Pub Bands playing their own Material...Mission Creep?

[ambient]

If the original songs are good and fit with the general vibe of the rest of your set, then it shouldn’t matter. I’d never heard the song I’ve got - rather annoyingly - going round in my head at the moment until five minutes ago, when I heard it on the radio. It is apparently the new single from Jake Bugg, and sounds quite different to his previous songs. Just because someone hasn’t heard something before, it doesn’t follow they won’t like it.

[petebassist]

I usually gird my loins when a pub covers band plays one of their own songs - people rightly tend to cherry-pick great covers, but I've never heard an original song being slipped in that was any good in comparison. I'd rather hear originals in an originals gig or an open mic. 

According to my new badge, that's coming from a Rank Enthusiast.

Edited July 28, 2021 by petebassist

[uk_lefty]

I've only ever had one "covers" band play originals. My first ever band, but the other guys had been in an established band that did originals and did the whole battle of the bands things in the late 90s as well as rock covers. We had maybe 4 or 5 originals... They were really good, we would open up with one, but it had heavy inspiration from the bands we covered so it fit the sound. That band was all about the lead guitar though, and as he wrote the originals it was a guitar w4nkfest from start to finish, which went down well. But people only remember our Hendrix medley. 

 

My covers band I've been in for the last 5 years and counting has often threatened to write songs but never actually got round to it. We are a "party" band and it just wouldn't work. Our rule is that the song has to be something people will sing AND dance to, so an original is unlikely to get one of those and never get both. 

 

I'd like to get involved with a group playing originals and be part of writing and coming up with my own parts and sounds, but I think the ratio of time spend writing and practicing to actually gigging will be a million to one, sadly. 

[Beedster]

IME there are nearly always tensions between the perceptions of the person/people who wrote the music and those who didn't as to audience reaction. I've just started playing with an old band. There are four originals in the set. Even when rehearsing them I can quite literally feel the drop-off in energy we used to experience at gigs when we played them, people who'd been really engaged started talking, people who'd been on  their feet sat down, people went to the bar, people walked outside for a cig etc, and we lost the room. But the songwriter/singer can't see any of it  

[Cliff Edge]

“Play something we know”.

How the hell are you supposed to know what they know?  
What’s the point in playing the same stuff every other pub band plays.  

[chris_b]

5 minutes ago, Cliff Edge said:

“Play something we know”.

 

At least you didn't get. . . . "Play something you know!"

[mep]

One or 2 original songs if they are good enough and are well received. The songwriters will usually want to play more and believe their songs are better than they actually are which can cause tensions.

In one band we played 1 original song which was well received and left it at that. In my current band the singer and guitarist wrote a song years ago. it comprises 2 chords and is very linear and doesn't go anywhere. They hsve talked about bringing it into the set and would if they could. I told them the song is stinky poo and no way would I play it. Their inflated egos needed  puncturing.

[Downunderwonder]

Covers band turns into originals band while playing Dog'n'Duck gigs is a well worn path. The better you are as a band the easier it is to pull off.

 

So far you have got to the stage of one hit wonders in your own Dog'n'Duck.

 

I would be voting for churning out more original stuff and inserting the new tunes regularly, but dropping duds like hot rocks.

 

Any cover gig can stand one original per set. Work your butts off to increase the number of your own solid gold hits to two per set. Then you might be getting festival slots.

[mikel]

On 28/07/2021 at 07:39, skidder652003 said:

So my Pub Band did an album of original material last year and some of it is ok (IMO)

 

We play 3 of the songs from said album in the set, one goes down well, the other 2 are  "politely" received.

 

I'm getting  a vibe from one or 2 other band members that they would like to continue further down this path and perhaps don't quite see how our punters react as well as I do.

 

I'm not a fan of "pub" bands playing their own material, I think the punters like to hear stuff they know. I'm trying to diplomatically suggest keeping the originals to the festival circuit (I'm talking village festivals here!) and only really having 2 max of our better tunes in the set and working on more covers to keep the set fresh.

 

But still I'm getting a feeling of Mission Creep, that the writers of said material are really enjoying the process (and I get that) but it's not really helpful to what we are and have been for the last 10 years. We have a new member who has really raised our game ( a great singer) and it's really brought the band up another level (again IMO).

 

Maybe I'm afraid of change? If it wasn't for the singer, the Album would never have happened and there's talk of another one in the pipeline but our bread and butter is The Dog n Duck circuit and I'm nervous of spoiling that. 

 

Has anyone else had a conflict between what works well every week and the ambitions of other (possibly more ambitious) band members?

If you write songs how else is the gig public going to hear them? We used to drop a couple of originals into the set and after a while people got to know them and enjoy. As long as its not a 20 minute prog fest why not. I love pub bands who do something a little different, I mean, how many versions of Sweet Home Alabama do you need to hear.

[ubit]

Where I come from doing originals is near impossible unless you want to get blank stares. When we were playing prolifically we had to play music that the punters knew. Even when we tried to play covers that were more up to date and better to play we got comments like "you used to be good but not now". Just because we were not playing the same songs we had played ten years before! I can understand how professional bands get annoyed when they get asked for songs from their long distant first album.

When we first started we tried sticking a couple of originals in and we even did a demo tape (showing my age) but no one was interested.

It's even worse now because everyone wants this Scottish folk rock fusion now. We used to play with a local accordion player and did weddings as well as pub gigs. It used to turn my blood cold to hear the reception the trad. stuff got and our rock numbers were treated with apathy. Originals? Don't even think about it. not up here. Down in the city bands have a chance to showcase original material but this area doesn't put up with any of that rubbish.

[Downunderwonder]

Trad is pretty closed up indeed.

 

One wonders how long ''classic rock'' has before it's the new 'trad'. Seems pretty close already.

 

Lately I have been getting back into the open mics a bit and having to exercise the ear muscles a lot more with new hits getting aired as well as the crusty stuff. Weirdly stuff I played in bars 20 or more years ago that was kinda old then and didn't feature 5 years ago is now deriguer too. Happy days!

[Nicko]

2 hours ago, mikel said:

If you write songs how else is the gig public going to hear them?

I write a few songs and I'm fairly sure the gig public don't want to hear them.

[Witch Hazel]

12 minutes ago, Downunderwonder said:

Trad is pretty closed up indeed.

in pub or function bands that may be so, but plenty of trad musicians write and perform their own material, which may then end up entering the tradition (after all, existing trad tunes didn't just suddenly appear out of nowhere).  in that respect it's not very different from contemporary music.

[Leonard Smalls]

I've made the mistake before of playing originals in an ordinary boozer... On one memorable gig our metal guitarist was just starting his extended solo as a hen and a stag party walked in. He was widdling away happily, eyes closed,fingers tapping merrily when a drunken girl staggered over to him wearing a skirt I'd barely class as a belt - she shouted "can you play "'Summer of 69'?". To his credit he stopped his solo there and then, shouted the key (I'd never played the song) and we did a quick chorus, then straight back into widdly metal. Punters barely noticed as they were so busy sniffing round one another!

So now we only play dedicated music venues and festivals, cos folks there come specifically for the music...

[ubit]

1 minute ago, Leonard Smalls said:

I've made the mistake before of playing originals in an ordinary boozer... On one memorable gig our metal guitarist was just starting his extended solo as a hen and a stag party walked in. He was widdling away happily, eyes closed,fingers tapping merrily when a drunken girl staggered over to him wearing a skirt I'd barely class as a belt - she shouted "can you play "'Summer of 69'?". To his credit he stopped his solo there and then, shouted the key (I'd never played the song) and we did a quick chorus, then straight back into widdly metal. Punters barely noticed as they were so busy sniffing round one another!

So now we only play dedicated music venues and festivals, cos folks there come specifically for the music...

We had a bunch of girls shout to us one night can you play Whisky in the Jar? 'Cos we're just going. How to endear yourself to the band.

[neepheid]

16 minutes ago, ubit said:

We had a bunch of girls shout to us one night can you play Whisky in the Jar? 'Cos we're just going. How to endear yourself to the band.

 

Oh don't get me started on the joys of punters.  One gig we had someone bug us to play some Neil Young.  So we played Rockin' in the Free World - and she went to the loo.  Then complained later that she didn't get her Neil Young.  D'oh!

[KevB]

21 hours ago, Beedster said:

IME there are nearly always tensions between the perceptions of the person/people who wrote the music and those who didn't as to audience reaction. I've just started playing with an old band. There are four originals in the set. Even when rehearsing them I can quite literally feel the drop-off in energy we used to experience at gigs when we played them, people who'd been really engaged started talking, people who'd been on  their feet sat down, people went to the bar, people walked outside for a cig etc, and we lost the room. But the songwriter/singer can't see any of it  

I think many underestimate the difficulty in writing a really good song. The people who write it may have put a lot of work into it and are really 'too close' to be the best arbiters of it's value. That's better left to the audience IMHO.

[PaulWarning]

We started out as an originals band but soon figured out if we wanted more gigs without travelling miles and miles (and get paid) we would have to do covers, we still do about 6 or 7 of out own songs in a 34 song set, along the way we've released 3 albums and can do an all originals set if required and frequently do at festivals, multi band bills and the like, but it's worked against us on the originals circuit we quite often can't get on some festivals because, I feel, we're not considered a 'proper' originals band. We won the Butlins introductory stage doing all originals, so I think we're good enough to hold out own.

Maybe we should have had 2 bands with different names and the same members like some do

[ubit]

3 hours ago, neepheid said:

 

Oh don't get me started on the joys of punters.  One gig we had someone bug us to play some Neil Young.  So we played Rockin' in the Free World - and she went to the loo.  Then complained later that she didn't get her Neil Young.  D'oh!

I've had drunks telling me to play some Radiohead. " We don't play any Radiohead mate". "Yes you do" "No we don't" : I saw you in here last week playing some" "That wasn't us mate, we weren't in here last week" "Yes you were". Someone beam me up........ please!

[Stub Mandrel]

My ideal is to be in a band who play covers to keep sharp and get gigs, but have an alter-ego writing songs and aiming to do festivals etc.

[Stub Mandrel]

It's odd. On my first time around, my second and third bands both played nothing but originals. Both bands used to play two-sets of all own material, in ordinary pubs and get invited back. I don't think that was unusual in the early '90s.

[peteb]

16 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

It's odd. On my first time around, my second and third bands both played nothing but originals. Both bands used to play two-sets of all own material, in ordinary pubs and get invited back. I don't think that was unusual in the early '90s.

Different times mate!

 

I am currently playing in a couple of original bands; a pub covers band and a tribute band (or possibly two). As far as I’m concerned, these days they are all playing to completely different markets. I would have no intention playing a standard pub gig with either the tribute or the originals bands.

 

The strange thing is that the same punter might go and see all of these bands, but with different expectations for each – the covers band for free in a pub for a beer and a singalong on a Saturday night, expecting to pay to see the tribute band in a club for a night out where they know what to expect or pay (probably less) to hear original material in a rock club to discover something that they hadn’t heard before.

Edited July 31, 2021 by peteb

[Mykesbass]

Thinking about this thread again this morning, and it occurred to me one of my favourite bands Tedeschi Trucks have always mixed and matched originals and covers. Another great act that also did this was the late Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings.

Good enough for them...

[Mykesbass]

Double post.

Edited August 6, 2021 by Mykesbass

[martin8708]

On 29/07/2021 at 13:32, KevB said:

I think many underestimate the difficulty in writing a really good song. The people who write it may have put a lot of work into it and are really 'too close' to be the best arbiters of it's value. That's better left to the audience IMHO.

THIS !

I play mainly in cover bands , but have done stints in original music bands ,even had a go myself at writing songs .Most original songs I came across were vague variations of a more famous song , with cheesy predictable lyrics .

I think people totally underestimate the skill of a good lyricist , it’s a real talent to write something fresh that captures your attention 
 

If you’ve written a great song , it will surely stand on its own merits and go down well with the audience.