Coverbands that "don't play the usual stuff," how's it working out for ya?

[stratotastic]

I've started looking around a little bit for a new cover project. Seems like everybody I've heard from is putting together a "we're-not-doing-what-all-the-other-cover-bands-are-doing" type of band. (Of course when you dig a little deeper you come to find out these "bands" are basically just some guy with a couple other "interested" guys looking for space and a PA. But I digress...)

 

 

I'm wondering how many of you have actually had a somewhat successful go with a cover band that plays B-sides and less common stuff. Does it actually work? If so, how do you pull it off? Seems to me like it'd be a great situation for the band, but the average 28-year old cubicle drone probably wants nothing other than the usual 4-hour rotation on HITZ 101.7.

[GCDEF]

We try to play songs that people know but you don't hear cover bands do every day. We don't go anywhere near the worn out cover cliches. It's going really, really well. Don't mean to sound full of myself, but we all play pretty well and can pull of a lot of different stuff. Got an incredible lead singer which helps too.

[sickman]

We don't play any of that stuff and I'm the only guy in the band who thinks we should. I'm also a lot younger than everyone else. For example, this weekend we were playing and people were dancing to something (can't remember what it was).... When they're already up I think we should go into something like Sweet Home Alabama, Brown Eyed Girl, Mustang Sally, etc to keep them up. Instead, the band leader goes into some obscure Police song and everyone sits down.

 

I understand they are sick of all that stuff, but it's not like we have to practice it or listen to it... just throw it out there to keep them dancing.

[stratotastic]

 

We try to play songs that people know but you don't hear cover bands do every day. We don't go anywhere near the worn out cover cliches. It's going really, really well. Don't mean to sound full of myself, but we all play pretty well and can pull of a lot of different stuff. Got an incredible lead singer which helps too.

 

 

Curious what your usual crowd demo is. I could see this approach going over better in a more artsy or college scene rather than a hotel sports bar or whatever, but I have no idea.

[GCDEF]

 

Curious what your usual crowd demo is. I could see this approach going over better in a more artsy or college scene rather than a hotel sports bar or whatever, but I have no idea.

 

 

Typical bar crowd I guess. Most of our regulars are younger, in their 20s. Most of the people we play to are 20s to late 40s. The reaction is the same either way. From what I hear though, the people that like us, like us more because of the way we play than what we play. Still, if we had to play Mustang Sally or Brown Eyed Girl, we couldn't do what we do.

[Austincowbell]

We play mashups (blending two songs together) and we also cover some songs which no band should ever cover (Straight Up, Hit Me Baby One More Time and other random songs) and its worked out great-ish. I say great-ish because we don't get very many corporate gigs or traditonal cover band gigs but in terms of playing bars and getting booked we do great.

 

The thing is, you need to figure out your endgame. If your goal is to play weddings and corporate parties you are really going to need to play songs that were top-10 hits. That's what the majority of people at those events want to hear. If you just want to play bars, make some money, meet some chicks etc you can play whatever you want and as long as it sounds good you'll do well. Since we are basically just doing this for fun we are perfectly ok with our niche.

[tucktronix]

With my classic rock/blues cover band, our setlist is your typical bar stuff, mixed in with some cult favorites you probably won't see too many bands in this area covering. We do our own interpretations of the heavily popular ones.

[Roy Brooks]

One of the bands I gig fairly regularly with plays what the band leader calls Americana music- rockabilly, country blues, jazz. Some are tunes written by other people and some are tunes written by the band leader. None of the tunes written by other people are played like the original recordings. We play a few times a month at various places not too far from the DC metro area and get paid fairly well. We also play a few scattered private parties that pay very well. I can't complain. I live right in the DC metro area in Maryland. None of the gigs I have played in Maryland with other folks pay me as much as I make driving to Virginia with this band. As an added bonus folks dig us. Every place we play at hires us back multiple times.

[fanuvbrak]

We play all the standards: Jenny, What I Like About You, Flagpole Sitter, etc). But we also play Banditos by the Refreshments and Magick by Ryan Adams. Those songs don't get anywhere near the reaction that the old tired tunes get.

[BATCAT]

We play all the standards: Jenny, What I Like About You, Flagpole Sitter, etc). But we also play Banditos by the Refreshments and Magick by Ryan Adams. Those songs don't get anywhere near the reaction that the old tired tunes get.

 

I think that's why I could never play in a cover band. So few of the songs I'd want to do would go over well...

 

[Thrashy]

:poke:Slayer works better than Suicidal tendencies. Black Sabbath crushes both.

[Chicken Monkey]

There are a lot of extremely popular songs that no cover bands do. You could play four hours of number one hits that everyone loves, and not play any of the worn out bar tunes. Audiences would go bananas when I'd do a verse of "Like a Virgin" at soundcheck, but I've NEVER seen a band do it. We'd do "Son of A Preacher Man" and others. Not exactly Deep Cuts, but I've never heard anyone else do them.

[BATCAT]

Audiences would go bananas when I'd do a verse of "Like a Virgin" at soundcheck, but I've NEVER seen a band do it.

 

An original band I used to play in did a cover of "Borderline", slowed down considerably in terms of chord/melody changes but with a really fast drum beat.

 

It's a little cheesey production-wise, but it is a really good song.

 

[GCDEF]

 

There are a lot of extremely popular songs that no cover bands do. You could play four hours of number one hits that everyone loves, and not play any of the worn out bar tunes. Audiences would go bananas when I'd do a verse of "Like a Virgin" at soundcheck, but I've NEVER seen a band do it. We'd do "Son of A Preacher Man" and others. Not exactly Deep Cuts, but I've never heard anyone else do them.

 

 

Exactly. I don't know why cover bands all feel they have to play the same 50 songs.

[newmaxnew]

Our bands plays a few of those standard bar tunes but we also play a lot of stuff other bands in our area don't play. For example:

Do you know what I Mean - Lee Michaels

But It's Alright - JJ Jackson

Black Coffee In Bed - Squeeze

 

 

Max

[Austincowbell]

 

Exactly. I don't know why cover bands all feel they have to play the same 50 songs.

 

Because its REALLY REALLY easy and it works. I'm not advocating it but its like this: You need to entertain a 1 year old. You can write a rock opera with puppets which will probably entertain him... or you can jingle your keys....

[Chicken Monkey]

 

Because its REALLY REALLY easy and it works. I'm not advocating it but its like this: You need to entertain a 1 year old. You can write a rock opera with puppets which will probably entertain him... or you can jingle your keys....

 

 

I'm not saying you have to go complex, but you can be extremely pop-oriented and mainstream without playing songs you're sick of. NOBODY does Little Red Corvette or Raspberry Beret, but those have both gone over HUGE for me. I was in a pickup group that'd do The Gambler--never failed, but I've never seen someone else do it.

 

I'm not saying you should go for B-sides and covers of firstwave punk groups. There are a lot of popular songs not being done.

[vanlatte]

Because its REALLY REALLY easy and it works. I'm not advocating it but its like this: You need to entertain a 1 year old. You can write a rock opera with puppets which will probably entertain him... or you can jingle your keys....

 

Dude, you never cease to amaze me...you freaking get it in a way that so many people don't.

 

[GCDEF]

Dude, you never cease to amaze me...you freaking get it in a way that so many people don't.

 

Perhaps if you/and or he were to try something a little more creative, you'd get the same comments, response, following and gigs that we do. We get a lot of comments about how nice it is not to hear the some old crap week after week. So just because somebody may be dancing to Mustang Sally, doesn't mean they aren't sick to death of it and would rather be dancing to something else.

[Howie22]

 

I understand they are sick of all that stuff, but it's not like we have to practice it or listen to it... just throw it out there to keep them dancing.

 

 

 

THEY aren't sick of it. Bands are sick of it. A lot of crowds still love it.

 

I can play some obscure stuff and have no one pay a lick of attention, or I can play Brown Eyed Girl and Sweet Home Alabama and have everyone in the crowd singing, dancing, and filling my tip jar. Hmmmm. . .

 

Bar owners aren't paying us to be artists, they are paying us to be entertainers. Just the other night I had people in the crowd practically begging me to play Mustang Sally.

 

 

All of that being said, I do agree with the other posters that there are tons of songs you can play that were hits that aren't played to death by other bands. I try to do a lot of that as well and hang on to some of the cliche stuff in case someone requests it or if the crowd seems to really dig the cliche stuff (which they mostly do).

[vanlatte]

 

Perhaps if you/and or he were to try something a little more creative, you'd get the same comments, response, following and gigs that we do. We get a lot of comments about how nice it is not to hear the some old crap week after week. So just because somebody may be dancing to Mustang Sally, doesn't mean they aren't sick to death of it and would rather be dancing to something else.

 

 

Why should I? If I get off on playing tired music that most people get off on why should I feel the need to switch things up? To please the one guy standing in the back of the room with his arms crossed sneering at all the "lame" music?

 

I am not saying never try anything new, but there is a reason that standards are...standard.

[GCDEF]

 

Why should I? If I get off on playing tired music that most people get off on why should I feel the need to switch things up? To please the one guy standing in the back of the room with his arms crossed sneering at all the "lame" music? I am not saying never try anything new, but there is a reason that standards are...standard.

 

 

If you're happy, great, I'm just saying there's a market out there for something different, and I'm having much better luck and a whole lot more fun playing to that crowd than the Mustang Sally crowd. The difference in response is really substantial. Depends what you want I guess.

[Stagebandit]

I've spent my entire musical career being the guy who played less popular/more obscure tunes (Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic, Talking Heads, etc) up until about a year ago when I started incorporating drum/bass backing tracks and choosing more popular/less obscure material(Can't Find My Way Home, Chain of Fools, Lay Down Sally and, yes, Brown Eyed Girl). I can now entertain almost any demographic with the roughly 600 songs in my arsenal.

 

I agree with Austin. If you're not gonna be versatile and dabble in a little bit of everything, then you gotta choose your destination. IHMO, the less you care about money, the more freedom you have to play whatever you want. The more you look toward a financial return, the more you have to pander to the wishes of others.

 

I used to play songs that only a small group of people (including myself) liked and would respond to. I made decent money but had tons of integrity amongst the purists in my favorite genre and got to play in some pretty cool dives. Now, I play for middle aged Baby Boomers who have really nice homes and don't mind paying me well to play the songs that a lot of people (including myself) love! It's a no brainer for me. It's also easier but, damn, I'm tired.

 

The things that I hear other bands being judged on by average bar patrons are volume level and repetition. Nobody likes to know what song is coming first, next and last! Other than wishing for a change in line-up, song selection is hardly ever mentioned outside of musician circles.

[Stagebandit]

Dude, you never cease to amaze me...you freaking get it in a way that so many people don't.

 

He understands the concept, but I don't think he meant that to be flattering.

[Austincowbell]

 

Perhaps if you/and or he were to try something a little more creative, you'd get the same comments, response, following and gigs that we do. We get a lot of comments about how nice it is not to hear the some old crap week after week. So just because somebody may be dancing to Mustang Sally, doesn't mean they aren't sick to death of it and would rather be dancing to something else.

 

I'm not slamming you but you have clearly never been to my page nor did you read my first post. My band plays mashups. We essentially mix two unrelated songs together. SOMETIMES we will play covers but they are always funny covers, like out rocked out cover of Paula Abdul's straight up or "since you've been gone". Everyone who comes to our shows comments on our originality and that is why we have the following we have. I'm not being critical of other bands, I'm just saying thats how we do it. And saying that you are wrong.