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Festival Question

When Playing Multi Band Bills Outdoors

  • It Would Suck to Go UNDER the Allotted Time

    Votes: 8 8.0%

  • It would Suck a Little to go 2 minutes over

    Votes: 30 30.0%

  • It would Suck a LOT to go 2 minutes over, you greedy pigs

    Votes: 44 44.0%

  • You can go 5 or more minutes over, as long as you are good

    Votes: 8 8.0%

  • You should bring carrots

    Votes: 23 23.0%
  • Total voters
    100
#21
mellowinman said:
I tried to do the minimum set we could do, and it clocked in a good 8 minutes over. I trimmed, and it came in at 2 minutes over.
Click to expand...
Please define "the minimum set we could do".

Is this for aesthetic or artistic reasons?

Is your musical vision in danger of being compromised?

Is the band in some danger of psychic trauma if you have to cut another two minutes?

Have you made preparations for the psychological angst induced when the stage manager hits the kill switch at the time limit?

This is rock and roll at a festival in Northern Indiana not Der Ring des Nibelungen at Bayreuth correct?

Start on time and finish on time, put on a good show and enjoy being invited back next year.
 
#23
Playing past your allotted time is unprofessional and one of the quickest ways to ensure that my band won't invite you to play with us again. I can't count how many times I've hit the stage a half hour, an hour, or more later than the scheduled time for no other reason than earlier bands played late (either because they played too much material or took too long in set up/break down).

If you want to be viewed as professional by organizers and bands alike, set up quickly and play up to your cutoff time or less. In fact, if the show is already running significantly late when you hit the stage, then in many situations IMO it is appropriate to play a slightly shorter set to help get things on track for later bands (who, hopefully, will do the same). Just last weekend my band had a 12:20 a.m. slot at a festival but didn't hit the stage until after 1:30 a.m. Of the last three bands playing before us, two of them went over time and one of them cut their set a bit short (as did we). Guess which of the three is the only one that would ever hear from us in the future?
 
#26
Since I organize and book numerous multiple band shows, my suggestion since you are the first band is to start a few minutes early. If your band came to me as the show director, I would agree to let you start 5 minutes early but not go over time since that would alter the band change over time and could throw off the schedule for the entire event and other bands. I am always flexible because things do happen; but, I stick to the schedule as closely as possible.
 
#27
My guitar player always wants to go over a few min.

I subscribe to the "leave them wanting more" club.
That said, I agree with the suggestion to ask the stage manager.
 
#28
OK, let's make sure the parameters are set here. Our last song is Freebird. It takes 10 minutes. We have one song before it. When I get to that song, I will look at my watch. If we were going to go 4 or 5 minutes over, I would cut the song, and go directly to Freebird.

Here is the setlist:

1. We Will Rock You - Queen
2. Tie Your Mother Down - Queen
3. Beast of Burden - Our version of Bette Midler's version of the Stones
4. I Hate Myself for Loving You - Joan Jett
5. Use Me - Bill Withers
6. Rockin' in the Free World - Neil Young
7. Ten Inch Record - Aerosmith
8. Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith
9. Train, Train - Blackfoot
10. Freebird - Lynyrd Skynyrd

I have already cut "Yer Blues," because my wife didn't want to cut any other song than that. I am the anal one in this band. I am the OCD timekeeping person in this band. I am also NOT in charge of this band. I wanted to cut "Sweet Emotion," because it's long. I have begged them to shorten the jam at the end of this one, because we could get back a solid minute. I have a spoken section in the middle of "Rockin' in the Free World," and if I skip it, they have no choice but to move on, and that might save a minute.

Believe me, I am trying my best to make this come in at exactly 45 minutes. I do NOT have the attitude that we can play over by five or more minutes; in fact, I guarantee this will NOT happen. This is not a "big" festival; it's a free show, and it happens with multiple bands every year.

I kind of wanted to get some input from the Talkbass Boy Scouts, just to get a feel for this question, but remember, I am in a BAND, and that means three other people have opinions, too. Two of my band members, (the two with the most experience playing out live,) have the opinion that if you're too nice, in this business, you don't go anywhere, because everyone walks on you. To their credit, the three or four most successful bands in this town are universally loathed by all the other bands, for their superior attitudes and behavior.

Also to their credit, I made a big deal about us being nice, and working well with sound crews, and showing respect, and I witnessed how I personally got more abuse heaped on me than anyone else in the band. That's because of the cold fact that a lot of people in the business are jerks, and when you are nice, and respectful to them, they see it as a chance to take advantage of you.

So these two band members are a lot less "nice" than me, and they seem to also be more well-liked than me. Funny how that works.

I don't know what I'm going to do yet, and whether we are going to cut a song, or trim some fat and try to make it, or just go over by a couple minutes, but again, I GUARANTEE I will not be party to going over by five.

With ALL THAT in mind, what do you say?

Edited to add: I have been FORBIDDEN to ask the stage manager.
 
#30
mellowinman said:
We're the first band in a four band bill. We are scheduled for 45 minutes. I tried to do the minimum set we could do, and it clocked in a good 8 minutes over. I trimmed, and it came in at 2 minutes over.

Supposing we start on time, how big a deal is it if we go over by 2 minutes? Let's assume it could go 4 if something goes wrong with the timing.

This post is to gather opinions, and not necessarily to change our minds. We don't want to go under, and getting it exactly is kind of difficult for a live show.
Click to expand...

I have hardly ever seen a festival gig actually start on time. Assume you have 30 minutes, not 45, and do a killer 30 minute set with room built in for an epic 10 minute Freebird encore if it's warranted.
 
#32
I think trying to cram as many songs into a defined time limit is the wrong way to go. I've been in bands in the past that have done that and it tends to make everyone more tense and takes away from the show. When I'm in a situation like that, I make a point of making sure the music clocks in 3 to 5 minutes under. If everything goes exactly to plan, which is rare, we always have another tune ready to throw on the end. If I were you, I would throw the Joan Jett song on the end. After a 10 minute jam, everyone is going to be ready for some ear-candy that they can easily wrap their ears around. If you have the time, playing that song after Freebird will have a good impact, if not, finish the set with Freebird is good too so you win either way.
 
#33
39-Bassist said:
When you play live you ALWAYS play the songs slightly fast, you will makeup the time.
Click to expand...

Speak for yourself...both bands I'm in have excellent tempo and rarely, if ever, play songs too fast. We recently did a charity gig with 6 other bands and were told that all the bands had 30 minutes max, no exceptions. Our set list came in a 28:15 in rehearsal, and we played it in a little over 29 minutes due to the singer talking to the audience between songs.
 
#34
I'm a little perplexed as to why the OP is FORBIDDEN to talk to whoever is running the thing. This is a small-time, four band, free 'festival'....it's not like its Sonisphere, Hellfest or Download.

Surely asking to go on 5 mins earlier, if you are desperate to play that set list, doesn't seem like an excessive demand?
 
#35
If you wanna go all Rock N Roll, arrive 20 minutes late with all the swagger you can muster, play the most amazing version of Freebird for 20 minutes, and then walk off the stage like you just did something as common as taking a piss. If the crowd asks for more, walk back up to the mic and announce when your next gig is.
 
#38
Around these parts, bands that have a bad attitude and don't play by rules don't get booked back for festivals. Word gets around. Being professional, nice, and easy to work with is definitely the way to go. All the bands I book for multiple band shows know the drill and do it right. One time, I had a band that the lead singer showed up drunk, they started late, went over, and did not want to tear down quickly for the next band to set up and I will never book them again. The last thing a festival entertainment director wants to do is babysit musicians and make sure they follow the rules.
 
#39
MCS4 said:
Playing past your allotted time is unprofessional and one of the quickest ways to ensure that my band won't invite you to play with us again. I can't count how many times I've hit the stage a half hour, an hour, or more later than the scheduled time for no other reason than earlier bands played late (either because they played too much material or took too long in set up/break down).

If you want to be viewed as professional by organizers and bands alike, set up quickly and play up to your cutoff time or less. In fact, if the show is already running significantly late when you hit the stage, then in many situations IMO it is appropriate to play a slightly shorter set to help get things on track for later bands (who, hopefully, will do the same). Just last weekend my band had a 12:20 a.m. slot at a festival but didn't hit the stage until after 1:30 a.m. Of the last three bands playing before us, two of them went over time and one of them cut their set a bit short (as did we). Guess which of the three is the only one that would ever hear from us in the future?
Click to expand...

+1
 
#40
I'm guessing it's 45 on and 15 between sets? If so, then you'd probably be forgiven for going over by a couple minutes if you bring a bare minimum of gear so you can clear out quickly. It's not so much when you go off, as when the next band goes on.
 

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