Oddest song request yet for my 1950s rock and roll band

Saturday night, this crazy woman asked for - demanded - Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon.

This was after two hours of nothing but Elvis, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran etc.

She was surprised and upset that we didn't play it.

Unbelievable.

Saturday night, this crazy woman asked for - demanded - Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon.

This was after two hours of nothing but Elvis, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran etc.

She was surprised and upset that we didn't play it.

Unbelievable.

Play some Metallica! :mrgreen:

I did the Pavillion r&r club in London the weekend (with my new Sessionette Retrotone btw :) and a rather large Ted asked if it was possible on our next vist to do a ‘bit of British’ which is fair enough but three months ago my band (rockabilly/r&r) got asked to do ‘Living on a prayer’ by Bon Jovi?? Unfortunately my slightly caustic reply was met with me having my first punch up since I was a kid.
just got back from having another x-ray on my right hand which I’ve buggered up, best to laugh it off in the future.

Don't you play any Abba? We get asked almost everytime :roll:

"She was surprised and upset that we didn't play it.Unbelievable."

It is very beleivable to me, that entitled to hear my favorite song immediately attitude rears it's ugly head all the time. We had a girl request 'runaway' by Bon Jovi, we don't know it but played both dead or alive and living on a prayer, and SHE STILL COMPLAINED LOUDLY!

One word: Alcohol.

I did the Pavillion r&r club in London the weekend (with my new Sessionette Retrotone btw :) and a rather large Ted asked if it was possible on our next vist to do a ‘bit of British’ which is fair enough but three months ago my band (rockabilly/r&r) got asked to do ‘Living on a prayer’ by Bon Jovi?? Unfortunately my slightly caustic reply was met with me having my first punch up since I was a kid.
just got back from having another x-ray on my right hand which I’ve buggered up, best to laugh it off in the future.

So we both have Pro Reverbs and Sessionettes, and both play rock and roll? Nice.

We've been throwing some British numbers in among the American ones, but general pub/club audiences definitely prefer Chuck Berry to Wee Willie Harris!

I am always polite when these mad requests come in. l would hate to think how I would end up after a fist fight.

FREEBIRD!

One time while playing with a classic rock band, we had a gentleman in his late 40's request something by John Phillip Sousa???

I was playing a 4pc rock band when I was asked by a guy in a suit do we do any classic stuff ? I thought Free Deep purple, Bad Company and he said no Classical , Mozart, Beethoven etc :shock:

FREEBIRD!

We use to hack our way through that one when ever someone had the nerve to request it. Our defense to our inevitabley poor performance was always, "Hey- you asked for it!"

We are a classic rock band and one night before we went on I had a lady ask me if we were playing a certain song(cant remember the name, some sort of a newer dance tune or something).
I had never heard of it and she told me that she heard the song when she came in the upstairs bar and thought we were playing it.
I explained to her that we are a classic rock band and she must have heard the song on the juke box upstairs.
She looked at me funny and said that maybe we should bring the jukebox downstairs to listen to and without even thinking :roll: I replied to her that would be a good idea then I could get the eff out of here at a decent hour instead of getting home at four effin thirty in the morning. She walked away from me in a huff but later came back and apologized for the comment.
Oops

Mark

Just say "yeah that's on after the next couple of requests."

The setup: New Years Eve
Place: 55 and over Community here in South Florida
Time: Dinner is being served with a light Jazz set going on....

A woman walks up and starts pounding on the stage "Play some F*&^%^&n Hendrix!.... I wanna Hear some F*&^%^&n Hendrix" ... after the band shortened up the song to calm her down, the band leader replied " We just drank the punch, so maybe next set we will be feeling that vibe for ya"...
her husband came up during the next song wanting to pick a fight with the band leader.... they left shortly thereafter, with some assistance

now mind you this was a guy on baby grand, a guy on hollow body guitar, a bass player and a drummer playing with brushes

I don't get offended by requests.
I've always looked at requests as audience participation.
That's something to encourage.
It's not something to get snarky about.
Good bands get requests.
Professionals should learn how to deal with them respectfully.

Unless there is a really big tip involved, I wouldn't try a song so far outside of the groups' range. But if any one member can do the song and the rest can fake it and if the gig is somewhat informal, we might just give it a try.
But you gotta wonder what is in some folks head to request something so far out from what they've been hearing.

Ran into an Elvis impersonator at Horton Plaza in San Diego who said he'd sing any Elvis song for a dollar. So I paid him the money and asked for "Clambake." He goes, "Clambake!?!" And I snickered and say yeah. He said he'd sing "Blue Suede Shoes" instead and did so.

Clambake is my favorite Elvis movie but my prefered song, which I didn't know the name of at the time, is "Hey, Hey, Hey" from the same movie. It cracks me up that Elvis sings about the experimental fiberglass resin he had invented.

Haven't been back to that area since, but if I run into him again, or any other "Elvis" claiming to sing any of his songs, that's going to be my pick.

Years ago at a friends wedding the music was provided by a Polish band complete with accordion and everything. About half-way through their second set a friend of mine yelled at the top of his lungs "Play some Zeppelin man". The place roared in laughter while the band performed "Who stole the kishka" You just can't win :}

"Good bands get requests.
Professionals should learn how to deal with them respectfully."

True. And some people cross the line by getting indignant and disrespectful if they're not hearing exactly what they want when they want it. Even the greatest cover band in the world CAN be stumped, and even if they play something from the same artist that often isn't enough to appease drunken a$$@#^&%s who just can't be pleased. Any professional knows that, so ya deal with it and move on.

No snarky, just commenting on how it's all part of the gig.

"Good bands get requests.
Professionals should learn how to deal with them respectfully."

True. And some people cross the line by getting indignant and disrespectful if they're not hearing exactly what they want when they want it. Even the greatest cover band in the world CAN be stumped, and even if they play something from the same artist that often isn't enough to appease drunken a$$@#^&%s who just can't be pleased. Any professional knows that, so ya deal with it and move on.

No snarky, just commenting on how it's all part of the gig.

Couldn't have put it better myself.

My old man was playing in Northern Ontario years ago in a town called Thunder Bay. At some point during the show the audience started demanding a song called "Slow Motion Walter". The band was confused and said that they didn't know that one. The crowd couldn't believe it. Then one of the guys in the band asked if someone could sing a bit of it for him.

...

Turned out they were asking for "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple.

… excuse the interruption, but I dig Kings of Leon

DBOuqyqmtJk

"Good bands get requests.
Professionals should learn how to deal with them respectfully."

True. And some people cross the line by getting indignant and disrespectful if they're not hearing exactly what they want when they want it. Even the greatest cover band in the world CAN be stumped, and even if they play something from the same artist that often isn't enough to appease drunken a$$@#^&%s who just can't be pleased. Any professional knows that, so ya deal with it and move on.

No snarky, just commenting on how it's all part of the gig.

Where's the "Like" button when you need it :mrgreen:

Mark

"Good bands get requests.
Professionals should learn how to deal with them respectfully."

True. And some people cross the line by getting indignant and disrespectful if they're not hearing exactly what they want when they want it. Even the greatest cover band in the world CAN be stumped, and even if they play something from the same artist that often isn't enough to appease drunken a$$@#^&%s who just can't be pleased. Any professional knows that, so ya deal with it and move on.

No snarky, just commenting on how it's all part of the gig.


A snarky response to a request is unprofessional.
100% of the time.
There are moments when persistent requests turns into heckling.
Hecklers should be handled by security.
100% of the time.

Don't you play any Abba? We get asked almost everytime :roll:

Play this next time :

5eIHOSBoKb4

My answer is always "Oh, I'm sorry, we don't know that one... Great song, though !" even if I can't stand the song... with the biggest smile I can muster. No need to get douchy...

The request that stands out as most memorable for me is VOLARE.

Play this next time :

5eIHOSBoKb4


Love It! Imagine the dropped jaws! Maybe have your bass player-backup singer come out in a blonde wig or something!

In 1977 or '78 my punk band were weirdly booked at a mental institution. We thought we were going to play a fund-raising benefit gig for it, not actually for the elderly long-term patients, which was a bit of a surprise. It didn't look like we would be able to play them our usual songs, like "Suicide (give it a try)" or "Just Want To Be Sane Again (crawl back in my brain again)". So we took a request for "Michael Rows the Boat Ashore".
We played that about three times in different ways eventually - as a waltz, once - and anything else we could think of, while they danced with our roadie and had a great time. Eventually we did play our usual punk songs heavily disguised as ballads or the twist, no-one seemed to notice the lyrics. One gentleman joined us center-stage with an acoustic guitar and took over the band as his backing group, which went OK once his mike was turned off and our guitarist had shown him how to do the Pete Townshend arm-swirl.
Afterwards I signed someone's autograph book in between Napoleon and Kendo Nagasaki. It's good to please the punters!

FREEBIRD!
We use to hack our way through that one when ever someone had the nerve to request it. Our defense to our inevitabley poor performance was always, "Hey- you asked for it!"That great!
I played for a few year with just me on accoustic and a bass player. We worked up a 12 bar version of Freebird. 4 bars of intro, sing the first lyric, then 4 bangin bars of the jam and out. Got a great response and a lot of laughs, and satisfied the "Freebird" screamers. There's one in every croud.:rolleyes:

Somebody once yelled out "Whipping Post" at a Frank Zappa concert. The band didn't know it, but they soon learned it, just in case it happened again.

WHIPPING POST!!!!!!!

"There are moments when persistent requests turns into heckling.
Hecklers should be handled by security.
100% of the time."

Key word: should.

Somebody once yelled out "Whipping Post" at a Frank Zappa concert. The band didn't know it, but they soon learned it, just in case it happened again.

A bandmate went to a Dweezil Zappa show in Santa Cruz a few weeks ago and they did a killer version of "Whipping Post". I guess some years ago, someone kept yelling for the song and finally, the band decided to add it to their list, just in case.
I think there is a Youtube video of the song, with Dweezil's band.

We used to play a place in Weymouth Dorset, where the entertainments secretary asked us to do "Taking it easy" every gig we played there.
We used to actually sing it like that for him :lol:

In 1977 or '78 my punk band were weirdly booked at a mental institution. We thought we were going to play a fund-raising benefit gig for it, not actually for the elderly long-term patients, which was a bit of a surprise. It didn't look like we would be able to play them our usual songs, like "Suicide (give it a try)" or "Just Want To Be Sane Again (crawl back in my brain again)". So we took a request for "Michael Rows the Boat Ashore".
We played that about three times in different ways eventually - as a waltz, once - and anything else we could think of, while they danced with our roadie and had a great time. Eventually we did play our usual punk songs heavily disguised as ballads or the twist, no-one seemed to notice the lyrics. One gentleman joined us center-stage with an acoustic guitar and took over the band as his backing group, which went OK once his mike was turned off and our guitarist had shown him how to do the Pete Townshend arm-swirl.
Afterwards I signed someone's autograph book in between Napoleon and Kendo Nagasaki. It's good to please the punters!



Great story, how were you guys dressed?

I sometimes get people try to show me a song on an ipod during a gig, thinking hearing it once means I can play it...

I usually just smile and say we'll learn that one for next time

On the topic of whipping post...if you listen to live at the fillmore, right before they play whipping post you can hear someone in the audience loudly demanding they play that song...whoever it is who answers for the band chuckles and says "yea....uh...you guessed it" and they play it.

We get the same thing. Being in a classic rock band, we always get far-out requests. I usually introduce the band as a "classic rock" band. The requests for Nirvana or foo fighters usually crack me up. I'm always honest & tell 'em "Sorry. We're a classic rock band. Those songs won't be classic to us in another 20 years"! They usually laugh it off.

"Good bands get requests.
Professionals should learn how to deal with them respectfully."

Very true. But how many of the BIG bands - y'know the ones whose songs we cover take requests? Out of all my 40 years of going to concerts only 1 - James Taylor listened to people make requests. And he told them he didn't take requests..

Springsteen takes requests at every show nowadays, and sometimes they play songs they've never done before. But they do have someone to download the lyrics and get them up on the teleprompters while they figure out the key and chords.

Last night we had our first gig since the 'Sex on Fire' incident and I told the audience about it - it was quite a good anecdote and everyone got a laugh out of it, so all in all it's turned in our favour.

I sometimes get people try to show me a song on an ipod during a gig, thinking hearing it once means I can play it...
My sister frequents a piano bar near her house and she invited me out there one evening.

The guy is blind and plays soft "lounge" music, but he solicits requests. Oops!

He IS a person that can play ANYTHING after hearing it once.
(Must be a blind person thing)

Ok, you want a challenge?

"Enter Sandman" by Metallica.

We found it on the ol' smart phone and let him listen to -he made several hilarious faces while listening to it -
but he played the COOLEST version of it EVER!!

The next time I go out there I'm going to see if he'll play it again.
If I do and he does, I'm going to video it and post it to youtube -it really is that cool.

Enter Sandman on lounge piano -most excellent!
We ALL enjoyed ourselves!

(I think I tipped him $20 for the song... gave it to his wife(?)/manager/handler.)

Song requests are the main reason Fake Books were popular. However, I have still yet to see a Rush's "Tom Sawyer" in a fake book, or consequently most drummers want to fake their way through it.

Did you get the story where a heckler asked for "My Sharona" and gets treated to a hour-long rendition where he is invited up on stage in the process?

http://pitchfork.com/news/45675-bradford-cox-talks-shocking-minneapolis-performance/

There are songs I have learned because they were requested so often that I finally sat down and learned them. I actually have improved a lot because it forced me to learn new chords, etc.

It still baffles me how drunk people particularly are stuck on one song that has nothing to do with the style being played, and how upset they get if you don't play it. I wonder if they wake up each morning knowing they are likely going to be obnoxious should they choose to drink later that night.

I like to know what people want to hear, because I want to make them happy. It helps me improve. But the thing that is tough is a wasted person getting up in my face and yelling weird requests at me -while I'm playing.

I always try to be polite and respectful, but some people should just stay home and spare the rest of the world some trouble.

"Your sex is on fire", don't do a thing for me all the local bands seem to play it except for us. Went to a gig a couple of weeks ago where two of the three bands played it, the ukelele orchestra didn't which was a shame I would have enjoyed that.

I was playing in a country band about 10 years ago and after our first set, this young guy walks up to me and asks if we did any Eminem????? I looked at him and said: "No, we're in a country bar..."

He just shrugged and walked out the bar. LOL :confused:

-Jagg

Saturday night, this crazy woman asked for - demanded - Sex

............. Blimey :lol:

My old man was playing in Northern Ontario years ago in a town called Thunder Bay. At some point during the show the audience started demanding a song called "Slow Motion Walter".
Turned out they were asking for "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple.

That's hilarious.

My answer is always "Oh, I'm sorry, we don't know that one... Great song, though !" even if I can't stand the song... with the biggest smile I can muster. No need to get douchy...

That's usually my approach.

Although you gotta wonder some times...we're a blues band, not classic rock, not country, not pop, strictly blues. No value judgements here, just the way we want to go. So 2 sets into a 4 set gig, this very attractive young woman approaches the stage and asks if we know any Jewel songs. I said no, we're just a blues band. Beginning of the 3rd set she comes back to the stage and asks if she could sing a Jewel song. I politely said no, not tonight. She left.