Standards/tunes for Gen Next Millenialls?

eamesuser

Silver Member
Hi all,my question has to do with songs for a cover band I am in.

About a week ago a friend called with a last minute private party gig,and the four of us were able to pick some common ground songs,about thirty,mostly classic rock from the 60's 70's and 80's,we rehearsed once and did the gig,we came away with three more private party gigs.

The average age of the attendees was 25 35, and we went over well,we were really more background music but people came up to us on breaks and were complimentary.

Some of the guys in the band thought maybe we should learn some more current tunes from the 90's and 2000's.

I have no idea where to start,I have heard there are some bands out there doing 90's material,but who for I have no idea,and have heard of no 2000's cover bands at all.I know of no "standards" from this era except Wagon Wheel,which seems to be the new Brown Eyed Girl as far as a song every cover band does. As far as I know younger people don't really go see cover bands,the young people at my bar gigs do seem to dig The Doors and Tom Petty and the Ramones.

Any suggestions or examples on 90;s and 2000 era songs you all have played or seen get played that go over well with this age group?
 
Foo Fighters for sure. Less 'standards' but a few of that age group might know some of the more popular numbers from Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots

2000's??? umm no idea. Bruno Mars? Or how about 'Happy' or 'Blurred Lines'? lol.
 
25 year olds have been listening to new songs since 1999 or 2000, plus older songs that have been revived in recent movies. With so many electronic and rap songs out there, its hard to find songs a live band can play. Our band of 50 y.o. played a series of gigs for hipsters recently. These songs went really well:

Rolling in the deep
Livin La Vida Loca
Get the party started
Love Story (Taylor Swift)
Angels (Robbie Williams)
Uptown Funk
All about that bass
Smooth
Sway

They also loved Hey Baby, Dancing Queen, I'm a believer, I will survive, Time Warp, Hotel California and Sweet Home Alabama, which surprised us a bit.
 
25 year olds have been listening to new songs since 1999 or 2000, plus older songs that have been revived in recent movies. With so many electronic and rap songs out there, its hard to find songs a live band can play. Our band of 50 y.o. played a series of gigs for hipsters recently. These songs went really well:

Rolling in the deep
Livin La Vida Loca
Get the party started
Love Story (Taylor Swift)
Angels (Robbie Williams)
Uptown Funk
All about that bass
Smooth
Sway

They also loved Hey Baby, Dancing Queen, I'm a believer, I will survive, Time Warp, Hotel California and Sweet Home Alabama, which surprised us a bit.


Morrisman, you play Time Warp from Rocky Horror Show ?
Great stuff. I'd like to too :) big fan of this film.

To get back to the topic, I'll sure add some Green day and Red hot Chili P. in the set list, it always works fine.
Think about some Lenny Kravitz too.
Very recent stuffs from Bruno Mars, or some Jackson (equal!), or Happy, are great and work well once it's in the groove, but they need a bit more technically: second voices , keyboards and all..
 
Last edited:
I actually just got back from a gig with my band. We are a 90's to now cover band (mostly alternative) and our music gets received very well. People come up and tell us that our songs are a refreshing change from the "same old classic rock bands."

(We do play a few classic too....)

Our songs are by artists such as: Green Day, Offspring, Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, White Stripes, Black Keys, Blink182, Jet, Everclear, Fall Out Boy,.....many others,

Now I'm not going to lie.....we rarely have dancers out there for our music. But we usually do keep a crowd there for all 4 hours drinking/spending money, which is the name of the cover band game.
 
Call Me Maybe?

I have a couple of recent jazz albums that have been plays on that tune.

What ever you do don't get the 90's real book. It sucks. Most of the lead sheets are just too simple. Though my wife actually liked a couple of the songs, like "My Heart Will Go On".
 
You'll probably have to come up with your own arrangements for these but I guarantee 95% of that crowd will know and sing along:

Ignition (Remix) - R. Kelly (Seriously. This one is very easy and I will eat my virtual hat if it doesn't get a huge response.)
It Wasn't Me - Shaggy
Gold Digger - Jamie Foxx ft. Kanye West
Hey Ya - Outkast
Party In The USA - Miley Cyrus
Single Ladies - Beyonce
Umbrella - Rihanna
I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
Just Dance - Lady Gaga

Slightly less popular but arrangements are probably already out there:

Fly Away - Lenny Kravitz
This Love - Maroon 5
What's My Age Again - Blink 182
Spiderwebs - No Doubt
 
Most of the '50-80s standards still appeal to the younger crowd, because those songs are standards. The appeal is there because they're within the existing rock/pop era. But that doesn't mean you can't mix in some newer material that sounds good, just don't get too obscure.

It's hard to know what standards will come from '90s+ music, it's really a time-will-tell situation. It's safe to say that Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of your Life)" is already a standard, and I'd agree that Pharell's "Happy" and some Lenny Kravitz songs will stand the test of time.

Bermuda
 
I was at a wedding on Saturday and the playlist was entirely modern music. I can only recall knowing two songs: My Wish by Rascal Flatts and that "boots with the fur" song. I was the first person to sign up on the request list and I put down Black Dog. The DJ never played it.

I didn't have a very good time.
 
If you listen to Classic Rock radio, there are some 90s songs that are now in the rotation.

- Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
- Radiohead - Creep


See if you can get a playlist from your local classic rock station and see what they're playing... most radio channels have it all online.

If that doesn't work, then try looking up 90s playlists online, and see what songs they all have in common, and then see which ones fit in with your sound.
 
Our band went through this recently, as well. Wanted to add a few for that demographic. We added these, for now....

Collective Soul - Gel & Shine
3 Doors Down - Kryptonite

That same crowd generally likes Guns N Roses, too, even tho its a little older for these purposes. We were already doing Sweet Child O Mine. That gave us a few to sprinkle thru the sets. Trying to come up with some more that work for our band. Good luck.
 
Pandora app on computers has a Decades section. Go to the 90's, 00's etc and pick some that are danceable tunes.
 
Actually, what is the cut off for Millennials?

Am I a Millennial? I'm 32. I certainly don't feel like a Millennial, but when I looked it up online, it said kids born between 1977 and 2000.

That's a great deal of music. Let's assume that most people don't find their musical niche until 15 or 16, so that means you're looking at anything from 1992 to 2016 for music.

I just searched, and these were the biggest songs from 1992-2012. If you go through this list, there are a number of songs that you could arrange in your own style, or play as straight covers.

http://www.billboard.com/articles/c...-songs-1992-2012-from-no-100-to-no-1?page=0,0
 
Back
Top