Busy high $$$$ gig here in Cincy. 4 hour time period, either three 1 hr's with 30 min between sets, or (2) 90 Min sets with 20-30 in between for a shorter total time at the club. Club owners are realizing three sets and the club starts to empty after the 2nd set ( usually 9-1, so if the 3rd set starts at 11:30, they've many times lost the crowd) but 2 90's starting at 8;30-8;45, keeps the crowd there till midnight, because the 2nd set starts by ten and continues to 11;30, so the folks are drinkin longer.
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When did cover gigs balloon to 3 hours?
- Thread starter Trevorus
- Start date
D
It was a while ago, but the oppisite, multi band venues wanted all originals. We would sneak in "The Trooper" and got great responses.
It’s been three hours ever since I started gigging. Who puts three cover bands on a bill anyway? Multiband bills in clubs has always been for original material in my experience.
In this area, for a single band the standard seems to be a 3-hour slot, sometimes 2... Bands will typically play 45-50 minute sets with 10-15 minute breaks between them... If there is more than one band, then of course each band won't be playing multiple sets. My main band has a show lined up on Friday evening from 6-9 p.m. We maybe play 75% covers and 25% originals, but we aren't a generic cover band, we do (mostly) instrumentals -- souped-up surf and similar sounds... I think just about all the bands doing this style of music in this region do a combination of covers and originals. Same for rockabilly bands and other vintage-styled bands.
JeezyMcNuggles
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It's been 2-4 hours for cover bands since I can remember. Multiple band slots are for original acts. A couple acts, and the headliner.
4-6 new songs each week is intense. If you read music well, (I don't) that's a big advantage.
As for doing 3, 4, 5 hour sets with 40+ songs, memorizing is just part of the game.
JeezyMcNuggles
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No one has ever learned songs in any church I've been a part of.
You show up 2 hours before service, worship leader shows up a half hour later. Everyone plugs in. They work on vocal mix for 5 - 10 minutes. Worship leader hands you chord charts for 4 or 5 songs. 2 or 3 of those, you guys have never played before. You run through the intros on half of them. You pray out with about 20 minutes to spare before service. You play. You dont play them anything like they're supposed to be, by simply following the worship leader. You sit through service. You come back up for one more song that you don't have a chart for. You pack your bass up, or grab your sticks, and do it again next week.
3 or 4 sets are standard in the DC Metro area. PG county, back in the 70's, could be 6 sets on weekends, but typically 5.
BBB
BBB
When I started, cover gigs were mostly 5 hours, 9 to 2, although we usually finished at 1:30 or 1:40.
I had never done any band or group music before; at my church we have a rotation so when you are up, they assign you a practice and sometimes a day or two before practice they send out the chord charts. we run through the set and take notes on the changes and then you are on your own with practice. Sunday we just get together an hour before service and end up playing through both morning and afternoon services.
Does this seem reasonable? the only issue I am having is that often times the key we are to play in is not something i can find or go listen to - I need to hear a song to really get the spirit of how it should be played. some days they change the key based on a whim and just reissue the charts. Is this just standard practice, or the result of all of us just being volunteers?
For cover bands it is usually 4 or 3 hours, almost never less IME. We're a regular at a bar and we play close to 4 hours. If it is 3 hours it's usually two sets. Original bands get about 45 min to an hour.
Back in the day I used to play for 5 hours even. I played NYE gigs that were over 7 hours.
Back in the day I used to play for 5 hours even. I played NYE gigs that were over 7 hours.
The norm has been 4 hours here (Northern ND/MN borderland) since I started playing in the mid 70s. Typically 9 to 1. One full hour followed by a 15 minute break, and then 45 on, 15 off for the remaining three sets.
These days we are more likely to play 8 to midnight, or 7 to 11. One venue we just started playing does 7 to 10, which is nice because they are an hour away and gets us home at a decent hour despite the distance.
I love playing and singing the stuff we do, so four hours is more fun than two hours for me. It takes us an hour to load in and set up, and an hour to tear down and load out, so to do all that and only play two hours would be a shame. The fun-to-drudgery ratio has to be more than 1 to 1, or it's not really worth it.
The only problem with long gigs is getting home in the wee hours and being wiped out the next day. At 64, I'm not as able to power through a day on little sleep as I was when I was 20. Two late gigs in one weekend and I'm a zombie.
Pay-wise, we are getting around $150-200 per man these days including gas money for those driving longer distances. About what I got in '79 or '80, though it went a lot further back then. We're a 4 piece and do around 30 gigs a year, mostly bars, but a few street dances, country fairs and weeknight summer concert series, the latter two of which are usually 90 to 120 minutes. We started out getting more like 100 per man 7 years ago, but we have developed a bit of a following now and have raised our price, and have not encountered any resistance to the higher price.
These days we are more likely to play 8 to midnight, or 7 to 11. One venue we just started playing does 7 to 10, which is nice because they are an hour away and gets us home at a decent hour despite the distance.
I love playing and singing the stuff we do, so four hours is more fun than two hours for me. It takes us an hour to load in and set up, and an hour to tear down and load out, so to do all that and only play two hours would be a shame. The fun-to-drudgery ratio has to be more than 1 to 1, or it's not really worth it.
The only problem with long gigs is getting home in the wee hours and being wiped out the next day. At 64, I'm not as able to power through a day on little sleep as I was when I was 20. Two late gigs in one weekend and I'm a zombie.
Pay-wise, we are getting around $150-200 per man these days including gas money for those driving longer distances. About what I got in '79 or '80, though it went a lot further back then. We're a 4 piece and do around 30 gigs a year, mostly bars, but a few street dances, country fairs and weeknight summer concert series, the latter two of which are usually 90 to 120 minutes. We started out getting more like 100 per man 7 years ago, but we have developed a bit of a following now and have raised our price, and have not encountered any resistance to the higher price.
Sharing the show with multiple bands is typically a big bother—in stage setup and backstage logistics. And those gigs invariably pay less. My band’s gigs have been going from four hours to three hours over the years. I’m good with that, and the audience still gets a lot of songs.
We do 2 sets in three hours with a 15 minute break, unless otherwise stipulated. so what it usually ends up being is an hour and 15, a 15 minute break, an hour and a half and then we'll do a two song encore if the crowd wants it.
We just emailed to confirm details with someone we had already booked (private party) and they told us "everyone will be there by 8 and then you guys can play until 12, but I'm sure people will want to stay later!"... they weren't trying to be jerks, just excited about their event.
We replied with a diplomatic version of "yeahhhhh that's gonna be a no from me dawg, we'll wrap up at 11" and they were okay with it, but... yeah.
We just emailed to confirm details with someone we had already booked (private party) and they told us "everyone will be there by 8 and then you guys can play until 12, but I'm sure people will want to stay later!"... they weren't trying to be jerks, just excited about their event.
We replied with a diplomatic version of "yeahhhhh that's gonna be a no from me dawg, we'll wrap up at 11" and they were okay with it, but... yeah.
