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The perfect setlist...


fanuvbrak

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Is there such a thing?

 

We're just getting started and I think we have a good kernel of a playlist, but we need to fill it out. Just typical bar band stuff, nothing fancy.

 

This is what we've got so far (in no particular order):

 

Jenny/867-5309 - Tommy Tutone

Ah Leah - Donnie Iris

All Night long - Will Hoge

Sympathy For The Devil - Rolling Stones

Devil Inside - INXS

That's What I Like About You - The Romantics

All Night Long - Joe Walsh

Good Girls Don't -The Knack

Mary Jane's Last Dance - Petty

Runnin' Down a Dream - Petty

We're An American Band - Grand Funk

Long Cool Woman - The Hollies

Just What I Needed - The Cars

Magick - Ryan Adams

Saturday Night's Alright - Elton John

 

That's one set.

 

We need a bunch more.

 

We're thinking:

 

American Music - The Violent Femmes

Banditos - The Refreshments

Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry..

Fast As You - Dwight Yoakam

 

 

What other songs should we be considering that are fairly easy and great crowd pleasers...

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I'm still scratching my head at this one....

 

The OP's post count says he's got more than 20,000 posts which would suggest he's been around the block. However his "perfect" set list includes 867-5309, Last Dance for Mary Jane and Play That Funky Music ... which I can't imagine anybody considering anything but 3 very played out tunes.

 

I'm leaning towards the conclusion that the OP was just trolling on a Saturday afternoon.....

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Don't forget teh Mustang Sally, Brown Eyed Girl, and Taking Care of Business.



Christ!



:freak:

 

 

Oh, so you guys are in bands that only play the ultra cool hipster venues?

 

Look, if you're a cover band and you want to play out, you have to play some crap. People (especially people in bars) love certain songs. I'm getting paid to entertain those people and to make them dance and then drink.

 

So we could easily open with some New Pornographers, segue into some little heard gem from from Sky Blue Sky and and then watch as everybody left for the place across the street where the band is playing "Brown Eyed Girl". The trick is to balance the well known and tired with stuff you like.

 

This is a bar band, kids. We're not trying to set the world on fire, we're trying to get middle aged white people to dance.

 

So why don't you climb off your high horses and give me some suggestions?

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I would :deadhorse: just like to that if doesnt better Slartibartfast's study where matrix formed the staff the Sub-Etha Sens-O-Matic which:deadhorse: and a micro Galactic Government, not a shadow another wan smile. - No. - A wilder thing:deadhorse: anybody's said the of his that will:deadhorse: to Arthur, - Really? - Ford looked at came, at the and brought up hitch hikers.:deadhorse: of them out of light years from direct homing course I've got it, I, you that people about to nourish itself off solid facts. I know

 

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Is there such a thing?


We're just getting started and I think we have a good kernel of a playlist, but we need to fill it out. Just typical bar band stuff, nothing fancy.


This is what we've got so far (in no particular order):


Jenny/867-5309 - Tommy Tutone YEAH

Ah Leah - Donnie Iris CAN YOU REALLY SING THIS?

All Night long - Will Hoge NEVER HEARD OF IT

Sympathy For The Devil - Rolling Stones OKAY

Devil Inside - INXS OKAY

That's What I Like About You - The Romantics A STANDARD, GOOD

All Night Long - Joe Walsh NEVER HEARD OF IT

Good Girls Don't -The Knack DITTO

Mary Jane's Last Dance - Petty LOTS OF BANDS DO IT, MID-TEMPO SNOOZE

Runnin' Down a Dream - Petty, MAYBE OKAY

We're An American Band - Grand Funk OKAY

Long Cool Woman - The Hollies GOOD

Just What I Needed - The Cars GOOD

Magick - Ryan Adams NO, TOO OBSCURE, DO STARS GO BLUE IF YOU DO RA

Saturday Night's Alright - Elton John, DO THE NICKELBACK VERSION


That's one set.


We need a bunch more.


We're thinking:


American Music - The Violent Femmes, NO TOO OBSCURE

Banditos - The Refreshments, DITTO

Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry.. GOOD

Fast As You - Dwight Yoakam, EVERYONE DOES IT BUT GOOD



What other songs should we be considering that are fairly easy and great crowd pleasers...

 

I put my two cents after each song.

 

:cool:

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Oh, so you guys are in bands that only play the ultra cool hipster venues?


Look, if you're a cover band and you want to play out, you have to play some crap. People (especially people in bars) love certain songs. I'm getting paid to entertain those people and to make them dance and then drink.


So we could easily open with some New Pornographers, segue into some little heard gem from from Sky Blue Sky and and then watch as everybody left for the place across the street where the band is playing "Brown Eyed Girl". The trick is to balance the well known and tired with stuff you like.


This is a bar band, kids. We're not trying to set the world on fire, we're trying to get middle aged white people to dance.


So why don't you climb off your high horses and give me some suggestions?

 

 

Well said.

 

Adults only in this thread hipster kiddies!

 

:cop:

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Since you did say 'middle aged white people":

 

 

Wild Nights and Domino-Van Morrison

It's Your Thing-Isley Bros

Sharp Dressed Man, Tube Snake Boogie, and Tush -ZZ Top

Satisfaction and Start Me Up- Stones

Whip It-Devo

Shake It Up- Cars

I Saw Her Standing There and Back In The USSR- Beatles

You Really Got Me, All Day and All Of The Night-Kinks

Refugee, American Girl, Don't Do Me Like That and Runnin' Down A Dream-Tom Petty

The Boys Are Back in Town and Jailbreak-Thin Lizzy

I Wish and Superstition -Stevie Wonder

Mississippi Queen- Mountain

Black is Black-Los Bravos

Hurts So Good and the Authority Song- John Cougar Mellencamp

Maneater- Hall and Oates

Ridin' The Storm Out -REO Speedwagon

Double Vision -Foreigner

Dancing in the Dark and Born in the USA -Springsteen

Rebel Yell and White Wedding- Billy Idol

What I Like About You-the Romantics

Radar Love-Golden Earring

Addicted to Love and Simply Irresistible-Robert Palmer

Everybody Have Fun Tonight - Wang Chung

In the Name Of Love-U2

I Want You To Want Me and Surrender-Cheap Trick

Walk This Way, Last Child, Rag Doll and Dude Looks Like A Lady-Aerosmith

You Shook Me All Night Long and Highway to Hell-AC/DC

 

 

 

That should be a start....

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So why don't you climb off your high horses and give me some suggestions?

 

 

The reason you see these responses is because this topic comes up about six times a week.

 

So why don't you get off your lazy ass (horse) and search the forums? :poke:

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Guaranteed 3rd set dance floor fillers. (Just hold your nose, swallow your pride and play 'em.) There's nothing a crowd of drunk women LOVES more than dropping the f-bomb as loud and as often as they can...

 

She Hates Me - Puddle Of Mudd

Crazy Bitch - Buckcherry

Mony Mony (Billy Idol version)

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Look, if you're a cover band and you want to play out, you have to play some crap. People (especially people in bars) love certain songs. I'm getting paid to entertain those people and to make them dance and then drink.


.................So why don't you climb off your high horses and give me some suggestions?

 

Jeez, you're pretty thin-skinned for a guy with a bazillion posts.

Anyway, BueStrat's songs give you a great start. I think the big difference beteen his list and your's is the "danceable" part.

My cover band also plays a lot of "middle aged white dude" bar gigs when we're not doing corporates and weddings. Yes, we still play "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Sweet Home Alabama" when we get a request or we know the crowd is right. And we play Mustang SAlly when the request is written on the official Mustang Sally Request Form:

a_50.jpg

But we've tried real hard NOT to be a hack 80s band. After all, if a "middle aged white dude" graduated H.S. in 1992, he's 35 now. So, we pride ourselves on being a cover band, not a classic-rock or 80s band. And the difference is we get to play better clubs for more money.

 

Here's what's currently working for us: (hope the cut and paste job works...)

Addicted To Love Robert Palmer

American Girl Tom Petty

Ain't Too Proud To Beg Temptations/Stones

Beer in Mexico - Kenny Chesney

Before He Cheats - C. Underwood

Birthday Beatles

Brown Eyed Girl Van Morrison

Brown Sugar Rolling Stones

Chain of Fools - Aretha Franklin

Come On Over Jessica Simpson

Every Time I Roll The Dice Delbert McClinton

Everywhere Michelle Branch

Feeling Alright Joe Cocker/Dave Mason

Figured You Out Nickelback

Free Train

Gimme Three Steps Lynyrd Skynyrd

Give Me One Reason Tracy Chapman

Hard to Handle Black Crowes

Here For The Party - Gretchen Wilson

Hey Jealousy - Gin Blossoms

Honky Tonk Woman Stones

I Wan

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Thanks for the suggestions. My mind goes blank when I'm trying to think of this stuff when I need to.

 

And I'm not thin-skinned, but I've heard it all before: these songs suck, we don't play that crap and yada yada yada. Well I HAVE to play this crap or I go through the living hell of trying to find the indie-hipster guys that I actually want to spend 5 hours a week with.

 

And yes, I could have searched. If the search function actually performed the way it's supposed to, but half the time it doesn't.

 

And besides, I was drunk.

 

Thanks.

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T...l I HAVE to play this crap or I go through the living hell of trying to find the indie-hipster guys that I actually want to spend 5 hours a week with.

..

 

This might be the nexus of your problem. Get together with the indie-hipsters once a week and have fun making non-commercial music. Then, find a few musicians who like to get paid and start a real cover band. I belong to one of each kind of band -- a quartet that plays original music for 75 bucks a man, and in a 7-piece that gets $200+ a man for doing covers, after paying an agent, sound man, etc. I would not categorize any of the players in the cover band as "indie-hipster" types.

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Whys it always about the setlist?

How about the gigs on payday and everybodys got money to drink so all the songs that you usually play work really good tonight!!

It's not always about the perfect setlist seems to me.

Around here it's also about if your schedualed to play on a night when the big local employer pays or not.

Thats how we judge the night sometimes.

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Whys it always about the setlist?

How about the gigs on payday and everybodys got money to drink so all the songs that you usually play work really good tonight!!

It's not always about the perfect setlist seems to me.

Around here it's also about if your schedualed to play on a night when the big local employer pays or not.

Thats how we judge the night sometimes.

 

 

Just another flavor of "money talks and bull{censored} walks" I suppose. I definitely feel the vibe when we play working-class bars on a Friday night.

 

OTOH, I think this thread is about trying to Not Suck -- which happens no matter how good you play if your set list is lame. Even if the crowd is fulla Buds and buds, bad songs will kill the buzz.

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Our 2nd set is usually pretty loaded because that's when the crowd is peaking.

Honeysuckle Blue

Last Dance

BBC

Folsom Prison

Just Like Heaven

Mustang Sally

Box Cars / Carnival of Sorts

Sedated

Blister in the Sun

Pale Blue Eyes

Kia's Coming (an original)

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And yes, I could have searched. If the search function actually performed the way it's supposed to, but half the time it doesn't.

 

 

You have a valid point. The other day I searched for "guitar pickups" and was rewarded for my trouble with "Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms."

 

Just now I searched for "Jesus Chrysler" and actually got a hit.

 

The search don't always suck, but sometimes it does...

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Our 2nd set is usually pretty loaded because that's when the crowd is peaking.

Honeysuckle Blue

Last Dance

BBC

Folsom Prison

Just Like Heaven

Mustang Sally

Box Cars / Carnival of Sorts

Sedated

Blister in the Sun

Pale Blue Eyes

Kia's Coming (an original)

 

 

Your second set is when the crowd is peaking?

 

Do you play two sets?

 

 

The second set is usually where the crowd is starting to get into it and they peak in the third or fourth depending on a lot of factors.

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I don't think there is anything as the "perfect" set list for a cover band, and that is because with a cover band there are the songs that every one expects to hear and you need to play whether you want to or not. Some times these are songs you don't really want to play and it is human nature not to put forth your best effort into something you don't want to do ie:Old Time Rock-N-Roll by Bob Seger. Then you you should put one or two belly rubbers (That is what we used to call slow dance tunes in my old band) because guys like to have an excuse to put there hands on a woman. I don't know about you but when I start rockin' I don't like to slow down. So like I said in a cover band there is no "perfect set list.

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