Need help with song selection for a cover band

[Artmageddon]

Well after a few years of being a bystander, I finally got back into music and joined a band again. I never realized how happy it me.

We're coming along pretty good, should be ready to gig regularly in a few months as a cover band.

Originals will be coming, but down the road. All of just want to get into the swing of things for a while.

One of the toughest aspects of a cover band is song selection.

I am hoping with vast number of people that hop on this board, we can get a good cross section of what people like to hear. We're pretty much open to anything, pop, rock, a little country.

We are predominately a modern rock band(think 106.7 in Columbus), so usually we twist other genres into rock.

Anyway, what do like to hear when you see a cover band?

Does it depend on the venue?

Do you go see cover bands to dance?

just to hear some music?

Background noise?

Just go because the singer is cute?

Throw out some songs that get you excited.

My vocal range is decent, along the lines of Eddie Vedder(Pearl Jam)/ Bono(U2)/ Aaron Lewis(Staind)/ Jason Ross(Seven Mary Three).

Don't limit it to that type of music, we play everything from 4 Non-Blondes, Johnny Cash, Katy Perry, Sublime, whatever. I do suck at 80's music like Journey though, but throw it anyway. We may just play it different.

I would appreciate any feedback you can give. I have a song survey, but its an excel file with 200 songs that I figured no one would want to fill out. I can post if requested. Thanks!

[Likwid]

FREEBIRDDDDD!!!!!!!!!

yah

[Artmageddon]

FREEBIRDDDDD!!!!!!!!!

yah

jackass.

[hue jass]

Definitely do some Eagles. Not the mainstream stuff. I'm thinking 'Seven Bridges Road', and 'James dean'. It's great to do songs that people know but haven't heard. Also, hit some songs off 'Jar of Flies' from Alice in Chains.

[RFM]

Ned's Atomic Dustbin- Grey Cell Green. Fun to play for the bass player.

[OsuMj]

I go to watch the hottie drummer.

srsly though, its always fun to be able to dance and sing along, so songs like eve 6 'inside out' are cool. At the same time foo fighters, incubus, that kind of stuff is undeniably good music that almost everyone knows (and that makes people feel like they can relate to you)

[jagr]

Anything by Gary Glitter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF0W5KBkpO8

[kawi kid]

i love watching cover bands! and i go to drink dance and have a goodtime. the band i go to see on a regular basis sounds like what you are trying to go for. so here is the bands they cover.

AC\DC, Aerosmith, Alice in Chains, Autograph, Bad Company, Badfinger, Billy Idol, Billy Squire, Blackfoot, Black Sabbath, Blur, Bob Seger, Bon Jovi, BTO, CCR, Cheap Trick, Collective Soul, Danzig, Def Leppard, Dire Straits, Foghat, Foo Fighters, Free, Golden Earring, Great White, GreenDay, Guns n Roses, Jackyl, Jet, John Cougar, Judas Priest, Kiss, Led Zepplin, Lenny Kravitz, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Metallica, Nazareth, Ozzy Osborne, Quit Riot, Rod Stewart, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Sweet, Ted Neugent, The Beatles, The Eagles, The Darkness, The Doors, The Godz, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Thin Lizzy, Tom Petty, Tommy Tutone, Trouper, Van Halen, WhiteSnake, ZZ Top

now i will say the crowd favorites are ac dc, jet, foo fighters, billy idol, beastie boys, and green day, they really seem to be the ones that when im out on the dance floor it seems to fill up around me.

hope that helps.

[max power]

Also, hit some songs off 'Jar of Flies' from Alice in Chains.

Nutshell, that'll get the panties off.

[oomp]

Tonic , Bush , Seether , Better Than Ezra , Weezer , Live , INXS , Audio Slave , Offspring .

[max power]

Weezer - Say it aint so.

[OsuMj]

+1 on the weezer

[hue jass]

Buddy Holly

[Artmageddon]

nice. you guys are rattling off exactly what we play. I would love to do nutshell, one of my favorite songs to sing, not sure how well it go over if girls want to dance. weezer, how about hashpipe?

[max power]

Say it aint so is way better than Hash Pipe.

I always thought Rick James "Mary Jane" would be a cool cover song played with a rock/funk style.

Edited November 17, 2009 by max power

[OsuMj]

hashpipe isnt' bad... my favs are 'say it aint so' 'buddy holly' and 'perfect situation'

maybe Unwritten Law 'save me' could be a good one

perhaps Uncle Cracker 'follow me' - whether you like it or not, you know you know the words.... decent for a crowd i think.

[ohdaho]

Oasis - Wonderwall

Verve - Lucky Man

[cmoosego]

dammit... makes me wanna go out, buy a drum set and start playing hardcore again... lol but yeah play some led zepplin, doors, frampton, santana, moody blues, deep purple, metallica, hendrix, the cure, and throw in some aerosmith for good measure...

[stargazer]

Can you Play/do vocals of George Thorogood and the Destroyers? That, AC/DC, and pretty much everything else I've seen posted in this thread will get the crowd rollin'

[max power]

If you're gonna cover Zepplin, you better be damn good.

[kawi kid]

If you're gonna cover Zepplin, you better be damn good.

max wants to hear some taylor swift

[max power]

max wants to hear some taylor swift

Yeah, moaning in porn, where she belongs.

[kawi kid]

Yeah, moaning in porn, where she belongs.

!!

[max power]

What? you wouldnt watch it?

Even if it had a midget in it?

[kawi kid]

i would be the one co staring