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There's a crucial bit of that though, which ought to be common sense but isn't always: it's the "if [the gig] is not going well..."
To spot how a gig is going requires paying attention to the audience as a whole, not just the pair of gobby idiots who are making the most noise. It is not impossible for singers/ musicians to be in their own little world to the extent that they don't notice their favourite song is not working with an audience on a particular gig... (or even most gigs). To be fair it's not always easy to spot but it's a skill worth having.
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That's pretty much everything covered. The rest is jazz.
Worked on Wednesday evening..........
Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21)
See! |)
thread may get you out of a hole!
Also chips are "Plant-based" no matter how you cook them.
I'm currently starting a covers band, one's tailed off and not sure if dead or not and I left one in 2013 and another in 2014. So my thoughts on choosing and doing songs is past experiences influencing the current one.
The 2013 band was formed by the drummer with the bassist as an MD. Bassist picked songs he liked that were all Radio 2 playlist keyboard based, we didnt have a keyboard player. Songs were nearly all by male vocalists, we had a female one. I left after 6 months.
2014 was a classic rock start up we never got a vocalist but the lead guitarist band leader insisted on picking the songs. Luckily the band folded before I could leave.
The dormant band was actually very much fun the songs were picked by the singer, I played double bass in that band and loved it. Song choices were eclectic and very off kilter. We didn't do many gigs.
So with that lot behind me I started a covers band. The idea is to do around 50 50 instrumentals and songs with me singing. I've got a drummer and we have had 3-4 rehearsals.We purposely havnt got a bass player yet as I know 4 and we want to thrash out song choices and arrangements first. here's only two people to sort for rehearsals so it's really easy. Anyway, song choices...
I choose all the songs and play them to him. We'll run through the songs, we keep what works and what he likes. If he's not enthusiastic we'll not practice it. Also the songs choices are known but not mainstream cover stuff. The idea is not to be top 40 and not be weird. Also we are working on working together and playing together. Nothings set in stone and we are sorting styles as we go. Currently it's a mixture of blues, rock, funk and dance.
The bass players I know are all capable of fitting in quickly and I might keep the bassist as a depping position. Actually if anyone plays bass in the Bedfordshire area let me know.
My old band started out like this , we did 60's 70's 80's stuff, and all sorts in between.
But after a while we got known for the sound we had at time which was me driving everything acoustically, so started doing more and more songs that fitted that, like REM, Tom Petty etc.
Don't be afraid to think outside the box, people only remember beginning and end of night by the next day, so make sure your opening and closing songs are not only good but different.
We used to do a rocky version of The ballad of Davy Crockett, great fun watching people leave at the end of the night still singing the chorus.
We have good singers and musicians, and get repeat bookings because we play some of the more complicated songs which other bands usually don't tackle. Personally I enjoy tackling something new. Whether it's 80s songs, which are new to me because I was too busy with children and career to notice them, or a fresh arrangement of a well known song.
So we decided to compile a 'long list' of songs which each member would like to play. Rather than allow a veto we decided to try each song, see whether we could find a style and arrangement which suited it. If yes then we play it live in two different venues before deciding whether it has a permanent place in the repertoire.
It's not a democracy because the lead vocalist and I decide what goes into the set list, but it's a lot of fun. It takes time because we listen to lots of performances before coming together to work on an arrangement, but that's what we enjoy doing. Some arrangements I do myself, but quite often it's playing a song through with other people that inspires the arrangement. It's a bit like actors not learning their lines until after the read through.
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