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Just wondering if line dancing is alive and well at gigs you are playing? If so what songs are the most popular?

Thanks,

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I don't play live anymore.....and never understood the attraction of line dancing. But since the people in the audience were attracted to it, and obviously loved to do it, we played the songs and they did what they did.... and everyone was happy....and I got paid at the end of the night.


To answer the question: I think.... yes. they still line dance. I saw a video of a buddy's band at a recent local gig, and sure enough, they were line dancing...


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They still work for the baby boomer crowd down here in South Florida. Probably because there are so many widows here and it gives them a chance to dance without having a partner.

When we play for a younger crowd, we tend to shy away from them unless requested.

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I don't play a night without getting requests for line dance music. If a group wants to line dance bad enough they will line dance to almost anything.

My top line dance requests are:

Achey Breaky Heart, Boot Scootin Boogy, Wagon Wheel, and Tootsie Roll. I even get occasional requests for the Macarana so I keep that in my repertoire. I don't play so much for younger crowds so my experience doesn't address the mainstream.


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Thanks all for your response.

Notes: Like you I do not promote line dancing but I do get an occasional request. And you are correct regarding widows or even widowers being the 1st to jump on the floor. I also think this is because that most retirement facilities and community halls (for lack of a better word)hold and offer line dancing classes.

Keith: I also do not play much for the younger crowd, that is unless I am doing a freebie for some Special Needs class in one of our local schools. But then my playlist includes songs like Itzy Bitzy Spider, The Wheels On The Bus, Do Your Ears Hang Low and If You're Happy And You Know It Clap Your Hands. And of course Blue Berry Hill because everyone loves this tune. But it's good to hear that the line dancer's choices of tunes has not changed much over the years.



Thanks guys!

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VERY popular among southern blacks, the dance is pretty much the same, you know, variations on the Electric Slide, the music is, of course, more afro-centric.

The thing is moving cross-country as well, often renamed to suit the area, we are now hearing about the "Philly Slide" these days.

Doesn't seem to be centered on any one age group, last year we played black Weddings, Clubs, Legion Halls, etc. - often trading off sets with the ubiquitous DJ types who also play the music for this form of line dancing, and the dancers implore the band to play some of their favorite songs so they can do it again to the live band. So we added several or so of the more popular tunes that suit our playing styles to the setlist.

It is also getting popular at some of the Senior Citizen centers and such, as well, mostly the women, of course, but here I have found both blacks and whites having much fun with the thing. We had to slow the tempo a bit, so we wouldn't exacerbate any of their medical probs, but that's a different act than the blues/r&b/soul band mentioned above. Sometimes its just me and Band in a Box at the Senior Citizens gigs, lay out a few line dancing songs and have them ready to playback in BB. I also keep the Country versions as well, whatever the particular audience wants, I'm not there for me, I'm there for them.

At the Seniors' gigs, some of the older dance crazes go over big as well, Come On, Baby - Let's Do The Twist, cuz Big Girls
Don't Cry they Do The Mashed Potato.

I don't dance - one of my daughters once disdainfully pointed that out with a reference to something about a huge dancing bear breaking things - but I do like to respond to my audiences and Dance Fads are fun for certain audiences, so I've never pitched a beef about that like some musicians do. And besides that, it only makes good business sense if that is the audience you have, never lose sight of who is REALLY paying you, it is not the venue, it is the venue's customers who provide the money that the venue pays to the entertainment.


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Amen to who really pays the band. I currently have a few line dances in my rep but see where I may need to add more in the not too distant future.

Of course at one gig a year or so ago I had an elderly gentlemen tell me about line dance choices as follows, "If you "can" dance, you can line dance to any song". But he also added, "but the ladies run the show around here"!

Later,

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My group plays in the retirement village I live in and we find that 3/4 line dances are very popular - even oldies like Tennessee Waltz.


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