Let me ask some of you younger guys a question (question about set lists)

[benjammin420]

Actually anyone can answer, but myself and my band are in our mid-20s, so I'm mainly looking for people of the same relative age.

I've recently started playing with a group of guys and we're going in a blues-soul-reggae-rock direction. We're a 4 peice with 2 lead guitars and we're trying out a couple of female singers. Its generally a blues band with lots of standards, but I'd like to spread it out and get some variety. What are some more modern songs you think would work in a bluesy context?

these are some of the songs we've been doin:

Jumpin Jack Flash
Red House
One Way out
Give me one Reason
Sunshine of Your Love
Badfish
Jammin
D'yer M'ker
Rock n Roll
Tush
Cheap Sunglasses
the Thrill is Gone
Rock Me Baby
Champagne and Reefer
Stormy Monday


as you can tell, theres a heavy blues/class rock lean to out style, but as were all younger im worried we wont appeal to our age range. theres a couple tunes by the Red Hot Chili Peppers that would be cool (i could have lied, under the bridge) any suggestions? thanks

[Led Zep Fan]

Crazy Bitch?

[benjammin420]

Crazy Bitch?

not familiar with that one, whos it by?

[Led Zep Fan]

BuckCherry

[benjammin420]

cool thanks, sounds good. i never really listened to these guys much

[Led Zep Fan]

Believe it or not, chicks go nuts when we play that song!

[Jackson50]

You could squeeze some Kings of Leon on your setlist, it goes really well with the classic stuff.

[benjammin420]

You could squeeze some Kings of Leon on your setlist, it goes really well with the classic stuff.

im not familiar with them, could you recommend a few tunes?

[Jackson50]

Sure, here are some "popular" KOL songs:

Red Morning Light
Genius
California Waiting
Sex On Fire
Manhattan
Notion
Bucket
Taper Jean Girl

California Waiting and Sex On Fire are guaranteed success.

Other song by KOL that comes to mind is Use Somebody, really "hot" right now, top 10 on iTunes.

[The_Sentry]

Any of those songs would work, Benjamin.

In truth...you could technically go up there with just 1 chord and slay them. It's really not about the song, or even how you're doing the song so much as how much of yourself you give to them onstage.

IMHO that's what they're really after. As far as those songs go...they're all great. I think if I was considering that list though, I wouldn't worry so much about how the original guys did 'em and just do what you can to make the song yours.

[benjammin420]

its not that im worried about htese songs. im worried about where to go from here. what songs would fit in with this ilk? id like to get as loose and far out (so to speak) as we can without 'losing the plot' as they say. I like Petty and the Beatles, theys fit, but thats still classic rock. I feel like theres some hidden gems from the past 15-20 years im missing. Theres a few GnR tunes (dont Cry) i was thinking. And that song Hard to Handle, the Black Crowes made it relevant to the 90s, but if youve ever heard any of the Grateful Dead versions, thats where im thinking of taking it.

[The_Sentry]

its not that im worried about htese songs. im worried about where to go from here. what songs would fit in with this ilk? id like to get as loose and far out (so to speak) as we can without 'losing the plot' as they say. I like Petty and the Beatles, theys fit, but thats still classic rock. I feel like theres some hidden gems from the past 15-20 years im missing. Theres a few GnR tunes (dont Cry) i was thinking. And that song Hard to Handle, the Black Crowes made it relevant to the 90s, but if youve ever heard any of the Grateful Dead versions, thats where im thinking of taking it.

I wouldn't worry about it TBH.

Because no matter which songs you decide to play, it's still going to sound like "you" doing these songs. It's not going to sound like a different band at all.

There's nothing wrong with a bit of variety.

[Burg121]

my band has these issues as well. what you want to play out cause it's fun may not be what the crowd at the bar wants to here. we have our usual 45 songs we have on our set list but we also have about 25 we can throw in if the feel of the night is a certain way. and make sure you have a mix. we can go from '60s rock and pop numbers to songs on the radio today. and being able to switch from one style to another can really help. we can play do-op to death metal, which suprisingly the heavy stuff can get an awesome reaction(we do a medley of Slayer tunes people ask for every gig). I hope this helped.