What Songs To Put On Your Setlist And Why

One of the bands that I play with has evolved from being a strictly "listening" band to more of a "dance" band over the period of 33 years. So we have a setlist that includes somewhere around 170 songs, some of which are definitely NOT dance friendly. Yet we don't want to abandon our roots, so we tend to put those "listening tunes" like something from Yes or ELP at the head of our sets. Then pretty soon after that, we start up the "dance" songs and keep them going for 2/3 of the set. At the 2/3 mark, we have one or two "slow dance" songs. Then we crank it back up until the last song of the set, which is usually a barn burner. And here's something I've learned from performing from almost 60 years: Don't count the NUMBER of titles in each set, as in, "15 songs make a set". Count the TIMES for the songs and include a "fluff factor" of the time in between songs (in the case of the group I'm referencing, we multiply the times for the songs by 1.08 and come out dead on time every time). So one set may have 15 songs, another may have 10 or 11, just depending on the length of each piece. Once you have this figured out, you can get really close to having a set last exactly the amount of time you want it to. And that's a hell of a lot more professional than getting to the end of the night and arguing on stage about which songs to cut.

I do the set lists for our band (Blues). I have a few different lists saved in Excel. One is a festival list, which is a list that contains our best barn-burner songs, plus two or three alternates, in case we need to extend the play time by a few minutes. I also have a 3-hour and 4-hour set list. I can go in and tweak those, based on the venue and the event. If I am making a set list from scratch, I will start with the set-openers and set-closers. These are usually upbeat tunes that make a strong impression at the start of a show or set, and leave them wanting more at the end of a show or set. So, for example, a 3-hour show may have three sets. So I would fill in the 6 songs in those positions; 3 set openers and 3 set closers. Then, I like to fill in the middle of each set using the “1-to-5” rule: one slow song to five upbeat songs. That usually provides for one slow song per set; two max. Of course, I also have to factor in things like beats (rhumba, shuffle, swing) and song keys, etc. I don’t want 5 songs in a row with a shuffle beat or 5 songs in a row in the key of A. I always have a “power hour”, a 3-hour and a 4-hour list ready to print. As we learn new tunes, I swap those in and sweep the replaced songs into the alternates list. I always take the list of alternates to every gig, as well. Sometimes, you get to a gig and it is not what you expected. Having your entire song catalog with you, helps you to pencil-in changes to the set list before the show, or during the first break. This basic template has worked pretty well for me for about 10 years now.

In our band we will try any song as long as its dance friendly, well known and within our skill set. Yes we’ve played ‘Sweet Caroline’, ‘BEG’, ‘Mustang Sally’ and generally speaking they go over well. Over the years we’ve found that Motown is almost automatic. No song works 100% of the time, and we’ve had many songs over the years that we thought would absolutely slay an audience that was received to crickets. You can’t take it personally. Give it a couple of tries and if it doesn’t work, move on.

nailed it. thanks!

Once again great video with great info Terence I'm glad I found you

As a fan ,love these vids, gives some insight into the music world.

Thanks for the knowledge and encouragement

Great topic! I’ve been a bandleader and a sideman for a couple of jazz and R & B style bands where the set list always involves my input. Most times, I’m the only one in the band with interest to create one and asking for band input (thumbs up or down on a tune). What complicates the process are old jazz standards and my originals that the band has played for years. We are constantly asking if we should add more smooth jazz or R & B to sound more contemporary (I guess). I’m comfortable with how we sound and the set lists that we’ve used, as the audience has generally provided positive feedback, and no one has said: “That song sucked!”. However, we do get the occasional “can you play Earth, Wind and Fire”…Lol.

When the Grateful Dead went on tour, they brought 100 songs. So when they played a town for a 3 night run. They picked the songs on stage, took a long time between songs, but ya had time to roll a joint! So each night had a different sets. They played 2 sets each night. So guess what, ya had to go to all 3 shows! Ya can be boring & play the same set each night Or ya can have Deadheads that follow your tour!