Members micstew Posted May 29, 2011 Members Share Posted May 29, 2011 Seems clear to me that Sickman's original post was a question about the importance of audience song recognition in cover band setlists. He just described that recognition factor as songs that are "on the radio". Some posters (kmart and a few others) made comments on this distinction. I've been playing covers in acoustic and electric formats at small local venues and parties for a few years now and there is one thing that is quite consistent: People want to hear songs they already know. Of course you have to be able to play the songs well - in a musical sense, not a copy sense necessarily. And if you can put your own spin on a few and add in some interesting unexpected twists, well that's a real treat - and one of the reasons it's fun to go see cover bands in the first place. But the bottom line is people enjoy hearing songs that they are familiar with. This is even true for the most popular bands on the planet. Can you get away with an occasional song or two that most of your audience has never heard before? I think you can but it's a risk (as other posters have noted) and really only works well when the song has an unusually obvious structure and a hook that is quickly set. This is why certain genre bands (eg: blues, funk) can afford to move lower on the recognition scale and still get a good audience response. The challenge with maintaining the recognition factor in a cover band setlist is finding songs that the band members also really enjoy - otherwise it just becomes work and the execution suffers and no one has any fun. That said, there are thousands of songs dwelling in the collective consciousness of any given audience so there is always plenty of overlap with the band's preferences. If that's not the case, well then you're probably playing to the wrong crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sailorman Posted May 29, 2011 Members Share Posted May 29, 2011 We do murder in my heart for the judge. moby grape. Good one...! We've considered 8:05/Omaha which were flip sides of a Grape single. We do a "Yardbirds Suite" : Over Under Sideways Down/Nazz Are Blue/Strollin' On. I think Over Under was on the radio, at least FM, but not the others. However, we've had an enthusiastic dance crowd through the whole thing, so well received, even though not necessarily recognized. We occasionally open a second set with something of the charts like ELP; "Nutrocker" went over well at a pre-Christmas show. But we usually use non-radio friendly songs to open sets, just to let people know we're back on, then get back to the stuff they recognize. Surprised sometimes by how many people recognize musicianship in a song, even though they don't know it. BTW, we're a geezer band playing 60's/70's stuff, trying to avoid over played stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wardjames Posted May 29, 2011 Members Share Posted May 29, 2011 Seems clear to me that Sickman's original post was a question about the importance of audience song recognition in cover band setlists. He just described that recognition factor as songs that are "on the radio". Some posters (kmart and a few others) made comments on this distinction.I've been playing covers in acoustic and electric formats at small local venues and parties for a few years now and there is one thing that is quite consistent: People want to hear songs they already know. Of course you have to be able to play the songs well - in a musical sense, not a copy sense necessarily. And if you can put your own spin on a few and add in some interesting unexpected twists, well that's a real treat - and one of the reasons it's fun to go see cover bands in the first place. But the bottom line is people enjoy hearing songs that they are familiar with. This is even true for the most popular bands on the planet. Can you get away with an occasional song or two that most of your audience has never heard before? I think you can but it's a risk (as other posters have noted) and really only works well when the song has an unusually obvious structure and a hook that is quickly set. This is why certain genre bands (eg: blues, funk) can afford to move lower on the recognition scale and still get a good audience response.The challenge with maintaining the recognition factor in a cover band setlist is finding songs that the band members also really enjoy - otherwise it just becomes work and the execution suffers and no one has any fun. That said, there are thousands of songs dwelling in the collective consciousness of any given audience so there is always plenty of overlap with the band's preferences. If that's not the case, well then you're probably playing to the wrong crowd. This is a good thread to bring back up...for some reason I never tire of this subject. Our band's taken a 180 from a strictly old school country band that never did anything cut after 1979 to a country dance band that only plays hits, the bulk of which are from 1990 on. What I've learned from this experience is that there's a big divergence in what I like to listen to and what I like to play. For instance, my favorite country song is probably Home in San Antone by Bob Wills. But I don't like playing it live because there's no real crowd response. Contrast to "Watermelon Crawl" by Tracy Byrd. I don't really like to listen to that song, although I don't hate it. But I LOVE playing it live because the crowds into it, and there's a certain energy that comes from that. So for me, playing obscure songs nobody really knows isn't really worth it because I know the crowd response I like won't be there. I'd rather play an original tune personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rog951 Posted May 30, 2011 Members Share Posted May 30, 2011 Old thread but oh well... We've been opening with The Bends by Radiohead. Fun song to play and I don't think it ever got any major airplay. Also playing the Gun version of Word Up which I'd never heard on the radio (though I'd heard the Korn version), but that doesn't really count since everyone recognizes it as Word Up as soon as the vocals start, and then they immediately hit the dance floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MusicalSchizo Posted May 30, 2011 Members Share Posted May 30, 2011 Rog951: We did the Gun version, too (slightly modified to our taste)! It's a pretty cool version of the song, definitely different than the Cameo and Korn versions...still worked. Brian V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stratotastic Posted May 30, 2011 Members Share Posted May 30, 2011 Can't say I've ever heard Crazy Bitch on the radio... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeff42 Posted May 30, 2011 Members Share Posted May 30, 2011 Can't say I've ever heard Crazy Bitch on the radio... funny you should say that our BIG ass top 40 mainstream pop station played it on Friday. The clean version of course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members joshmac Posted May 30, 2011 Members Share Posted May 30, 2011 We do two Big Sugar Tunes (Turn the Lights on, Im a Ram), a few old reggae songs like cherry oh and 5446, and some other strange stuff that most people dont know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TIMKEYS Posted May 30, 2011 Members Share Posted May 30, 2011 we play non radio stuff all the time. Did a wedding this weekend. No texas wedding is complete without a wedding song lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDxF-uXKsQE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted May 31, 2011 Members Share Posted May 31, 2011 I would say at least 1/2 of the songs we do are/were not radio hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MikeyParent Posted May 31, 2011 Members Share Posted May 31, 2011 Seems as though the ones we play that were never on the radio have become some of our best crowd movers.Danko Jones, Lover Call. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QELtIB7gSA and, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l476AXZptMThese are packing the floor and have never had any air play here. Wow. I did not know Danko was known at all south of the border. I love "Sound of Love" Hmmm (Googling) shame on me, he is Rock Band? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rog951 Posted May 31, 2011 Members Share Posted May 31, 2011 Rog951: We did the Gun version, too (slightly modified to our taste)! It's a pretty cool version of the song, definitely different than the Cameo and Korn versions...still worked. Brian V. Yeah, I was hesitant to add it at first since I thought it would be so boring to play. Being an old {censored}er, I was mainly familiar with the Cameo version with the same three chords repeated pretty much throughout. But when I sat down to learn the Gun version, it turned out there's enough little variations to keep me interested, and the crowd has really reacted well so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MikeyParent Posted May 31, 2011 Members Share Posted May 31, 2011 Given how musically different Cameo and Korn are from each other, Korn does a surprisingly faithful rendition of the original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nijyo Posted May 31, 2011 Members Share Posted May 31, 2011 Can't say I've ever heard Crazy Bitch on the radio... Depends on what radio station you listen to, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted May 31, 2011 Members Share Posted May 31, 2011 Depends on what radio station you listen to, I guess.I've heard about one line of the song (Crazy Bitch) on the radio many times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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