At our wedding, the DJ we wanted was double booked and we lost out. Had to have another DJ at short notice, and it soon became apparent why he was available.
I wanted Maria McKee “Show me Heaven” (from “Days of Thunder”) as the first slow (two left feet) dance. It was only number one at the time, and he didn’t have it! We went through a long list of smoochy songs from the 80s (this was 1990) and it was “no, no, no, no…” We had to end up with George Michael’s “Careless Whisper” as the only slow song he had that we liked, but hardly a wedding song! But then how many people listen to lyrics…? And yet he had shitty novelty songs like "Charlie Drake’s “My Boomerang Won’t Come Back!”. It’s part of our wedding folklore that we still smile about nearly 30 years on.
Never played Freebird, but we used to do a rocking version of Sweet Home Alabama amongst others in my first band. I think most pub bands have to play rubbish like Brown Eyed Girl, Runaway, Pretty Woman, Edison Lighthouse… For me the time for me to leave that band came when the only song we learnt in 2005 was “Amarillo”, and the cheese content was going up not down. That was when knew I had to get out of it and play some prog. New Years eve 2005 was the last gig of that band and I was mentally ticking off all the shit songs I knew I would NEVER play again. What a joy it was the following year: Floyd, Bowie, Genesis, Gabriel, Zeppelin, Plant, Mountain and a few originals. And then the Floyd tribute route beckoned and I was ready for the challenge (quite a challenge as I only started playing when I was 34 in 1999!)…
I know how you feel. Most of the “club” bands I’ve been with in the last 10+ years play the same crap I learned to play over 50 years ago. Knowing how many customers are, there are still certain songs you have to keep on the list just to satisfy several. Skynyrd is still an occasional request, but I just play a lessor played Skynyrd that is well known. The patrons I can usually satisfy. The venue managers are another story.
In one particular band I was with last Saturday, about 45 of our followers came to see us, and requested several songs (not of the normal BS), and all the patrons had a good time, and spent a lot of money. The band had a great time too. That said, at the end of the night, the manager said he was hoping we would play more of this or that. “That’s what our customers like” is what he said. Of course, I finally got through his closed mind, and he realized he made a lot of money off our little crowd, while he was nowhere to be seen during most of the night.
In a different situation, I am performing at a local brewery for about 1200 people this coming Saturday. They suggested a song list which we will play. I have no problem with that situation, “Pretty Woman” and all.
For Open Mic’s I have a single song with song states bound to the pads on my Axiom that call rack states so other people can use the keyboard and call up Hammond Organ, Combo Organ, Acoustic Piano, Brass, Strings, Minimoog, Oberheim and D6. I close the lid on the laptop and they think they’re playing a “Stage something or other”.
I know it can be a compromise sometimes. The first band I was in didn’t have a bad mix of cheese and rock for a long time, but I always was more of the rocker, but I played the cheese as the one consolation was all the pretty young things (can I say that these days?) dancing away in front of you - we’d often have 'em dancing on the tables. It was when the cheese to rock content turned to pure Parmesan scale as that was where the singer and drummer who started the band wanted to take it, that I new I had to do something about it, like splitting. Literally Amarillo was the last straw as I detest that song!
Love playing the Floyd. Such a privilege and still timeless music that pulls in the crowds. Like all bands it can go sour for a while, this is now the third time I will be doing it, and I’ve learnt never to say “never again”. And now we are doing some “new” material instead of the tried and trusted PULSE modelled set. So things like Echoes and Welcome to the Machine (17 layers in the backing track I have made to get all the sounds you hear on the record) will be fun to do.
I do miss playing the pub stuff sometimes, but if ever I went back to it the cheese ratio will have to stay under control!
Many times played for naked chics on a pole in the biker clubs. I remember playing guitar and singing in one of the clubs, and one of the girls used me as a stripping pole. It was very hard (so to speak) to play and remember lyrics. I, unfortunately, brought a girlfriend with me that night. She rushed the stage and dragged the stripper off me. The band never missed a beat…just kept playing.
Thanks. I do maybe 4-6 of these a year. Decent pay, good food, very little drama.
