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Making The Best 4 Hour Bar Gig

B

bluewine

Inactive
Sep 4, 2008
10,296
27
WI
#1
Making The Best Of The 4 Hour Bar Gig


The 4 hour bar gig at one time and to a degree still is the bread & butter of the serious weekend warrior. Because of many variables many of you have little to no value for this work any more. Many of you would rather not play at all if you have to play these type of gigs.

I want to open up a discussion where we can make suggestions on how to make this experience more tolerable.

If you have a lot of experience in playing 4 hour bar gigs and have ideas on how to make the best of them we would like to hear about them.

I love 4 hour bar gigs and have a few ideas I will share..

Blue
 
#3
hmm..where's my popcorn?


just playin bluewhine. ;) I've never not enjoyed one of your threads.

I'm sure I have something to contribute..but It'l have to wait til I get to work tomorrow..as its hard to type on the ol smart fone.

;)


found it.
 
#5
One thing I will throw out there is being more selective. You don't have to take every 4 hour bar gig, especially if it involves travel.

For example nobody wants to drive 1.5 hours to a $400.00 gig.

blue
 
#8
Slough Feg Bass said:
I guess just timing the sets smoothly works for me.
time flies by when we do 45 min set, 15 min break, and repeat until it's over.
By that 3rd set, man, the band is cookin and folks are dancing, I don't want it to end!
Click to expand...

I think the 3rd set can be a drag for most of us doing 4 hour bar gigs.

I like your idea. Timing and saving some good material for that last set.

blue
 
#10
I have heard comments like;

" I don't like dealing with the drunks "

I think we have some control over this.

For example, all bars or clubs don't cater to low life's or drunks. You don't have to play those clubs.

I know that occasionally you might be approached by someone that can't handle alcohol and they can be annoying. I suggest not drinking yourself while your on the job and don't make eye contact with these types.

I also find that if you carry yourself like a professional these types tend to stay away from you.

blue
 
#11
Learned gotta take your 15 minutes. We were always boy scouts and played thru first hour and half to keep crowd.

By the third hour it became manual labor for minimum wage

Taking the break really made the difference for us.... And getting a much better drummer
 
#12
jquinn86 said:
Playing in a good band with music you enjoy keeps me going. Trying new things in songs, like a new fill or shots with the drummer.
Click to expand...

I think those things make the over all gigging experience better for any type of gig.

Playing in a bad band with questionable members would make playing anywhere a drag.

And from what I have read in this Management Forum, some guys are always going to make bad decisions on the bands they join. But that's another topic.

Blue
 
#14
Well, for starters, use a lightweight bass. Also, do not drink. Alcohol is a depressant. Eat healthier food just before you play (salad, veggies). Drink lots of water. Drink hot/warm tea- soothes the vocal cords for better backup vocals.

We've even tried to "sell" the idea of stopping a half hour earlier and just run an iPod for the last 30-45 minutes as we pack our gear "to make it quicker and easier to disperse the crowd at the end of the night".
 
#15
One of the best ways to make every week, or every other week stay fun is to mix up the set list. We have a repertoire of about 150 songs now so gig to gig we only play about half the songs we played at the last gig.

I do the set lists and I've found it's super important to have the right songs for the demographic of the bar. We play mostly 8 to 12 and 9 to 1 gigs. On the 8 to 12 the first set (70 mins) have to start off with mellower "dinner music" because most people are still eating. By the end of the set I put a couple of dance songs in for the people that may be ready to dance. After a 20 min± break, the second set (70 mins) has mostly dance songs in it. I usually do two dance songs, a not so danceable song then two more dance songs. Old people won't dance more then two songs in a row!

After another 20 min± break the third/last set starts off with some dance tunes for those that are left but we usually do some newer stuff as the younger people start coming into the bar. We also play our "heaviest" music in the last half of the last set.

Now this is the way it is planned before the gig. Most of the time we start calling "audibles" in the third set to suit the situation. At last weeks gig our third set was almost all instantaneous requests called out by the crowd! It was like they were testing us. "Play some Stones". "You know any Who?" How 'bout some Cream?" We nailed them all and they keep buying us drinks. I had to bring drink tokens home with me or I never would have gotten home at all!

Yeah, I enjoy the hell out of a 4-hour bar gig!

(Next time I'll post about our "Theme Nights!")
 
#16
bogie1519 said:
imo if you care about your craft and the music. and won't to get better the 4 hour bar gig
is where you start. it's where you learn HOW to play. are you can stay at home and bang it around with itunes.
Click to expand...

I never really thought about it like that. Good point!

If you look at the 4 hour gig as a tool to improve your craft and your bands performance instead of a big hassle it's a good way to " Make The Best Of The 4 Hour Bar Gig ". It's an attitude thing.

Playing 4 hour gigs will get most bands tight and it's really where things start to fall together naturally. You also will get a better sense for what material works and what doesn't.

We just did 4 nights in a row all 4 hour shows and the band has never sounded better.

Blue
 
#17
I do a lot of 4 hr shows.

Gotta pace yourselves.
(Especially those of us on the wrong side of a half century)
3rd set can be exhausting if you already blew yer wad on the first 2.
Drink water...not beer...not pop
Make sure ya eat well.
Lightweight gear is nice,
so is a wide strap that's properly adjusted
Comfortable shoes............

Mixing up the set lists is a good idea
Try not to take gigs with a difficult load in.
 
#20
bluewine said:
I have heard comments like;

" I don't like dealing with the drunks "

I think we have some control over this.

For example, all bars or clubs don't cater to low life's or drunks. You don't have to play those clubs.

I know that occasionally you might be approached by someone that can't handle alcohol and they can be annoying. I suggest not drinking yourself while your on the job and don't make eye contact with these types.

I also find that if you carry yourself like a professional these types tend to stay away from you.

blue
Click to expand...

Get to know the bouncers! Make then your friends. If you do, they will look out for you. Find out if they are married, if this is their second job, if they are law enforcement trying to make and extra buck, former military, whatever you can start a conversation with. Then remember their names. When I walk into a club, I walk straight up to the bouncers I remember by name and strike up a conversation while I stretch my legs from the drive. Then the rest of the night if anyone so much as LOOKS at me sideways they are taken care of.
 

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