3 Hr. Gig!!! Or 1.5 X 2

[silvercn]

Hey: so various venues request a 3 hr set!! Like a coffee shop, restaurant/ bar, an open air farmer's market... Really. I might listen to some well known musicians for 3 hrs, but myself ( solo acoustic singer / songwriter act). That's a lot of songs to know well, even with set breaks. And in most situations, the crowd turnover will be more frequent than 3 hrs. So do any of you ever opt for a good 1.5 hr set list, then break and repeat?

[Nymuso]

I initially thought you meant three hours straight without a break. As for repeating songs when there is crowd turnover, why not?

[rokdog49]

I agree. Given the turnover, our duet did some repeats at a coffee shop gig recently and we have plenty of material for three hours.
Have you ever considered using an iPad or some other tablet with a program like “On Song”?
Makes life a lot easier.

[Methos1979]

There's always people that will be there the whole time - event staff and whatnot. So repeating songs is not a great idea unless it's something requested a second time by a new patron. Playing a second 1.5 hours with the exact same songs would likely be an indicator of lack of preparation to the people doing the hiring unless you cleared it in advance. If you're doing covers there is no end of great songs out there to fill a three or four hour gig.

Early on in our duo it was hard at first because there was just the two of us with just me on guitar and two vocals. Without a second instrument that allows the trading off of soloing you end up play 3-4 minute songs and you need a lot of them to fill a 3-hour show. I was always so jealous of groups that had several instrumentalists that could turn a 3 minute cover into a 7 minute jam. That really helps. But I don't have the talent to play leads or work with a looper - yet.

So we just take our time and employ humorous banter between songs and we make 45 songs last three hours easily. Even with that though we quickly tired of three-hour gigs. Two hours is fun, three hours is work. And since we do it for fun we just recently made the decision to only play two-hour gigs. Our thought is that generally speaking we don't like the play the types of places that require three-hours of music anyway like bars and pubs. We much prefer venues like brunches, art shows, farmer's markets and assisted living facilities.

There were a few places we play that were three-hour gigs that we were going to miss and so far the few we have contacted to say that we're only playing two-hour shows have gladly continued to have us back at a pro-rated (reduced) fee. Most places we play pay $150 for three hours so we charge $100 or $50 a set which has always been our 'sticker price' anyway.

[Goat Mick]

The majority of my gigs are 3 hours and several are 4 hours. Sometimes I'll take a break, but often I won't. I also won't repeat songs, while the crowd may be turning over, the person who hired you will be there all night and will know that you repeated songs. I just don't think it's a very professional thing to do.

[MikeBmusic]

The majority of gigs around here are 3 hours or more. The 'art shows' are few, and don't pay well (if anything). Farmers markets are 3 or 4 hours.
I never repeat a song unless its requested. Definitely going to start using my looper occasionally to 'extend' some songs.

[Skarsaune]

As with some others above, 3 hour gigs are normal for me. And I don’t repeat songs, because vendors, staff, etc will be there the whole time. I do use a tablet for setlists and chord charts.

[lodi_55]

I don't. I'd be nervous about a)what the management thinks about hearing songs repeated and b) there are typically at least a few people who at my gigs from beginning to end. I want to make sure they don't hear repeats.

[stephenT]

Quite often we'll do a two hour set to keep folks in the room, take a short break and finish up.

But we never repeat a song unless it's requested w/ a tip attached.

[roylor4]

IMO, you should always go into a gig with more material than needed to fill the time space.

We play about an equal amount of 2 and 3 hour gigs. For 2 hour gigs - we play an hour and take a 10-15 minute break and then return. For 3 hour gigs we take 2 breaks. We have never played a gig of 2 hours or more where the venue didn't expect us to take a break.

If you only have 1.5-2 hours of material, you should mention that you may have to repeat a few songs before accepting the gig to those that hire you. If that doesn't work for them, try to negotiate a lower price for 2 hours.

[slewis]

Originally Posted by silvercn

Hey: so various venues request a 3 hr set!! Like a coffee shop, restaurant/ bar, an open air farmer's market... Really. I might listen to some well known musicians for 3 hrs, but myself ( solo acoustic singer / songwriter act). That's a lot of songs to know well, even with set breaks. And in most situations, the crowd turnover will be more frequent than 3 hrs. So do any of you ever opt for a good 1.5 hr set list, then break and repeat?

Never. Knowing three hours or more of music, as long as I've ever been playing, is pretty much the standard -- as is the three-hour gig length. I can't imagine what a venue staff would be saying, hearing the same 1.5-hour set twice...

[slewis]

Originally Posted by Goat Mick

The majority of my gigs are 3 hours and several are 4 hours. Sometimes I'll take a break, but often I won't. I also won't repeat songs, while the crowd may be turning over, the person who hired you will be there all night and will know that you repeated songs. I just don't think it's a very professional thing to do.

Agreed.... but take a break or two, man!

[Silly Moustache]

A three hour gig means you are a human juke box or more likely muzak.
A while ago a good find f mine who lives in a nearby town that has even more cafes, pubs and restaurants then mine, had to go work elsewhere for six months and I took over a couple of his restaurant gigs.
People don't go to a restaurant for your singing and lyrics, they go to eat and chat with each other.

I found that the best way to spread myself out was to take a National and noodle gentle slide stuff for five (plus) minutes every 2 or 3 songs.

Then maybe I'd add some nice instrumental riffs on my 12 string.
Then, when I started a song, they'd listen to it, sometimes up to 3 minutes ... but no longer.

Trouble is, it felt like "work"! Personally I'd rather to 2 x 40s -or 45s in a listening club, for half the fee, although nowadays, I find that more are going for 1 x 50 minute spot for the "star".

[Goat Mick]

Originally Posted by slewis

Agreed.... but take a break or two, man!

LOL I know...I know!! However what I've seen is if I have a gig with not a lot of new people floating in later, the ones that were there at the beginning will leave during the break. If I don't take a break I tend to hold them the entire night.

[PorkPieGuy]

If you are getting paid, then don't repeat songs.


If this is a freebie/"Play for Exposure" situation, I'd be all for you just playing "American Pie" over and over again.


Back when I'd play for tips, I'd have about 1 hour's worth of songs, but it was all instrumental music. I'd play the same sets over and over because when you are playing instrumental songs in a busy setting, the staff/employees/etc. won't be paying attention and turnover will be so fast no one will care. If you are singing, I'm not really sure what to say.