LiveMusic Posted October 8, 2001 Share Posted October 8, 2001 This quote was extracted from another thread about radio; I felt I should create another post since it's a different topic: Originally posted by Kendrix: What makes things even more difficult is that, if you are not a name brand band, local crowds usually dont care to hear original stuff that they are unfamiliar with. This is another topic that has been on my mind. I have wondered if it's even worth it to work up obscure songs... since I was thinking exactly what you said. But I also thought there might be some value in "unique" since I don't think I have the talent some other solo guys have that I would be competing against. I'm not a great guitarist and I'm not a great singer. Just okay, getting better. Hopefully, better than I think I am. And a "unique" act could include playing songs that are not the run-of-the-mill Top 40 stuff... whether it's rock or country. But I have wondered how important it is to stick to what people know. It obviously depends on what the crowd is there for. If it's a party type gig, it would probably need to slant towards songs they know. If it's a gig where people are there to actually listen to what you are doing... a more intimate, "listening" environment, I'd guess you could play more obscure stuff. As a general rule, have you found it important to stick to what people know? Seems you could play a simply fantastic tune but if people don't know it, they'd look at you with "Hey, play (whatever)!" Even when I hear a song that becomes a fave, it usually takes more than one listening before I come to really like it. Some songs jump out and grab me from the getgo, no doubt. I heard the new Garth Brooks / George Jones song "Beer Run" a few days ago... and I instantly recognized it as a song with major hit potential. It is really snappy and catchy. Perfect for the main type of song I seek, since I have ballads coming out my ears. ------------------ Duke > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveMusic Posted October 8, 2001 Author Share Posted October 8, 2001 Originally posted by popmusic: It seems you're talking about two different kinds of acts. Yes, you are correct... two types of act possibilities... although I was curious about just the general answer to the question relating to cover bands. I listen to a lot of cover bands and I hear some songs that I have no clue what they are and I'll ask them. But I think I'm an anamoly... being a music nut. Most people, I guess they want familiar tunes. People stampede the damn dance floor when Mustang Sally is played. Or Brown Eyed Girl. Both great tunes, no doubt. I wonder what that says about us humans? You'd think people would get sick of songs they've heard 10,000 times. Or maybe there is another category of song... like those two... that are SO outstanding (for whatever reason)... that they create a class of their own... tunes that are crowd pleasing cinches. Hey, that could create another list. What are the crowd pleasers? (Cover bands.) BTW, I'll admit that I have yet to tire of Brown Eyed Girl. I still love that song. Seems strange, as dang near every band I've ever heard plays it every night. Gotta be over a thousand times I've heard it played live. Bound to be some insight to the human condition regarding this topic. ------------------ Duke > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted October 8, 2001 Share Posted October 8, 2001 Well...it depends. Yeah there are a lot of people who make their living being in an "anonymous" bar band, whose focus is on playing covers that everyone knows. Crowd pleasers. They can play most songs that people request, and that kind of thing. That's one way to go, but not the only way. Another option is to be an act that's associated with a particular "sound". For example the guys I'm playing with now used to be in a band called the Lizardmen, which billed themselves as a "60's mod band." They did mostly cover songs of all the 60's Brit Invasion style stuff - the Beatles, Who, Zombies, Hollies, Paul Revere and the Raiders, etc. The thing is though, they didn't necessarily do the songs that people knew or the biggest hits - in fact they very rarely did. They had a knack for finding the more obscure album cuts or songs by underground 60's garage bands, and doing really great arrangements of those. They also wrote originals in that vein, and didn't necessarily tell the audience that they were originals. They did REALLY well - not only in the usual cover-band gigs like weddings and private parties, but also at the more "hip" intown clubs that normally featured original acts. They were able to do both because quite simply they just put on a fantastic show and people loved the sound and could dance to it. All the songs were catchy and memorable and danceable, so people didn't much care whether they'd heard them before or not, and in fact the band gathered a lot of fans who were sort of obscurist/collector geeks, who just LOVED the fact that this band had found some particular favorite of theirs that nobody had heard. Our band is more geared toward original music but the fact is that we still love to play really choice covers and so we not only put those in our original sets, but we play out at bars and places where most original bands wouldn't play because they won't play covers and they don't play 3-4 sets a night. We just like to play, pretty much anywhere, so we have several different types of gigs we can do and tailor it to the club/audience, including a coffeehouse/semi-acoustic configuration. When we play these pub and coffeehouse gigs we still throw in quite a few of our originals and many of the covers are unfamiliar to most folks. They don't seem to mind, and we don't tell them which ones are originals. If somebody requests something popular we MIGHT play it but we definitely try to avoid the obvious. So, you CAN make it work either way, it's just that if you're going to play lesser known stuff you should have something to bring to the table that people will latch onto - have a recognizable sound and be an engaging performer, and know how to pace a show. To me, if you're playing music that you yourself love, that will be more likely to translate to the audience than doing a bunch of songs that you think are popular but that you really don't want to do. But, that's just my own experience and I'll be the first to admit I'm a purist snob. http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif --Lee This message has been edited by Lee Flier on 10-08-2001 at 12:38 PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveMusic Posted October 8, 2001 Author Share Posted October 8, 2001 Good post, Lee! I'd love to see your act! What you have described aobut your current act and your band's former act... that's good to know that that can succeed. Regarding the timeless nature of some smash hits... found this quote: "The writer of "Rock Around the Clock" was quoted as saying, "It amazes me to this day, when I'm at a dance or party and 'Rock Around the Clock' is played, six-year-old kids are jumping up and down and 85-year-old grandmas are tappin' their feet. I don't believe they even realize why they're doing it. This sound and music has to be timeless!" ------------------ Duke > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strat0124 Posted October 8, 2001 Share Posted October 8, 2001 Well as much as I hate to admit it, the bands that play the more familiar tunes get alot of work, this is a tourist town. If you play obscure stuff you are more likely to get a local "cult" following but the pubs on the beachfront want what they want. Winter is our fave time of year to play for that simple reason....more work. Once the tourists are gone, a little eclectic tunage has more of a chance. We get way more work out of town than in, and given our members all have a professional life, it gets difficult to get everyone to travel these days. I am the exception I think, cause I love the adventure, always have. As tough as it can be. This message has been edited by strat0124 on 10-08-2001 at 04:46 PM Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted October 9, 2001 Share Posted October 9, 2001 Originally posted by LiveMusic: Good post, Lee! I'd love to see your act! We haven't done any recordings ourselves yet (about to start in a couple of weeks), but here are some cuts from a live recording of the Lizardmen which I engineered: http://www.hitshack.com/lee The bass player and drummer, who both sing, are the dudes that I play with now. Bet you won't know the songs! http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/smile.gif --Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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