Here’s a question that you’re likely to have when you’re in a cover band, how to make a setlist. I know some bands are doing fine without a setlist, usually, they are musicians with a vast repertoire and they have no trouble interacting with the audience. But if it’s not the case and you want to avoid these uncomfortable moments, where the band is looking for a song to play and the audience leaves the dance floor, a good setlist is a must.
How many sets and breaks in the setlist?
First of all, you have to decide how many sets and breaks you’re going to have. Sometimes it’s already a requirement from the venue, in this case, the decision is already made. If not then it’s up to the band, the rule here is, the fewer breaks you take, the better it is. Especially if it’s a show without a cover charge, the break is the perfect time for a customer to leave, and of course, you want to keep them as long as possible. If you can do it, do not take breaks on a show 2 hours long or less. For 3 hours shows, two sets of 1h30 work great, sometimes 2h and 1h is even better.
Making blocks of songs
Another thing to consider is making blocks of 3 or 4 songs that are similar and work well together. It’s great if you can go seamlessly from one song to the other, letting a chord ring and then a drum fill to segue to the next for example. You can also make blocks when musicians change instruments or tuning, in my rock band we put our two Drop-D songs together at the end to avoid wasting time.
What kind of venue
Next, the kind of venue is really important, you have to keep in mind that one setlist could work in one place, and not in another. Here are the different kinds of venues possible for a cover band :
- Bar with no cover charge
- Restaurant or resto-bar, usually with no cover charge
- Auto booked show with a cover charge
- Corporate gigs
- Festivals with other bands
Bar with no cover charge
In this venue, you are probably booked by the bar owner, you get a fixed amount of pay for the night. You usually play for 3 hours and you’re basically there to get people to drink.
With these shows, the start time isn’t really fixed, I may depend on how many people are in the bar. Most of the time there are fewer people present when you start than when you finish. So don’t put your greatest songs at the beginning, keep them for the second half of the first set.
In a bar, your audience will start sober and get gradually drunk. It should also be that kind of progression with the setlist. Start with accessible corporate rock and get heavier stuff later, great sing-along anthems work better with alcohol.
At the end of the show, it’s likely you’re going to get asked for encores, probably from people that only arrived 15 min ago and complain about you wanting to stop. You should be aware of that and have one or two songs in extra, if you really want to end the show, play a ballad.
Restaurant or resto-bar, usually with no cover charge
This time your goal is to make people dance after they ate at the restaurant. Usually, it’s not a place for real heavy bands, and some places I know hire bands for the whole weekend. In this case, you can make a setlist for each night just to avoid monotony.
From my experiences in these venues, you’re going to start playing while some people are still eating. So it’s better to have 30 minutes of material that is easy-listening, something that people could dance to if they really wanted, but it’s not you’re core songs. Be ready to skip to more up-tempo hits if you feel the audience is ready to go on the dance floor.
Once the dancing has started, you have put big hits in the first half-hour, it’s critical because most of the audience didn’t plan to stay long. If you can, play a really long first set, you will always lose the majority of the people at your break.
Put all your best songs in the first set and try to finish it with a great hit, maybe it will convince some people to wait and stay for the rest of the show. The second set is not as important, the audience will decline as you play unless you’re really lucky.
Auto booked show with cover charge
This one is different, it’s a show you book yourself at a venue and you get the revenue of the cover charge minus the expenses. You usually do these shows when you have a good following, when you are a tribute band, so people know what to expect, or if you combine the show with an event, like Halloween for example.
These are the kinds of shows I do with my 80’s tribute 80’s Night Band. Usually, with these shows, a setlist is essential, it’s less loose than in a bar, you probably play all your repertoire.
When people pay to go see your band, it’s likely that they will get to the venue before the start of the show. Also, they won’t leave at the break, unless the band sucks, obviously.
On a show like that, the balance is really important, but you want to start and end the sets strongly. If it’s a tribute, it means people choose to see the artist or style you play, it’s more likely the will accept less popular songs, but don’t play many in a row.
Also, these shows usually start earlier than bars, and you may only play 2 hours. Don’t be afraid to put great hits near the end, people should still be there and it will leave a great last impression.
Corporate gigs
Of all the kinds of venues, these shows are the trickiest. I’ve done corporate gigs for more than 15 years and I have seen a change recently, they are not as fun as they were.
I’m going to focus on corporate gigs for companies, offices, factories. I’m not including weddings, they are complex with so many variables, like working with DJs, entertaining with games, special requests from the bride and groom.
There are similarities with a restaurant gig, except you’re not starting while people are eating. But a big difference is that often people don’t want to be there. They are just waiting for the meal and the gifts and they are ready to leave as soon as you start playing.
So it’s really important to start strong, make everyone understand it’s worth to stay and you’re legit to start a party. Also, people are drinking during the pre-show so they are less shy to go on the dance floor. A few hits and you can build momentum.
As with the restaurant, don’t expect everyone to stay at the break. In fact, in the last few years, we didn’t even go through the whole setlist most of the time. Usually, these are big venues in hotels, so when it’s empty, it feels empty. But if you’re lucky you might end up with a bunch of party animals, but they are usually really drunk, so be prepared.
Festivals with other bands
Lastly, I’m going to talk about festivals, these are fun, you’re not going to make a lot of money but you can play in front of crowds. Usually, you’re doing a shorter set than the other venues, you rarely get a break.
If you’re doing 3 hours shows regularly, and you have 1 hour at a festival, you should stick to your best material. No deep cuts or songs you want to try for the first time in public. It’s all about standing out of the rest of the bands.
You need to start and end strong, your two best songs should be first and last. The only exception is if you are the last band of the day, then start with the best and gradually move to the worst of the set.
During these shows, it’s usually long days for the audience, that’s it’s important to have a strong consistent setlist. The other thing, unless you’re the last band, is to finish so strong that the crowd doesn’t want you to leave and see the other band. It’s unlikely you’ll have time to do encores but you will leave a great lasting impression and stand out.
Conclusion, how to make a setlist
Just remember that a setlist is a tool, a great tool but it can be used however you want. During a show, you don’t have to stick to it all the time, unless the show is built that way.
It will happen that a certain style of songs will fail with the audience. If you have three other songs in that style that follows, it’s better to react quickly and make changes on the fly. It comes with experience but it’s something to work on, have someone in the band to ‘lead’ the setlist.
You may also get requests from the audience. Sometimes, if it fits the direction you’re going, playing a request right away, might help liven up the party.
On a final note, the goal of a setlist is often to eliminate the awkward situations where the audience is waiting for the band to play a song. But it can only be accomplished when everyone in the band has access to the setlist. A good habit is to know what is the next song while you’re still playing the actual song. Everyone in the band should do that, but I know it will never happen, especially with drummers…
When I’m creating setlists and when I’m playing live, I’m using a great app called Bandhelper. I’ve been using it for the last 3 years and I think it’s really great, I’m even paying a subscription for it and it’s worth every penny. Check it out!
