How to handle this gig situation?

[GibbyPrague]

I would do a one / two song encore and then finish.

Part of a good gigging is knowing when to finish, ideally on a high.

[51 Relic]

Encores are what we play and gig for , it shows that we have connected with the audience and they like our playing and material. We are employed by the club / bar owner , I would check his or her policy regarding finishing times as well as breaks at the start of the evening , then stick to those times .
Remember a full house buying drinks and a happy owner results in repeat work period . A contract for any agent should outline these permitted times ie start finish and permitted breaks .

[Mr. Scott]

Originally Posted by Napman41

At the 3.5 hour mark thank the crowd, announce last call and introduce the last song. Use the last 30 minutes to wrap up the night and play what will then become a 30 minute encore. The crowd will go home satisfied and you'll go home on time.

That's what we do, the crowd is satisfied and we finish on time or there about.
Such a pity this forum doesn't have a "Like" or "I agree" button, it would have saved me all this typing!

[Twitch]

Originally Posted by HodgdonExtreme

I fully recognize that a 4 hour show must be pretty exhausting...

But it strikes me as odd that a musician would complain their audience wanted to hear an encore. Also strange they'd mention they'd already given 5 whole minutes of "free" show...

I'm NOT a musician, but having read a lot of threads and posts here on AGF by musicians, the feeling I've gotten is you play for free - the pay covers travel and setup time...

It strikes ME as odd that you fell the need to offer a judgmental opinion when you have no experience in the matter. Believe me the
day it gets to be unrewarding is the day I quit, but that doesn't mean that gigging isn't without its drawbacks.

Take one of your Saturdays and do this:

5:00 Meet your partner and schlep your PA, guitars, performancve stools, and misc equip to the car.
5:30 Drive to venue
6:00 Schlep all your equipment into the furthest corner of the restaurant. Set up and sound check
7:00 Start the gig

Play 50 min, take 15 minute break.
Play 50 min, take 15 minute break.
Play 50 min, take 15 minute break.
Play 50 min

Remember this isn't noodling around practice - you must play every note of every song. Over 50 of them.
Play all complete intros, solos and outros. And not just cowboy chords you're bringing your A game.

Oh, and for the entire 4 hours you play, you must sing. Loud and proud. With a smile.

And your 15 min breaks? Try to get a waitress or bartenders attention for a drink while patrons pull you away
to engage in friendly banter. Try to get to the rest room. Get back to your stage 5 min early so you
can do a precision tune.

11:00 Gig is finished. You made it! You're exhausted but it was great!

...But wait ... play/sing more ... because there are 3 people at a table politely requesting it.

11:15 Collect meager pay, begin packing up / loading out.
11:30 Drive home
12:30 Arrive home. Schlep all equipment back into the house.

It may sound like I'm complaining and maybe I am just a little, but you should experience it yourself before judging me for wanting
to finish on time.

Now after all that being said I want to say that doing this is incredibly rewarding and the experience by far outweighs all of the drawbacks
listed above. I recognize that I'm extremely lucky to have found a compatible and capable partner. We will continue to do it for as long as
someone will have us.

[Toby Walker]

It makes absolutely no difference how long you played, or if you consider that 'encore' to be 'free.' If the audience loves you, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing an encore.

When the audience loves you, the club owner will too. Think about that if you want to be hired again, or if you want that same audience to attend another gig at a different venue.

[Athens]

Originally Posted by troystory92

............American Pie usually never warrants an encore. People appreciate the complete cover and know I am done after that, lol............

Wow. They push for an encore and you throw an 8 minute cover at them? That'll teach them!

Seriously though, I like that you start warning them several songs ahead, but having one more good one up your sleeve is a good idea too.

[MikeBmusic]

What many others ^^^ have said:
A few songs before the 'final' song, do the announcing.
Then 'we've got time for one last song' - but do this when you still have ~10 minutes left on the clock.
If you get calls for 'one more', you've got time to do it and still end on time. If you don't get the 'one more' call, you start packing up 5 minutes early (I've never seen a club manager who would call out a band for finishing a few minutes early).
Plan your set list accordingly - have that one last 'closer' song in reserve.
Back in the 80s, we used to do a song by Boston band The Fools called 'That's It Go Home!'

[S-10Ken]

Elvis has left the building

[Twitch]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

What many others ^^^ have said:
A few songs before the 'final' song, do the announcing.
Then 'we've got time for one last song' - but do this when you still have ~10 minutes left on the clock.'

We have always done this. For every set and especially the last one. We usually give a 3 song and then a 'one last song' notice. On the night in question it made no difference to the patrons wanting more.

I think we're going to learn Semisonic's 'Closing Time' for the future final song

[HodgdonExtreme]

Originally Posted by ManyMartinMan

Does your doctor work for free? How about your lawyer? Plumber, accountant, kid's violin teacher. How about your orthodontist, does she do your or your kid's braces for nothing? I don't work for free either. Not 40 years ago. Not now. Let us know what you do for a living. Maybe we'll get some free advice, work, review.

If the owner wants a professional musician and wants to pay for 2,3 or four hours, that's what he/she gets. If they come over and say "I'll give you another $100 for an extra (unscheduled) half-hour, then maybe I can stay. Next time, please your patrons and pay me longer.

Every union has overtime, meal and delay penalties. Ours is no different. People playing for free is one reason so many musicians have trouble paying the mortgage.

I'm an engineer. I have worked for free many times throughout my career, usually when some kind of crisis appears and everyone is scrambling to get the operation back up and running. If management abuses my largess by repeatedly working me like a rented mule, I say something or look for a different job. Currently, I'm expected to work ~50 hours a week for my salary. I can't imagine considering a complaint after 50 hours and 5 minutes. I understand practice, travel, setup, performing, teardown and more travel makes for an excruciating day. I've also had exhausting 15+ hour days. It's called "a job".

You mention unions. Frankly, I don't see the correlation. I suspect most artists (to include musicians) go into their field understanding it is an atypical and very difficult career to make lucrative. Sure, some people hit the bigtime, but most are not in it for the money - they're in it for the love of their art and pleasing/inspiring people with it.

Not to say these artists don't absolutely deserve to be paid for their work! My fundamental point is (and was - if you reread my initial post) it strikes me odd that an artist would complain that patrons want more of it.

Last, I thought I expressed myself clearly about the "play for free" comment I made, but apparently not.

I'm in no way suggesting artists should "play for free". Rather, based on many threads and posts right here on AGF - I've clearly read many artists consider the pay they receive for a gig as payback for the hassle of traveling and setting up, not the actual act of performing - because they love doing that part of the job so much.

[HodgdonExtreme]

Originally Posted by Twitch

It may sound like I'm complaining and maybe I am just a little, but you should experience it yourself before judging me for wanting
to finish on time.

Now after all that being said I want to say that doing this is incredibly rewarding and the experience by far outweighs all of the drawbacks
listed above. I recognize that I'm extremely lucky to have found a compatible and capable partner. We will continue to do it for as long as
someone will have us.

My career has long and hard days too, so I feel ya! And, I think people are entitled to vent after one of those long, hard days.

Your second comment is much, much more inline with how I thought artists viewed their career! I wish you much more success! Good Luck! Do you have any content online I can check out?

[ManyMartinMan]

Thanks for your reasonable and articulate response. The correlation of the unions is that they don't allow us to play for free. This helps keep paid musicians working.

[cattzap]

In my old DJ days, I did one that went all night or morning. I always said something like 50 an hour till midnight then 100 for each extra hour. The crowd passed a hat twice for the first two hours and got the 100 each time. After that the crowd just started tossing $$$. I didn't care if I just got $20, I was staying. I stopped counting and found a paper towel box and just dumped it in there. I went till 6 am and counted about $2600 at home in the box. I was tired and I'm sure there were folks waking up the next after noon broke and no memory of where their cash went and a very bad headache. One of those stories you don't forget. Glad those days are over.

[Sonics]

Why not make the fourth song from the end of your set your last song, and the remaining three songs your first, second...and third encores?




ALWAYS leave the public wanting more...

[Christian Reno]

You asked “what would you do?” There is no right or wrong answer to this question regardless of what it relates to, despite the authority implied in some responses.

What I would do is play one more even if I have to repeat a song from earlier in the night. It keeps me on a friendly level with the patrons who stuck it out to the end, unless it is a bar and the people left there after 4 hours are simply trying to get you to entertain them until they fall off their bar stools. That is a different story – for me anyway.

In ’71 I was with a band that a particular outlaw biker club really liked. They hired us to play a make-up party with another biker club. This party was aimed at resolving bad-blood due to a shooting a couple of months earlier. We didn’t know (until it was too late) what our agent had gotten us into and they paid in advance to boot, so we had to play it. After 4 hours of watching various forms of violence from the stage (I admit I was terrified) , we announced the last song and the bikers decided we were not even close to being done for the night.

We played a long time that night and I was happy to leave unscathed. I have never considered any aspect of any gig I have had since that night to be an imposition.