Length of Sets at Gigs

[OlRedNeckHippy]

Originally Posted by Seasicksailor

I'm a smoker with a tiny bladder! I need my 5 minutes every once in a while. :-D

That's my bass player! Actually, that's all of us.

[soulman969]

Yeah I have to pitch in with the rest. Festivals or concerts even as a two hour opener is a balls to the wall straight through shot til the end with an extra ten minutes for an encore if you're asked for one. Nothing like the usual club gigs with 45-60 minute sets and 15-20 minute breaks.

[brookdalebill]

I live/love to play, so I try to play more, and break less.
Time stands still (in a good way) when I get to (play).
Breaks are boring.

[OlRedNeckHippy]

Well, at the regularly scheduled weekend practice, it was made clear to all (by me, cause of this thread) that we would have to play straight through, for the 1.5 - 2 hour set. Electronic cigaretts will be required (I've been using one for a while now), and watch your fluid consumption before we start. No beer was also discussed....

Thanks for All the input guys.

[djalt]

Originally Posted by bossking7

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

Q: How does he do it?
A: Depends......

[AJBaker]

Me it depends. Roughly 60min sets, and I try to keep breaks short. In a 3h gig I'll take one to two breaks. Longer gigs roughly one break an hour. Basically, I don't play with a stop watch. Also, I ask for a lot of money quite often, and I want people to feel they've gotten their money's worth.
On the other extreme, playing bass with an American band, the leader decided to do a 4-5h gig without a break. In the end though, the drummer had to pee and the guitarist filled in. The singer got a break when a guest singer came up for a small set, and the same thing for the guitarist. I was the only one who didn't leave the stage! My shoulder was very sore from my heavy bass...

[harmonicon]

Just to answer your question, if my band is doing two sets, they're each between 35 minutes and an hour with a 15 - 30 minute break in the middle. Actual length depends on how much banter there is with the audience, length of solos, etc., which isn't planned, though the set lists are. This is at a place where we're quasi-regulars. Other places we're usually one band on a bill of two or three and just do one set.

[Kato10]

I've always done 3 1 hour sets. We tried 2 90 minute sets in one band for a couple shows and almost died. I couldn't play for 2 hours.

[Scantron08]

Give the people what they want. Play straight on through. I do actually enjoy this, and I don't get a 15-minute break for every 45 I work on my day job.

We're the band that always leaves 'em wanting less.

[Telesavalis]

songs average 3.5 min. do the math and configure sets of 45 min/15 min break.and be sure to allow for in between song time for instrument changes, BS, etc. If you're playing a two hour show then put approx 24 songs on your set list and plow on thru to the end.

[mistermullens]

9-1 club gigs, first set 1 hour, the other three are 45mins. Breaks are 15 mins. I'd happily play a festival for 2 hours straight than a 9-1 gig. Sometimes, I'm just getting going, and then it's time for a break.

[Old Cane]

Originally Posted by fezz parka

I play until the drummer's tired. Then I make him play more.

......and then the fight started.


I wouldn't worry too much about the 2 hours. Have enough stuff to do it, of course, but 92 times out of 100 you won't start until 5:40. Something wrong with the PA, another gear problem (hopefully not your gear) or you get "wait until some more people show up" or "until the 9 legged race is over." You might also get "you guys might want to find some plastic sheets to use during the wet t-shirt contest at 6." And then hope it's not done by weight class.

[TC III]

Ifits a festival you play for your slotted time, which if 2 hours, is 2 hours. At a gig situation in a club or bar, I play till I can feel the band is ready for a break, and play it by ear. Seems to me to be the most organic and true way to perform, and works much better than watching the clock as it frees me from one less worry. If you are playing before a band on a bill, have someone give you the flashlight flash from the FOH, when you are down to 5 mins.

[woodman]

Definitely agree on the two hours straight through ... once you break the flow, it takes a while to re-establish it.

In bars, back when people came out for the whole night, I'd plan a short first set with lots of filler tunes, saving the good stuff for when the crowd built up. Nowadays, it's a long first set chock full o' plums — as a previous poster said, first break empties half the house.

[sacizob]

We just played an outdoor concert straight thru 2 hrs. Its not like in a bar, there's nothing to keep the people entertained during a break and many would leave. We did take short breathers between some songs.

[Daddy Hojo]

Originally Posted by 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.

That sounds awesome.

I think two hours is too long to keep people excited about a band. I don't care who it is- you will find yourself less than enthused before 2 hours is up.

[gshep92]

Originally Posted by fezz parka

I play until the drummer's tired. Then I make him play more.

I second that.

[tweedtone]

Most club gigs for me are either three 60s with half-hour breaks or three 45s with fifteen minute breaks.

One of the most fun gigs I've ever had was on on my birthday and my band played everything we knew at one go which came to three-and-a-half hours straight. I loved it, my wife HATED it.

[daveandshelle]

bars are 3 one hour sets with 30 minute breaks..private parties and pretty much everything else.. if thery are paying I am playing..never worried to much about that stuff..I come out to play not chit chat..some people I have played in the past have had a problem with that..I have lost shows because complaining band memebers and short sets..that won't happen again.

[bettyseldest]

In a bar if you don't take a break then no-one buys any drinks, but with a festival you play through. However, we did have an experience this summer where we were booked to do two hours, An hour and twenty minutes in they asked our singer to announce the raffle winners, thirty minutes later he finished! All we could do was ditch 30 minutes of the best of our numbers and go into our final two numbers to what by now was a fraction of our original audience. We did the best we could, but left feeling deflated.