Creating a Set List for Your Band

One of the many mistakes I made in my first band was creating the wrong set list for the club. We thought we picked some amazing tunes, but they were either too slow or not meant to dance to. Needless to say, we were looking for the chicken wire by the end of the first set. I remember one drunk guy walking up to the stage after our first song and said “I waited 2 hours for this?!?” I can still hear his voice today. So, to help all my friends who are getting started, I thought I’d share what I’ve learned about creating a set list.

Add Danceable Songs for a Club

A great way to start is by putting together a list of popular danceable songs. You may want to go to Google or YouTube and type in top songs of your band’s genre. Then rifle through the list and pick out the tunes you like. Our band has always done this individually. Then during practice, we picked a couple to add. This way each person can put in songs they like to play.

Rock Songs that Work

As with any band, there are certain songs that seem to get people out on the floor for each genre. Here are some examples of classic rock songs that would always get people dancing. The downside is that they are overplayed. It can be tough to get excited about them sometimes, but a full dance floor can change that.

• Sweet Home Alabama
• Keep Your hands to Yourself
• La Grange
• House is Rockin’
• Brick House
• Summer of ‘69
• What I like About You
• Long Train Runnin’
• I Want You to Want Me
• Livin’ On a Prayer
• Play That Funky Music
• Get Down Tonight
• Rocky Mountain Way
• Pride and Joy
• La Bamba
• Rocky Mountain Way
• Jump

Slower Songs in a Set List

One killer for any band is to put too many slow songs in a set list. A good rule of thumb is to limit the slow tunes to 1 or 2 per set for a dance club. These can be a very powerful tool to fill the dance floor, but can also lull your crowd to sleep if you overdo it.

A great idea for slower tunes may be to add a good crossover song. Even if you are a rock band, having a few country or blues tunes in your repertoire can be a great way to win a few dancers. Especially those who like music other than what you are playing.

Slow songs that always brought the crowd out for us were:

• Wonderful Tonight
• Turn The Page
• Live Like You Are Dying
• When A Man Loves a Woman

And believe it or not, Free Bird was a song that almost always went over well. Just make sure to nail the solo on it.

The best place to put the slow songs in a set are usually somewhere around song 4, 5, or 6. This way you could always end with one and it won’t slow the night down.

How to Add Medium Songs

Songs like Sultans of Swing and anthem songs like Stairway to Heaven can be a great set ender, but be careful with too many of those as well. One thing I have discovered is that people love to hear them, but don’t tend to dance to them. Sometimes those are best left to close a night out.

You will begin to tell the medium (not so danceable songs) from the drivin’ tunes pretty quickly on.

Bottom line

When the floor is full, it usually doesn’t matter how much you dislike a song, it tends to be a lot of fun to play. If people are having fun, then time flies!

A final thought is to keep a list of songs that get people out consistently. Also, put together a list of duds. Each band has songs that work for them but may not go over well for other bands. Give each song at least 4-5 gigs to tighten them up before shelving them. This way, you will know you played well but the song just doesn’t get a response. A song that we took out of the rotation was Down by the Waterline by Dire Straits. After the drunk guys comments, we watched it for a few more gigs and then it ended up in the graveyard.

Hope this helps. If you are interested in lesson, please contact me to set up a time either virtually or in person.