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Wedding Band set lists?


Rowka

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I'm trying to get a wedding band started with a group of people I know. It's been a long time since I've attended a wedding. What are the popular songs for weddings these days? I know at least a handful of you are in wedding bands. What are your set lists like?

 

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Just my $0.02.

 

There will be some additions to the set depending on the racial makeup of the overall wedding attendees. Just be sensitive to that and you'll get rave reviews.

 

Example: If you are playing at a Jamaican wedding, you better be prepared to play the Electric Slide multiple times.

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Always and Forever

Daddy's Little Girl

The Chicken Dance

The Electric Slide

 

 

Sure you want to do this? :D

 

Seriously. You should learn about 200 songs from all genres and then still be prepared to learn more for each individual wedding. Each bride is going to have an idea as to what type of music she'd like and certain songs she'd like to hear.

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It would be cool if you could come up with a setlist of ~100 songs, then when you're booked, ask them for ~15 requests. Just a thought...

 

 

Yep. Good idea.

 

A lot of wedding djs and bands will have a form to fill out and have the bride/groom fill out a list of must plays. There will be so many, it will be hard to get them all in.

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Yeah, it's funny, we do a LOT of stuff that would've been no different 25 or 30 years ago, actually.

 

We do three sets, usually - the dinner set is more mellow, things like Margaritaville, Just The Way You Are, Our Love Is Here To Stay, I've Got You Under My Skin...if they want to start dancing, our leader usually starts them with Unforgettable...

 

The second and third sets are heavier dance sets and louder. Al Green, Marvin Gaye, some Motowns, a Cheryl Crow maybe, Hella Good, Love Shack, Grow Old With Me, Come Away With Me, I Saw Her Standing There, September, Play That Funky Music, you know.

 

Just to give you an idea - our leader doesn't like to really push this hard, so we don't play usually more than once a weekend. And even then, I, as the main male lead singer, am on the hook to learn anywhere from one to four songs a week. I take it upon myself to make the other guys CDs and I share charts with the guitar player. It's definitely some work, and some of the stuff I've had to learn....man. If you're thinking of doing like three, four, five weddings a weekend, that may be like 10-20 new songs every week. That's a BIG outside time committment.

 

Lots of people do it - I'm just saying you should be prepared, is all. Or have a policy about it.

 

Also, you need to figure out your policy on meals for the band. This is not a trivial thing. Some places charge extra for meals for support staff. Some families won't pay for them for support staff. You need to figure out what you want to do.

 

Also your payment terms are really important as well.

 

Our leader is really strict about some parts of this stuff, not strict enough in others, in my opinion. Like we've done 2 1/2 hour long sets with no break, and I hate going that long, its just...long. 2 hours, OK, but more than that, it gets hard.

 

It's a lot of work, the pay is OK if you can get the jobs, but there's a lot about it that is not a lot of fun, and the number of jobs is on the downswing right now, at least outside Boston. Some nights it's really pretty fun. Other nights it is just a gigantic effort. Find people who are laid back,flexible, professional, and fun to hang with - that's going to make it work for you in the long run.

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