We’ve been messing around with Mary Jane’s Last Dance too. The singer isn’t satisfied with his parts in the chorus, he says he sounds like Pink Floyd covering Tom Petty lol. He struggles getting that high. He was ready to scrap it but the rest of us enjoy the groove and the jam sections. He was trading licks on his harmonica and guitar and it sounds really good. Our Keyboard player has a higher range so he’s currently working on the chorus section to see if we can save it.
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That’s really cool.
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Oh, I will be using that for sure. I may need to start looking for a new band, but im totally going there. 
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Good idea listing the key of each song.
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That is a hell of a set list, @Barney !
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Some audio from our last gig (XLR output from our digital mixer into a laptop)
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I have some curiosity questions about logistics of a cover band and playing in one…
- Do you ever tire of playing the same thing on and on? If so, what happens? Vote sing off the island?
- Do you need to change keys of songs for the singer? How do you relearn or personally transpose a song to learn it?
- How is a song’s tempo chosen? Player ability? I ask cause both of the above sound either faster or slower than the original to me, could be wrong.
Asking as I am genuinely curious
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Good questions @John_E obviously I can only speak from our experience.
A. Yes I absolutely tire of playing the same song again and again. There’s one song i now really detest in our setlist 
When we started out our aim was to build up a set list of at least 2 hrs of material (To be able to sell our band to bars, parties etc). That took about 6 months. Now we have way more than 2 hrs; we swap in and out tunes. However there are some songs that we started with that we’ve just cut and won’t return. We have a vote on that.
B. We’ll normally have a few (3 or 4) new songs on the go. I’ll learn these in the original key and then if our singer want’s to change key. I’ll relearn it. If it’s down a whole step it might be just as easy as moving the whole thing down (pattern wise) but some songs are in Drop D or with open strings so I have to change the fingering up a bit. It’s not really that hard because you’ve already done the work on the song structure, rhythm and feel of the groove.
C. There’s absolutely no consideration re ability. If somethings too fast or complicated for me I’ll simplify the bass line. As far as tempo goes. We deliberately speed up some songs. Fortunate Son from the original 130 to around 145BPM. We play a version of Jolene at around 160BPM.
But most songs we try and stay at the original tempo as we’re all learning the song at home on our own. Sometimes our drummer (who’s in 3 other bands) forgets and starts off way too fast!. Also playing live depending on the audience vibe tends to mean the tempo can slowly increase.
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My two cents on the topic
(experience: 2 cover bands, plus one small project with mixed originals and covers):
Every band/project has its own internal workings and ‘rules’. A cover, as opposed to a tribute band, is on a spectrum… For example, one band had basically one sound for all songs, little variation in guitar effects & so on. The other one, instead, multiFXs for both guitars. We play in the second case much closer to the original, but still partially interpreted, adapted to our style.
In one band, we struggled to learn enough material. We had choice paralysis due to somehow unclear decisions/group dynamics. In the other one, we mostly vote on which songs to kick out, because we try to keep learning one or two songs at any time, and as you said, after a while repetition legitim… (
) is boring. It is a rather spontaneous process of proposal→play together→keep what works.
Transposition: it depends, occasionally lowering one or two semitones as necessary. On bass, this is usually not a big deal for rock/punk… it does not change much, except perhaps for fills. Fills are optional anyway 
Tempo: usually “close enough” to the original, but does not need to match exactly. One drummer plays on feel, the other with a click track, so the second is obviously more consistent at every rehearsal and gig (not necessarily better).
I play with a pick, so tempo is rarely a concern. Chugging finger-style for 2 hours+ several fast songs would definitely be a challenge.
Fast-tempo songs, in my experience, are more challenging for drums or guitar, assuming they want to play as close as possible to the original. If a song needs to be slowed down too much, it is usually discarded.
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@Barney this thread is an amazing testimonial for the value of the B2B course. Seems @JoshFossgreen and you should work a deal for an open YouTube video featuring a short interview with clips version of your progress. Benefit for BassBuzz is an external proof of performance for the course; benefit for you and Should We Pan¿c would be increased national exposure maybe leading to more regional gigs. No need for money to change hands.
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@CraigS that’s very kind of you to say that.
I am completely unremarkable, and as such, probably a good example of many of us on here. I started at 49 with no musical experience as an adult.
I really enjoyed the course and set myself the goal of min 1-2 hrs per night. That’s pretty much it. For the past 5 years, I’ve shut the door, turned off other distractions and practiced. At a certain point I got competent enough to play with other people. Now I find myself in the (ludicrous to me) happy position of being paid to play music with my friends on weekends.
Pretty much anyone of this forum who’s progressed will tell you that it’s consistent practice that gets you there. Not buying another bass, pedal, preamp etc (although that’s cool), or just doing 5 mins a day (not enough). There’s also a weird tipping point where you become good enough technique wise that you sound pretty good and then you want to practice more because it becomes fun.
It also helps that this forum has been incredible supportive to me and many others. Be that advice about gear, theory or practicing. It’s made a huge difference.
There you have it. Put in the work and you won’t suck.
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Work? But I don’t wanna!! 
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Well said and well played, Barney. You guys sound good. Five years of consistent work/development is showing. Congrats. 
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First gig yesterday. Went well! Mix of originals and covers. This band has been great. Recorded the whole thing, here are a few selections.
Here’s two of the originals, written by the guitarist/lead. “I Love You Stay Away” and “Nature of Time”. Probably my too favorite in the set, and we were well warmed up by this point.
“Cinnamon Wind” is a song that I wrote for my wife:
“Smooth Operator” - Really happy with how I did on the solo.
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The new band sounds great!
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Awesome!
That might be the very first time a J2 has been played under a collapsable tent thing in the USA!
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Top Banana 
Super happy to see another Bass buzzer getting out there and playing live.
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