Gigs- 2 or 3 hours? Less? More?

[ggibson189]

When you get yourself booked for bar gigs (as opposed to formal events), in general, do you dictate the hours you play or does the venue? I reliaze this would vary from place to place.

Also, in general, how long are your gigs and break(s)?

[JonPR]

A bit of both.

Here in the UK, the usual thing in pubs is to start around 9.00 (sometimes earlier) and finish around 11 or 11.30 - depending on closing time. That usually means two sets, with a break of 20-30 mins. So the sets could be anything from 45 mins each to over an hour. In my experience it's rare to play for as long as 3 hours at a pub or bar gig. Two hours max, although encores can extend it (if the venue allows it).

Some bands have fixed set lengths, and will refuse to play for longer. Some venues demand you start or end (or both) at a specific time. (Often there are noise issues with pubs close to housing, and 11.00 is the common cut-off time - you are absolutely banned from playing beyond 11, because the pub could lose its licence. So 10:30 is commonly a finishing time at those places, to allow for encores and over-runs, and start time would probably then be 8:30.)

[Silly Moustache]

I did do pub gigs for a while and found that it was generally from about 8.30-9.00 as said, and most landlords erally wanted folks out by 11.00 but there was always the drunks that started screaming for "Dja do any Johnny Cash?" or
" play that song that goes " la, la hic, burp, lala!"

I was out of work quite a lot from 1993-1996, and did them for the money.

Boy, I was glad to give it up!

[jseth]

Most of my gigs over the past 50 years have had the time frame dictated by the venue...

In the past 20 years, gigs have largely been 2 or 3 hours, but I've played far too many nights that were 4 hour gigs, most of which were grueling... even a couple of 5 hour jobs, but not more than a couple!

2 1/2 or 3 hours is my preferred time frame... 2 hours is barely enough to get warmed up and "in the saddle"! Of course, I generally play a mixture of my own stuff and songs by other artists whom I truly love; if I'm playing an "Original Only" job, 2 hours is plenty...

[jricc]

Most of my gigs have times dictated by the venue. Currently doing mostly 3 hr gigs.

I hear you jseth, prior to covid, I was playing this one place 4 times a week, 4hrs a night for 3 of those, and the 4th night was for 5 hours....exhausting.

[Nymuso]

We ask the venue what they prefer. Usually it’s two or three sets. Theoretically we play 45 and sit 15, but we tend to play an hour first set then apportion the break times so that we end on the agreed upon hour, not 15 minutes short.

[leew3]

In my experience the venue has a time slot set for the gig. Ours vary between 2-3 hours. Back in the day I played 4 set bar gigs starting at 10 pm. Not any more!

For private parties we usually let the person hiring us choose a length and time slot but give them some diplomatic suggestions provided that they're open to our advice.

[Brent Hahn]

Playing solo, doing originals, I try to keep it to an hour or less. I tend not to talk much or at all* and my songs are short, so I can cram 15 songs into that.

With my band, doing mostly originals, we can do up to 3 45-minute sets but most shows are shorter.

Playing-wise I can go all night, but standing-up-wise I'd rather not. Having screwed up my back at an early age I felt the same way when I was 22. But doing covers in bars for a living, you do what you have to.

* I have a song in the works now called "Shut Up and Sing." My take on the whole Folk-Americana thing of a set consisting of 25% songs and 75% explaining. If I ever ever play it live, which is doubtful, I'm sure it will be unanimously despised by my LA singer-songwriter community. It won't need any explaining.

[Mr. Jelly]

I always ask them for what they want or are looking for. What they don't say in their answer is up to me. I give them what they ask for in the initial conversation as it is a negotiation.

[IraDuncan]

Originally Posted by ggibson189

When you get yourself booked for bar gigs (as opposed to formal events), in general, do you dictate the hours you play or does the venue? I reliaze this would vary from place to place.

Also, in general, how long are your gigs and break(s)?

In my 20s I'd typically play straight through for 2 hours.

Yesterday, I played my first show since 2008 and did an hour block, and took a 10 minute break to talk with friends.

I went back to playing and finished out another 50 minutes.

I'm 43 now and I imagine I will offer 2 hour sets to the venues I want to try to play this year for X amount of dollars. If I'm requested to play 3-4 hours as I have been in the past for something like a Christmas party, breaks will probably happen for 5-10 minutes on the hour.

[fazool]

we usually do 3 hour gigs made up of two sets with a break in between


the venue always stipulates the time