Opinions on medleys

#61
A good medley is a real fkn banger man.

Not doing so well with the crowd? Here's an excuse to play 8 singalong choruses in a row. Now the crowd loves you.

But yeah, it definitely needs to be done well. It needs to be seamless and smooth.
Not easy, but absolutely doable with enough time invested.
Getting everyone 100% in sync for it will be abit of a hassle but, if executed well, its hella powerful.
 
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#62
JRA said:
i have tons of experience playing medleys and mashups. if done correctly = they just work! ;)
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Absolutely. In one of my early bands we lost a battle of the bands because one of the other bands had what they called "continuous music" which was nothing more that drums keeping going between songs. We learned from that and developed our own, what we called, medleys. They were in groups of 4...two fast songs, a slow song, and another fast song. We kept that same format when we started playing bars and we were very successful. It takes lots of rehearsal time and everybody keeping on their toes.
 
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#63
Akami said:
In all actuality this has always been my preference, though I group them together in my mind. Last beat of the first song is the first beat of the next, and never give the dancers a break except to slip into a slower song here and there.
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I am thinking that there is a musical interlude that bridges between the two songs.

But I suppose just starting the next song immediately could be considered a segue.
 
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#64
I love medleys and mashups. If done properly they can really be audience pleasers.

One rule of thumb is to try to stay in the same key. Here are a few I have done with a band years ago.

Dani Jane - Alternating verses with Tom Petty Mary Jane and Dani California.
Pump Bomb - Pump it up and Time Bomb
Sherona Tricky - My Sherona and Run DMC It's tricky
Bodies Caroline - Let the bodies hit the floor and a heavy version of Sweet Caroline
Fight Hands - Fight for your right and Keep your hands to yourself

After one show a local band manager told us we should go to Vegas and that people would love us there.
 
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#65
A long, long time ago, I saw a live band do a medley of about 5 songs, all in the same key and all in the same timing. Man! It was outstanding! (Some how, they even worked in an old Who song.)
 
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#67
We mess people up with our one medley. We're an alt-rock originals band and at the end of a set or sometimes a show we break into a totally danceable medley of Cher's "Do You Believe;" The Cure's "Just Like Heaven"; Dylan's "Knocking on Heaven's Door"; and "Closing Time" by Semisonic.

All have the same chord progression and we play them in the same key.

The dance floor gets full and they always beg for another song.
 
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#68
klokker said:
Our cover band is doing fine, playing out enough, making some money on weekends so we're doing OK. But one guy in the band has all these ideas for some big medley he wants to do somewhere during the evening. I dislike the idea, and the guy is a BSer so we'll probably never see one anyway.

But let's just say it actually happens. I can just see us wasting rehearsal time trying to make songs work together that don't, or god knows what. Key changes that are half baked etc. No way to really go through it at home unless it's recorded right etc. No way to really be on top of it. I guess in the end I'm open to it, if he really has it down and can show us how to do it well. But that's being overly optimistic at this point, from where I sit anyway.

Plus if I go to a show I don't like medley's anyway.

Anybody else have experience with this or help me have a more postive attitude about this? Learn the songs as they are first, then put them together etc.? Meh, I'm thumbs down, but I could be wrong.
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If they are done right, the transitions make sense, you can build a tremendous dynamic using medleys. There is something about introducing a succession of new and more exciting concepts without pause. It forces the audience to focus as to not miss anything. That said. It’s has to be more than slapping on a bandaide to hold 5 songs together to be effective.

These transitions or interludes can provide time for your front person to engage with the audience, cover for instrument or setting changes, even costume changes.

As an artist however , I much prefer individual songs mainly because I can stay focused for up to 30 minute on an engaging piece of music. Most people can’t.

I also don’t listen to music to be entertained per se, it’s more to appreciate the artistry, as well as being challenged as an artist.

JMO.
 
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#71
We used to do an Elvis medley...Jail House Rock, Blue Suede Shoes and Hound Dog.
Still pull this one on out on occasion. Seems to still go over well.
Recording from a practice....
 

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#72
A lot of medleys have shown up in gigs I've done through the years, they always seem to work great in my experience. The best ones are if you have a good bandleader who can read a room and calls audibles.
 
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#73
Medleys get called all the time if the singer sees the opportunity.
We've run Superstition into loads of songs...whereby mainly the vocals do other songs...but the general rhythm stays the same.
Staying alive and funky music work great but really its the extent of the singer's imagination and musical nous that gets the job done. the band just follow the call.
 
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#77
klokker said:
Our cover band is doing fine, playing out enough, making some money on weekends so we're doing OK. But one guy in the band has all these ideas for some big medley he wants to do somewhere during the evening. I dislike the idea, and the guy is a BSer so we'll probably never see one anyway.

But let's just say it actually happens. I can just see us wasting rehearsal time trying to make songs work together that don't, or god knows what. Key changes that are half baked etc. No way to really go through it at home unless it's recorded right etc. No way to really be on top of it. I guess in the end I'm open to it, if he really has it down and can show us how to do it well. But that's being overly optimistic at this point, from where I sit anyway.

Plus if I go to a show I don't like medley's anyway.

Anybody else have experience with this or help me have a more postive attitude about this? Learn the songs as they are first, then put them together etc.? Meh, I'm thumbs down, but I could be wrong.
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As with pretty much anything, there's good and bad. Some medleys or mashups just naturally work because the songs all follow the same or similar format. I've personally performed several of these types of medleys, a couple of them just on the fly (no previous prep). Mashups I've done:
Dark Side/R.O.C.K. in USA/What I Like
What I Like/R.O.C.K. in USA (different band)
Sweet Home AL/All Summer Long (DO NOT tell any of my bands this, but Werewolf of London also falls in this groove.)
Long Cool Woman/Suzie Q
Born On The Bayou/Suzie Q (different band)

Probably a few others that are not coming to mind as well. Grooves like theses are easy to follow, make sense and allow for a good long dance floor option. I think 2 or 3 of these a night works well.

But there are times when it gets a little out of hand. I was talking with a guy for a band I auditioned with. I passed on the gig, but offered future sub services if they needed. The guy was trying to sell me in and suggested that he was going to put a 8 or 9 song medley of Zeppelin songs together, because I had mentioned that I enjoy the more challenging stuff. I told him there's no way I'd put in the time to work that out as a sub, and wouldn't favor it as a band member. That's a lot of prep work for something that isn't portable.

So I guess in summary: if the mashup is easy and makes sense then, sure add a few; if it's overly convoluted, then no way.
 
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#79
klokker said:
Our cover band is doing fine, playing out enough, making some money on weekends so we're doing OK. But one guy in the band has all these ideas for some big medley he wants to do somewhere during the evening. I dislike the idea, and the guy is a BSer so we'll probably never see one anyway.

But let's just say it actually happens. I can just see us wasting rehearsal time trying to make songs work together that don't, or god knows what. Key changes that are half baked etc. No way to really go through it at home unless it's recorded right etc. No way to really be on top of it. I guess in the end I'm open to it, if he really has it down and can show us how to do it well. But that's being overly optimistic at this point, from where I sit anyway.

Plus if I go to a show I don't like medley's anyway.

Anybody else have experience with this or help me have a more postive attitude about this? Learn the songs as they are first, then put them together etc.? Meh, I'm thumbs down, but I could be wrong.
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We even did medley's back in high school in the 60's. There were a bunch of 3-chord wonder songs using the same chords over and over and it was simple to move between them. One of those old (OLDE') medleys in the mid-60's was Louie, Louie/Gloria/Farmer John (I'm in love with your daughter).

When I was touring in 1971 through 1973, we did a Moody Blues medley of Story In Your Eyes/Tuesday Afternoon/Nights in White Satin. I sang the first two and our female vocalist sang the last one. Story in your Eyes ends on Am and Tuesday Afternoon starts on Am. We played Nights in White Satin in D for our female vocalist instead of E and ended Tuesday Afternoon on D, so it was a smooth segue too. Folks always danced like crazy to the first two, did a slow dance to the last one, and drank a lot afterwards, which the club owners liked. If we did that medley though, we wouldn't play another slow song during that set and probably not the next. It's real easier to lose your dance crowd by playing too many slow songs per night. Have also played medleys of Santana songs.Two song medleys are easier to put together and work well too

Even if you can't really work out those transitions easily, it's usually not too hard to keep people dancing by doing two or sometimes 3 songs in a row from the same artist. And, you don't really have to worry about transitions there. Just be ready to go right into the next song and avoid the extended down times between songs.
 
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#80
I'm a huge fan of playing a medley. In my experience, a well executed medley will be a big crowd pleaser and will make your band really stand out and be memorable.

But the key is "well executed".

The medley has to be impeccable in every way. It needs to be coherent, well crafted, and thoughfully composed. But most of all, it needs to be practiced to perfection.

Since you won't be able to practice the medley at home, you'll need to dedicate lots of rehearsal time together as a band for it. And it will take up a lot of time!

Also, a medley isn't well suited to group input. What I mean is, one person will likely be the one doing all of the crafting and composing, especially the crucial transitions between the parts. That person really does need to be highly experienced, with a good ear for a things musical - things like key and tempo changes, dynamics, narratives and themes, etc..

That doesn't mean you can't have other band members offering suggestions, but as a rule, this won't be a collaborative endeavor.

With all of the above in mind, if your band can't commit to these criteria, you shouldn't be doing a medley.
 
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