Gigging guitarists... settle a debate for me please

cvogue

cvogue

Yes, that's Oolong. :)
So this new band I'm in is going to be gigging soon. I've done my share of gigs and so has the bassist apparently. We're discussing set lists and how many songs to have ready for a 45 minute set. I'm thinking we need at least 12 and he's saying we can get by with 8. He figures 2 minutes between each song...

As I remember when gigging... 2 minutes is an *eternity* between songs! Dead air always bugged me, just looks bad/awkward/unprofessional...

Whatchya think? He's thinking that 2 minutes is nothing since there's cheering, drunken controlled chaos going on etc... That's fine if it happens but if it's a slow night, 2 minutes between each song is gonna suck IMO.


Oh and to make this a guitar specific post... some of you know that I got a new Splawn Street Rod last Friday, I tried it with a few different guitars, some of them very high end... and I liked my PRS CE24 the best! Always nice to have that kind of validation. I will say that the EBMM Axis was quite nice though... :)
 
20 seconds is too much for me. Don't even wait for the applause to stop.

Stage banter is performance, and it's a talent and an acquired skill that demands thought and practice. It tends to only work in intimate performances (if you're Bruce Springsteen, you can make a stadium gig feel intimate, but most people can't).

I'd strongly suggest avoiding it like the plague starting out. I mean, there are legit legends who play 3 hours without speaking more than 2 words.

If you are Bruce Springsteen, then you can get away with a couple of 2 minute monologues over the course of a 3-hour set. But I don't care who the fuck you are, 2 minutes between every song screams "unprepared lack of professionalism" to the extreme. You'd be better off playing 3 songs, walking off, and having 35 minutes of dead air.

This quote from Bull Durham applies in so many ares of life: "Your shower shoes have fungus on them. You'll never make it to the bigs with fungus on your shower shoes. Think classy, you'll be classy. If you win 20 in the show, you can let the fungus grow back and the press'll think you're colorful. Until you win 20 in the show, however, it means you are a slob."
 
No break between songs at all if possible. Do the stage banter over the band riffing the song intro, and then only banter every few songs. Two minutes?? Heck no....30 seconds without music is too long.

And songs in a 45 minutes set? 12 or more is about right. Unless you have a lot of 4 1/2 to 5 minutes songs or are planning a lot of extended solos. always add too many songs and drop them if you are running over. If you must error error on the side of too much music.
 
For a 45 min set there should be no time between songs. The only pauses should be after a short handful of songs are played. Then the singer says hello to the crowd, etc. Then back to the set. At least 12 songs.
 
Thanks guys, yeah pretty much what I was thinking. I'm sensitive to the awkwardness of dead air between songs... used to wait way too long for our keyboardist to switch to guitar and vice versa in my old band. Need to keep the music playing. beavis0
 
2 minutes is a Ramones song, not a break between numbers...

When I had my band (back before the internet) we rehearsed our set with no breaks between songs for the first 4 or 5 numbers...the drummer was counting into the next song while the last chords were still sustaining...after the fourth or fifth song we took a few seconds to tune while the singer said a low key "good evening"...

It may be condescending, but you have to look at your audience like they have goldfish memories and attention spans...you can't give them a chance to get distracted...
 
12 + a spare if needed. After a few gigs you'll figure out the timing.

8 songs in a set? That's 25 - 30 min.

2 minutes between songs ain't gonna cut it.
 
2 minutes is absolutely unacceptable and certifiably insane!

When we play, we don't stop unless there's a guitar swap or something, and even then, a pause isn't needed in many cases.

If something forces us to have to pause (unforseen equipment issue etc), it's all about entertaining the crowd with some form of banter. Silence is deadly.

For a 45 minute set, you'd better have AT LEAST 12 songs ready. Theoretically, and for added flexibility, you really should have 15 and be able to call an audible based on the crowd.

Your friend is nuts.

Sent from Crab Nebulae via reverse engineered alien technology
 
Mark Wein said:
NO DEAD TIME.
Click to expand...

THIS.

We rehearse many of our songs in 3 or 4 song blocks where we work out transitions to go directly from one song to the next without the cheesy "Brrrrrrr..... looooook... crasshhh" endings (which happen now and then, you can't help it... but keeping them to a minimum compared to rehearsed endings is much better.

I usually prep 13 songs per set so there's some flexibility to play 12 or 13, except for the first set... we usually play 16 songs in the first set (hour and 15). When the dance floor is really popping, we'll play for an hour and a half or an hour and 45 before we take our first set break.
 
As someone mentioned, banter is part of the entertainment. The frontman should have some pre-rehearsed banter to say. Just "winging it" never goes over well.
 
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