Requests

Alright, so i just got back from a show I play in Mississauga, and for some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about this topic all night. Song request are pretty common in the presence of a DJ, a cover band, or someone running the jukebox. And yes, I said jukebox.

As a full time musician I do my best to cover all sorts of genres when I perform shows and play cover songs, HOWEVER, it doesn't mean that I know every single song by every artist in the world. I can't tell you how many times I've had the following conversation,

REQUESTER: "Do you know any Bony M? The Who? Bruce Springsteen?

ME: "I of know those artist yes"

REQUESTER: "GREAT, can you play one of their songs? I don't care what song from either of those guys, just something"

ME: "I'll do my best to cover that genre, but it's hard to know songs from every artist"

REQUESTER: "............."

ME: ".........It was nice to meet you, and I will play other artist from the same decade if that helps, ha ha ha"

REQUESTER: "...........well then"

*sigh* Ya, rough I know, but how can people have the assumption that whoever is playing/performing, they're going to know every song. This is definitely one of those fence topics where the argument can go either way, but seeing as to how it's an occurring thing for me, i'm leaning more towards to conclusion that, a song request is merely a suggestion as to what someone wants to hear. Believe me, i'm ok with that, but when i've had people request Lady GaGa, Rhianna, Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Macy Grey, Alanis Morissette, it becomes a challenge for me to figure what my audience wants to hear. Some people request anything just to see if i'll play it, or how I'd react, without realizing where they are and the atmosphere in the venue. More often than not, the song request I get when i'm performing are not fit to be played in a restaurant or a pub, even if they are songs that are great to play and rock out to.

As an encouragement to my fellow readers, if you are in a situation where you have the chance to request a song to a LIVE MUSICIAN, I urge you to understand where you are, the vibe that's in the venue, and it the song will fit. My entry in no way pertains to a DJ who is standing behind a laptop and turntables with a list of thousands of songs to choose from.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment your opinion into this entry.

Dan