Has your band ever been told what you can or can't play?

I am currently playing in a band which plays mostly rock with a female singer and we have been playing anything from Evanescence to Whitney Houston with a little Grace Potter thrown in. Last summer we played at our local outdoor venue for a RibFest event. We played a 45 minute set, playing a variety of styles of music because all ages attend these concerts. Everyone enjoyed our set even though the sound on stage was very bad and our singer couldn't hear herself. I know, you all have been there. Later, in the fall, we were asked to support a touring artist at the same venue, I think because the original band booked for the show bailed out. We were being asked to do a 50 minute set. We told them that we could do basically the same set that we played for RibFest. They agreed but one of the guys that was involved with the event told us that he DID NOT want any country music. He knew that we come close to county by playing Good Girl by Carrie Underwood (our singer really tears that song up). He told us there is no way we could play that song for this event. The city in which we were playing has two really popular radio stations that play these pop songs plus, I don't really consider this song "country". We thought that since it is an all ages family concert and combined with the fact that we play it well, that this song would appeal to the younger attendees. I know what I wanted to tell him, but we complied and omitted it from the set. Everything went great and had a good time. My question is, have any of you been in this situation and what did you do, or what would you have done. BTW, we have been asked to do at least two more shows this year, so maybe we did the right thing. Just bothers me to be told what we could or couldn't play. Never been told this before. What say you?
 
Played a wedding where we were asked not to play Take Me To The River. Turns out the bride's sister had drowned in a river....

About 7 - 8 years ago, I was in a band where we were regularly kicked off stage and out the venue because people didn't like what we were doing. That was a good band!


You have to remember that you are being hired to provide a service and are an employee that has to work with the person paying your wages. If you hire a caterer and ask them to offer a vegetarian option (or any specific requests) then you kind of expect them to comply. It's the same thing - little adjustments to please the client.
 
Absolutely. A group I'm in plays a healthy amount of klezmer music, and we were asked to play a Jewish wedding. Easy peasy, we thought, but when we got there, Bridezilla demanded, right before we got up to play, that we not play any Jewish music. We have plenty of other stuff in our arsenal, so it was fine, but that one came as a shocker out of left field. When you hire a band that plays traditional Jewish tunes for a Jewish wedding, you've got to think to yourself, "Hmm...maybe I should tell them BEFOREHAND that we don't want any klezmer music." smh
 
... but one of the guys that was involved with the event told us that he DID NOT want any country music.

I approve entirely :)

None of my bands have had songs embargoed, although around 1980 my originals band played a song called Suicide (it was a tale about a geisha depressed with her life *shrugs*) and suddenly during that song a girl ran outside crying.

It turns out that a friend of hers had topped himself a few days earlier and the chorus was obviously too much for her. It got us feeling iffy about playing that song out afterwards. It was a helluva faux pas.
 
You have to remember that you are being hired to provide a service and are an employee that has to work with the person paying your wages. If you hire a caterer and ask them to offer a vegetarian option (or any specific requests) then you kind of expect them to comply. It's the same thing - little adjustments to please the client.

There's an old saying that deals with this quite literally - "he who pays the piper calls the tune."

If you're playing a party, and the host says be careful what you play because their brother jumped off a building, do not launch into R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly"

I have no problem if the client wants to hear specific songs or genres, or not. They're the boss!

Bermuda
 
...If you're playing a party, and the host says be careful what you play because their brother jumped off a building, do not launch into R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly"...

ha ha ha...



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I've never laughed as much as I have in this thread about people's unfortunate and untimely deaths.

I feel unclean now and need to repent

I believe I can fly....man that is so funny.... :)
 
With regard to I Believe I Can Fly, I applied that from a real situation where a friend of mine - a funeral director - accidentally played that at a funeral for a guy who jumped out of a window. DOH!

Bermuda
 
I comply with all requests. When I'm the guy paying everybody, then they do what I want. Simple as that. I once had a teacher tell me to have a tie on hand if a client wants a tie because what I have to say is more important than whining about having to wear the tie ;)
 
With regard to I Believe I Can Fly, I applied that from a real situation where a friend of mine - a funeral director - accidentally played that at a funeral for a guy who jumped out of a window. DOH!

Bermuda

Jesus....I've never laughed so innapropriately at death

1 Oclock in the morning here and my fiancé has just called down the stairs to ask what's so funny

:)
 
Reminds me of the time when a radio station doing a live broadcast of Rage Against the Machine made the intelligent decision of choosing a song that repeatedly yelled "**** you, I won't do what you tell me", and then the further great decision of demanding that the band not do that part during the broadcast.

Really? You're going to tell them not to do the part about how they won't do what you say?

http://youtu.be/4NnqObhfymc
 
He (or she) who hath the green defines the scene....

The band is an employee in these relationships and is being paid to provide a service....it is what is. Setup when asked, start when asked, play what is asked, hand over microphone for client speech when asked (with feigned sheepishness, yet narcissistically reveling in every word they push through the 10kW PA), end when asked....

It's not star search, american idol or time to show that artistic side one has been cultivating their whole life because it's all they ever wanted to do....it's business.....and a heck of a lot of fun if you ask me! Hint....if there is no booze, bring your own: easy to setup a road case as a portable bar...oh hell bring the bar on wheels to every gig.
 
With regard to I Believe I Can Fly, I applied that from a real situation where a friend of mine - a funeral director - accidentally played that at a funeral for a guy who jumped out of a window. DOH!

Bermuda

Got me thinking earlier that it could have been worse....could have been a certain Van Halen cover song they'd played

:)
 
A couple years ago, as an opening act we were given the headliners setlist and told we could not play any of the songs they do..(sure they were concerned about the crowd not hearing the same song and not our band playing it better) made it pretty tough we were a new band with about 25-30 songs and well over half were on the other bands list. A couple months later we were the headliner at the same club and did not give our opening act a list of no play songs.

Funny story....
In the 80's we were playing a small club in PA, playing Molly Hatchet Bounty Hunter and when the singer got to the part where it says "you know $20 will get your F&#@ing head blown off" the bar owner dropped the drink he was mixing and bee-lined to the stage, stopped us and said if we say the F-word again he would throw us out.. we wanted paid so we abided.
 
Played a wedding where we were asked not to play Take Me To The River. Turns out the bride's sister had drowned in a river....

Weird, unless your band had a history of playing that tune. I don't know many bands who do anyway..
 
Just played a gig before Christmas and the publicist for the place requested that we play a mix of whatever we want to play but pepper it with seasonal and Christmas tunes. We did and they paid us more than was agreed on. Nice!

On wedding gigs we try to avoid songs with lyrics that are all about being alone, down and out, that kind of thing.
 
Just played a gig before Christmas and the publicist for the place requested that we play a mix of whatever we want to play but pepper it with seasonal and Christmas tunes. We did and they paid us more than was agreed on. Nice!

On wedding gigs we try to avoid songs with lyrics that are all about being alone, down and out, that kind of thing.

Perfect...you met and/or exceeded expectations...treated the event like a business transaction and were rewarded for your professionalism. Simple equation. Well done!
 
Isn't that the nature of playing in a 'covers' band selling themselves for $ upfront from a venue owner/organizer? (not to be confused with a satire band ; )
 
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