Song Lists or Set Lists For Shows

I tend to get more corp gigs.  Usually people requesting my praise team from church to do them.  Weird, but that's what happens.

I don't get to do much solo gigs, don't have the time, mostly private gigs like parties or events being held at some pub or rented hall.  When I do get called upon to do that though, my set list is pretty all over the place.  LOL.    I do a bit of main stream stuff and a lot of other stuff thrown in.  Seems to work for me because they are just the songs I love to play on guitar.  Not gonna play it if I don't enjoy playin' it.  And I'm weird in what I like to play on guitar. 

I'll go from Why by Roger Whittaker ( which most don't know ) to Faith by George Michael, to Jack & Diane by John Cougar, to Everybody's Talkin' At Me by Fred Neil to John Denver stuff ...and on it goes.  It's mostly, to be fair, songs that no matter the genre, are acoustic in nature ( for the most part anyways), even on the album versions.

My set list consists of 55 songs.  A bit much to type here.  LOL.    I use between 12 to 31 of them, depending on the gig ( my gigs all vary, I have not had any standard or "regular" gigs ) with extras on hand of they want me to keep going.  Really wish I could do this more often, but I gotta work.  LOL.  Maybe down the line if I can go semi-retired or something I'll pick this up a bit more. 

I'm playing tomorrow night at a local coffee shop.  I generally just keep an alphabetical list of tunes and pick and choose from it depending on the crowd and my own whims.  There's also an 'alternate' list of tunes I have in my book but generally don't have on the primary set list, and I'll dip into that sometimes as well.  I keep a couple copies of the list out where audience members can peruse it, and will take requests from either list if someone's interested.  Mind you, in a two-hour gig (which is how long I'm playing tomorrow night) I'm only talking about doing maybe 25 of these 64 songs...

It's a rather eclectic list, from traditional Irish tunes (including one in Gaelic), to 'classic' pop stuff to newer material, to some tunes no self-respecting guitarist/singer should attempt (but then I have no self-respect), to some original tunes.

Here's the two lists (the symbols after the song are indications to me whether it's a song I do on the 12-string vs. the 6-string with "**" indicating 12 string, whether I have a loop for the tune so I can play solos against it (@ symbol), and whether I'm using the new Harmonizer pedal (!!, usually on the chorus of a song).

PRIMARY SET LIST (ALPHA)
Al Bowlly - Richard Thompson !!
Blackbird - Beatles
California Dreaming - Mamas & Papas **
Chelsea Hotel #2 - Leonard Cohen
City of New Orleans - Steve Goodman !!
Cliffs of Dooneen - Traditional @
Closing Time - Lyle Lovett !!
Consequence Free - Great Big Sea !!
Crawl Back - Richard Thompson
Desperado - Eagles
Every Breath You Take - Police
Fields of Gold - Sting
For What It’s Worth - Buffalo Springfield@ !!
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Lauper (minor key version)
Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen ** !!
Happy Together - Turtles
Hills of Connemara - Sean McCarthy
Hotel California - Eagles ** !!
House of Mercy - Sarah Jarosz ** !!
I Will - Beatles
If I Needed Someone - Beatles (instrumental) **
I’m A Believer - Neil Diamond
Lonesome Suzie - The Band **
Long Black Veil - Dill & Wilkin !!
Long Silken Hair - Richard Thompson !!
Losing My Religion - REM @
Norwegian Wood - Beatles ** !!
Quid Pro Quo - Leigh @ !!
Rain In Durango - Guy Clark !!
St. James Infirmary Blues - Traditional @
Slip Away - Leigh @
Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd ** !! @

ALTERNATE SONGS
After the Gold Rush - Young
Aqualung - Jethro Tull
Bennie & The Jets - Elton John
Changes - David Bowie **
End of the World - REM
Falling Slowly - Glen Hansard
Five & Dime - Nanci Griffith !!
Friend of the Devil - Grateful Dead
Haul Away - Mark Knopfler !!
Hi-Tech Rich Guy Blues - Leigh @
Key West Intermezzo - Mellencamp !!
Kilkelly Ireland - Steve & Peter Jones
Levon - Elton John **
Life During Wartime - Talking Heads
Mary’s Eyes - Janis Ian !!
Mháire Bhruinneal - Traditional (in Gaelic)
Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Young !!
Oops I Did It Again - Brittany Spears
Overkill - Colin Hay
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
Ripple - Grateful Dead
Smoke & Strong Whiskey - Christy Moore !!
Squeaky Clean - Leigh
Star of County Down - Traditional !!
Step It Out Mary - Sean McCarthy !!
Van Diemen’s Land -- Edge **
Van Diemen’s Land -- Traditional
Walk Away Renee - Left Banke
Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum
The Wild Rover - Traditional
You & Me - Dave Matthews
You’ve Gone - Leigh !!

TonyKgull -- go to the "Guitar Amplifiers" folder and click on the thread "Vocal Effects" -- I posted about the pedal there. Short version: it's a TC-Helicon Harmony Singer pedal (blue in color), I bought it used for $100 on eBay (it runs twice that new online), and so far I like it quite a bit.  You can have two voices doing harmony (either one voice below you and one voice above, or two below you -- which I'll never use -- or two above you. You can also have just one harmony voice, either a close third below or above you, or a more distant fifth below or above you. I'll be using it on a gig for the first time tomorrow night; hopefully my toe can find the switch at the right times!  

I use the harmonizer on "Wish You Were Here" for the last verse, and on Cohen's "Hallelujiah" for the choruses between the verses. 

Nice, modernsaint. Now I have about 30 songs I can research (I don't know most) to see if there are any I'd like to tackle. One of the fun things about this guitar journey has been discovering new (to me) music that I somehow barreled past over the years.

For the past  year I have been jammin' with four other guys on a monthly basis. We have a keyboard, 2 acoustics, a bass and a mandola. In our own minds we thought that we were starting to sound pretty good so it was decided to play our first gig. It will take place at our annual ball team BBQ tomorrow night. Hopefully a friendly crowd of friends.

Here is our setlist:

Teach your Children - CSN&Y
Wheat Kings - Tragically Hip
Boots or Hearts - Tragically Hip
Hotel California - Eagles
Walk of Life - Dire Straits
Country Roads - John Denver
Five Days in May - Blue Rodeo
Lost Together - Blue Rodeo
Has'nt Hit Me Yet - Blue Rodeo
Wagon Wheel - Darious Rucker

Everyone is really looking forward to this gig. This kind of stuff keeps me feeling young.

henk, I've been considering adding a few Blue Rodeo tunes to my list.  I love "Five Days In May" -- I have a friend who does that tune in the music circles I've been in.  He also does Darious Rucker's "Wagon Wheel", so his tastes are right there with yours!  And "Walk of Life", well, that's just a great tune.  Have a great gig!

I haven't intentionally busked for a while, but when I did I liked to use my G/D autoharp. I had a list of the songs taped to the back of the 'harp and they're still there.  The ones with the "dot" in front are the tunes that seemed to get money dropped in my case.