Band as juke box scenario

[Silvia Bluejay]

True, it depends on the kind of audience and their alcohol levels

[skej21]

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1343335732' post='1749281']


I see your point, and that's awesome (not everybody would be able to do that). Then again, you may "busk it" only to have the audience object and say (not always to your face) that it sounded nothing like the original or that the guitar solo was unrecognisable etc. I've spent many years in the audience, as opposed to on stage, so I know that that happens - a lot!
[/quote]

I see what your saying, but if you don't have the skill or musical ability to play the songs the audience want, should you be charging them for a service they only half want (ie the songs you want to cover that they then have to either take or leave)...

Also, I've seen first hand that a large majority of audiences are chuffed with any rendition of a request, probably due to the large amount of arsey 'were not a f**king jukebox' bands they get attitude from when they request a song that is more often than not, piss easy.

[bassbluestew]

Our sound man recently had this request - and I am quoting as verbatim as memory allows -
" Can you get them to put on Sex on Fire ". Fortunately it was approaching rapidly on the setlist so we looked like heroes, but the whole " Can you get them to put on " thing does make you stop and think. Strong drink had been taken ( by the punters too I think lol ) but even so.....

[spinynorman]

This needs care.

Several years ago we were playing in a pub to a fairly lukewarm audience. Our keyboard player at the time was an avid Deep Purple fan, so when someone asked 'can you play "Smoke on the Water"?', we could and we did, to a surprisingly frosty reception. It was only a lot later I realised we'd been pigeon holed, not unreasonably, as a Dad's Rock band, and he was taking the piss.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

When we get requests we make people aware of the band policy that all song requests must be submitted on a fifty pound note & if we don't know the song we'll play another one that has some of the same notes in it.

[chrismuzz]

Whenever we get requests for a song we don't know, our vocalist says "Next gig! Be there "

[Lozz196]

This happens a fair bit in my punk covers band. Playing Hurry up Harry by Sham 69, or So What by the Anti Nowhere League, we often get someone (often a bit the worse for wear) ask "Do you play any Kings of Leon?"

The singer usually replies with a question himself. "What do you think?"

Fair enough if we mixed genres, but our whole set, aside from a couple of Green Day songs, is punk from late 70s/early 80s.

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1343369774' post='1749530']
This happens a fair bit in my punk covers band. Playing Hurry up Harry by Sham 69, or So What by the Anti Nowhere League, we often get someone (often a bit the worse for wear) ask "Do you play any Kings of Leon?"

The singer usually replies with a question himself. "What do you think?"
[/quote]



Thankfully we haven't been asked to play any Kings Of Leon. Not sure it would sound good in between Raining Blood and Battery anyway...

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1343336836' post='1749313']
I see what your saying, but if you don't have the skill or musical ability to play the songs the audience want, should you be charging them for a service they only half want (ie the songs you want to cover that they then have to either take or leave)...

Also, I've seen first hand that a large majority of audiences are chuffed with any rendition of a request, probably due to the large amount of arsey 'were not a f**king jukebox' bands they get attitude from when they request a song that is more often than not, piss easy.
[/quote]

Yep, few years ago we got asked for some bad company (I was on guitar and vocals back then) we could just about remember can't get enough (it's only 3 chords FFS, except that bit that isn't) the crowd were perfectly happy with my invented verses, and guitar solo which was actually me singing the solo tune, as I knew I'd cock it up if I tried to play it. happy punters, are good punters.

Alternatively, in an acoustic duo I've played in on and off for the last 8 years or so, we tend to take the request, then announce the next song as being for the person who asked for whatever it was, and sometimes even call the next song by the same name as the one requested, while in fact playing whatever we were going to play anyway. Being an act know well for being relentless piss takers, it is always a decent chuckle. Particularly if we throw in the odd lyric from the requested song.

[Paul S]

Our singer usually says at some point during the gig 'if you have any requests let us know. If it is on our list, we'll play it' which usually gets a titter and the message across.

I don't get the whole 'the crowd are paying so you should play what they ask' thing. You've only got to read the threads on here to see how diverse music is and it is totally unrealistic imo to expect a band to be able to play *anything*. We play what we play, based on what we are capable of playing to a decent enough standard. We aren't professional musos, just a bunch of middle aged guys having a laugh who just happen to make a lot of people happy when they come to see us. As far as I can see the whole pub band thing is pretty Darwinian and if people didn't like what we do we wouldn't get booked again.

[Matt P]

i'm expecting this for our next gig, we're playing for a friends wedding, they asked and we mistakenly said yes, the bride to be was under the impression that we'd just need a couple of practices before the big day but when they asked we were'nt really a band (we'd just jammed together a few times) we've all played in bands before but just not in this configuration, we've spent the last 3 months learning and practicing suitable songs, and it's been fun (we're going to keep on after the wedding),

at some point someone (probably the groom) will shout "play freebird" (a long running joke with his best man who plays lead guitar in a rock covers band and refuses to play freebird) so we've worked out a version that works for us and we're poised to launch into it at any point.
hopefully that should earn us a few pints to round the evening off.

Matt

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='JimBobTTD' timestamp='1343328499' post='1749095']
Being a band jukebox has always been a dream of mine. A book at the front of the stage with a list of all the available songs...request made...band plays track.
[/quote]

Ive seen a band called Rockaoke a few times. They do mostly (only) corporate gigs and always go down well. They do have a singer but she tends to take a back seat unless no one wants to get up and sing (not often), then it works as an ice breaker until the drink has been flowing for a while.
Its a really good concept IMO. You just hand out lists of songs you do know, it doesn't have to be that many as long as you stick to the standard stuff.

Agree about the twats who think we can just "just play it, dont worry about the chords". We normally find its when we tell them to come and sing it that they back down.

[Donnyboy]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1343385479' post='1749852']
Our singer usually says at some point during the gig 'if you have any requests let us know. If it is on our list, we'll play it' which usually gets a titter and the message across.

I don't get the whole 'the crowd are paying so you should play what they ask' thing. You've only got to read the threads on here to see how diverse music is and it is totally unrealistic imo to expect a band to be able to play *anything*. We play what we play, based on what we are capable of playing to a decent enough standard. We aren't professional musos, just a bunch of middle aged guys having a laugh who just happen to make a lot of people happy when they come to see us. As far as I can see the whole pub band thing is pretty Darwinian and if people didn't like what we do we wouldn't get booked again.
[/quote]

Are we in the same band, and not realised it,by any chance??

[Paul S]

Only if it is you that I hear with the crap playing, not me.

Love that emoticon btw, never looked at the expanded list before!

[Delberthot]

The three most annoying things a punter can say are, in no particular order:

1) "Can you put xxxxxx on?" - Do you see record decks?
2) "Can you sing xxxxxxxxxx?" - well our singer can but what are the rest of use meant to do? We're not a barber shop quartet (thankfully)
3) After being told that we possibly couldn't do a song because no one of us have heard of it, punter says "its easy, it goes ner ner ner ner ner".At which point our singer says "Do you want to sing it?" which usually has them doing a David Copperfield and vanishing to the toilets.

My wedding band has been together now for nearly 17 years and we pride ourselves on being able to try most stuff but even our male singer might struggle with a Kate Bush Song.

[Commando Jack]

We're pretty flexible with requests in that, if we know it, we'll play it. If I'm the lead singer (we have a couple of iterations of the same band) then I will say as much early on in the set, something like

"We are very happy to play requests, if we know it, we'll play it, but if we don't then we're not going to ruin your favourite song"

For most punters this is fine and people accept if you don't know something. They seem to like the attitude of "I'd do my damnedest for you, but my hands are tied" and accept when you can't do it. The small minority will come up with:

"WHAT? HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW MY FAVOURITE SONG? IT IS CLEARLY MY FAVOURITE BAND'S BEST SONG AND NOT OBSCURE AT ALL! THE FACT THAT IT WAS A B-SIDE TO A NON-CHARTING RELEASE 24 YEARS AGO IS NO EXCUSE FOR NOT KNOWING IT!"

They'll then leave, let you play a couple of numbers, and come back to repeat the same request as if you have learned it in the meantime, only to repeat the same outburst when you say you don't know it

You can't please everyone!

[JakeBrownBass]

.

Edited January 19, 2013 by JakeBrownBass

[Commando Jack]

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1343403616' post='1750301']
At which point our singer says "Do you want to sing it?" which usually has them doing a David Copperfield and vanishing to the toilets.
[/quote]

Be careful with this one, I used to say exactly the same thing until someone called my bluff and grabbed my microphone off me. The disruption to the gig was certainly not worth trying it again.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1343336836' post='1749313']
I see what your saying, but if you don't have the skill or musical ability to play the songs the audience want, should you be charging them for a service they only half want (ie the songs you want to cover that they then have to either take or leave)...

[/quote]

What a bizarre attitude. No wish to sound hostile or anything, but I'm genuinely astonished at that suggestion.

I have sufficient skill and musical ability to play literally thousands of songs ... which I have no intention of playing. Ever. Doesn't matter whether not I CAN play [color=#800000][i]Mary Had A Little Lamb [/i][/color]or [color=#800000][i]Ra-Ra-Rasputin[/i][/color]; what matters is that I have not the slightest interest in or intention of playing those songs.

I use my skill and musical ability to play songs that I like playing. My band doesn't have a big following or anything, but there are enough people out there who like what we play to keep us in gigs.

When we get a request, we reply "[i]We'll play any song, so long as it's on our Set List[/i]". If a punter asks "Why?" we give the same answer as Commando Jack - "[i]If it's your favourite song, why would you want it ruined by us?".[/i]

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1343403616' post='1750301']
The three most annoying things a punter can say are, in no particular order:

1) "Can you put xxxxxx on?" - Do you see record decks?
2) "Can you sing xxxxxxxxxx?" - well our singer can but what are the rest of use meant to do? We're not a barber shop quartet (thankfully)
3) After being told that we possibly couldn't do a song because no one of us have heard of it, punter says "its easy, it goes ner ner ner ner ner".At which point our singer says "Do you want to sing it?" which usually has them doing a David Copperfield and vanishing to the toilets.


[/quote]

And all this can happen during a song. What is it with people (not just drunks) that decide to try and chat with you while playing a song. Luckily for me its only my fingers that need to be there, not my brain so i can quite happily chat away to them, i just cant stick my finger in their eye during this time.

[razze06]

When we first played a big Irish bar here in Edinburgh we didn't have any traditional irish songs in the set list (we were more a rock/punk type of group at the time). We gathered requests from the inebriated irishmen and women, and played those song next gig. We had to play Galway Girl 3 times in one night...

[Mr. Foxen]

There were a pair of chaps that set up a trailer to look a bit like a juke box and sat in it, drums and guitar, doing covers in a country style with costumes and such, the options where on the front and you pushed the button, it lit up and they played it. Seen them twice around my university, and every time I passed them for the whole event both times, they were playing 'Ace of Spades' They had about 20 songs and that's all anyone chose.

[SlapbassSteve]

[quote name='razze06' timestamp='1343404201' post='1750318']
When we first played a big Irish bar here in Edinburgh we didn't have any traditional irish songs in the set list (we were more a rock/punk type of group at the time). We gathered requests from the inebriated irishmen and women, and played those song next gig. We had to play Galway Girl 3 times in one night...
[/quote]


I play a few Irish places in Liverpool and Manchester. It's quite fun to see how long it is before Galway Girl gets requested, and then keep a tally during the night of how many times it's asked for. Occasionally we get asked to do some really obscure Irish folk tune that only the requester seems to know of, our usual response to that is to play something like Dakota, which tends to go down considerably better.

Another little dislike of mine is when you're onstage trying to remember when a song changes to that awkward bridge-y bit and someone in the crowd comes up and just starts chatting away as if you're both just standing at the bar...

[Donnyboy]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1343402628' post='1750280']
Only if it is you that I hear with the crap playing, not me.

Love that emoticon btw, never looked at the expanded list before!
[/quote]

Definitely me!! You know the one who always forgets what song he's playing , repeatedly makes the same mistakes,but sometimes get bits right.

I like the thingy too - I just randomly pick them without really knowing what they mean

[Donnyboy]

[quote name='razze06' timestamp='1343404201' post='1750318']
When we first played a big Irish bar here in Edinburgh we didn't have any traditional irish songs in the set list (we were more a rock/punk type of group at the time). We gathered requests from the inebriated irishmen and women, and played those song next gig. We had to play Galway Girl 3 times in one night...
[/quote]
[quote name='SlapbassSteve' timestamp='1343404992' post='1750331']
I play a few Irish places in Liverpool and Manchester. It's quite fun to see how long it is before Galway Girl gets requested, and then keep a tally during the night of how many times it's asked for. Occasionally we get asked to do some really obscure Irish folk tune that only the requester seems to know of, our usual response to that is to play something like Dakota, which tends to go down considerably better.

Another little dislike of mine is when you're onstage trying to remember when a song changes to that awkward bridge-y bit and someone in the crowd comes up and just starts chatting away as if you're both just standing at the bar...
[/quote]

Excuse my ignorance but is Galway Girl the Steve Earle song?

I get the " lets have a blether" routine too - i think I'm getting better at ingnoring it though - more difficult if your pretty much standing in amongst the audience.. we played recently at a pub that had a pretty much none- existant stage - bawheid here was strategically placed outside the gents " S'cuse me pal I'm bursting on a piss " , and i tell you it smelt like someone had died in there every time the door was opened!