Squeeze in one more song

[LowActionHero]

If you want to stand out, don't be like the other bands that all go over, (no big deal...?)

That said, it IS tough to save your best for last and still trim what you need to to fit in the time slot. But if you can pull it off...
You might be the first warmup band that DIDN'T give management a headache

 

[JRA]

Play for the amount of time you're contracted for.

Plan your set to the minute. Plan on being done a couple minutes early.

am friends with guys in the main act

irrelevant!

 

[mrcbass]

Play by the rules if you want to continue getting these opportunities.

Set your list o be finished a little early, but have an encore or two in hand incase the event wants you to stretch it out.

 

[lfmn16]

Apparently...

Whenever I read people here talking about written contracts, I chuckle.

+1

A contract is only as good as the person that signs it. I remember a friend who had a contract for a job and didn't get paid. He took the club to court (club manager didn't show the first time) and won the judgement. On the way out the door, the club manager says, "Screw you, I'm still not paying." Unless it's for huge money, it's not worth taking someone to court. By the time you factor in time, aggravation and the fact that you still might not get paid, it's just not worth it.

 

[edencab]

given the venue, it is a festival and type of gig that you are getting paid for?... I vote #1 and this from member ahc above :

"Play for the amount of time you're contracted for. If your time expires in the middle of a song, finish that song (assuming it's not the "War of 1812 Overture"). Don't start another song unless you're asked to by the management."

different situation altogether , but
we opened for a Tragically Hip cover band at a 1 night gig in a bar.....we were doing it for fun and no money.....they were late as their git player locked his keys in the trunk of his car (I know , right?).....this messed up our sound check so yeah we went over a bit AND squeezed in an extra song

 

[LuckyScott]

Good to have a song or two in your pocket in case the guy in charge wants you to go over time and play a couple more. Sometimes they want you to stretch your set to cover for some kind of unexpected delay.
However, never go over the allotted time unless the guy in charge asks you to. I have been in situations where the organizer actually came up on stage and stopped the band in the middle of a song for going over. It is awkward and embarrassing and never looks good. It makes the band look like they don't know what they are doing and the last impression the crowd gets is that your band is a bunch of non pros.
Way better to end on time, or a minute or two early, with a strong song at the end. Spend the extra minute thanking the crowd and the venue, plugging your website, and repeating the name of your band.

 

[ArtechnikA]

Way better to end on time, or a minute or two early, with a strong song at the end.

Exactly, which is why the question itself exposes deeper issues.
If the last song is optional, it is obviously not your big-finish show-closer.'
Always end strong.
The next-to-the-last song can be optional.

 

[ElGoodo]

Play by the rules if you want to continue getting these opportunities.

Set your list o be finished a little early, but have an encore or two in hand incase the event wants you to stretch it out.

^This


I guess I am in the majority here. Get in. Do your job (and kill it!). Get off the stage on time so the next act can do their thing.

I have been on the receiving end of "that band" that goes way over and takes f o r e v e r to tear down. 45 minutes later, the place is almost empty and you get to enjoy a "practice gig."

Don't be "that band."

 

[Bunk McNulty]

Slightly off-topic, but possibly relevant: We play exactly two multi-band festivals a year. One is run by some old friends, the other by a local charity. Neither has any idea how to run a show like this, and everything runs late, sometimes hours late. This year, we were supposed to play at 4 pm for one of them, ended up going on at 6 pm, then got rained on to add insult to injury. I consider myself reasonably open-minded about these situations, but that doesn't mean I ever want to get involved in one of them again. I'm going to start lobbying now to skip both in 2019.

Regarding the original post: Get on, do your thing, get off. All the reasons for doing this have been enumerated already, and I agree with all of them. What I would say to your BL is "You've got a good thing here. Don't be greedy. You want to take advantage of the situation? Show everybody what a pro you are."

 

[TeamScorpioRI]

Don't go over... leave the crowd wanting more.

 

[marmadaddy]

It fails the risk/reward test.

Seriously, what's to be gained compared to what you can lose? The BL needs to check their ego and do the job they agreed to do.

 

[Dr. Love]

I was on a 4th of July festival that was running behind. The stage organizers asked every band to cut the set short by 5min to bring it back on schedule. Not an unreasonable thing I thought, that basically dropping one song from the set. When time was up on the group before us, they announced they would do "one more" and played the rest of their set by running several songs together without stopping and took up most of our time slot. To add insult, they laughed about it to us as they left the stage. Unless it's your show, don't go over.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

It depends on the venue. With a large venue, you want to not go over. That's cutting into the headliner's time. There are noise ordinances that the venue is worried about - if you go over, then it's more likely that the headliner will go over. Here, we have a thousand dollars per minute fine that can be assessed. And, the venues generally like to stay within the local guidelines so that when they want to expand or whatever, there isn't a huge crowd complaining about all the times they've gone over. If there is a clock on the side of the stage, stay within your allotted time. Don't go over.

 

[catcauphonic]

If you're a warm-up act I seriously doubt you're going to be allowed to get within 50 feet of any big name headliner. And it likely won't go over too well with the headliner's or the venue's management if you try to. The few times I played similar gigs we were told up front in no uncertain terms by the venue management to keep our distance from the headliner and his/her band. It was basically: (1) Know your place. (2) Don't pester anybody. (3) Speak only when spoken to.(4) Play, get off the stage, and then get lost.

I'd also predict the sound guy isn't going to want to discuss anything like that with you because it isn't his call.

Perhaps you and the OP are coming from a bigger league, but the headliner bands we're playing WITH are just a notch or two above us (and often in bars or smaller clubs they prefer to play the sweet spot ~ 2nd of 3 bands.)

The OP didn't say if this is a festival with a popular local talent being the headliner, but yea... i agree in this case that size does matter. You're not likely to get within 50 feet of Dave Grohl with the Foo Fighters, but Krist Novaselic sure was nice and made it a point to talk to us before and after we opened for them with their recently started band Giants In The Trees. And good luck getting anywhere near that Kurt Cobain feller in this lifetime

 

[40Hz]

Krist Novaselic sure was nice and made it a point to talk to us before and after we opened for them with their recently started band Giants In The Trees.

Oh I'm not saying they all act like aristocracy. Many times the road managers and venues are far more insane about not bugging the stars than the stars themselves are about it. I've run into both good and bad big names. Usually nobody will have a problem if Ron Wood or similar decides to walk over and strike up a conversation with a local. It's when the local takes it upon himself that theres sometimes some blowback. So when in doubt, be discreet.

 

[RicPlaya]

I don't understand the rationale. What would be the purpose of cramming in one more song?

Is that one song going to make the gig that much better? Only thing that will happen is that you won't be invited back.

 

[jonathanhughes]

Stick to the schedule. I saw Jeff Beck a couple weeks ago. Ann Wilson was the opener. her set was PRECISELY one hour long (and she started one minute early!). Jeff Beck played JUST under 90 minutes. If they can do it, you can, too. No one in the audience is going to be impressed if you play ONE MORE song. A lot of people will be annoyed if you go over your allotted time.

 

[Slough Feg Bass]

I will usually talk to the stage manager before the set, and request a 10 minute warning signal to which we will both agree on.

Many stages with festival action usually have a large clock somewhere on the stage and you are supposed to know what time you are supposed to be OFF the stage.

Again, I will check with the stage manager and verify that those times are correct, especially if other bands are going over their times.

on a fest I did this summer with my surf band, the stage manager was upset with other bands for blowing the schedule out of whack. I offered to cut our set from 1 hr down to 45 min to help things flow along. Dude said, "You do that and next year you will be direct support."

So we cut two songs, shortened the jam parts a little and now have a good relationship with someone who is deeply connected to this festival.

 

[2112]

Support bands should always:

1. Strive to start a minute or two early and end a few minutes early.

2. Be flexible... sometimes things come up that cause last-minute changes to the event schedule. Be ready to add (less likely) or subtract (more likely) songs from your setlist on the fly to accommodate this.

3. If you have to stop due to an equipment problem, you don't get to play your setlist as intended. You have to subtract songs out to account for the lost time so that you stay on-schedule.

You are not entitled to play a list of songs you come in with... you are entitled to play for a certain amount of time that may or may not change at the last minute. Live within those terms and don't be "that band".

 

[P-oddz]

Don't. Be. That. Band.