Help with repertoire?

lars,

In my opinion it's more about the energy in the music. Any song can be danceable but you have to get the crowd energized and in the mood. A bunch of slow ballads probably aren't going to do it.

I don't know your set list but I would cut out the Dylan stuff, although people might like to hear it, it's not music you'd see people dancing to.

Beatles songs depending on which ones should be good. How about some songs in the 90's and beyond?

Of course this is just my opinion if you posted your songs maybe I would have a better idea. I'm in a similar situation or at least trying to be right now. We haven't played out yet but from the songs we are working on I'm not sure there wold be a lot of people dancing to them, but are problem is agreeing on the songs we want to play.

Hi Lars,

And some funky songs? There are very cool songs for guitar. I'm think on James Brown.

Or classic rock&roll, Elvis. If it is not danceable... :roll:

One thing that's important to add here is that if you're having fun, you can use that enthusiasm to get people up and dancing.

As well as asking us, you should be asking people that like to dance. :wink: Seriously, getting a good read from your crowd (or knowing them ahead of time) can help you a lot with repertoire. Last spring we played a bar and were getting a number of people up and dancing, but during the break I went out and talked with some of the audience. In the next set I told the rest of the band we were going to play "Take Me Home Country Roads" and even though they laughed, that got almost the entire bar up and dancing and then we had them pretty well hooked for the night.

And you can have a lot of people up and dancing for slow ballads. Again, it's about knowing your crowd. Every time we get Nick to sing the Spinners' I'll Be Around, the dance floor always fills up. Most times it's about giving your audience what they want. Or at least close enough to it to make everyone happy.

Try Rockin' In The Free World and see how that does...

Peace

When you get a drummer, how about Funk #49, by the James Gang? Not hard to learn or facsimile.

Oops sorry...I just noticed, no guitar.

I was thinking about this last night and I was going to edit my post but David pretty much beat me to it. You do need to have a feel for the crowd. Once you get them hooked then you pretty much can get away with anything (to some degree)after that.

Hi Lars, sounds like a lot of fun. :)

I'm sure I read somewhere that Van Morrison's 'Brown Eyed Girl' was reputed to be the most regularly requested song ever and that for a long time it was a 'must have' for a pub/party set list. Don't know how true that is, but it sort of cheerfully bops along. I just put it on and I must say that it sounds a bit old fashioned now, but no doubt you could rock it up a bit.

Cheers,

Chris

Why not a couple of Creedence Clearwater Revival tunes - Bad Moon Rising, Proud Mary etc. ..... somewhere on the list I thought I saw Maggie May as a popular pub tune

Although I like Bob Dylan (old tunes anyway...) it's not something I'd consider dance music

It is always difficult to come up with the perfect set list. And every crowd is different. Some jump right up and dance, some just sit there and stare. I have seen bands that have the place jumpin' one night, then another night almost no reaction at all, even though they were playing the same songs with lots of energy. I have never truly figured crowds out.

That said, there are some popular tunes that seem to work with most crowds. You like The Beatles, two good songs that usually get the crowd up on their feet are Twist and Shout (not actually a Beatles song) and I Saw Her Standing There. I have seen bands perform these songs many times and get great reaction.

Mustang Sally is always a favorite because the crowd loves to sing the chorus. Brown Eyed Girl is extremely popular too.

My band recently started playing Summer of '69. Great sounding song and the crowd really likes it too. And you can't go wrong with Rolling Stones either, Jumpin' Jack Flash will get the crowd up on their feet. Believe it or not, we have had great success with You Can't Always Get What You Want. It's slow, but couples love to get up and slow dance to it. Surprisingly popular.

A song I always love to hear from bands is Play that Funky Music (White Boy). Great song, great reaction.

But you can't have every song be an upbeat dance song. You have to have some ebb and flow. Like a roller coaster, you have to go up sometimes, if all you did was dive down it would be boring. So you have to bring the crowd up, then cool them off a little, then bring them back up again. All slow songs or all fast songs is actually very tiring to listen to over time.

Thanks guys - you're clearly on to something. Am afraid we are non-experienced, stiff and boring on stage :| That doesn't excactly help... So I guess that is another thing to work with. Getting more relaxed, having more fun also *when* performing - I guess it can have an effect on the crowd too

For me it kinda, boils down to self-confidence and experience then

thanks
lars

Obviously , a drummer would be a huge help in getting people to dance . Drums are what started humans dancing in the first place . A drum machine is the next best thing but can be tricky to program and doesn't allow for improvisation . (They also don't make mistakes ! ) No guitar ? I suppose it's possible to have a band without a guitar in it , but why would you want to ? Just kidding , of course !

Some song suggestions :
Piano Man - Billy Joel ( not really a dancer but a good sing-a-long song )
Keep your hands to yourself - Georgia Satellites (can't miss dancer)
Johnny be good - Chuck Berry (many other Chuck Berry songs also )
Old Time Rock and Roll - Bob Seger (another can't miss dancer)
Crocodile Rock - or anything else by Elton John ( keyboard based )
Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves

I was thinking about this last night and I was going to edit my post but David pretty much beat me to it. You do need to have a feel for the crowd. Once you get them hooked then you pretty much can get away with anything (to some degree)after that.

And make sure the gaps between your songs aren't too long - you don't want to get your audience on their feet and then lose them because they all go sit down while you have a chat between numbers.

Best,

A :-)