Starting a cover band and need song suggestions

pjpjpaul

I am going to be starting a cover band soon and would love to hear what you all think would be good songs to cover. Trying to get a good mix of the obvious as well as more obscure gems... (no Creed, Nickleback, 3 Doors Down, Stone Sour, Breaking Benjamin, Alter Bridge type of bands please...)

I am thinking 80's 90s and 00's alt rock, classic rock, and maybe a few Motown type songs as well... Just think like your in a bar watching a band, what songs would you want to hear or be pleasantly surprised to hear? Thanks for your input and help!!!

DewieCox

Boys Are Back in Town or Bad Reputation by Thin Lizzy
Stinkfist
any rockin Zeppelin will kill
Rusty Cage or Spoonman
In the Meantime by Spacehog
Another Brick In the Wall or Have A Cigar
No Sugar Tonight
She Don't Use Jelly-Flaming Lips
Do Ya- ELO
Remedy or Hard to Handle
Smashing Pumpkins or AIC stuff that's not too dark or depressing...Siva and Them Bones work great
Rush if the whole band can hang
War Pigs or Faeries Wear Boots
GnR...like anything off of Appetite
Weezer has quite a few that are good...Sweater Song, Hashpipe
RHCP have a gob that will go over well



Stay away from mid tempo anthemic stuff like Alive. You'd think a well known song would go over well, but the mid tempo stuff tends to meander. Uptempo without being too fast is the best pace for most of the songs. Of course, a ballad or two won't hurt either.

It's pretty easy if you wanna just play to the bar, but the bands I've been in alway try to find songs that we enjoy playing as well and we would mostly shun the obvious stuff unless we liked playing it. We also liked to work in some shockers that we knew would go over well...like a few mentioned above. We'd even work in a song that we knew nobody would know and that paid off more often than not, but you gotta be selective.

pjpjpaul

So far I have-

Cover Songs


"Folsom Prison Blues"- by Johnny Cash
"Mary Jane’s Last Dance”- by Tom Petty
“Roadhouse Blues”- by The Doors
“Island in the Sun”- by Weezer
“Mistake Pageant”- by Idlewild
“Everlong" by Foo Fighters
“Rocking in the Free World” by Neil Young
“Nearly Lost You”-by Screaming Trees
“Seven Nation Army”- by The White Stripes
“Mistaken for Strangers”- by The National
“Should I Stay or Should I Go?”- by The Clash
“Blister in the Sun”- by Violent Femmes
“About a Girl”- by Nirvana
“Corduroy”-by Pearl Jam
“One Big Holiday”- by My Morning Jacket
“Proud Mary”- by Creedence Clearwater Revival
“The Weight”-by The Band

DewieCox

I don't go see cover bands too often, and I'd go see the band that played that setlist.

What's your lineup? Couple guitars, bass, drums, vox? Any keys?

Another thing..I'm always impressed by bands that can pull of the background vox well.

pjpjpaul

I sing and play guitar, another guitar, drums, bass, and guitar player does keys sometimes. Not sure about backup vocals yet

Thirty Bills Unpaid

Cover the Foo Fighters' version of Band on the Run.

pjpjpaul

Thought of a few more-

“Baba O’Riley”-by The Who
“Backwater”-by Meat Puppets
“Interstate Love Song”-by Stone Temple Pilots
“Last Night”- by The Strokes
“I Will Dare”- by The Replacements
“Gel”- by Collective Soul
“Lightning Blue Eyes”- by Secret Machines

EarlWelsh

Monkey Gone to Heaven right into Domino.

pjpjpaul

The list so far-

"Folsom Prison Blues"- by Johnny Cash
"Mary Jane’s Last Dance”- by Tom Petty
“Roadhouse Blues”- by The Doors
“Island in the Sun”- by Weezer
“Mistake Pageant”- by Idlewild
“Everlong" by Foo Fighters
“Rocking in the Free World” by Neil Young
“Nearly Lost You”-by Screaming Trees
“Seven Nation Army”- by The White Stripes
“Mistaken for Strangers”- by The National
“Should I Stay or Should I Go?”- by The Clash
“Blister in the Sun”- by Violent Femmes
“About a Girl”- by Nirvana
“Corduroy”-by Pearl Jam
“One Big Holiday”- by My Morning Jacket
“Proud Mary”- by Creedence Clearwater Revival
“The Weight”-by The Band
“Baba O’Riley”-by The Who
“Backwater”-by Meat Puppets
“Interstate Love Song”-by Stone Temple Pilots
“Last Night”- by The Strokes
“I Will Dare”- by The Replacements
“Gel”- by Collective Soul
“Lightning Blue Eyes”- by Secret Machines
"Song 2"- by Blur
“Hard To Handle”- by The Black Crowes
“Ain’t No Easy Way”-by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
“Helter Skelter”-by The Beatles
“Your Touch”- by The Black Keys
“Jumping Jack Flash”- by The Rolling Stones
“Good Times, Bad Times” by- Led Zeppelin


Keep the suggestions coming.

2-feign-reluctance

Anything off Sonic Youth's Sonic Nurse

FrankieG

You need a RHCP song.