Gig Issues

JazZ-A-LoT · #1 01-20-2003, 10:30 PM

Ok.. so herez the deal. Our bands playing a 4 hour gig and our set runs 50 mins short!!! We have about 2 other songs to jam to but we're still like 38 mins short. I'm staring at my bass trying desperatly to come up with riffs.. luckily enough i managed to pull out a surfer riff and a little thing me and the guitar player were working on. In the end we ended up falling 10 mins short, but the manager didnt seem to care. I'd just like to know what are some good approaches to facing these situations, where you have to just pull stuff out of nowhere.. when the pressure is on.

Wrong Robot · #2 01-21-2003, 03:02 AM

I always make sure to know many many many songs, but I would say that it would be wise to work out simple chord progressions and such that you could easily make into a song....like if you lay down a bass line, and your guitarist lays down a little chordal stuff...then just play whatever for a melody, and you'll be fine....works for me at least

of course I never have super serious gigs...the longest gig I've ever done was 5 hours and we got a 1 hour break.

btw I'm no mod, but this MIGHT belong in band management and performance forum

Bruce Lindfield · #3 01-21-2003, 03:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by JazZ-A-LoT
I'd just like to know what are some good approaches to facing these situations,

My preferred approach would be not to sign up for 4 hour gigs!!

wulf · #4 01-21-2003, 03:53 AM

Learn more songs.... failing that, you could always do some of the same ones again. How many of the crowd were there all the way through, paying close attention to you?

Wulf

Howard K · #5 01-21-2003, 07:14 AM

four hour set!!!

holy frikking moly!!!

i think bruce might be right there.. not even pro's do four hour sets.. why on earth put yourself through that!!!

moley · #6 01-21-2003, 07:18 AM

4 hours... that's long. I've done gigs before with maybe 3 1hr sets before, but not 4 hours straight. I'll just say that you know you're running out of tunes when you find yourself doing a funk jam (with wah-wah Rhodes IIRC) with the drummer, based on the Ghostbusters theme

thrash_jazz · #7 01-21-2003, 08:21 AM

4 hours!

Do you mean four sets, or four hours straight?

There are several things you can do. First of all, you should time your rehearsals so you know how much material you have, and learn enough songs so that you can cover the time necessary.

One thing you can do is to stretch out some of the songs on your list. Songs with catchy lines (ie, ones that don't get boring right away) can usually be extended by a few minutes by adding more solos. Again, try this in rehearsal to see how it goes.

Another approach would be just to do some on-the-spot improv. This takes a tremendous amount of practice and a lot of people will refuse to try it, but if that is something you can do well, you'll be able to play all day and all night.

I would recommend against repeating songs unless you are completely out of options.

A good idea would be to take a few practices and do "dress rehearsals": time the rehearsals, record them if possible, have some friends sit in and listen, and generally treat them the same way as the gig.

Bruce Lindfield · #8 01-21-2003, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by thrash_jazz
4 hours! Do you mean four sets, or four hours straight?

I would recommend against repeating songs unless you are completely out of options.

I'm not sure - if it was 4 straight hours, then I doubt any of the audience will remember the first few songs you played, by the end!!

**Chris A** · #9 01-21-2003, 08:41 AM

Yeah, we don't belong here......

Band Management and Performance time......

Chris A.

Eric Moesle · #10 01-21-2003, 01:35 PM

I've filled in with bands who ran short of material, just because there were a few new guys filling-in and didn't know quite all of the tunes.

With a night that long, you could certainly get away with repeating some songs earlier in the first set. Odds are that the only people still there that heard it the first time were the bartenders.

If this is a regular band unit, you have to be careful never to run short, have at least half a dozen of "extra" tunes on your list for throw-ins.

FeTiS · #11 01-21-2003, 02:48 PM

theres also the good ol' instrumental improv jam. i've made one of those last like 15 minutes

thrash_jazz · #12 01-21-2003, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by FeTiS
theres also the good ol' instrumental improv jam. i've made one of those last like 15 minutes

Heck, I used to play in a band where that was all we did - from 10-2, every two weeks!

It IS possible to make it work!

JazZ-A-LoT · #13 01-21-2003, 08:45 PM

U guys never play 4 hour gigs?? that surprises me we do that once a week. Probably twice a week pretty soon... I'm only 14. Thanks for all the tips guys. Appreciate it

JazZ-A-LoT · #14 01-21-2003, 08:49 PM

WE did do one song over again but I'd actualy rather jam up there it's soo fun. It's tough though when ur on the clock getting paid.

**rickbass** · #15 01-21-2003, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JazZ-A-LoT
....In the end we ended up falling 10 mins short...I'd just like to know what are some good approaches to facing these situations, where you have to just pull stuff out of nowhere....

Solution - 12 bar blues with extended jam and repetitive lyrics, such as;

I went down this evenin'/
To see my missy Sue/
I went down this evenin/
To see my girl Sue/
I said "If you don't know what you want/
I sure got somethin for you"........followed by 10 minutes of guitar wanking.

Munjibunga · #16 01-21-2003, 09:48 PM

You need at least 40 songs for a four-hour gig. Fifty is better. Learn 'em, THEN get the gigs.

jbplayer · #17 01-21-2003, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JazZ-A-LoT
U guys never play 4 hour gigs?? that surprises me we do that once a week. Probably twice a week pretty soon... I'm only 14. Thanks for all the tips guys. Appreciate it

I'm confused. I thought your problem was not having enough songs to do four hours and now your band plays four hours twice a week? Did I miss something?

**embellisher** · #18 01-22-2003, 12:59 AM

I regularly play 4-5 hour gigs. However, they are composed of 4 or 5 sets, between 40 - 50 minutes, with at least a 10 minute break between sets.

4 hours straight? Where are you playing?

**embellisher** · #19 01-22-2003, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by jbplayer

I'm confused. I thought your problem was not having enough songs to do four hours and now your band plays four hours twice a week? Did I miss something?

JazZ-A-LoT · #20 01-22-2003, 06:40 PM

Quote:

I'm confused. I thought your problem was not having enough songs to do four hours and now your band plays four hours twice a week? Did I miss something?

Well let me clear the confusion.. That perticular night we only took 3 ten minute breaks in between sets and our sax player didnt solo through 5 songs where he usualy does, his solos are long, so that hurt us. Plus we were playing our slow songs too fast. So that's why we fell short. Usualy we're only 10 mins short and then we jam some blues. I just wanted some advice so if this happens again I'll be prepared. I know what u all mean by "Dont take 4 hour gigs unless you have the songs" , but we dont really have the time to wait for having 50 songs in our repetoire. This band's only gonna' be together for 4 more months so we want to play as much as possible together and get an album out. Sadly our sax player and guitar player are going to Boston for college.