how many songs to gig

[nitewalker]

Putting together a set list. How many songs should a band have before doing gigs. If not by number of songs, then how long to cover? We have about 1 1/2 to 2 hours of material now. I'm sure we will keep adding. What do you think?

[Swerve]

Depends on if you do covers versus originals, and the type of venue. Are there multiple bands or just you guys?

I think 1 1/2 to 2 hours would be plenty for most gigs unless you're the only cover band and have to play 3 or 4 one hour sets.

You should find an opening slot and play a solid 30 - 45 minutes of material if its original stuff.

[BassScum]

You need enough to cover 4 sets. Roughly 45 min sets. (15 min. breaks). That usually is 12 songs per set, (give or take). So about 48 songs. This is all determined by using the regular 9-1 normal club/bar schedule.

[bruiser1964]

If you are doing a full night of covers I would say around 35 - 40 well polished songs, there's nothing worse than a band repeating i'ts first set...
We would usually have 5 or so that are being worked on that we will slip into the gig.
If you are trying to get exposure it's always a good idea to share a gig - that way you can play your set and keep it fresh / iron out the wrinkles...
Good luck!

[ggunn]

Originally Posted by nitewalker

Putting together a set list. How many songs should a band have before doing gigs. If not by number of songs, then how long to cover? We have about 1 1/2 to 2 hours of material now. I'm sure we will keep adding. What do you think?

It really depends on the gig. If it's a 4 hour party, then no, you don't have enough material yet. If it's a one set showcase, the problem will be what songs NOT to play.

[Floyd Eye]

It sounds like you're a cover band. I say a minimum of 40 to start, but you want to constantly be adding songs because you can't really keep playing the same bars with the same 40 songs for very long. You need to change up the sets and have fresh material each time you play.

[MalcolmAmos]

Hitch hiking on adding songs. I keep our gig book - for the band I play rhythm 6 string in - and we have approximately 230 +/- songs on the hard drive. We keep 35 +/- in the current month's schedule and play an hour gig. That means we go through 18 to 20 songs in an hour's time. The rest are ole standards that we keep handy in case we are asked to do them.

Figure on 3 to 4 minutes for a cover and do the math from there.

[Fuzzbass]

Standard gig time is four hours total: sets plus breaks. Four 45 minute sets is common, but so is three one-hour sets with a half-hour break between each. My bands usually play three sets.

Originally Posted by MalcolmAmos

Figure on 3 to 4 minutes for a cover and do the math from there.

Generally true, but the amount of time spent between songs will of course have to be factored in. Some bands spend additional between-song time talking to the crowd, others do so because they are disorganized.

[Phalex]

40 to 50 tunes will do it.