The Music

What songs does the Ricky Bobby Band play?

Seventy of them, grouped by what they are rather than by which set they land in, because the set order changes with the room and the genre does not. Every song is listed with the artist who recorded it first.

Six decades in one night. Van Morrison, Otis Redding and the Rolling Stones. Stevie Wonder, Prince and the Commodores. The Cure, Depeche Mode, INXS, Billy Idol and Judas Priest. Nirvana, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots. U2, Pink Floyd, Metallica, Def Leppard, ZZ Top. Garth Brooks, Chris Stapleton, Jimmy Buffett. All of it in the original key, at the original tempo.

Classic Rock Motown & Soul Funk ’80s New Wave ’90s Alternative Grunge Hard Rock & Metal Texas Blues Rock Texas Country Reggae Rock Arena Anthems

Classic Rock 12 songs

  • Brown Eyed Girl Van Morrison
  • Comfortably Numb Pink Floyd
  • Don’t Stop Believin’ Journey
  • Honky Tonk Women The Rolling Stones
  • Livin’ on a Prayer Bon Jovi
  • Margaritaville Jimmy Buffett
  • Sweet Caroline Neil Diamond
  • The Joker Steve Miller Band
  • Tush ZZ Top
  • Walk This Way Aerosmith
  • Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd
  • You Got Lucky Tom Petty

’80s New Wave & Pop 16 songs

  • Blister in the Sun Violent Femmes
  • Don’t You (Forget About Me) Simple Minds
  • Drive The Cars
  • Drive Incubus
  • Enjoy the Silence Depeche Mode
  • Everybody Wants to Rule the World Tears For Fears
  • I Melt with You Modern English
  • I’m an Adult Now The Pursuit of Happiness
  • Jessie’s Girl Rick Springfield
  • Just Like Heaven The Cure
  • Lovesong The Cure
  • New Sensation INXS
  • Ordinary World Duran Duran
  • Summer of ’69 Bryan Adams
  • What I Like About You The Romantics
  • White Wedding Billy Idol

’90s Alternative & Grunge 17 songs

  • Babylon David Gray
  • Banditos The Refreshments
  • Bittersweet Big Head Todd
  • Black Pearl Jam
  • Creep Radiohead
  • Far Behind Candlebox
  • Fell on Black Days Soundgarden
  • High and Dry Radiohead
  • I Alone Live
  • Learn to Fly Foo Fighters
  • Man in the Box Alice In Chains
  • Plush Stone Temple Pilots
  • Smells Like Teen Spirit Nirvana
  • Song 2 Blur
  • Vasoline Stone Temple Pilots
  • Wild Flower The Cult
  • You Oughta Know Alanis Morissette

Arena Anthems 5 songs

  • Mr. Brightside The Killers
  • Pride (In the Name of Love) U2
  • Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For U2
  • Where the Streets Have No Name U2
  • With or Without You U2

Hard Rock & Metal 6 songs

  • Cult of Personality Living Colour
  • Enter Sandman Metallica
  • Fall to Pieces Velvet Revolver
  • Like a Stone Audioslave
  • Pour Some Sugar on Me Def Leppard
  • You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ Judas Priest

Motown, Soul & Funk 7 songs

  • Brick House The Commodores
  • Hard to Handle Otis Redding
  • Higher Ground Stevie Wonder
  • Play That Funky Music Wild Cherry
  • Superstition Stevie Wonder
  • U Got the Look Prince
  • When Doves Cry Prince

Country 2 songs

  • Friends in Low Places Garth Brooks
  • Tennessee Whiskey Chris Stapleton

Reggae Rock 2 songs

  • Santeria Sublime
  • What I Got Sublime

Modern Pop 3 songs

  • FourFiveSeconds Rihanna, Kanye West & Paul McCartney
  • Let’s Get It Started The Black Eyed Peas
  • Say Something Justin Timberlake & Chris Stapleton

How is the setlist ordered on the night?

By tempo, deliberately, and not in the order above. The list here is grouped by genre so you can see the range in one look. On the night the songs are sequenced by BPM: each set climbs, drops back a little, climbs again and finishes on its strongest song, so the room builds instead of running flat. Two country songs never land back to back. The last set has no slow songs in it at all.

Can we request songs that are not on this list?

Yes. Tell us ahead of the date and we work your favorites into the night. The full catalog runs well past this printed list, and we keep a cocktail and dinner bench for the earlier, quieter part of an event. If you need an acoustic set for a cocktail hour, we do that too, with Sonny on percussion instead of the full kit.

Curious how this compares to what everyone else in town plays? We counted thirteen Austin band song lists and published the whole overlap in the songs Austin cover bands play most. Which parts of an event we cover, and how requests are handled, are under event services.

Three sets. Zero dead air.

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