The best gigging songs can appeal to players for many reasons. Are they fun to play? Do they go down well with a crowd? Here are 5 of my favourites.
Great Songs to Play Live:Tainted Love – Imelda May Heartbreaker – Pat Benetar You Give Love A Bad Name – Bon Jovi Mr. Blue Sky – Electric Light Orchestra Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! – ABBA
All About The Best Gigging Songs:
The best gigging songs could be on an endless list. What some people love, others hate, even within the same band.
This list of the best gigging songs is based on my 8-year experience playing in various bands and duos.
Crowd pleasers always work, but sometimes all you need is a tight band to work with, and you’ll have some of the best fun you can ever have on stage.
Tainted Love – Imelda May
The first pick of my best gigging songs comes from 2010. Covered by many, notably Soft Cell, this Rockabilly rendition has to be one of the most high-octane versions out there.
For most, Soft Cell’s 1981 success with Tainted Love is the only version they’re happy with. However, with Imelda May on vocals and ex-husband Darrel Higham on guitar, the rockabilly makeover is awesome.
What makes this so much fun to play live then? Well, upping the tempo to 174bpm, and upping the key to A, rather than G, injects a whole new energy to the song. Moreover, there is a perfect opportunity for the audience to join in: ‘… sometimes I feel I’ve got to…’ *clap clap*. Works every time. There’s also a pretty cool solo that sounds great on a *Gretsch, along with a generous dose of *reverb and slap-back delay.
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Heartbreaker – Pat Benetar
Next up, we’re heading to the late 1970s. The first time I ever heard this song was when The Classic Rock Show played it as the second song of their set. As a first listen, I thought that it was one of the gigging songs I’d ever heard.
Pat Benetar really is one of the ultimate Queens of rock. In the key of Fm and littered with chunky power chords, Heartbreaker is as mean as they come. Furthermore, there’s a tricky syncopated breakdown before an accapella bridge. Getting these sections locked in with a band is so incredibly satisfying.
Just when you think the song can’t peak anymore, there’s a huge guitar solo at the end of the track. It’s all Fm pentatonic stuff, so it gives players an excuse to stretch their legs a little. It’s not necessarily that well known to most audiences, but done well, it’s respected.
You Give Love A Bad Name – Bon Jovi
From a track that isn’t that well known to one that’s played on repeat at every air guitar and karaoke bar ever, Bon Jovi’s You Give Love A Bad Name absolutely has to be up there as one of the best gigging songs ever. Big chorus, big hair, and lots of gain. It has it all.
What I like most about YGLADN is that for a band, it’s pretty easy to put together. It’s got a great, memorable classic rock structure with your usual suspects like a big guitar intro, verse, chorus, solo and a bridge. Most bands would be able to pull this off well. Oh, and you barely need a singer when playing this one; a faithful audience will gladly scream the choruses.
Richie Sambora has written some big guitar parts over the years, and luckily for most players, the main riff and verse parts are at an intermediate level. However, once the solo kicks in, it takes off from here. Any flavour of super strat will do to help play it, but my recent preference has been the *Harley Benton MAX Fusion Signature. With tall stainless frets and a Floyd Rose, it’s now my go-to guitar for any glam rock tracks.
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Mr Bluesky – Electric Light Orchestra
Moving on from the classic rock theme now, as every now and then in your set, you need to mix it up a little. As far as the best gigging songs go, this is quite a wild card, as not many bands cover it. Dependent on a willing vocalist and a keen keyboard player, this is a real winner!
Whilst Don’t Bring Me Down and Telephone Line achieved greater chart success, Mr. Blue Sky holds a place in the hearts of many. Furthermore, this is one of those rare songs where most people sing along to the verses more than the choruses. Notably, the lyric, ‘hey you with the pretty face, welcome to the human race’. Overall, it’s such a feel-good track that any busy pub will welcome with open arms.
As for guitarists, there’s a tidy little solo in the key of F major just after the first chorus. Ideal for dialling in the Woman Tone, whereby you roll off the tone knob on your neck pickup. This achieves that warm and woolly sound of the record.
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! – ABBA
For my final choice in what I believe to be some of the best gigging songs, we’re staying in the 1970s. Despite it being a pretty awkward decade socially, it didn’t fail to provide some great music! One of ABBA’s finest is coming up.
Now, I haven’t actually played this song with a band. I once played it at a New Year’s Eve party as part of a duo. Our backing track had the vocals removed for the singer, and the guitar track removed for me. I honestly believe that the reception we got for playing this song was down to the overall jovial vibes of the New Year celebrations, along with the success of the Mamma Mia films with Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep…
What I love most about ABBA’s Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! is the near 58-second instrumental in the middle of the track. As a guitarist, this calls for a fat guitar solo! Being in the key of Dm, this allowed me to cheekily chuck in the main riff from Eric Clapton’s Layla. The audience didn’t know what was happening, but they enjoyed it all the same. Why not give it a try?
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