Opinions on medleys

#82
DWBass said:
I'm still surprised at how difficult some of you guys think it is to do a medley/segue and how many think you need to be in the same key.
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There are a lot of players who don't care enough to approach music that way, which is fine as long as they sound good and people are happy.

Then there's those of us who like to play for the moment and follow/lead the energy in the room, blending from one song to the next and keeping the dance floor continuously full!

Doesn't have to be the same key, or beat, as long as the leader can rely on everyone to follow.
 
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#84
My 2 cover bands (pop and country) both do a lot of medleys, maybe a third of the catalog. Some are just 2 songs. Our longest (a six song Madonna medley) clocks in around 13 minutes. Obviously the transitions require attention to detail, but really no more than any other transitions within a song. I think they work quite well. On the one hand, they allow you to pick the best parts of longer songs that are too boring to do in full, which keeps us and the audience on our toes. Chorus verse chorus often gets the job done. The other thing they do is allow us to play longer without stopping, because when you stop, the dancers head for the bar, the bathroom, or the exit.
 
#85
Back in my cover band days, it was all about the uptempo dance medley. The "short snippets of each song" kind of thing is fine, but I've never done it in a cover band; what we always did was 2/3 length to full length tunes, typically three in a row, very similar tempos and beats. This way you keep the dancers on the floor moving for 10-12 minutes straight. The whole thing about dance bands is planning groups of tunes within sets; many of you are far more experienced in this than I am; but three uptempo dance tunes in a medley is your "uptempo" sub-set right there. Invariably the dancers start out, you're getting near the end of the tune, then you swing into the next and their eyes light up - "all RIGHT! We don't have to stop and look at our shoes while the band starts the next tune". Even the best rehearsed bands create a small dead time between tunes when the tunes are separated.

If I were doing a rock and roll cover band today, I'd definitely be suggesting more medleys, especially on the uptempo dance tunes.

Transitions between keys aren't a big deal; just go round the circle of fifths and there you are. Or you can even (the horror! the horror!) CHANGE THE KEY of a tune.
 
#86
Definitely for dance tracks.
Don't see the point otherwise.
I can see the odd slower track morphing into another on the fly..but I wouldn't be planning it or rehearsing that.
 
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