3 Hr. Gig!!! Or 1.5 X 2

[gfirob]

I agree with Silly Mustache, but one of the reasons is that without instrumentals I bottom out at about 2.5 hours and go back into rotation. But in my neck of the woods 2 hours is about the average length of a show. I play standing too, so three hours on your feet is a long time for this old dog.

[uriah1]

Of course older now so I tend to like a couple 50s and
balance out the last.

No more marathon until your fingers bleed.

But that is me...lol

[stephenT]

I'm assuming that's an opinion rather than a proclamation.

Some of us work as musicians. We take gigs to keep working, not to be insulted.

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

A three hour gig means you are a human juke box or more muzak.

[DenverSteve]

Songs are why you're hired and breaks are integral for customer interaction. There are many patrons who won't come up and talk to you, or ask about requests, while you're playing. Of course, there are some that will come up and speak/scream over you singing........... I don't play repeats without announcing that I'm playing the song again and it needs to be attached to a sizable tip. You also need to stretch, hydrate and talk to listeners who want to chat for a moment. Some people eat during a break.

[Twitch]

I agree with others that repeating a single song, let alone an entire set comes off as not so professional. Our duo will happily repeat a song upon special request of a new patron, but then use light banter to make it clear to the audience what we are doing.

Not only will we not repeat a song in a 3 or 4 hour gig, we'll try to switch up the set lists a bit for the next time if we are asked to come back to the same venue within a month or two.

[slewis]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

A three hour gig means you are a human juke box or more muzak.

Gee.. thanks!

[slewis]

Originally Posted by Goat Mick

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.

Good on ya! Just curious -- do you play break music if/when you do take a break?? I sure do, to keep the energy going as best I can. I handle that because venues rarely remember to do it -- they do have other things on their minds -- and even if they do remember, it's after a 5-minute period of silence. A real buzzkill... Anyway, I admire your commitment!

[JERZEY]

A tad off topic but my favorite 3 hour set was Hank W III. A 3 hour jam with no breaks or pauses. Every song ran into a Grateful dead style country/punk fusion jam that lead into the next song for 3 hours. Amazing show.

[BallisticSquid]

I agree that it's a good idea not to repeat songs and if you do, make sure the audience knows it's per request.

In my duo we did 3 sets in 3 hours, occasionally 4 hours. The 4 hour gigs were a stretch for us and I would extend some of my solos to help fill time. 4 hour gigs felt like a slog! In my full band, we did 4 hour gigs on a regular basis and yeah that was a slog too.

It takes time to build a repertoire of that size, but if you pick some easy-to-learn songs it's not too bad. Lots of 3 chord wonder crowd pleasers.

To Silly Mustache's comment regarding being a "juke box", it tend to agree. This combined with feeling like just part of a support act for the singer and keyboardist soured me on gigging and I gave it up. If it's your source of income, it's a different story, but I already have a full time job and didn't feel like having a part time one also .

[jseth]

Keep learning more songs to play that you enjoy/love/believe in... 3 hours is really not that much when you take a break every set...

My usual local gig here is a two hour thing at a coffeehouse; I usually play for around 50 minutes, break for 15-20 minutes and then play another set. Normally I only play 17-20 songs of the 300 or 400 that I have on my song list, and I frequently end the night realizing that I really wanted to play certain songs, but I didn't get around to them!

My only concern these days is whether my hands and fingers and voice will hang in there for the evening, whether 2 or 3 hours! I've been playing guitar for well over half a century, and the hands and fingers have been giving me some serious insubordination the past few years!

"Back in the day", I had a fair number of gigs that were 4+ hours! Now, THAT'S a stretch for a solo guitar/singer...

[frankmcr]

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?

Simply speaking as somebody who goes to coffee shops and farmers' markets, I find that idea completely acceptable.

[silvercn]

Thanks everyone.!! Consensus seems to be don't repeat in most cases. I'm good for 2 hours, and agree with some who feel 3 hrs is "work". I do use the lyric app Lyric Pad.. Love it and me being 68, having my set list scroll really helps. I'd have no problem with 2hours and will probably pass on the 3+hr gigs.

[Goat Mick]

Originally Posted by slewis

Good on ya! Just curious -- do you play break music if/when you do take a break?? I sure do, to keep the energy going as best I can. I handle that because venues rarely remember to do it -- they do have other things on their minds -- and even if they do remember, it's after a 5-minute period of silence. A real buzzkill... Anyway, I admire your commitment!

Hi Sean! I normally don't play break music because honestly it's just more equipment I have to remember to carry. Yeah I know I can play it from my phone but I have to have the cables and adapters to get it into my amp. I also rarely take more than 5 minutes. Just long enough to hit the restroom and grab a beer on the way back.

[tinnitus]

Some patrons will hang out in a place all evening. In that case I would shoot for 3 hours worth of material with a 15 minute break in the middle, or maybe a quick 5-10 minute drain/fill every hour. If you want to alienate the listeners who stay all evening, start repeating tunes.

[Laughingboy68]

I’ve only rarely played less than 4 hours. Usually I play 45-50 minutes with a 10 minute break. I’ll often play a little long for the first set.

As far as repertoire is concerned, I don’t like playing the same songs on successive nights, let alone playing the same set twice.

I’ve been doing this for a long, long time, so I have about 520 songs catalogued and literally thousands that I’ve played through the years. Material isn’t the problem for me.