Changing Set list-How often?

[bridge]

Guys,
The band I play in, are forever wanting to change/add to the setlist.(every 2-3 gigs). Just got me thinking, how often does your band change its setlist??

[JTUK]

Every gig has a different set...
we are running in a new drummer... so that has its constraints atm... but we draw from a pool of around 60...altho it is realistically more like 40..but you have to run your eye over the set as we might include one we have done for ages...
and you may need to brush up on it.
The set lists are posted a few days prior to the gig for this reason.

[BobVbass]

yes same here - have a pool of about 60-70 and play 40 or so changing as we want/audience wants

[WalMan]

Nowadays not nearly often enough.

Years ago when we were doing originals, all the time. Very rarely was there a gig without at least one or more new numbers. There's always the ones you 'have' to play, but variety is the spice of life. Somewhat sadly i have had more enjoyment at recent dep gigs where i have had to be on my toes for stuff outside my comfort zone, than the 'drudge' of our standard covers set

[The Dark Lord]

Our sort of evolves. If we have a great gig, we'll repeat it a couple of times. We'll learn one or two new songs a month and gradually add these in here and there. We drop some songs and replace them with various items from the song list depending on the anticipated audience. We very rarely make wholesale changes. That way, you can cut down on rehearsal times.

Edited July 5, 2013 by The Dark Lord

[Mykesbass]

Another 60+ pool of songs - some disappear for a while and then come back but every gig there will be something different, and often we'll throw something in on the night. Ours is all quite simple stuff - Dylan, Creedence, 60's singer songwriter sort of stuff so fairly easy to be flexible.

[Happy Jack]

Start with the punters, and work backwards from there.

If the venue tends to have people up and dancing, play danceable stuff.

If the venue hates punk / funk / country, avoid playing punk / funk / country.

It ain't rocket science, and it makes it pretty obvious that your set list should be changed every time you change venue.

[Adrenochrome]

Every week I change 1 or 2 at least.

[bridge]

Ok thanks guys, we too, have around 70+ songs, and rotate to suit venue, but we also seem lately, to be obsessed with learning at least 3-5 new songs every week, and dropping ones we already know. Refreshing the setlist and adding new songs I can understand, but it is a constant learning curve, though I guess thats not a bad thing eh?

Edited July 5, 2013 by bridge

[Dad3353]

There's five of us in our covers band, all completely different personalities, experience and ages. We each 'propose' a new song or two; if it's chosen by us all, it must be pretty good. We have a repertoire of about 3 hours, at a push, and choose from our 'pool' to suit the occasion (more or less 'rock', or some quieter stuff...). A few of our numbers are likely to be known to some of our audience, but it is unlikely that anyone has heard all of our numbers. We'll spend about 3 or 4 rehearsals on a new one ; if it's adopted after that, it goes in the pool. We often rehearse without any new stuff, and get about 5-6 new ones in per year. We only play for our own pleasure, though; the crowd that come to see us will become aware of that, I suspect, but generally our sets go down well, just the same. We certainly don't 'play to the crowd'.

Edited July 5, 2013 by Dad3353

[Happy Jack]

Also, it's a real blast to suddenly launch into something that you dropped from your set list two years ago ... and discover you can still play it properly, including that tricky bit in the middle eight, you know, the bit where it goes like [i][b]this [/b][/i]...

[mcnach]

[quote name='bridge' timestamp='1373028011' post='2132937']
Guys,
The band I play in, are forever wanting to change/add to the setlist.(every 2-3 gigs). Just got me thinking, how often does your band change its setlist??
[/quote]


all the time!

and tend to change order of the songs according to what we think will work best at any given moment.

[icastle]

My main band is another one with a back catalogue of about 100 and we also learn specific 'requests' for weddings - sometimes they stay sometimes we just never play them again.

We probably add about three or four per month just to keep the set fresh and up to date.

[chris_b]

All my bands change the running order depending on the gig.

The cover band is the most dynamic. We'll add a couple of numbers a month and change 10%-20% of the set for each gig.

We'll change more if we have a dep and will add requests for a function or wedding.

If numbers work with an audience they're in, if they don't they're out no matter how much we like them.

[DarkHeart]

we changed our set 4 times during the gig last night! it was the first time we had played just a single set and we just went with audience reaction.

[dougal]

Like most people here, our set list tends to be fairly fluid. ~80 songs from which we pick a couple of hour long sets. The encores tend to be fairly standard.

We try & introduce current hits & drop them as they disappear (Gagnam style, Walks like Rhianna, Blurred Lines, Get Lucky &c)

Plus if the 'rock' section is bombing we'll move to Britpop or Disco or greatest hits, or anything someone will dance to.

[Norris]

We don't have a set list, just a list of songs that we do, written on the back of an old cornflake pack! . The guitarist calls them out... and not always from the list! Often the first the drummer and I know about it is when he rips into the intro.

It's not as bad as it seems. We like a bit of banter with the punters, and the lack of a fixed set list gives us a lot of flexibility to adapt to the situation & audience. We often do requests; even if we don't really know the song we'll have a good go at it. The one thing that does throw me is when the guitarist starts playing a song that I really don't know, as then I'm stuffed.

We do sometimes write out a list if the occasion calls for us to appear a little more professional, but on the whole most of our gigs are very relaxed - and is why our audience comes to see us. In fact I'll name it - "Lark Rock"