Gig start time...

[JazznFunk]

Earliest I've played (studio or live) was 7:30 or 8am for.... something. I can't remember exactly at this point. haha. In NC, bars can't sell alcohol past 2am, so the majority of my gigs never went past 2am. For a while, the standard around here for bar gigs (and some proper venues) was a 9 or 10pm start, playing till 2am at the latest. But those days haven't existed in at least 10-15 years now.

Most of my gigs start at 7 or 8pm and are done before midnight now. We have one date in April that is a 9-12pm deal and I'm going to have to seriously work on not falling asleep for that one.

Speaking from experience and firsthand empirical evidence, people aren't drinking as much (due to the rising threat of getting popped by DUIs), aren't staying out as late, aren't spending as much money at bars due to high drink/food prices, and in general are keeping more sane hours... and that means that gigs aren't going to run as late into the evening. It's a generational/societal shift, and I'm here for it. It also means that people who work regular jobs are more likely to come to gigs, because they can come to a show and still be alright for work the next morning. It honestly makes more sense. As a performer, I hated the late nights, especially on the road, because I have always risen with the sun. Which means if I'm in bed by 3am, I'm still up by 7am. No bueno.

 

[Norm Nelson]

I've played a lot of early gigs, and let me tell you, there were *plenty* of seats available.

 

[Pdaddy1978]

If its a bar, it was usually 9 to 1.
If its an event, or a fair, could be anytime. Generally depending on how well regarded you are. The late starts for well known bands, the newbies could be breakfast slot!

 

[friskinator]

Earliest I've played (studio or live) was 7:30 or 8am for.... something. I can't remember exactly at this point. haha. In NC, bars can't sell alcohol past 2am, so the majority of my gigs never went past 2am. For a while, the standard around here for bar gigs (and some proper venues) was a 9 or 10pm start, playing till 2am at the latest. But those days haven't existed in at least 10-15 years now.

Most of my gigs start at 7 or 8pm and are done before midnight now. We have one date in April that is a 9-12pm deal and I'm going to have to seriously work on not falling asleep for that one.

Speaking from experience and firsthand empirical evidence, people aren't drinking as much (due to the rising threat of getting popped by DUIs), aren't staying out as late, aren't spending as much money at bars due to high drink/food prices, and in general are keeping more sane hours... and that means that gigs aren't going to run as late into the evening. It's a generational/societal shift, and I'm here for it. It also means that people who work regular jobs are more likely to come to gigs, because they can come to a show and still be alright for work the next morning. It honestly makes more sense. As a performer, I hated the late nights, especially on the road, because I have always risen with the sun. Which means if I'm in bed by 3am, I'm still up by 7am. No bueno.

I won't even attend a show that starts past bedtime anymore, and if I go to anything, I have one drink and I'm done. And I won't go to anything on a weeknight. Venues probably hate customers like me.

 

[Hurricane Jimmie]

So Anyway, the lounge bands I started out in during the early 70's were 9-1.
Later on, the roadhouse band I was in would play 10-2. They'd always want us to play the extra hour on the DST switch.
A church band I was in played the Sunday 9:15 AM service. Short night, as I usually got home from my bar gig between 2-3 AM.
Played a couple of retirement center NYE gigs and was done before their dinner hour. That was nice!

Most of my gigs now are at wineries, city parks or hippy hours. We seldom play past 7:00 PM. We turn down regular bar gigs because we're old. We also know that no one out past midnight would want to see their grandpa's playing music.

 

[JazznFunk]

I won't even attend a show that starts past bedtime anymore, and if I go to anything, I have one drink and I'm done. And I won't go to anything on a weeknight. Venues probably hate customers like me.

Most venues around here are smart enough to offer a VERY wide range of non alcoholic options. The business model of getting and keeping people as drunk as possible as the main source of revenue is not as sustainable as it once was - and there's a ton of liability associated with it.

 

[Plectrum72]

Not including church services, the earliest I've played was 11:00 for a city's Yule Festival. I've also done early afternoon starts for car shows and charity events. For bars and evening entertainment venues, the earliest start time has been 19:00. I have noticed many venues switching their 21:00 start times to 20:00 start times around here.

 

[allanhearn]

6am. LA marathon. Played 30 minutes every 2 hours for 8 hours. Parking and load in at 4am because of parking and security.
UT El Paso. Set up in student commons. Load in at 6am played from 7-9. 34 degrees.
My current worship team, Sunday 6:30am. Play 3 services

 

[thebassgrognard]

I wonder if the tendency of jazz gigs starting super late is the ability of the musicians to have other earlier gigs, then step into the late night. There's a midnight to 5a.m. jazz jam every Friday and Saturday night that's been around for years in KC.

 

[thebassgrognard]

And yeah, church gigs earliest 7a.m. call times, then original bands when I was a kid starting at 11.

 

[J Wilson]

Midnight to 6AM.

Scary place.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

In general, times have been moving up. It's used to be 9pm-1am or 10-2. Now I seldom start later than 8pm.

Earliest gig was 5am for a sunrise service.

It's probably the only good outcome from COVID. We used to go on at 9 or 10 pm. By the end of 2021, we were going on at 6 or 6:30.

 

[Bunk McNulty]

From 2018: We played Friday night. We played Saturday night late (1 am) then had a 9 am charity event on Sunday morning. I told my BL if she wanted me to play before lunch, I was gonna show up in my jammies. Which I did:

 

[jdjk7]

What is the latest (or earliest) time you've had a gig on? I once played at sunrise, with an orchestra, and on a beach. It was quite an amazing experience.

What prompted this was a discussion we were having about (primarily jazz) musicians working hours. Except perhaps for classical players, the generalization was that musicians are night owls, often with main sets beginning around 9:00 PM or 10:00 PM and "late sets" going past midnight. Speculation is that this is due to a combination of historical, cultural, and economic factors designed to create a specific atmosphere and maximize revenue. Not sure if this still holds today, or as we get older, gigiing time starts to take on a different connotation! ;-)

Regards to all

Earliest was probably 11am on a weekend for a local festival.

Latest was about 11:30pm at bar that is right next to a comedy venue, and they have an informal agreement that the bar cannot hold music while the comedy venue has programming. So, start times for bands at that bar are late and only go later.

 

[PennyroyalWe]

Earliest I’ve played was 9:00am I think. Latest was starting out set around midnight. I hate both options tbh.

Way happier now playing 7-9pm dinner crowd gigs!

 

[gln1955]

Earliest is probably 11:00 AM for a business or civic lunchtime event. Church was routinely 9:00 start for many years. Bar and brewery gigs typically start at 7:00 to as late as 8:30 and finish between 10:00 and midnight.

 

[Ostie]

My band mates wanted me to play an 8am gig at a farmers market. I told them they could do it without me or get a sub, but I wasn’t getting up at 7am for a bunch of carrots and a couple of cucumbers.

 

[Lava]

When I was a younger lad:
7 am-ish for pre bowl game events.
3 am-ish after party gigs.

 

[djmay]

Every year my big band plays at the biggest ball in Europe. We play 2-5am.

 

[LordRyan]

In 1971 I played a lounge in Sparks, NV. We played six nights a week. On Friday and Saturday we played from 9 PM to 6 AM. We got longer breaks but still had to be there the whole time.