Members Vito Corleone Posted October 30, 2010 Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 My drummer and I were driving home from a gig the other night and we were marvelling on how we once again managed to knock the crowd dead with a set of tired old party rock tunes that we'd didn't even play particularly well that night. I asked "why DO those songs work so well? Shouldn't they be tired of hearing EVERY band play them by now?" My drummer's thought was that, especially since we largely play for somewhat older crowds at casual gigs, that these people DON'T go out every weekend and that for most of them a band playing "all their favorites" is a bit of a novelty and that it's the BANDS who are most tired of the 'standards' and not the audience. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ido1957 Posted October 30, 2010 Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 I played with a wedding band that had a fiddle player. They played the same 40 tunes for about 20 years before I joined. I added some of my tunes (I sang) but the fiddle tunes stayed the same. We also kept the popular singing songs that featured fiddle. Everybody loved them all the time.... The band could literally play them blitzed or asleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SandyCo Posted October 30, 2010 Members Share Posted October 30, 2010 Some songs stand the test of time (or they just have "party" written all over them!). I could hear "Living on A Prayer" every week for years, and I'd still love it. I feel the same about "Footloose", and several other songs that I won't go to the trouble of listing. And not to rain on anyone's parade, but if I ever heard "Sweet Home Alabama", I'd probably be dancing to that one, too. (However, I draw the line at "Brown Eyed Girl"; Van Morrison has much better songs!) The only songs I'm honestly sick of are most of the 70s disco songs; if I never hear anything by K.C. & The Sunshine Band again, I'd be happy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pinkfloydcramer61 Posted October 31, 2010 Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 Sorry, but Brown Eyed Girl is a GREAT, TIMELESS song, regardless of whether or not musicians are sick and tired of playing it. Living on a Prayer and Footloose, not so much IMO..and if I'm wrong, you will hear bands covering those tunes for the next 30 years..IMO, not likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted October 31, 2010 Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 My drummer's thought was that, especially since we largely play for somewhat older crowds at casual gigs, that these people DON'T go out every weekend and that for most of them a band playing "all their favorites" is a bit of a novelty and that it's the BANDS who are most tired of the 'standards' and not the audience.Any thoughts? that is a good point. Now that I think about it, some of our crowd (and some shows a lot of our crowd) is made up people in their 30s who do not go out every week. Some of them that come out to see us 1 X a month now haven't been out in 6-7 years. They were busy getting married, raising kids... you know. But now they have a little freedom and they decide to go out and see our band and what do ya know we hand them Jesse's Girl, your love, Pour some sugar, shook me all night long (to name some standards) and they love it! So to a certain extent i would say YES it is us who are tired of the songs, sometimes. But I also think it is in the delivery too. If you deliver them like they are tired standards they ARE tired standards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ski219 Posted October 31, 2010 Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 Interesting way to put things. I used to work in TV network promotions and we looked at studies on things like how long you cold run a promo spot or stick with a campaign before the audience got totally burnt out on it. I don't remember particulars, but I do remember that it took a lot longer than we thought it would. We then realized that since we were so close to it and saw the same material day after day, we grew sick and tired of it and were screaming for a change long before the target audience. I imagine it's the same with cover bands. We get sick of the songs we play long before our audience does because we hear them every single gig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 31, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 So to a certain extent i would say YES it is us who are tired of the songs, sometimes. But I also think it is in the delivery too. If you deliver them like they are tired standards they ARE tired standards. Well, yeah. That almost goes without saying! In fact, the worse we play the better we 'deliver' the songs. It's almost an automatic reaction to kick up the show a notch if the playing itself is somewhat lacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funkysnatches Posted October 31, 2010 Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 I guess you could be driving home wondering why the set sucked...be happy you have some 'go to songs' that seem to work no matter what... What are the songs if I might ask? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 31, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 I guess you could be driving home wondering why the set sucked...be happy you have some 'go to songs' that seem to work no matter what...What are the songs if I might ask? What was our set list for the last gig? set 1 BROWN EYED GIRLBRICK HOUSEI WANT YOU TO WANT MELET Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funkysnatches Posted October 31, 2010 Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 What were the songs you and the drummer thought really came off...focus Guido...you know...it's your thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 31, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 They all did. They all killed. That's the point. All killer-no filler. Even though we played sloppy for most of the night for various reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funkysnatches Posted October 31, 2010 Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 You must have a great singer...covering Journey and Bon Jovi is no joke to do it right.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 31, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 We've got a couple of pretty good singers. Nobody is the star here. It's a band. The whole is better than the sum of its parts. It's a simple recipe: play some fun songs, have a good time with some good guys, put on a good show, keep 'em dancing and leave them wanting more, put some extra cash in my pocket. It's not rocket science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funkysnatches Posted October 31, 2010 Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 No..sorry....I haven't heard your band but take away your singer and a solid guitar player and your doing 'Moonriver' on the keyboard... No one thinks much of Journey past the singer and his guitar player....he's what makes the band...pretty much the singer in Bonjovi and his guitar player as well....can you name the keyboard guy for Bon Jovi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 31, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 lol---so that's what you're reduced to now? Trying to put down keyboard players in general? Weak. Again, once you start to act like you understand it, you show you don't. If the only thing I did in this band was know a good singer and good guitar player when I saw them and hired them I'd be a success. That's half the battle. But, then again, you'd have to have actually PLAYED in a successful band at some point in your life to understand how it works, wouldn't you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funkysnatches Posted October 31, 2010 Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 You just made the comment that your part of a band, like your integral to it..and I got to thinking that if your band had a gig tonight and you got hit by a car... it looks like just about all the songs could be done without a keyboard...I mean I would love to see Highway to Hell on a keyboard....seriously I might actually pay the $1 cover to hear that...maybe you could make it a keyboard Highway to Hell solo.....lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 31, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 You just made the comment that your part of a band, like your integral to it..and I got to thinking that if your band had a gig tonight and you got hit by a car...it looks like just about all the songs could be done without a keyboard...I mean I would love to see Highway to Hell on a keyboard....seriously I might actually pay the $1 cover to hear that...maybe you could make it a keyboard Highway to Hell solo.....lol. LOL---for what it's worth...it's MY band. I'm probably the only guy who COULDN'T be replaced in a pinch. But as far as the AC/DC songs go....I play rhythm guitar! Voila! And, most likely, better than you could! And yeah, if I wanted to play a keyboard solo on Highway To Hell, I not only COULD, but it would KILL. But again, it's just as important to know what NOT to play as it is WHAT to play. A concept bedroom warriors such as yourself almost never, ever understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funkysnatches Posted October 31, 2010 Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 Have at it Guido...yep, you win....play those bars...your found your 'place'...as you said...no problem...your the winner..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 31, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 Well now your talking Guido..it's not your talent that keeps you in the band...it's your band.. Spoken truely as only someone who has never actually BEEN in a real band could speak. You don't have a CLUE what any of it is about or how it works. What's the longest you've lasted with a band anyway before you got your ass fired or you quit because "they all were so lame"? A week? A month? Have you EVER a played a note that people actually wanted to pay money to hear? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 31, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 Have at it Guido...yep, you win....play those bars...your found your 'place'...as you said...no problem...your the winner..... LOL---I don't even PLAY bars except on rather rare occasions. At SOME point you're going to speak about something you know about. Unfortunately it isn't going to be in THIS forum! Is there a forum for Backyard With A Robe On? Try that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funkysnatches Posted October 31, 2010 Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 You tout yourself as a working gigging band, but your not playing bars...hmm.....stadiums? Your a cover band doing only stadiums? Or am I to gather you do weddings...all the time.? So what is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 31, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 You tout yourself as a working gigging band, but your not playing bars...hmm.....stadiums?Your a cover band doing only stadiums? Or am I to gather you do weddings...all the time.?So what is it? Corporate events. Private parties. Weddings. Gigs that pay well basically. Too old and too busy to do this for $100 a night. No rap AT ALL on the guys who play those gigs, but it isn't worth my time any more. Not when I can have just as much fun (if not more) with better hours (usually) for 5 times that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funkysnatches Posted October 31, 2010 Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 Corporate events. Private parties. Weddings.Gigs that pay well basically. Too old and too busy to do this for $100 a night. No rap AT ALL on the guys who play those gigs, but it isn't worth my time any more. Not when I can have just as much fun (if not more) with better hours (usually) for 5 times that. Oh, yeah I get it...because being 50 and playing Ac/dc covers really pays....that's where the bucks are...well when your a rock star, you can really be picky.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted October 31, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 Oh, yeah I get it...because being 50 and playing Ac/dc covers really pays....that's where the bucks are...well when your a rock star, you can really be picky.. Pays well enough to keep me satisfied with it. Our standard fee is $3K a show. We booked about 18-20 of those this year. My goal is to do 24-36 shows a year. I don't have the time to play much more than that--what with a 2 year old and all, but if I could do 3 shows a month at $3K each, I'd rest at that. It takes a lot of work to book that much and we've got some work to do to keep it going. But my wife is happy that her husband's hobby brings IN money. Beats playing golf on the weekends, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funkysnatches Posted October 31, 2010 Members Share Posted October 31, 2010 Well that's nice to know Guido...if your band can pull $3k a show...what could a real band do down there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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