Length of Sets at Gigs

[Paul in Colorado]

I usually play for two hours straight, but that's just because I love to play and forget to take a break. The standard is 45 on, 15 off per set. But everything is negotiable.

I'm booked tomorrow to play 1:45. We'll probably take a break in the middle somewhere.

[mohair_chair]

If you take a break at a festival gig, the audience will assume you are done. And you might as well be, because the audience is either 1) not going to sit around waiting for you to come back, or 2) they are going to be pissed that you disappeared for 15-20 minutes and left them hanging.

If you can't do 2 hours straight, then don't take the gig.

[Big John Studd]

One more data point for ya'...

We've got an outdoor beer garden tiki bar kind of a gig tonight from 7pm to 10pm (hard cut-off at 10 due to ongoing noise complaints with this concert series). We'll do two sets with a 15 minute break. Pay is $80 per man.

[HC]

Have you ever been to a festival where a band has taken a 20 minute break in their set? Probably not. I think the organizers are right to expect you to play two hours straight.

[OlRedNeckHippy]

Wow. Nice responses. Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by HC

Have you ever been to a festival where a band has taken a 20 minute break in their set? Probably not. I think the organizers are right to expect you to play two hours straight.

Yea, thats kind of what I was thinking....
It's a small town festival, couple hundred people. We open for another band. 5 to 7pm, a sat in late september.
It's been 15 years since I've played for that many people.

[ce24]

Originally Posted by OlRedNeckHippy

We have a festival gig coming up in September and the organizers have asked us to play for 2 hours.

They were expecting us to play for 2 hours straight.

I refered back to my Union days of the late 70's - 40 on & 20 off.

I'm curious as to how long do most bands play for without a break these days.

They want/expect 2 hrs....play 2 hrs. Bar gig totally different......we liked to play so we would only take 2 15 min breaks for a 9-1 bar gig. gotta play while you can cause someday it will end ......



cheers ce24

[bossking7]

I saw Elton John and he played 3 hours and no break! I thought that was pretty crazy.

[TeleTim911]

2 hours? I'd just play it straight through.

[Josh Davis]

90 minute set in clubs. Fest. 2 hours . Headliners don't take a break!

[blue metalflake]

This sort of gig is driven by the organiser - if they want two hours, do it.

Two hour set is no big deal, different to a bar gig where a break (or two) suits everyone.

[MrTwang]

In clubs if we're the only band it's usually 2 x 45 minute sets with a break in between. If there's another band we usually end up doing about an hour.

last week we headlined at an open air festival in France and did 90 minutes plus a 15 minute encore.

[backalleyblues]

Festival gigs, you NEVER take a break, you play your slot...

Bar gigs around here, it's usually 1 hr on-1/2 hr off, though we've been known to play longer, especially 1st and 2nd sets (depends on the crowd).

Franc Robert

[bargoedboy]

Most of my pub gigs are 2 45min spots with 30min break. sometimes two 1hr spot depending on gig. when i played the country circuit, it was allways 3 x45mins with 15min breaks. Club gigs are 2hrs 30mins with 30min break typically 20:30 to 21:45, 22:15 to 23:30.

[soul-o]

Most of our gigs are 3 sets and one is during dinner (corporate events and weddings), so we are somewhat at the mercy of the catering timeline, but it usually works out to about 1 hour of slightly mellowed tunes, 1 hour 20 min. Dance set and another hour and change of full bore, high energy jump up and down music.

Last week we did 5 full gigs like that in 5 days. On Thursday, it was a corporate gig where they paid extra for continuous music, all dance music, no slow songs. It was 9:30- 1am, 800 guests drunk to the bejeezus. We had an extra keys player and an extra drummer and both the sax player and I play bass, so we could rotate. I played the entire time, never left the stage.

[ac15]

Most "normal" sets seem to be 45-50 minutes.

However, I must not be normal, because on a typical 3 hour gig, I play for two hours straight, take a 25 minute break and finish up with a short set. That's my preference, and something I've done for years.

Many times I have done two hour gigs where I've played straight through with no break. I wasn't asked to do this (no one ever keeps tabs on my breaks), I was just in the mood to play and preferred playing music to twiddling my thumbs standing around on break. To me, two hours is a short gig, so I almost feel silly taking a break. Again, I realize that this isn't the norm, but I'm talking about solo gigs where I call the shots and don't have to worry about other band members who may want breaks.

[ac15]

Originally Posted by bossking7

I saw Elton John and he played 3 hours and no break! I thought that was pretty crazy.

I've done that many times. It's actually easy.

I also did a 7 hour New Years Eve gig once. I won't be doing that again.

[Seasicksailor]

It's easy to play three hours straight if your bladder is elephant size and you're not a smoker. I'm a smoker with a tiny bladder! I need my 5 minutes every once in a while. :-D

[Ricky D.]

The last time I saw James Brown, he went 3 hours+ non-stop. Like a medley, just didn't stop. He was still playing when we left at midnight. At least 2 drummers, at least 2 bass players.

[Seasicksailor]

Originally Posted by Ricky D.

At least 2 drummers, at least 2 bass players.

See? That's planning ahead for toilet and cigarette breaks! :-P

[Mike Simpson]

I just left the last band after 2 years and we are reforming now but for 2 years we played 4 hours with 2 breaks. Two 1 hour sets with twi 15 minute breaks and a 90 minute last set. 60/15/60/15/90 A few venues have asked us to take more breaks at 45 minute sets. A 2 hour set is cake.

Don't be drinking alcohol and pee before you start. A wise man once said... "Always pee right before you start because if you have to pee you can't think of nothing else."