Turning 25 minutes into 2 hours...

[Bassbasixx]

For real Blues tunes easy to stretch out

[Howlin' Hanson]

60s means the songs are shorter, so either repeat the guitar solo and the final chorus to stretch them out, or pick a few songs like Born On the Bayou that can be streeetttccchhed out for a long time.

For two hours you will need 30 songs, give or take. (We usually have 12 or 13 per set, but we have 45-50 minute sets.)

Look for a PM with some suggestions.

[bigfatbass]

PLANNING on repeating 8-10 songs? No way you should have taken that gig.

Random lists of weak cover material are not going to do anything for making you not suck.

[Bassbasixx]

Originally Posted by Howlin' Hanson

60s means the songs are shorter, so either repeat the guitar solo and the final chorus to stretch them out, or pick a few songs like Born On the Bayou that can be streeetttccchhed out for a long time.

For two hours you will need 30 songs, give or take. (We usually have 12 or 13 per set, but we have 45-50 minute sets.)

Look for a PM with some suggestions.

+ 1 on that. Nice helpful, usable advise MR Howlin' Hanson

[Nick Kay]

Don't repeat ANYTHING unless someone requests a song from the beginning of the night, at the end of the night. That's a rule, not a guideline.

Jammy stuff is good. It's really easy to duel guitar and bass solos on songs like, say, the Hendrix version of All Along the Watchtower. The full 17-minute blowout version of Freebird could work, too, because people are going to be drinking anyway and they won't notice the missing guitars. Prog-rock is great for this type of situation, too. I know a bunch of Floyd and Zeppelin just for this purpose, and I don't even play cover gigs.

At my old originals gig, if someone asked for a two-hour set, we'd just play the whole roster and extend/jam out the parts we were really feeling. This becomes really easy if you can communicate with the band without actually talking, but I guess you don't really have time to prep hand signals and cue licks.

[D.Don]

Throw in a maximized version of hotel california, stupid simple, and peeps loves that frakkin tune, make the intro really long, and later in the tune fill it up with lots of looong solos and then end the entire song with a repeat chorus x 3 at least ... and you will gain probably 15-20 minutes at least there, and _no-one_ will think it sucks.

D.Don

[Dave R]

Chuck Berry style Rock & Roll and Blues tunes would be an easy way to creat 2 hours music in a few practices.

All the same chords, just different vocals. Johnny B. Goode, Roll Over Beethoven, Blue Suede Shoes--all variations on the same themes.

Likewise, Stormy Monday, Thrill is Gone, and all those other blues tunes are the same chords, different vocals.

With decent charts, it'll come together quick.

[Sleeq]

Just play the riff to Green Onions or La Grange for 2 hours non-stop.

[51m0n]

Anything, I mean anything with a really simple single groove all the way through it.

Like:-
Low Rider
La Grange (OK theres a middle bit but its really easy)
Fire on the Bayou
Born on the Bayou (Strictly speaking it aint one groove but you could do it that way easily)

Anything thats a 12 bar or derivative there of...
Mustang Sally (I know but...)
CrossRoads (Look at the original not the Cream version, its super simple)
Riding on the L&N
Red House (duh)
Green Onions (This is the most boring bass line in the world IMO, great lift music, should be great for this gig)

All oif these you can just streeeeeeettttcchhhhhh right out on.

If it is background then you will get away with anything as long as you dont get too loud.

If it is not background you will get away with anything, as long as its grooving and you generally hit the chords at the same time

Just keep up the eye contact for any section changes.

Remeber the vocalist can get away with knowing the chorus and two verses. Then just play with the dynamics foir any verse repetition, and have a few solos. Really helps if the vox has a mouth organ too...

Have some simple obvious queues for endings. Either drum fills or signals from the vocalist.

Enjoy it!

We have about 30 songgs, we do 2 45 minute sets, we normally play about 6 songs a set. It just happoens that way. Once we get the punters dancing we dont stop until we run out of good ideas

[Spinal Tapper]

Thanks for the tips! After last night we're pretty psyched for the gig. We'll be jamming out between songs too, probably just to eat up time, but we'll make it good and tasteful. The drummer and I are really really tight - been playing in bands for almost 8 years together on and off, and our guitard has FX and solos n stuff to keep it "interesting".

Not too worried about it anymore. And as far as repeating songs, no way we're repeating any covers! But we have a few originals that I'm sure if we played twice no one would recognize...

Plus, we have about 2-3 more rehearsals until the gig. I think we'll be fine. Thanks again everyone! Everyone who gave suggestions, you're all very very cool. I think this is a great way to learn a bunch of easy songs fast that we can take with us wherever this may go later. I'm bringing these updated lists of tunes to my mates and we'll see what pans out from there.

Dave

[D.Don]

Send us ya set list when you're done with it!



D.Don

[JackANSI]

There is a band around here that turns Free Bird into a 30 minute long crowd pleaser. Makes me cringe just thinking about it, but the crowd doesn't care it seems. Just start out with normal length songs and make each one progressively longer.

I think their trick to doing the Bird is to wait till everyone is really drunk and has no sense of time anymore.

[Nick Kay]

Originally Posted by JackANSI

I think their trick to doing the Bird is to wait till everyone is really drunk and has no sense of time anymore.

+infinity.2

[Kimpini]

Repeat verses and choruses, jam, and talk to the crowd.

[Sean S]

I can only recommend lots of covers, and lots of jamming. My band has to make 45 minutes into 3 hours

[Spinal Tapper]

Originally Posted by Sean S

I can only recommend lots of covers, and lots of jamming. My band has to make 45 minutes into 3 hours

Daaaamn...

Well, I like the suggestion of taking long beer breaks and talking to the crowd. It's not like we're playing on a stage where you have to rock one song immediately after the last one ends - we'll be off to the side of the bar, basically as background music.

I'm actually totally geeked for it now! Like a challenge to overcome - what being a musician is all about.

[nsmar4211]

Start your set with a jam (figure out your progressions before show).... play a cover or two. Do a more uptempo jam, another cover... etc.

We turned down gigs when we didn't have enough material... although one gig we managed to stretch a bit by having guest artist sit in (agreed to beforehand). Know any guitar/singer buddies? have em show up and play a couple songs with you .

A bit of between song banter back and forth in the band is a time user, just not forced stuff. And +1 to extending songs, do 2 guitar solos instead of one, add a drum solo in middle, do an extended beginning where you guys jam on the chords and then go into the song on a cue..... fun stuff

[ChrisPbass]

Trucking>The Other One>Dark Star<St. Stephen.
problem solved.

[Spinal Tapper]

Shakedown Street?

[aborgman]

Originally Posted by stflbn

Doesn't sound to me like you were ready to accept that gig bud.

I'd be nervous about my preparedness.

First gig I ever played with my current guitarist:

1) Find out about saturday night gig @ 3am saturday morning when I get home from bar.

2) I have played my bass for about 2 hours total in the previous month.

3) Learn ~10 songs with guitarist morning of show

4) We meet drummer for the first time, at the show.

5) Between sets guitar and drummer figure out what songs both know, and guitar player writes up chord changes on notebook paper I tape to my monitor.

We played 4 sets, 45 minutes each... only repeated about 10 songs. I had a blood blister on my plucking finger the size of a small country, even with superglue.