Can you please everyone all the time?

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This is a question I keep running into and I'm keen to find out what you all think.

You're putting together a band to do this gig. There's going to be about two hundred people with ages ranging between 18 and 80. Some want to listen, some want to dance and some may have drunk too much. Everybody wants to have fun and enjoy themselves. What sort of music are you gonna play?

A genre will suffice, but if you find yourself with time on your hands, why not give me a set list?

Thanks. ROG.

Too bad you ain't in Texas it would be Country music from any artist and decade! It's hard to make any decent money here unless you play it.

Abe Lincolin would answer a resounding "No!"

As far as a playlist...after you get the folks on the dance floor you will get a sense of what they want to hear. For my generation (I'm 70) it's 50 - 60s R&R. Plan ahead and be flexible. Try to discover what the crowd wants. That separates the good bands from the "also ran" wannabes.

Just play the hits man! From every era covered by the vast age span of your audience, you can't go wrong.

Later,

Quote:

Just play the hits man! From every era covered by the vast age span of your audience, you can't go wrong.

Later,

A big +1

Our wedding band often ran into the identical situation that you are in. Over time we developed a 350-song repertoire. We could read music and we had music stands on stage. Plus we could jam and string some songs together. This works well with rock songs from the 50s.

Ps – we were very busy!

Quote:

...why not give me a set list?

Thanks. ROG.

Be advised that favorite covers are decidedly "local" in nature.

A setlist that would work quite well where I'm living may not have a single song on it that would prove popular where you are.

Best way to come up with possibles is to spend a bit of time visiting the local venues and observing what songs other acts are playing, with an eye towards any that are repeated in multiple venues on a regular basis.

And, of course, each area likely has more than one genre of music on display, you have to make the decision as to which genre you are wanting to cater to and apply that filter to the songlist as well.

--Mac

ROG,
I guess my first question would be
"What's the occasion?" followed by 'Who's paying you?'

I also would tend to agree if you played C&W in the U.K., you would probably lose the audience. On the other hand, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Dire Straits covers about four decades right there.

I really think a lot of this depends on what the occasion is. I don't think you want to be playing heavy metal at a wedding, unless the newlyweds request it.

Ask what the people paying for this want you to play, and then offer a list of the songs you can play. Handing somebody a bound book with a list of songs, categorized by genre and style, and suggested usages really makes it easy for them to go through and say 'oh, this one, this one, and this one....which reminds me, can you play ....?"

That way, your customer creates your set list for you.

Gary

Rog,

Would suggest you go to the venue owner/manager, or folks who
run the place you'll be gigging. Have a pint or two and talk with
the folks there checking out the type of music normally being played.

If its a private person, family venue. Go physically meet(if possible)
with them informally and find out what kind of music.

Also keep in mind as one poster said the lo-cal has a great influence on
types of music.

Age is some indicator, but other influences affect this. Some amount of
today's "New" music are re-runs of music 30-40-50 years old.

Your crowd and folks giving you the $$ will determine your future success's.

Live in Northern Calif. rural area, Country is a prime genre, but R&R is in there also.
Casino's all lean that way. Down in the metro area's the modern genre's
would be the very strong.

Am assuming there will be a dancing settings, play great danceable, old/new
and combinations. Slow, fast, mixed, gauge the crowd as you play.

Good luck with your venture.

Quote:

Just play the hits man! From every era covered by the vast age span of your audience, you can't go wrong.

Later,

That'd work.

Trax

Ricky Nelson. Garden Party.

you can't please everyone, but you gotta please yourself.

I think.

Quote:

This is a question I keep running into and I'm keen to find out what you all think.

You're putting together a band to do this gig. There's going to be about two hundred people with ages ranging between 18 and 80. Some want to listen, some want to dance and some may have drunk too much. Everybody wants to have fun and enjoy themselves. What sort of music are you gonna play?

A genre will suffice, but if you find yourself with time on your hands, why not give me a set list?

Thanks. ROG.

You cannot please all the people all the time, but we do a pretty good job at pleasing the majority. One trick is to say as middle-of-the-road in each genre as you can. It's easy to turn everybody's music into nobody's music if you get too hard-core in any one direction when playing to a mixed audience.

I don't do set lists, but prefer to play songs on the fly according to the audience reactions. You can view my song list at http://www.s-cats.com -- and if I'm doing a wedding, I'll bring some DJ stuff for the kids to play when I'm supposed to be on break.

Insights and incites by Notes

A few years ago I did as Gary suggested and emailed a list of songs we played.
Turns out they checked off enough songs to completely fill out our 2 hr. gig.
One of the easiest jobs ever.

Thanks for all the input, everyone - what a wealth of experience there is out there.

It seems we're all pretty much agreed that there's no formula which works for all occasions, but over the years I've found that, if there's one "magic bullet" it's Rock & Roll. Wherever we are, we invariably start our second set with Blue Suede Shoes and I don't know of anything which will get both young and old on the dance floor any faster!

Carl Perkins - if you're looking down right now, I'd just like to say a big thank you.

It's amazing that the music which started in the USA almost sixty years ago is still so popular with all ages here in England.

Thanks again to everyone who posted.

ROG.

If your band can pull it off. Oldie Motown songs by the Tops and the Temps also always get people dancing.