What Songs Do Audiences React Best To ?

What’s Up by 4 Non Blondes is a great song to end a gig with.

I play in the blues scene primarily and I’m really surprised how well Zombie by the Cranberries goes over.

Somebody above mentioned Tennessee Whiskey, you could also throw in I’d Rather Go Blind

Use Me by Bill Withers us a good one.

Rock ‘n Roll and When The Levee Breaks are good as well.

Maybe I shouldn’t mention my bands secret but we have this gig closing set, a real one-two punch, sounds weird but bare with me: We play Fortunate Son first, but we work in the guitar solo section from Freebird, big hits and snare drum “gallop” and all, then we get back into the FS progression but singer sings the chorus of Born This Way by Lady Gaga, then we finish FS, hit the last big hit and we start right into Blitzkrieg Bop to close out the show. Slays every time!
 
Thunder Kiss '65
Walk This Way
 
Another one we always had great luck with is Hurts So Good, by Mellencamp. We'd stretch out the drum intro sometimes, and the singer would get the crowd moving. Great fun!
 
A few of them in our set list are:

Brick house
All right now
Signed sealed delivered
Don’t stop believing
September
Let’s groove
Uptown funk
Good times
Get down tonight
 
A bit of a different angle on the question.

I’ve found that audiences react noticibly well to songs with good multi-part vocal harmonies.
 
for my metal band, anytime we pull out the 80's hardcore/punk stuff, people love it: Minor Threat; Black Flag; SOA; DRI

my surf punk band does real well with doing 60's and 70's era sit com songs, but doing them in our style. Big ones are the Mary Tyler Moore show song; Three's Company; I Dream of Jeanie....we also do many obscure, but mildly popular songs in our style...Fox On The Run; 99 Luftbaloons; Leaving On A Jet Plane; Shake It Up; Too Fast For Love...our bass player will just start some song from the 70's or 80's and we turn it into a surf-punk jam
 
It depends.

I think the deal is to pay attention and make notes.
 
Elvis.

In my experience nothing gets the audience excited like old Chuck Berry style rock and roll.
It is amazing what a Chuck Berry song can do to an audience. Pink Floyd can play for two hours and people listen intently, but then they play a Chuck song and everyone comes alive.
 
Our first gig after lockdown is coming up soon so we're adding some more party songs with the horn section: Copacabana, September, Lido Shuffle, RESPECT

Recently our crowd has also responded to Joe Cocker - Unchain my heart & The Letter, also Tom Jones - Its not unusual & Just Help Yourself

And for something from this century - Valerie and Rolling in the Deep seem to get people joining in.
 
You can thank me later for this short list.

Under the Broadwalk

Tennessee Whiskey

Superstition

Play That Funky Music

Purple Rain

Let’s Get It On - by Marvin Gaye

Bad Ba Leroy Brown

Mustang Sally

You Make Me Wanna Shout


.
I spend a lot of time in audiences - and I've been let down by set lists like that many times.
They prove the pitfall of playing what the people who make the most noise demand. Those people are the socialisers, not the music lovers - and by following them you enter a death spiral of cliche after cliche after cliche.
Stevie Wonder has SO many great songs - but all we ever hear is Superstition and I'm sick of it: a great song throttled to death by overexposure. Ditto Gaye and Prince.
Play what you LOVE, not everyone in the crowd is musical dunce. Surprise people with stuff they also love but didn't expect!
Recycling the same old stuff might seem a safe bet - but you're actually killing the Golden Goose, slowly but surely.
 
I spend a lot of time in audiences - and I've been let down by set lists like that many times.
They prove the pitfall of playing what the people who make the most noise demand. Those people are the socialisers, not the music lovers - and by following them you enter a death spiral of cliche after cliche after cliche.
Stevie Wonder has SO many great songs - but all we ever hear is Superstition and I'm sick of it: a great song throttled to death by overexposure. Ditto Gaye and Prince.
Play what you LOVE, not everyone in the crowd is musical dunce. Surprise people with stuff they also love but didn't expect!
Recycling the same old stuff might seem a safe bet - but you're actually killing the Golden Goose, slowly but surely.

The question was; what songs do audiences react the best to.
If the far right are only songs that everyone has heard, hit songs from all times and places;
And the far left are songs that nobody has ever heard, all original songs;
How far left would you suggest a band go in choosing songs to play?

.
 
What’s Up by 4 Non Blondes is a great song to end a gig with.

I play in the blues scene primarily and I’m really surprised how well Zombie by the Cranberries goes over.

Somebody above mentioned Tennessee Whiskey, you could also throw in I’d Rather Go Blind

Use Me by Bill Withers us a good one.

Rock ‘n Roll and When The Levee Breaks are good as well.

Maybe I shouldn’t mention my bands secret but we have this gig closing set, a real one-two punch, sounds weird but bare with me: We play Fortunate Son first, but we work in the guitar solo section from Freebird, big hits and snare drum “gallop” and all, then we get back into the FS progression but singer sings the chorus of Born This Way by Lady Gaga, then we finish FS, hit the last big hit and we start right into Blitzkrieg Bop to close out the show. Slays every time!

Blitzkrieg Bop! Love it!

Funny thing, we have often gone from Fortunate Son into the guitar solo from Freebird, as well. Especially covering the Foo Fighters version of Fortunate Son...it was so obvious, we all looked at each other and off we went!
 
Blitzkrieg Bop! Love it!

Funny thing, we have often gone from Fortunate Son into the guitar solo from Freebird, as well. Especially covering the Foo Fighters version of Fortunate Son...it was so obvious, we all looked at each other and off we went!
There ya go man!
 
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