Which acoustic covers suit a bar or restaurant gig?
The ones that match what the room is doing. At a dinner booking nobody dances, so the question for each song is how much attention it asks for. The 31 titles below run from songs that sit under conversation, through songs for a room that has turned to listen, to strummers, pop and rock songs that survive being stripped down, and closers. Two are in Tagalog, for acts playing to Filipino rooms. Where a song leans on harmony, the note says so, because that decides whether a solo act should carry it.
The notes under "Where it fits" are our suggestions for where a song can sit in a set. They are not facts about the song, and the list is not a ranking or a measure of popularity. Titles, artists and years were checked against MusicBrainz or Wikipedia when this page was written. We list no keys or tempos, because bands change both.
Background, while people eat
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Better Together | Jack Johnson | 2005 | Soft opener for a dinner room |
| Put Your Records On | Corinne Bailey Rae | 2006 | Light and bright, early on |
| Fast Car | Tracy Chapman | 1988 | Quiet picking under conversation |
| Ain't No Sunshine | Bill Withers | 1971 | Short; fine for one voice |
| Harvest Moon | Neil Young | 1992 | Slow sway for a late table |
| Fire and Rain | James Taylor | 1970 | Stays under the talk |
When the room starts to listen
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landslide | Fleetwood Mac | 1975 | For a room that has gone quiet |
| The Sound of Silence | Simon & Garfunkel | 1964 | Wants a second voice |
| Blackbird | The Beatles | 1968 | Guitar showcase; keep it short |
| Tears in Heaven | Eric Clapton | 1992 | Tender; not for a loud table |
| Anak | Freddie Aguilar | 1978 | Tagalog ballad for a Filipino room |
| Jolene | Dolly Parton | 1973 | Lifts the pace without more volume |
Upbeat strummers
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riptide | Vance Joy | 2013 | Bright start to set two |
| I'm Yours | Jason Mraz | 2008 | Easy lift after a quiet run |
| Wonderwall | Oasis | 1995 | Expect the room to join in |
| Ho Hey | The Lumineers | 2012 | Stronger with a second voice |
| Faith | George Michael | 1987 | Percussive strum; gets feet tapping |
| Harana | Parokya ni Edgar | 1997 | Tagalog pick for a Filipino crowd |
| Three Little Birds | Bob Marley and the Wailers | 1977 | Relaxed groove for a terrace |
| Free Fallin' | Tom Petty | 1989 | Simple strum; works for one voice |
Full-band songs that work stripped down
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billie Jean | Michael Jackson | 1982 | Slowed right down as a surprise |
| Crazy | Gnarls Barkley | 2006 | Mid-set change of colour |
| Use Somebody | Kings of Leon | 2008 | Builds well with two voices |
| Toxic | Britney Spears | 2003 | Unexpected cover that gets a smile |
| Hey Ya! | Outkast | 2003 | Slowed down, late in set two |
| Rolling in the Deep | Adele | 2010 | Strong voice and a foot stomp |
Closers
| Song | Artist | Year | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stand by Me | Ben E. King | 1961 | Warm last song for mixed ages |
| Let Her Go | Passenger | 2012 | Quiet ending for a listening room |
| Wild World | Cat Stevens | 1970 | Gentle goodbye; easy to join |
| Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) | Green Day | 1997 | Short final song or encore |
| The Weight | The Band | 1968 | Trade verses if you have two voices |
Start a setlist with these 31 songs
Opens StageFloww with the titles typed in. Free plan, no card. Search can miss a song, and you can add it by hand.
What does a two-set dinner booking look like?
The first set sits under the meal. The second starts brighter and gets louder in steps, because by then the plates are gone and people have turned their chairs.
This running order is one suggestion built from the list above. Change it to suit your band and the room.
First set, during the meal
- Better Together
- Put Your Records On
- Fire and Rain
- Fast Car
- Ain't No Sunshine
- Harvest Moon
- Jolene
- Blackbird
- Three Little Birds
- Landslide
Second set, after the plates are cleared
- Riptide
- I'm Yours
- Crazy
- The Sound of Silence
- Faith
- Billie Jean
- Ho Hey
- Use Somebody
- Wonderwall
- Hey Ya!
- Stand by Me
How do you tell how closely a room is listening?
Watch the tables, not the applause. People who are facing each other with cutlery in their hands want background, however politely they clap. When chairs turn, phones come out to film and conversations stop at the start of a song, the room has moved to listening, and you can play something that needs quiet.
It also moves back. A large party sitting down in the middle of set two returns you to background for ten minutes. Keep the groups in your head as places you can step between, and treat the running order as a starting point. If you are unsure, play a strummer: it works at either level of attention.
Which songs should a solo act leave to a duo?
Four titles in the list lean on a second voice: The Sound of Silence, Ho Hey, Use Somebody and The Weight. A solo act can still play them, but try each one at home first and be honest about whether the chorus holds up alone. If it does not, pick another song from the same table.
For a duo, decide who sings lead on each song and write it down, so nobody starts the wrong verse. A second guitar playing the same chords adds volume and little else. A shaker, a cajon or a harmony line adds more.
With the full-band songs, do not try to play every part. Keep the one rhythm or riff that people recognise, drop the solo, shorten the song and move it to a key that suits your voice.
What does StageFloww do for an acoustic set, and what does it not do?
StageFloww, the setlist and stage-lyrics app, shows the order and the lyrics on a phone or tablet on your stand. The setlist builder has a notes field on each song, which is where "second voice" or "skip if the room is loud" belongs, and it adds up the minutes of each set. The Free plan allows 40 songs per setlist, so this whole list fits with room for spares.
You add songs through song search. Search needs a connection and sometimes fails to find a song, so build the set at home and check it before you leave.
StageFloww does not rank songs and does not judge a room for you. It has no sheet-music viewer and it cannot import a song list from a file. For the lengths of two sets and a break, try the set length calculator. The page for acoustic duos explains how two people share the same order.