Covers: To gig or not to gig!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Wez
  • Start date Start date
It pretty much comes down to this.

If you want artistic integrity, you play your own music.

If you want to get paid, you play covers. :D
 
Just because you play covers doesn't mean you have to play them note for note like the artist. Most bands aren't going to sound like ABC or XYZ (or the Eagles, Zepplin, Beatles etc...) anyway so why try? Why not put your personal stamp on it. Most people aren't going to care unless their a die hard fan of the band, and even then they should just go see the oringal band or at least a "tribute" version.

Medley's seem to be a crowd favorite. Find a bunch of songs in the same key and loop them together. I saw a local band that tied in Pearl Jam's "Even Flow" with John Melencamps "Pink Houses" Pink Floyd's "Brick in the Wall" and President's of the United State's "Lump."

As far as the Free Bird / Stairway thing, well there was a band that did Stairway to Free Bird. (Free Bird Music with Stairway lyrics.)
 
Yeah. when I find some free time I'm gonna go into my studio and do a version of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs". My version will be done in an extreme white American Hick Boy country style. With a mouth harp, banjo, and a washboard for percussion. The instrumental sections will have the "country guy" persona (me) yelling square dance moves.

That'l show em.

Am I insane?
 
songwritten said:
My band does the entire solo section of Free Bird....it's sad but its true...if you can play free bird...the crowd will praise you. It's even more impressive when someone in the crowd screams free bird trying to funny...and then you actually perform it....they are shocked. Its a great feeling lol
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Free Bird is really the song that represents the Gauntlet between original bands and cover bands. Hey, don't get me wrong: I've played Free Bird and had a wild great time playing it to a mostly shit-faced audience. They love it. But playing such a song at an all-original venue would be professional suicide (unless, of course, you are in a band playing THAT genre of original music).

Definitely a whole different mentality of patrons to the club in each case.

The patrons (and the bands they come to see) are like the difference between Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens. I'll leave you to decide which is which for yourself.
 
The freebird guy has followed me around for almost 25 years, through most of my bands, original and cover. He's most obnoxious with regard to my original bands.Nothing like playing your heart out on one of your own tunes, and having some drunk redneck yelling "freebird"...
In one of my bands ,we came up with a pretty funny solution. When the guy yelled frrebird, we broke into a version that we came up with. The first part of the song was done heavy dub reggae style, complete with rastamon accent and tams we would throw on, the fast part we did ska. People would dance and we thought we were on to something.
Then one night after doing it, we apparentely really pissed off a group of dumb good ol boys who took it to heart that we had committed the ultimate sacriledge. They stormed up to the stage, a giant fight broke out, one bouncer truly got the shit beat out of himself, and the cops came and we shut down for the night.
That was the last time we ever did that.
Now when I heard the freebird moron, we all flip him a free bird.
 
RR:
That was hilarious! I'm totally cracking up here.
 
Reel Recording....thats a rough break! I hate when people get so serious about cover songs. If people expect them to be played 100% exactly the way they hear it by an artist, they should just go to that artists concert! My band plays 70s/80s original rock so its not really a bif deal when we play it...people kinda expect to hear it if someone calls it out. Other than free bird, ive never heard anyone scream for us to play anything...except one id asked for some pink floyd one time...yeah...we dont exactly play pink floyd kinda material so we had to pass on that one lol iev never had the pleasure of playing in front of a bunch of drunk people before though....only a few drunk with a majority sober. In philadelphia venues they try to keep the bars on a balcony so that they dont get all rowdy infront of the bands. Is that how it is at most venues?
 
songwritten- don't give up hope. the freebird, stairway, and hotel california guys will eventually find you. And I promise you, at some point, no matter how hard you try and present your original material, some dimwit will ask for Mustang Sally. :confused:
 
Reel Recording said:
songwritten- don't give up hope. the freebird, stairway, and hotel california guys will eventually find you. And I promise you, at some point, no matter how hard you try and present your original material, some dimwit will ask for Mustang Sally. :confused:
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And ultimately the same dude who asked for Mustang Sally, will applaud you wildly when you play it, then crawl back to the bar for another shot or three, return to the stage, stare at you with a crazed look on his face, stick his finger at you, and yell "Fuk You!" as though he is now demented...for no reason whatsoever.
 
Jack Russel hit it on the head when he said you don't have to play it note for note if you're not a tribute band. I don't know anyone who just picked up an instrument, or starting singing, and did original music. If they did, they are a genius, or prodigy.

You don't "HAVE" to play covers, but they can be fun, especially if you can do one, and have it sound like one of your bands tunes. Either that, or really change it, and noone will know it's a cover.

Any way, I don't even have 2 cents worth today, but music should be fun. That is what it's all about. You are given a starting point, and it will end sometime, but what you do in between is supposed to be a good thing.
 
Remember, it's covers, not tribute bands. If we play it note for note, and out singer is a clone of the band, then we can only play that band, and things will get ugly. You lose your identity as a band.

Covers - play them close but add your own little flavor to the soup.

And for Chrissake have fun, or put your axe away and get a 9 to 5 job... (like most of us don't have one anyway).
 
[/QUOTE]And for Chrissake have fun, or put your axe away and get a 9 to 5 job... (like most of us don't have one anyway).[/QUOTE]

I don't. I was off at 4:30 today, and had 3 beers by 5:00. :p
 
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I'm all about covers.

I say go for it!........... :cool:
 
again I repeat.


If you want artistic integrity, you play your own music.

If you want to get paid, you play covers
 
Reel Recording said:
again I repeat.


If you want artistic integrity, you play your own music.

If you want to get paid, you play covers
Click to expand...

So which do you do?
 
If you want artistic integrity, you play your own music.

If you want to get paid, you play covers
Click to expand...
So if you don't play originals you have no artistic integrity? :confused:

I've known of bands that did'nt play covers because they were so bad they could'nt.Of course they did'nt make any money either. :rolleyes:
 
Acid - I play in two bands.
The cover band I play with, I've been in for ten years ,and we've done more than 1200 gigs. We make the usual pay for a pro working cover band, with the occassional good paying casual. I earn my money. I sometimes play songs I don't really like, cause they are crowd pleasers. Its fun for the most part, but its also a pain booking, driving , bringing a PA etc.etc. But we don't do it for free. Ever. Because we are a working cover band. I'm doing it to make money.

I also have an all original band (with three members of my cover band, and someone else). I play showcases, three band nights , any where I can with it. It feels GREAT!!! Is our music. I'm proud of it. We don't make shit for money, because clubs don't pay original bands. They want to sell drinks , have bands that play stuff people are familiar with. Mustang Sally . AC/DC , Brick House you know the stuff that works in every cover band. But I'll take a gig with the original band over a paid one with the cover band. And we do.

Hey, it sucks. I don't understand it. It should be the other way around.

But don't get me wrong. I'm not knocking anybody thats out there playing covers. I understand better than most where that's at.
 
And for Chrissake have fun, or put your axe away and get a 9 to 5 job... (like most of us don't have one anyway).[/QUOTE]

I don't. I was off at 4:30 today, and had 3 beers by 5:00. :p[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I was drunk by 9AM once too, but we can't all have that much fun all the time! :D
 
Sure!

Anyone wanna work 11pm-7am or Midnight-8am, like me? Sure! See'ya there! :eek:

That's why Rokket & I are so much in sync. He's on Japan-time, and I'm on the night shift! :eek:
 
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