Originally Posted By: eddie1261
I am still stuck on a song list of 600! The biggest I ever had was probably 80-90. I think of it that if you have 600 songs, 550 of them don't get played at a show. <...snip...>


You are correct, some will be played over and over because the audience wants them, and others will be pulled out on one gig, and different ones the next day. We want to be usually predictable, but also partially unpredictable in our song choices.

Here is why 600+ songs are useful for us.

  • We play the same venues week after week, currently we are playing one 3 times a week and if we played the same 80 songs over and over and over, the gig would be very boring for us
  • We have people that come to see us once, twice, or three times per week, and if we played the same songs every time they came in, it would be very boring for them
  • We play a variety of gigs. In our beachside gig, a lot of tropical songs get mixed in (Reggae, Soca, Musica Latina, and/or Tropic rock like Jimmy Buffett songs). Last week we played for a senior citizen dancing crowd at a private party, so mostly baby boomer songs came out. On our Oktoberfest gig we played a few German songs and a couple of polkas. When we play at the RV resort with hundreds of French Canadian guests, we know what they like. If we see pointed yoke shirts and cowboy boots, the Nashville songs enter the mix. And so on.
  • Playing a variety of songs lets us size up the audience, test and see what works best for them, and then giving them more of what that came here for


Yesterday we played at our beachside gig, which we do 3 days a week. There are 2 or 3 bands there every day, and we are the only band that gets more than one day.

We were followed by a 5 piece band that plays there once a week. They play on the other stage and got there early. One of the band members said, "I've never seen so many people here!" And I responded, "Those are OUR people."

It was full to capacity, and people were standing. When we packed up, all but one table (who weren't our people) got up and left.

That's why we play there 3 days a week.

If we played the same songs every time, we would get boring. Plus, when someone who comes to see us every week requests a song, and if we can cover it, we'll learn it. We learn new songs all the time anyway, why not play what the people want?

The beachside gig attracts a varied audience, from the bikini gals to folks ambling in with walkers. Having different genres of songs to choose from, enables us to attract those walking by, and keep the drinkers/diners there longer.

Years ago when I was in a show band, we did things differently, the same show in a different place with a different audience so other than a few variables, we did the same show every time. But I'm not doing shows now, I'm playing a party, and we are the life of the party.

Yesterday was Mrs. Notes' birthday, so the place was full for shoulder season, but in mid season we do this at least once a week.

We played a mid-week party at a competitor's venue for 12.5 years. In our 13th year COVID came, the place was sold, and the new owners wanted a single act playing quiet, background music. So we lost the gig. No hard feelings, they seem like nice people and they wanted something different.

2 years later, when COVID gig-blight started to die down, we tried the place we are gigging at now. The owner had heard of us, and hired us on the spot on our reputation. The first week he put one waitress on. The bartender was bringing food out and kitchen help was bussing the tables. The next week he put on 4 waitresses. That's job security.

So what we are doing, works for us.
  • Better Backing Tracks (because I put in the time to make them better) -- Looky there, I'm back on topic
  • Variety of songs to work with (from Sinatra to Elvis to Beatles to Clapton to Zac Brown to Adele)
  • Variety of lead voices, Mrs. Notes and I sing, I play leads on sax, flute, guitar and wind synth (which can emulate many other instruments) and Mrs. Notes plays leads on synth
  • We pay attention to and work the crowd, doing our best to make sure they have a good time and want to come see us again
  • When appropriate we MC, talk to the aucience, tell them short stories about us, joke around a bit, and generally have a good time WITH them.

Our philosophy is if they are having fun, they will come back, and we will get to have fun again and get paid for it.

So far, so good.

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Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
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