Should I accept a gig with a band where the set list seems trite?

[Stylon Pilson]

Most of my playing experience over the years has tended to be with bands playing original music. It's fun, but there are always a lot of gigs to small crowds, and the feeling that my "competition" in this marketplace is with teenagers and kids in their early 20s who just have a whole lot more dedication than me, who are throwing themselves into their music with the dream of one day making it big.

So I've been toying with the idea of shifting into covers bands, where I can play great songs well, to an audience who want to dance and sing along. I've got one opportunity in the pipeline, but the example set list that I've been sent is far from inspiring. Sex On Fire, and other such songs that seemingly all covers bands have been playing for the last five years. I'm worried that I'd get bored quickly.

Should I rule them out on this basis, or is this just something that comes with the territory? And if I do decide to rule them out, what's a diplomatic way of letting them down gently?

S.P.

[Conan]

Depends on your motivations. For me, I would rather play to decent crowds of people enjoying themselves. If you can't get that from originals bands (and i never could) then covers may be an answer. Maybe not a permanent answer, but it may at least be a welcome change. Give it a try. What have you got to lose?

[BrunoBass]

I play in a covers band on the pub circuit. The best part of any gig for me is when we play 'crowdpleasers', when everyone is up singing and dancing. (If I had my way every song we play would be a crowdpleaser but a sizeable chunk of our set is songs that the various band members like but are bordering on the obscure. I'm opposed to this but that's a different thread...)
Very few of the crowdpleasers we play are songs that I would choose to listen to at home but if the punters like them that's good enough for me. Granted, Sex On Fire et al have been done to death but to see a crowd explode when the intro kicks in is priceless. Give me that any day over some album track that's everyone's cue to go out for a fag.

Happy punters equals more beer sold equals more gigs.

Edited March 22, 2017 by PaulGibsonBass

[grumpyguts]

I dep for a band that does Sex on Fire, people love it and its a giggle watching them wobble around to it and scream along with the chorus. I rather enjoy it.

[Muppet]

Depends whether you're looking to satisfy your musical creativity by playing technical but obscure masterpieces or looking to get a buzz out of playing gigs to people who are enjoying themselves dancing to popular songs. If you're dead against playing worn out covers then don't do it.

Myself, I'd rather play three hours flat of standard fare to a packed pub than 40 minutes of technically brilliant fag break inducing music to one man and his dog, but I'm cheap and have no principles and love making music for the enjoyment of other folk.

[franzbassist]

So it's not playing covers per se that you don't like, it's the kind of covers being proffered by this particular band? If that's the case then I'd keep looking for a band that matches your choice of genres better.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1490173475' post='3262759']
I play in a covers band on the pub circuit. The best part of any gig for me is when we play 'crowdpleasers', when everyone is up singing and dancing. (If I had my way every song we play would be a crowdpleaser but a sizeable chunk of our set is songs that the various band members like but are bordering on the obscure. I'm opposed to this but that's a different thread...)
Very few of the crowdpleasers we play are songs that I would choose to listen to at home but if the punters like them that's good enough for me. Granted, Sex On Fire et al have been done to death but to see a crowd explode when the intro kicks in is priceless. Give me that any day over some album track that's everyone's cue to go out for a fag.

Happy punters equals more beer sold equals more gigs.
[/quote]

Sounds like we play in the same band(s) mate!

I started in covers bands by playing songs that we, the band, actually wanted to play. A fair number were crowd-pleasers but an equally large number were obscure songs that no one was going to recognise.

After a year or two of struggling, we had a big internal debate about whether or not to play more crowd-pleasers, and would this somehow 'go against' our policy of playing stuff we liked.

The solution was dead simple. Play crowd-pleasers that we all liked. Job done.

If you have SIXTY YEARS of popular music to select from, how difficult can it be to identify three hours' worth of music that is (a) crowd-pleasing, and ( band-pleasing?

We've all dealt with tougher problems than this.

[chris_b]

If you will be bored in a covers band then don't do it. If you think it's just somewhere you can park yourself for an easy ride for a few years, again don't do it. If you can't accept that most of the time you won't be playing your favourite numbers, don't do it. If the guys in the band are not good players, don't do it.

I haven't played a boring cover yet, but average and disinterested players can make anything sound boring, trite or just plain dull.

Play them properly and most covers, certainly the ones that audiences like and want to hear, will sound good, even Sex On Fire and Mustang Sally.

[Conan]

[quote name='walbassist' timestamp='1490175801' post='3262783']
So it's not playing covers per se that you don't like, it's the kind of covers being proffered by this particular band? If that's the case then I'd keep looking for a band that matches your choice of genres better.
[/quote]

Indeed. And this is why I have just formed a covers band playing material that I like, enjoy playing, and has an audience. I know that it has an audience because when my previous originals band played a few covers (in this genre) they always went down well and got people up/interested. Sadly, the original material rarely did so.

What wonderful genre is this, I hear you ask? Well, it is a difficult one to pin down exactly, but predominantly pop/punk/new wave stuff from the late seventies up to around the mid nineties. Interesting, quality songs from a wide range of acts including The Stranglers. Joe Jackson, Martha and the Muffins, Bow Wow Wow, The Mission, Tom Petty, Talking Heads, Julian Cope, The Jam, The Cure....

Not that I would object to playing in a popular covers band playing more predictable material, but that's just not what I fancy at the moment. Also, thinking about it, a lot of pub audiences comprise people in their forties and fifties. The music they listened to when growing up is mainly from this period. Obviously, you can't please all of the people all of the time, but it's a start.

In the originals bands, all the work was done in rehearsals and it takes ages to get songs right. With covers, everyone does their homework in their own time and rehearsals are simply for polishing arrangements, harmonies, keys and stuff like that. It is a much more "efficient" way of working IMV.

I may well find that after a while i yearn to play original material again - but if it involves playing gigs (which we generally have to pay for) to "crowds" numbering less than a dozen; then frankly I'm not holding my breath.

Edited March 22, 2017 by Conan

[Happy Jack]

Mustang Sally?

Don't know that one - how does it go?

[uk_lefty]

As long as you're playing to your crowd it's ok. Saturday night crowd at the dog and duck want sex on fire, Tuesday night thrash metal devotees at the underground rock club want something else. The crowd pleaser route is what I'm doing at the minute but you'd be amazed what constitutes a crowd pleaser without going over to cliche. We played Run to You by Bryan Adams at our last gig, took ages for me to persuade the guys to even think about it... It tore the roof off!!! Sex on Fire is one we may look at, I'd rather drink cold sick personally, but we aren't putting together a set list for long journeys in my car, we are making people sing and dance along to every single song, at least that's the aim.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='uk_lefty' timestamp='1490176733' post='3262805']
I'd rather drink cold sick personally ...
[/quote]

Properly marketed, that could be a crowd-pleaser.

[markstuk]

I play in two bands - one mostly originals (or as original as anything blues based can be these days) with a few covers and the other a covers band with some arrangement twists..

The key for me in the second band is that we try and add a new song every month, and actively look for "our take" on more modern songs...I know of some bands in my area that have had the same setlist for over 10 years...

[BassBunny]

[quote name='Muppet' timestamp='1490175466' post='3262780']
Depends whether you're looking to satisfy your musical creativity by playing technical but obscure masterpieces or looking to get a buzz out of playing gigs to people who are enjoying themselves dancing to popular songs. If you're dead against playing worn out covers then don't do it.

Myself, I'd rather play three hours flat of standard fare to a packed pub than 40 minutes of technically brilliant fag break inducing music to one man and his dog, but I'm cheap and have no principles and love making music for the enjoyment of other folk.
[/quote]
Amen to that. I hate most of the numbers we play but having a crowd dancing and singing along is the best fix ever.

[Adrenochrome]

Whether you do covers or originals, IMO it only works when you can put songs across convincingly with confidence. If the typical pub setlist is your thing, then play it loud and proud! Don’t let people tell you that you CANNOT have successful paid pub/club gigs if you break away from the usual though. In recent years I’ve gigged songs by Opeth, Lady Gaga, Alice In Chains, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Black Stone Cherry, Flock Of Seagulls etc as well as a couple of original numbers, all with success and repeat bookings. But you can’t do material like that half-heartedly, play it like you mean it, take care of the details, get anyone who possibly can singing harmonies, don’t miss out the tricky bits of songs or take short cuts.

[markstuk]

[quote name='Adrenochrome' timestamp='1490178243' post='3262825']
Whether you do covers or originals, IMO it only works when you can put songs across convincingly with confidence. If the typical pub setlist is your thing, then play it loud and proud! Don’t let people tell you that you CANNOT have successful paid pub/club gigs if you break away from the usual though. In recent years I’ve gigged songs by Opeth, Lady Gaga, Alice In Chains, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Black Stone Cherry, Flock Of Seagulls etc as well as a couple of original numbers, all with success and repeat bookings. But you can’t do material like that half-heartedly, play it like you mean it, take care of the details, get anyone who possibly can singing harmonies, don’t miss out the tricky bits of songs or take short cuts.
[/quote]

+1...

[Conan]

[quote name='Adrenochrome' timestamp='1490178243' post='3262825']
Whether you do covers or originals, IMO it only works when you can put songs across convincingly with confidence. If the typical pub setlist is your thing, then play it loud and proud! Don’t let people tell you that you CANNOT have successful paid pub/club gigs if you break away from the usual though. In recent years I’ve gigged songs by Opeth, Lady Gaga, Alice In Chains, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Black Stone Cherry, Flock Of Seagulls etc as well as a couple of original numbers, all with success and repeat bookings. But you can’t do material like that half-heartedly, play it like you mean it, take care of the details, get anyone who possibly can singing harmonies, don’t miss out the tricky bits of songs or take short cuts.
[/quote]

I like your style! Ever play in the North East of England?

[Adrenochrome]

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1490178393' post='3262829']
I like your style! Ever play in the North East of England?
[/quote]

Not often, mainly based in West Yorkshire now as the travel and late nights was doing me in such that I had to pack in playing with Delirium my grunge/metal/hard-rock covers band. Played Acklam Steelies a couple of times about 9-10 years ago, admitttedly that was a more traditional rock covers set. My current main band is doing pop covers [a bit louder and faster than the original versions ] limited to about once a month, and then I fit in occasional dep gigs and acoustic trio gigs around that.

[BrunoBass]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1490175940' post='3262786']

We had a big internal debate about whether or not to play more crowd-pleasers, and would this somehow 'go against' our policy of playing stuff we liked.

The solution was dead simple. Play crowd-pleasers that we all liked. Job done.

[/quote]

This is what we need / I want us to do.

Intra-band politics dictate that it will never happen though...😊

[markstuk]

[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1490179783' post='3262864']
This is what we need / I want us to do.

Intra-band politics dictate that it will never happen though...
[/quote]

At least the audience will be able to hear the bass now :-) I might pop in on Saturday to see you at the Bell and wonder at the transformation..

[BigRedX]

The popular songs like "Sex On Fire" are what a covers band audience wants. Music they know and can drunkenly dance and shout along to.

It's all very well playing a more individual set, but unless these songs are also well known by your audience then you might as well still be playing stuff you wrote yourselves.

IMO playing covers isn't the easy ride it is often made out to be. From my brief stint, I found that learning 20 songs meant having to play and think like 20 different bass players, and that some were far easier to "get" than others and it was by no means obvious which were which until I actually got around to working out what I needed to play on each song. Also playing covers has ruined several songs for me that I used to like a lot when I was just listening to them, to the point where I never want to hear them again for the rest of my life.

Edited March 22, 2017 by BigRedX

[mikel]

There are plenty of covers bands who dont play "Trite" music. I am in a Funk band, playing bass, and we funk up other songs we like to fit the genre. I play drums in a 60s band that includes a Hammond player. He only needs to start playing "Gimm'e Some Lovi'n" on that thing and the world is my musical lobster.

[Lozz196]

To me where is the point of playing covers unless they`re crowd pleasers? If it`s a cover that no-one knows then you may as well play an original song.

[BrunoBass]

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1490179883' post='3262866']


At least the audience will be able to hear the bass now :-) I might pop in on Saturday to see you at the Bell and wonder at the transformation..
[/quote]

You'd be very welcome, and I'll buy you a pint of something nice 😊

[Conan]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1490180706' post='3262880']
The popular songs like "Sex On Fire" are what a covers band audience wants. Music they know and can drunkenly dance and shout along to.

It's all very well playing a more individual set, but unless these songs are also well known by your audience then you might as well still be playing stuff you wrote yourselves.

IMO playing covers isn't the easy ride it is often made out to be. From my brief stint, I found that learning 20 songs meant having to play and think like 20 different bass players, and that some were far easier to "get" than others and it was by no means obvious which were which until I actually got around to working out what I needed to play on each song. Also playing covers has ruined several songs for me that I used to like a lot when I was just listening to them, to the point where I never want to hear them again for the rest of my life.
[/quote]

All valid points Sometimes very straightforward bass lines can be awkward purely because the player who wrote them has a very different style to your own. Two that I am struggling with (for different reasons) are below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgPSpVUg0iM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLwmJr6XpJk