "OK...we got a little ZZ Top comin' up for ya next here.....we got any ZZ Top fans in the audience tonight??" just fall out your mouth. Musicians would be well served to set up some sort of device that sends an electric shock through the microphone everytime they start babbling stuff like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Austincowbell Posted January 26, 2011 Members Share Posted January 26, 2011 I hate that too. And I've done it myself. No one cares. It's just a bad/lazy habit for a lot of musicians. When you gotta nothing else to say and you're trying to fill some dead space, things like "OK...we got a little ZZ Top comin' up for ya next here.....we got any ZZ Top fans in the audience tonight??" just fall out your mouth. Musicians would be well served to set up some sort of device that sends an electric shock through the microphone everytime they start babbling stuff like that. Heard a band introduce "Living on a prayer" with "here's some bon jovi". Oh good. I was going to {censored}ing Shazam it because that's such an obscure song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted January 26, 2011 Members Share Posted January 26, 2011 Heard a band introduce "Living on a prayer" with "here's some bon jovi". Oh good. I was going to {censored}ing Shazam it because that's such an obscure song. exactly. Musicians spend 20 seconds with this sort of crap between every song and then wonder why DJs are getting all the good gigs. Drives me nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted January 26, 2011 Members Share Posted January 26, 2011 Absolutely right. If somebody yells out "Play some Skinnerd" and you fire up "That Smell" or "I Know a Little" usually they won't be happy. Our first guitar player REALLY wanted us to learn I Know A Little. He used to refuse to play Sweet Home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted January 27, 2011 Members Share Posted January 27, 2011 Our first guitar player REALLY wanted us to learn I Know A Little. He used to refuse to play Sweet Home.I like playing/singing them both. Probably my fav to do is Ballad of Curtis Loew and it kills with the right crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members timrocker Posted January 27, 2011 Members Share Posted January 27, 2011 I think that those are two different lists, and always will be. If you begin a band with a crowd pleasing list, and gradually work towards one that's cool, you'll probably eventually be happy and keep your crowd/following/revenue stream too. If you start from day one insisting that it's your taste or no go, I don't see how the people are ever going to get you. It's almost a fact of life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted January 27, 2011 Members Share Posted January 27, 2011 I think that those are two different lists, and always will be. If you begin a band with a crowd pleasing list, and gradually work towards one that's cool, you'll probably eventually be happy and keep your crowd/following/revenue stream too. If you start from day one insisting that it's your taste or no go, I don't see how the people are ever going to get you. It's almost a fact of life. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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