Singers who don't understand how music works

[Woodinblack]

4 minutes ago, Jus Lukin said:

I was directed to take an 'acoustic ballad break' this weekend,

In my last group, the guitarist would do a couple of his own acoustic songs as the start to the second half, so we would sit it out until it was over

[bassist_lewis]

I once played with a singer who asked us to slow the song down, which is fair enough. They then said it was too slow, and asked us to bump up the tempo a little bit... a little bit more... a little more... and we were back to the original tempo.

They later asked the keyboard player to "come in earlier". He was a little miffed as he was playing what was on the recording but did as they asked. They then told him he still wasn't playing it right, so they had a quiet, in depth conversation, after which everything was fine (I didn't notice a difference). Later he explained that what they had meant by "come in earlier" was actually "use a different piano sound". 

Edited July 8, 2021 by bassist_lewis

[ubit]

48 minutes ago, Sarah5string said:

I already said when we play highway to hell I'm wandering off to the bar until the chorus. Might do the same with Wonderwall

You must get served mighty quick in your local!

[ubit]

Anyone who doesn't think bagpipes sound good listen to this!

 

 

 

[uk_lefty]

3 hours ago, ubit said:

Threatening to leave a band or refusing to play is just childish in my opinion. I have had to play loads of songs I didn't like but the paying public did. You have to play what people want to hear, end of story. otherwise you will have a very short tenure in the venue you want to play in.

Try playing Wagon Wheel endlessly!

I respectfully disagree. I am at this point with my current band. The set list is falling to the lowest common denominator of all the shittiest songs every other shitty pub band does: sex on fire, dakota... We do some real shite, Parklife, Shotgun (George Ezra... I only agreed because it has fretless bass on it but I can't be bothered bringing it most the time)... Then "recent" songs from the top 10. Well, if by recent you mean 2008... Its just all a bit sad and middle aged try-hard, instead of having fun playing music that needs more than just an auto-response from the audience. By that I mean doing a great version of a song people love but might not be expecting to hear, or putting a new spin on an old favourite. That's what I enjoy. I could be a lot busier for gigs, covid permitting, if I learned more of the pub band classics repertoire but I don't want to do that to myself. It's not my living, it's a paid hobby, and I want to enjoy it. 

[uk_lefty]

16 minutes ago, ubit said:

Anyone who doesn't think bagpipes sound good listen to this!

 

 

 

No thanks! 😂

[Sarah5string]

1 hour ago, ubit said:

You must get served mighty quick in your local!

We put all the punters off coming so it's a short queue

[Woodinblack]

22 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

 By that I mean doing a great version of a song people love but might not be expecting to hear, or putting a new spin on an old favourite.

Yes, thats whats good. So we tend to put a ska twist on things, so we do Timber (pitbul / ke$ha), but do it as a ska song. Our brown eyed girls that we do is also ska'd. I don't mind playing anything if it is fun to do

[uk_lefty]

3 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Yes, thats whats good. So we tend to put a ska twist on things, so we do Timber (pitbul / ke$ha), but do it as a ska song. Our brown eyed girls that we do is also ska'd. I don't mind playing anything if it is fun to do

Spare a thought for me, a Yorkshireman, having to play Parklife. In Essex. 

[ubit]

43 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

I respectfully disagree. I am at this point with my current band. The set list is falling to the lowest common denominator of all the shittiest songs every other shitty pub band does: sex on fire, dakota... We do some real shite, Parklife, Shotgun (George Ezra... I only agreed because it has fretless bass on it but I can't be bothered bringing it most the time)... Then "recent" songs from the top 10. Well, if by recent you mean 2008... Its just all a bit sad and middle aged try-hard, instead of having fun playing music that needs more than just an auto-response from the audience. By that I mean doing a great version of a song people love but might not be expecting to hear, or putting a new spin on an old favourite. That's what I enjoy. I could be a lot busier for gigs, covid permitting, if I learned more of the pub band classics repertoire but I don't want to do that to myself. It's not my living, it's a paid hobby, and I want to enjoy it. 

Well good luck to you then but certainly up here if you try something different people don't like it. They want what they hear on the radio or pod cast or whatever it is now. They want what's popular.

[Downunderwonder]

2 hours ago, Sarah5string said:

I already said when we play highway to hell I'm wandering off to the bar until the chorus. Might do the same with Wonderwall

Expect ecstatic drunken reaction to bass kicking in.

[KevB]

On 05/07/2021 at 20:23, tauzero said:

I can't remember what I quoted to her, but "Daydream believer" popped into my head while I was writing that post.

White Room by Cream?

[Muzz]

1 hour ago, uk_lefty said:

Then "recent" songs from the top 10. Well, if by recent you mean 2008... 

For something more current, there's All You Ever Wanted by Rag n Bone Man...although it's basically Sex On Fire, just moved on 20 years...

[Dad3353]

5 hours ago, ubit said:

... You have to play what people want to hear, end of story...

True, probably, if it's a job, but if playing for one's own pleasure, one may be more discerning, I'd say. Fewer gigs, maybe, but more satisfying. 

[uk_lefty]

1 hour ago, ubit said:

Well good luck to you then but certainly up here if you try something different people don't like it. They want what they hear on the radio or pod cast or whatever it is now. They want what's popular.

Hang on though, my response was about it being childish to want to quit a band if you don't like the material. There is absolutely no disputing that playing Sweet Caroline and "Peter Kay's Amarillo" will go down a storm in 99% of drinking establishments in England. 

[uk_lefty]

29 minutes ago, Muzz said:

For something more current, there's All You Ever Wanted by Rag n Bone Man...although it's basically Sex On Fire, just moved on 20 years...

I don't think I've ever heard it. Which is why me trying to play it because it's a "new song" (I have no idea when it was released, but in the last 5 or 10 years?) would look like a sad 37 year old man trying to be popular to 20-somethings. Except there's no 20-somethings in the place, it's all people 35 and over who don't want to go from bar to bar, just sit there and drink and sing along to a few songs they know. 

[Muzz]

It charted earlier this year... I do think you're over-thinking 'a sad 37 year old man trying to be popular to 20-somethings', tho - it's the band, not you, and a good song is a good song whether it's a year old or decades old. IME, 20-somethings will dance and sing along to songs they know just as well as anyone else, and if you're playing popular music, that stretches a long way backwards and forwards.

The real tricky bit is playing stuff punters will know, but not necessarily the same old cliche'd stuff like Sex On Fire...at least not all the time...

Take Go Your Own Way; OK, it's 44 years old, but if there's a better guitar-based song for getting all the girls (yes, the 20-somethings, too) singing and, where possible, dancing (which, incidentally, will get the blokes singing and dancing, too), I've yet to encounter it. I'm 20 years older than you, and I'm never sad about playing for girls to sing and dance, no matter what their ages...

Edited July 8, 2021 by Muzz

[ubit]

6 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Why? This isn't the day job, this is what I do for entertainment.

We did it for entertainment too but we also wanted asked back. We tried to do a mixture of songs we wanted to play and songs that would go down well. Gradually the set became all songs I didn't like but went down well. People used to say we were a good band and asked us back but we were playing songs we didn't like particularly. If we tried something edgy they showed their disgust by remaining silent or sitting down.

[Dad3353]

15 minutes ago, ubit said:

... remaining silent or sitting down.

Our ideal audience..! 

[ubit]

30 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

Our ideal audience..! 

At a funeral yes.

 

[FinnDave]

I'm going to be playing two hours plus of nothing but Grateful Dead at a local pub this Saturday - it'll be interesting to see how that goes down!

[Crusoe]

5 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

I respectfully disagree. I am at this point with my current band. The set list is falling to the lowest common denominator of all the shittiest songs every other shitty pub band does: sex on fire, dakota...

Get the singer to change the lyrics to "Socks on Fire". The punters will never notice the difference if (s)he puts a bit of an American twang on it and you can all have a little private chuckle.

[ubit]

35 minutes ago, Crusoe said:

Get the singer to change the lyrics to "Socks on Fire". The punters will never notice the difference if (s)he puts a bit of an American twang on it and you can all have a little private chuckle.

I used to do this to lots of songs I was bored with. We used to do Message In a Bottle and I used to sing message in a sausage.

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, ubit said:

We did it for entertainment too but we also wanted asked back. We tried to do a mixture of songs we wanted to play and songs that would go down well. Gradually the set became all songs I didn't like but went down well. People used to say we were a good band and asked us back but we were playing songs we didn't like particularly. If we tried something edgy they showed their disgust by remaining silent or sitting down.

So for your enjoyment you go into a pub to play songs you don't like for people, or is this a job? Because if that was my only option then I would just get together with some mates and play songs I wanted and do free gigs without charging.

What I find increadable is that according to this thread, where several posters live apparently even though we have had 70 years of Pop music charts, which must be many thousands of songs, there aren't 30 songs people can find to play that people would enjoy without playing oasis.

Strangely, my band, and the band before it, and the band we are putting together at the moment (the last two not by my choice) manage to fit into this most rare 'don't play any oasis numbers' niche. And somehow we get invited back month after month.

I am so glad I don't live in your areas where bands are only allowed in if they are playing certain songs.  Luckily in my area, the cover bands can all do different popular songs, so have some kind of individuality. I am sure some of them do oasis (well, they must, there is an oasis tribute band around here) although I can only think of one that I have seen that did. I guess this is a very niche area.

[verb]

5 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Yes, thats whats good. So we tend to put a ska twist on things, so we do Timber (pitbul / ke$ha), but do it as a ska song. Our brown eyed girls that we do is also ska'd. I don't mind playing anything if it is fun to do

There is a band local to me that does a ska version of Hotel California.