NWB - Community Blog

04 Apr 2010

Do people wanna hear heavier Metallica stuff? Or more commerically friendly stuff like Kings of Leon

Filed Under : Music

Posted By : Ecliptica | Comments : 15

Right now....I have no idea?! One gig people are loving Metallica, the next its "do some KoL"?!

I know the short sweet answer is "it depends on the venue"...which yeah, I agree. But by now I thought I'd understand the general taste of audiences more and more with more gigs....but to be honest I've just become more confused as to what type of sets go down well?!

We've tried tailoring our sets, one heavy, one commercial, so then we thought yeah couldn't go wrong. Then we tried merging the two to try and satisfy everyone...Honestly we'd rather go the heavier route, and play Metallica like bands...at first I thought not many places would be interested in hearing that (apart from the well known rock venues) but now COMPLETELY LOST?! To be honest we enjoy playing the well known songs by the Stones and stuff, but we're just not gonna go down the KoL route because its not our style (I'm not saying KoL are crap before I get pasted on here!)...But I dunno, we enjoy playing the heavier stuff because they're more challenging, and there's only so much 12 bar blues a lead guitarist can do before it starts sounding the same.

Again, I'm not slating any of these bands or genres for the record! haha

Sorry

Rant Over

:-)

Comments

# Posted by Dresden North End - 04/04/2010, 15:12 (GMT)

Play wat ya luv or its just a job. If you're enjoyin it, the crowd will buzz off you.
In my opinion, but I ain't no expert.

Mark

# Posted by Mark bassist in Piggery Bandan... - 04/04/2010, 15:39 (GMT)

Am with Dresden,

play what you enjoy the most and even if they arent into that type of music you may still get em with the enthusiasm....

If you tailor it you will only get measured against others who are into that type of music... If you are playing it purely for the audience and not cos you like it ... It will show!

Mark

# Posted by 45's - 04/04/2010, 15:39 (GMT)

A good mix of fast, slow, heavy and pop is our formula - seems to be working for us with plenty of re-bookings,

Rick.

# Posted by oggi - 04/04/2010, 16:35 (GMT)

well said enjoy it or it becomes a job rather than a hobby!!!!!

# Posted by Jez (Route 69) - 04/04/2010, 16:45 (GMT)

Ive come back to bands after a long time out and im loving it and playing stuff thats different - but they'll be crowd pleasers and that will be a buzz.
I think the way is probably learn as much as you can and maybe switch in situ - if theres a load of rockers in the corner - rock out; if its a mainstream crowd, play mainstream; as long as you enjoy playing it.
A mate of mine joined acovers band, like me - he was never keen on ska (understatement) but they played One Step Beyond - it used to go down a storm and he looked forward to playing it! Its a balance of what you get from playing and what you get from the response I guess!....that answers nothing really does it!!! :-)

# Posted by oggi - 04/04/2010, 16:50 (GMT)

Nothing better than doing a song u love and can do well and getting a great response!!!!!

# Posted by Ecliptica - 04/04/2010, 16:51 (GMT)

This is it! When we're practising songs, we're playing some songs that none of us actually listen to, but we all know that most pubs are going to react to it, and because of that, we get lifted that people are singing to it!

But it would be even better...if we were playing stuff that we actually rate ourselves, and then people still react positively to it!! Think we're slowly getting to this haha!

# Posted by JOHNNY MEERKAT - 04/04/2010, 17:59 (GMT)

Unfortunately us band chappies are there to entertain the punters with the majority of them wanting to listen to stuff they know, which means it may not be what us musos like to play. If you want a great reaction you have to give them the cheese sometimes! (Yeah including Teenage F***ing Kicks!!) LOL

# Posted by Dresden North End - 04/04/2010, 18:08 (GMT)

We use a black-ball system. When a song is suggested we vote. Any no votes and its gone.
That way we all like what we're playin

Mark

# Posted by Chipps the Bassist - 04/04/2010, 18:24 (GMT)

Were in a similar sort of position, we all enjoy playing rocky, alternative, punky stuff, but our lead guitarist suggested doing an indie cover just to keep the audience happy! (none of us really like indie).
All i can say is just play what you enjoy! :)

# Posted by Scott - Metalleeka - 04/04/2010, 19:52 (GMT)

Know exactly what u mean dude. I've spent hours in previous bands looking at charts and party compilation CDs to see what songs are the most popular and try to second guess what the general punters wanna hear. I learned 2 things. 1, that every single audience is different and want to hear different things, and 2,I hated playing about 90% of it. Lol
I decided to try and see what would happen with a metallica tribute band and honestly thought that no one would be interested, but it's want I wanna play so if venues and punters line it too then that's a bonus.

# Posted by Anthem - 04/04/2010, 20:06 (GMT)

99% of what we play is what we like, 99% of the crowd seem to like it too so we're pretty lucky I guess. We do get asked for certain songs but only pay attention to it if we get the request often. I feel if you are just doing a song for the sake of it, you lack enthusiasm and by God it shows. I have seen some bands go through the motions and I'm sure some have seen us do the same, only succeeds in making the night drag on for all concerned.

# Posted by James - Metalleeka - 04/04/2010, 20:51 (GMT)

+1 you gotta enjoy it, else its not worth doing.. if that means some venues are off your radar or you gig slightly less then I guess so be it.. playing what you like to an audience that appreciates the same is the goal here...

# Posted by STORMBRINGER - 05/04/2010, 11:37 (GMT)

Yep,,,ya gotta enjoy it or whats the point. We have similar outlook to Dresden N E..... if either of us dont fancy it then it doesnt make the set list.
Best thing is to get 40 plus songs you all enjoy and then continuously rotate the set list to keep it 'fresh' for you and therefore better for the venues.

# Posted by Rob Redfern, Black Rose,more f... - 05/04/2010, 13:56 (GMT)

good blog this, i think play what you love but have a thought for whats popular too, and try and get to that fine line, i like the latest interesting quote from Paul Stanley which i kinda both agree and disagree with.............

"a obscure song is an obscure song as its not as good as the well known ones"

gotta get some new songs in fairly often and even move around the setlist to keep things fresh, getting everybody to practice is the first step to this!!!! lol

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