New opportunity - Covers Band

[AndyTravis]

Just been offered a position with a covers band who do regular gigs and get good money doing so. All weddings, no scrotty pubs and clubs...

The band I'm currently in hasn't gigged in ages and to be frank, they're pissing me off so I don't mind leaving them behind, and selling the PA would see a return into my pocket.

The thing is, I've been sent a set list and it's all so bland I can't bring myself to be excited about playing any of it. I've just played 36 songs without having played them before and grasped them to a passable level.

Is it wrong to be turning down £100-£200 a gig just because of be bored shitless playing the tunes?

I could do with the cash while Mrs T is on maternity as the general use and savings are being used to supplement income loss.

There just doesn't seem to be any flexibility or room for change in the set, and to be frank some of the tunes are the songs I'd turn the radio off if they came on - undoubtedly popular tunes but the kind of stuff I completely hate.

It's easy money, sure, and I'd feel guilty for turning down the money...especially 14 gigs before new year and I'd be a knob if I went back to moaning about the lack of work with the old band...

I'm sure this makes sense somehow...I just need a kick up the arse and "take the money and run".

But just as I was giving up on the covers band thing, this has come along.

[chris_b]

You don't need the cash or you wouldn't be tempted to pass up this opportunity.

If you don't want to play bass in a good band (which I'm assuming it is), in good surroundings to good people then why are you playing bass?

If you make a good impression in any band you'll be networking and everyone has side projects.

I'd happily do this gig and I'd be travelling from Surrey.

[Chaos Daveo]

Do it and take the money, also do a side project to get your mojo going,treat the covers as a work band for the cash. If you could do with the money...

[Iain]

Singer in one of my bands has just taken this step (he's a pro drummer living out a long-term dream fronting our band!) - purely because he needs to earn money - nothing wrong with that even though he's playing drums to music that does nothing for him and he can play in a coma.

In terms of boredom - the trick, for me, would be to find positives in it (e.g. the cash, people, appreciative audiences) and set yourself targets - playing song-x perfectly, hitting riff-y out of the park, get as tight with the drummer as you can, improve feel - treat is as extended rehearsal. A lot of the time I'll use odd neck positions (bass, not mine) to improve things like fluidity on a stretch, etc.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Iain

[AndyTravis]

Yeah, I've got my cop show funk project I dabble with.

And it's not a desperate act, I'm not rich, but I'm not poor.

I think I'll do them and put any coin into my private savings and use it as a deposit on a custom bass...

Motivational custom bass obviously.

And yes, I've neglected to look at the bigger picture of networking...

I won't get rich quick being a snob about what I will and won't play.

Plus, not everyone appreciates the Bernard Edwards basslines.

Bloody Kings Of Leon 🙄

[kusee pee]

Depends if you get your fun more from the music you play or how the audience responds. We play largely bland stuff from my point of view but when it gets a crowd up, dancing and happy then it's all worth it in my book. In an ideal world, I'd be playing early 80s new romantic dance grooves to a wild audience but the latter rarely seems to be drawn to the former. And it's the latter that is needed to let me play bass live on a regular basis.

[Number6]

Think of all that new gear you could buy with the added income.....

[bassjim]

can we see the set list?

I/we know what you mean about some tunes.......they come on and you turn off.

I always rewrite the bass parts to suit me more where ever possible and I encourage the rest of the band to do the same. Then they become our version of the song without it being too removed from the original.

Unless its an integral part of the song or if I'm depping (wrong place to blow every ones mind) thats how i get round it. Its 20% of the set i dont like but I/we know these are the bread and butter tunes that without them there is no regular gig.

If your band are pissing you off then think of it as a paid stop gap. Could be that perhaps a couple of the guys in the paid gig think like you and it could be the start of a new project.

Its a good way out of the current band for you as well. "sorry guys but this is regular paying and the misses ....."

No need for an argument or storm out. They may well give you some gip but if they are not gigging......

Use the extra cash for GAS!

[AndyTravis]

Set 1:
1. I predict a riot - Kasier Chiefs (C minor)
2. Are you gonna be my girl - Jet (A)
3. Dynamite - Tiao Cruz (C# minor)
4. Forget you - Cee Lo Green (C)
5. Moves like jagger - Maroon 5 (A minor)
6. Somebody Told me - The Killers (A minor)
7. Use somebody - Kings of Leon (C)
8. Saw her standing there - The Beatles (E)
9. Valerie - Amy Winehouse (Eb)
10. Last Night - The Strokes (C)
11. Get Lucky - Daft Punk (B minor)
12. Dakota - Stereophonics (E)
13. She's Electric - Oasis (E)
14. Parklife - Blur (E)
15. Happy - Pharrell (F)
16. Everlong - Foo fighters
17. Buck Rogers - Feeder (E)

Set 2:
1. I gotta feelin' - Black Eyed Peas (G)
2. We found love - Rihanna (G# minor)
3. Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke (request) (G)
4. You really got me - The Kinks (G)
5. All day and all of the night - The Kinks (G)
6. Place your hands - Reef (D)
7. Disco 2000 - Pulp (F)
8. Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus (E)
9. Bet you look good on the dance floor - Arctic monkeys (F# minor)
10. Mr. Brightside - The Killers (D)
11. Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon (E)
12. Chelsea Dagger - Fratellis (G)
13. Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams (D)
14. Livin' on a prayer - Bon Jovi (D minor)
15. All these things that i've done - The Killers (F#)
16. Locked out of heaven - Bruno Mars (C minor)
17.Don't look back in anger - Oasis
18. I'm a believer - The monkees

I have played some of these before...

I suppose if people are up dancing, I'll be happy enough.

Just falling asleep with some of them, and the frequency of KOL and Killers. Two bands I hate.

[NickD]

There's nothing on that list Id particularly fancy playing, but it would depend on the band and their approach. Donkeys years ago I was offered a decent paying job on the recommendation of a drummer I'd worked with previously. It was a 70s show, glam stuff, ABBA etc, which wasn't really my kind of thing but I needed the money and had always enjoyed playing with the drummer so I went for it. I turned up to the one and only practice scheduled before a 2 week stint in Germany with only one night off, and it was a blast. The drummer and guitard were brilliant, the whole attitude very tongue in cheek, and the singer (and band leader) didn't give a toss what we did as long as it was solid underneath where he was singing. With very well known songs you can take huge liberties musically as long as the core melody and feel is firmly recognisable to the punter, and man did we take liberties! It turned out not only to be a nice little earner, but pretty fulfilling musically too. I'd check it out and see how the setup is personally.

[hubrad]

Some wedding photographers live in a big house, while some creative artists starve in a garret.
I used to hate playing The Wild Rover, then I looked up one night from my pit of misery and the whole room was having such fun I just went with it.
Take the gig, and either extract what fun you can from it or think of the money. You can always leave later.

[Graham]

We play a lot of those, they're a lot more fun to play than listen to - like you I'd avoid a lot of them in real life, but am happy to play them to an audience who wants to hear them.

I'd say do it, if only for while the Mrs is on maternity and then see how you feel in six to nine months. If they're bringing in that kind of wage per gig it shouldn't be hard for them to find someone else to step up if you decide to call it a day.

[KevB]

A lot of stuff in there from the set list of a band I was in a couple of years back. We didn't do that many weddings but enough for me to learn it really wasn't my scene. The money sounds good though I agree.

[AndyTravis]

Yeah.

Now, Wal or Enfield, Wal or Enfield...

I've got to get over myself, the cop show thing is so much fun - and in the other band I've picked a load of tunes with tasty bass parts...

But neither of them are paying that money.

[lee650]

Nobody gets paid to play music they love Andy 😉 take the gig while Mrs Travis is on maternity! Whose the band? That list looks familiar (every wedding band in the country). I'd be quite happy to take a gig with a decent wedding band,especially as I lost all my gigs after moving to another part of the county 😕

[AndyTravis]

[quote name='lee650' timestamp='1470325116' post='3105168']
Nobody gets paid to play music they love Andy 😉 take the gig while Mrs Travis is on maternity! Whose the band? That list looks familiar (every wedding band in the country). I'd be quite happy to take a gig with a decent wedding band,especially as I lost all my gigs after moving to another part of the county 😕
[/quote]

Think that's the problem Lee, it's so middle of the road. I'll do it though...I'm sure the formula works, must just be me.

[cheddatom]

[quote name='NickD' timestamp='1470323767' post='3105152']
...With very well known songs you can take huge liberties musically as long as the core melody and feel is firmly recognisable to the punter...
[/quote]

This would be the main attraction to me - see what you can get away with, push yourself

[AndyTravis]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1470325530' post='3105173']


This would be the main attraction to me - see what you can get away with, push yourself
[/quote]

Yeah, I've got a notepad ready for later, will write the basics out so I can remind myself of where to take it.

[crez5150]

[quote name='lee650' timestamp='1470325116' post='3105168']
Nobody gets paid to play music they love
[/quote]

Do you really believe this?

[bassjim]

[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1470322197' post='3105136']
Set 1:
1. I predict a riot - Kasier Chiefs (C minor)
2. Are you gonna be my girl - Jet (A)
3. Dynamite - Tiao Cruz (C# minor)
4. Forget you - Cee Lo Green ©
5. Moves like jagger - Maroon 5 (A minor)
6. Somebody Told me - The Killers (A minor)
7. Use somebody - Kings of Leon ©
8. Saw her standing there - The Beatles (E)
9. Valerie - Amy Winehouse (Eb)
10. Last Night - The Strokes ©
11. Get Lucky - Daft Punk (B minor)
12. Dakota - Stereophonics (E)
13. She's Electric - Oasis (E)
14. Parklife - Blur (E)
15. Happy - Pharrell (F)
16. Everlong - Foo fighters
17. Buck Rogers - Feeder (E)

Set 2:
1. I gotta feelin' - Black Eyed Peas (G)
2. We found love - Rihanna (G# minor)
3. Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke (request) (G)
4. You really got me - The Kinks (G)
5. All day and all of the night - The Kinks (G)
6. Place your hands - Reef (D)
7. Disco 2000 - Pulp (F)
8. Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus (E)
9. Bet you look good on the dance floor - Arctic monkeys (F# minor)
10. Mr. Brightside - The Killers (D)
11. Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon (E)
12. Chelsea Dagger - Fratellis (G)
13. Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams (D)
14. Livin' on a prayer - Bon Jovi (D minor)
15. All these things that i've done - The Killers (F#)
16. Locked out of heaven - Bruno Mars (C minor)
17.Don't look back in anger - Oasis
18. I'm a believer - The monkees

I have played some of these before...

I suppose if people are up dancing, I'll be happy enough.

Just falling asleep with some of them, and the frequency of KOL and Killers. Two bands I hate.
[/quote] its not as bad as i thought it would be. If like me you are a funkateer at heart then I can see how some of this looks. I made the most money,got the biggest audiences,got the best abroad gigs, made so many new friends,gained a regular gigging experience I never had before and met my fiancee' playing this stuff amongst other benifits over a four year period, yet it was playing the music i liked the least. Most of it was like this.

Take the gig. You never know where it ends up. Try and go with it but never give up on your real musical passions.They will come....

Edited August 4, 2016 by bassjim

[lee650]

[quote name='crez5150' timestamp='1470326120' post='3105179']


Do you really believe this?
[/quote]

no Crez! I should rephrase that to not everybody gets paid to play music they love.
Op clearly doesn't enjoy that kind of music,however it's a standard set list for a lot of weddings.
The clients will pay to hear what they love, unfortunately not what the bass player enjoys playing.
ive been lucky that I've earned a living playing music,although playing ballroom on a cruise liner didn't fulfill me musically.

my point if you are being offered decent money to play music,you are very lucky to be in that situation and perhaps for the time being,he can just enjoy playing,which is what we're all here for.

cheers

Edited August 4, 2016 by lee650

[crez5150]

[quote name='lee650' timestamp='1470326858' post='3105182']
no Crez! I should rephrase that to not everybody gets paid to play music they love.
Op clearly doesn't enjoy that kind of music,however it's a standard set list for a lot of weddings.
The clients will pay to hear what they love, unfortunately not what the bass player enjoys playing.
ive been lucky that I've earned a living playing music,although playing ballroom on a cruise liner didn't fulfill me musically.

my point if you are being offered decent money to play music,you are very lucky to be in that situation and perhaps for the time being,he can just enjoy playing,which is what we're all here for.

cheers
[/quote]

I was gonna say, its a bit of a bleak outlook lol

[discreet]

Haven't read the entire thread - first impressions, it's a standard covers band set. If you could do with the cash, take the gig and meanwhile look for something that suits you better. No shame in that. It's better than the biscuit factory. The other choice is to 'not gig' with your other band and have them continue to piss you off. No-brainer, I would have thought.

Edited August 4, 2016 by discreet

[FinnDave]

Out of interest, is that a typical covers band set list? I ask as there are only 2 bands on the list I've actually heard of! I knew I was out of touch, but I didn't know how far!

[JapanAxe]

As others have alluded, you could have a lot of fun with that set. You'll have the basics sorted quickly, so go out and have FUN, ham it up on stage, add your own fills, play stuff whilst jumping about / running through the audience / lying on your back / sitting on the singer's shoulders - and get paid handsomely.