Phil Starr Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 I need some Basschat wisdom. I'm playing in a 'Classic Rock' covers band. Great vocalist, good strong backing vocals, decent keyboard player and competent but not virtuoso lead guitarist, keyboard player plays guitar as well for half the set. It's not really my genre any more, I lost interest in Rock in the mid seventies so my knowledge of it is pretty limited from then on but I'm a musical tart and will play anything. I just want to entertain and get plenty of bookings and appreciative audiences. Core set is below, what would go along with these to make a killer set? Final Countdown Jump Fool For Your Loving Hush Don't Stop Me Now Somebody To Love; Queen Rock And Roll Pour Some Sugar On Me All These Things That I Have Done Sanctuary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebass456 Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 Vertigo by U2 Times like these by Foo Fighters Tie your mother down by queen Goodbye to Jane by Slade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 LA Woman, Slow Train running, Some Rolling Stones but not the run of the mill stuff. Maybe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebass456 Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 thanks Hiram - Gave up with the predictive text - you should have seen what it tried to put........😂😂😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 (edited) May I offer a suggestion? * Identify some rock cover bands that work in your area / region * Check out their web sites and look for setlists * Copy the setlists into Word. Note songs played by more than one band. Decide whether to (i) adopt them because they're absolute classics or (ii) avoid them because everyone else is playing them * Keep an eye out for songs that make people say 'I haven't heard that for ages'. If all else fails, google '100 best classic rock songs ever', print out the results, give copies to your band mates and tell them they can only choose 10 each. My suggestion: Bad Girl by ZZ Top. Dead easy guitar part and much less obvious than Legs or Sharp Dressed man Edited December 16, 2017 by skankdelvar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebass456 Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 Might be worth googling "Coverband bingo" as well, just in case you need to avoid the well worn covers.......😐😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Luc Pickguard Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 Freebird! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 My Sharona Nutbush City Limits Red House Sir Duke Big Bad Moon We’re not gonna take it The Real Me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bay Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 Hard to handle, Black Crowes/ Otis Redding always goes down very well for us, as does Alive, Pearl Jam. We run those two with she sells sanctuary at the end of a set and it’s a great way to finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 49 minutes ago, mikebass456 said: Might be worth googling "Coverband bingo" as well, just in case you need to avoid the well worn covers.......😐😉 The only version I could find was horridly low res - so here's a new one 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 2 hours ago, skankdelvar said: The only version I could find was horridly low res - so here's a new one ooo do 2 of them, they're out of this week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted December 17, 2017 Author Share Posted December 17, 2017 Ha ha, there's four of the 'bingo songs' in the set already. They are the fillers I'd like to replace over time. Oh god, I've gigged 14 out of 24 in the last two years. Anyway I'm not looking for the 'usual suspects' we all know those songs. I personally don't mind playing old cover band classics like Long Train Running, Sex On Fire and the likes of Mustang Sally but I didn't bother listing most of them. MY guitarist and singer are the ones who want to do 'classic rock' but they don't really agree on what that is. For the guitarist it's 70's and even 60's stuff with lot's or guitar in it (quelle surprise) For the singer it's the big pomp rock songs, sort of stadium rock. Like I say I stopped listening to rock mid 70's so I suppose I'm looking for songs from the late 70's and 80's. Preferably with strong keyboard parts and some vocal harmonies to play to our strengths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.young Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 Don't Stop Believin' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 Starstruck by Rainbow There's the obvious Paranoid by Sabbath Something from AC/DC ? With keys you could try Stargazer by Rainbow. Stormbringer or Burn by Deep Purple Enter Sandman - Metallica seems to go down well Something from Thin Lizzy ? So many to choose from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrtcat Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 10 hours ago, Phil Starr said: Anyway I'm not looking for the 'usual suspects' we all know those songs. Isn't that the point of a classic rock covers band - to play the usual suspects? I've seen soooo many "Classic Rock" bands say "we're not going to do the same old covers every other CR cover band does" who ultimately end up doing all the usual suspects because they eventually realise that that's all that punters who go to see CR bands really want. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted December 17, 2017 Author Share Posted December 17, 2017 26 minutes ago, mrtcat said: Isn't that the point of a classic rock covers band - to play the usual suspects? I've seen soooo many "Classic Rock" bands say "we're not going to do the same old covers every other CR cover band does" who ultimately end up doing all the usual suspects because they eventually realise that that's all that punters who go to see CR bands really want. That wasn't what I meant to say. It's just that we all pretty much know what the usual fare is and will play a fair few of those songs already, we certainly do especially at a function or at the end of a set. I don't need a list of those. Come to that I don't need a list of songs up to about 1980. I was earning a living as a DJ playing a lot of rock music at the time so my knowledge of that period isn't too bad. For me though a band that only plays the usual suspects rarely goes down that well. You'll be playing the same songs the audience heard last week and the week before. Even a covers band needs a bit of personality and there are thousands of great rock songs to choose from. My problem is that once I got to 1980 I switched off into other music so I don't know much about what to look at, a few ideas here that I can go off and listen to and find a way in. Anyway I appreciate all the suggestions and I'm listening to a lot of them. Keep them coming please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazzbass Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 On 12/16/2017 at 23:41, Phil Starr said: I need some Basschat wisdom. I'm playing in a 'Classic Rock' covers band. Great vocalist, good strong backing vocals, decent keyboard player and competent but not virtuoso lead guitarist, keyboard player plays guitar as well for half the set. It's not really my genre any more, I lost interest in Rock in the mid seventies so my knowledge of it is pretty limited from then on but I'm a musical tart and will play anything. I just want to entertain and get plenty of bookings and appreciative audiences. Core set is below, what would go along with these to make a killer set? Final Countdown Jump Fool For Your Loving Hush Don't Stop Me Now Somebody To Love; Queen Rock And Roll Pour Some Sugar On Me All These Things That I Have Done Sanctuary I'd ditch your whole set and start again. Not inspiring at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurksalot Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 2 that we find work well that are a bit left field video killed the radio star - presidents of the USA version does your mother know -Abba both drive well and get everyone singing along Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 My classic rock band played most of your core set. Others we did that always went down well were Live and Let Die GnR Rosanna, Toto Here I Go again, Whitesnake Feeling Good, Muse version. Loved playing that! Don't Want To Miss a Thing, Aerosmith (surprising to see who was singing along with this in the crowd) Anything by Bon Jovi (we ended up morphing into a Bon Jovi tribute band) First encore - Sweet Child Of Mine. Cliche but got a huge roar every time as the ice cream van opening started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steantval Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 On 16/12/2017 at 15:56, skankdelvar said: The only version I could find was horridly low res - so here's a new one Five of them in our current set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 U2 - New Years Day The Answer - Under The Sky Def Lep - Animal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Dave Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 We changed the arrangement and bunged a load of filthy lyrics in because... well , that's what we do - but without doubt the biggest crowd pleaser we've introduced in recent years is 'Living on a Prayer'. None of us can find a key to sing it properly - which is the only time we've come across that embuggerance because all 3 of us sing - so our drummer said we should not bother trying and let the punters sing the chorus instead. Works every single time. That's for the ladies - if you want a bloke crowd pleaser try a bit of Oasis like 'Cigarettes and Alcohol'. Also get some glam in there. Ballroom Blitz is a good one or Cum on Feel the Noize - we did Blockbuster but we wedged it into a medley with Roadhouse Blues and Jene Genie. Bad Case of Loving You - that goes down well , though I had to drop the bit of 'do you wanna be in my gang' I put in the middle because too many people threatened to kill me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted December 18, 2017 Author Share Posted December 18, 2017 Some nice suggestions coming in now, keep it rolling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 There must be a hidden gem somewhere on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassfunk Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 On 12/16/2017 at 15:56, skankdelvar said: The only version I could find was horridly low res - so here's a new one No need for me to make my suggestions - this covers it all of for me :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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