opening songs

lesterpaul

lesterpaul

New member
ok here's the deal my band has a potentialy big gig on th 4th of july maybe the biggest crowd we've ever played before ....question is a couple of the guys want to start out with "when i'm gone" by 3 doors down ,i say it's not a good opener opening songs ought to be something that gets th crowd going ....our usual opener is locomotive breath by jethro tull, which we rock up pretty good i think, but they've asked people if they know the song and many don't ,but, i think that's just a name recognition thing , so wheterh you like either song or not doesn't matter in an objective opinion do you think "when i'm gone" fits the opening song criteria ? thanks
 
The formula I've used to figure out song placement in sets for the last 20 sumpthin years has been:

Start the set with a song that's popular, upbeat, and one you know and do REAL well. You come out of the gate running and grab the crowd, that's half the battle! you can slow it down once you get intothe set, ordo a few that might not be as tight, but it's IMPORTANT to leave the same way you came in... ...with something that kicks serious ass. During the set, if you notice you may be loosing attention, you may want to pull out another of those "in your face" standards, just so they don't forget you're there! Good luck on the gig!!!!!!!!



Tom
 
play a happy one that everyone knows



when we opened up we played "party...my house...be there" by MxPx everyone knows that, so they were singing along and dancing and what not.




so the idea is play something everyone knows, then you can play the crap that no ones heard, you gotta get thier attention before you start playing the good stuff




freak
 
Fmmahoganyrush said:


Start the set with a song that's popular, upbeat, and one you know and do REAL well. You come out of the gate running and grab the crowd, that's half the battle!

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I agree with this!
 
We want to play the best sounding licks, guitar jamming songs. But, if the crowd doesn't like it then you are dead in the water.

Play what people will like the most. Sometimes that isn't the funnest songs to play. But that is where it is at. Save the jamming for when you got the crowd in your hand.
 
my band plays "when Im Gone" also but we hold off till a little later before playing it.

we usually start the gig just rockin on an A chord while one of our drunk ass friends annouces us like we are the mighty van halen or something LOL then we go into some 80's rock like "talk dirty to me" or something alone those lines. Play something that rocks and everyone knows, and most importantly a song you guys play good!

No one will stick around to 30 songs that suck just to listen to a song that doesnt suck!
 
evhwanabe said:
Yeah that reminds me! we play Blister in the Sun! LOL I hate thta Freakin song but all the girls like it! so we play it
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hey i like that song and im not a girl...



its got a groovin bass line and most people know it after the first little do do do do do do do do do do do do do easy to regonize




id play a little ditty i like to call "puff the magic dragon"




freak
 
Yeah didnt mean to offend anyone who likes the song! but I just think that its down right annoying IMHO.
 
I always liked to open with a song that has a riff that gets people creaming their jeans right off the bat. For us, that was pulling out a classic rock tune. I've never thought that covering current tunes carried the same impact.
 
JR#97 said:
I always liked to open with a song that has a riff that gets people creaming their jeans right off the bat. For us, that was pulling out a classic rock tune. I've never thought that covering current tunes carried the same impact.
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I agree 100%.....so many of the older classic rock tunes were smokin right out of the gate....."Can't Get Enough of Your Love" by Bad Company always worked well as an opening tune when we used it.......another idea is to write a specific original that caters to that "opening" Vibe.
 
Open with "La Grange" by ZZ Top.... (If you know it)... It kicks ass....

Actually "Locomotive Breath" is a good opener....

:rolleyes: ;)
 
I was just browsin through some of my old set lists (chiseled on slabs of stone, but I still have them) It seems we opened sometimes with Sultans of swing, but I know it's just because I really liked to play it. Another one that I know was a good opener was a Loverboy tune called Turn me loose (gotta have a keyboard player). We also had a rockin rendition of the Beatles song Honey don't that was a pretty decent opener, but like I said those are all from the dark ages. Good luck with your gig man. Might want to learn that new Skynrd tune Red White and Blue just for that 4th of July gig.


bd
 
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