Skol!! Andrew comes to see Underdog

I am decidedly not a singer. I am learning, a newly minted vocalist. I few years ago I was sitting at an open mic with two bandmates as we scoped out a bar for our band. We were listening to open micer and they started singing along, and I joined in. They stopped dead, turned to me and said "never open your mouth on stage, EVER". Last year I started taking lessons with my current bandmate, Stephanie. She is a marvelous talent, and an exceptional coach, teacher, and mentor. She has me taking center stage on songs. There is one song I would love to learn to sing. It's Mexico by The Dead Daisies. A killer song. I said elsewhere I have the lyrics committed to memory. I cannot find the emotional range to sing it well. I think of it as "acting" out the song. For the true singers on the list...... How do you reach that emotional connection with the lyrics to convey the intent of the song? Or am I just too needy?

What's a song you absolutely LOVE, but would NEVER play at a gig? Maybe it doesn't suit your voice, it's too obscure, goes on for nine minutes, has 14 chord changes before the first chorus, or you already know the audience would stare at you like you'd just started reading from the electricity bill. We all have songs we'd love to play if audiences weren't involved. What's yours, and why doesn't it make the setlist?

I remember listening to an interview with Brian May of Queen. He said the band had been doing ok at their concerts with big hits like Bohemian Rhapsody but things really changed up a gear when they released "Somebody to love". The crowd started singing it back to them. They realised how good that felt, and how the crowds´ energy level changed. So then came songs like We are the champions / we will rock you, Radio Ga ga etc. Great sing back songs. Last night I went to a Nik Kershaw concert, fantastic night. The crowd was loving it but then he played his big hit "I wont let the sun go down on me". The crowd sang it back to him and the atmosphere ramped up incredibly. It might sound obvious but it took Freddy Mercury a while to latch onto this! I will certainly be looking for some more songs for my rep where the crowd can sing it back to me. Some of Nik´s could well be in there. Have you guys got any great sing it back songs in your rep?

Anybody attempted a Band-oke night, where 'invited' punters can get up and sing live with the band off your established repertoire? We did it once in Auckland, really went off and we had some great singers come up. We tried it again a few months later and it fell flat.