When did cover gigs balloon to 3 hours?

[Pocket Dave]

Ditto, back when I was doing the rock band thing. With maybe 10 minute breaks between sets. Once you factor in set up and tear down, it pretty much took the entire evening / night.

I'm only doing mostly 3-hour time-over-target gigs with exceptions (4 hours last Fri and tomorrow, 2 hours next Sun).

On a 3 hour gig, I'm doing 20 minutes on the front and back end with loadin/setup and teardown/loadout + an hour drive on the front and back + 20 minutes ea at home loading and unloading. Then there's the 45 minutes of warmup/woodshed before loading up and heading to the gig.

7 hours is about right.

 

[Altitude]

Cover band gigs have been 3 hours (ish) as long as I can remember. And what would be the advantage of booking multiple cover bands in one night? Why go through the switch hassle; just book the one band and have them play familiar songs all night.

 

[MegaSwing]

IME, gigs have gone from 4 hrs/4 sets to 3 hrs/3 sets. Lately, I’ve been playing 3 hrs/2 sets more often. Haven’t been required to play until 1am for awhile now. Those were the days.

 

[turf3]

So, I've been doing the church gig stuff for years, so I've been out of the loop. When did the cover band set expand to 3 hours? It used to be an hour and have two or three bands. I'm a glutton for punishment, apparently, because I've got two different bands with two different three hour sets, playing lead guitar on one and bass on the other.

The bass gig they eventually want me playing upright on a few of the songs, and thankfully the keyboardist owns one he'll let me borrow. But I've only screwed around on one that happened to be around, no real performance experience there.

I've got my work cut out for me. Oh, yeah, full time job, kids, and all the accoutrements that come along with that, too.

Huh?

At least 90% of all the various bar type gigs I've played were at least 3 hours, 3 sets. Been playing those kinds of gigs since 1979.

Two or three bands in an hour? No, that's not a "cover band gig", that's a "showcase" or "pay to play".

 

[turf3]

As far as "when", at least back to the 1920s when the standard gig was 10-2 with potential after hours playing. ("Last call for alcohol!")

 

[duderasta]

we do about a 50 / 50 mix of 3 and 4 hour gigs. the price is adjusted accordingly.

 

[DWBass]

Typically 3 1hr. sets. That's always been my experience. I've also done 2 longer sets.

 

[JazznFunk]

While most of the gigs I used to do regularly were 3 hours, we got to pick our breaks. Sometimes we'd play 2 long sets and 1 short final one. Sometimes we'd break them up evenly. 45 on/15 off. Depended on the band. The problem is the pay. Some gigs kept getting pressured to move to 4 hours for the same pay. We were on a good push locally until the pandemic to get some gigs to be 2 hours/2 sets for the same pay as 3 hours, and some places obliged. Most didn't. I started picking quality over quantity. Can't remember the last time I played any gig that went till 1 or 2 am. That just doesn't exist around here anymore, and I'm cool with that.

 

[brianrost]

IME, gigs have gone from 4 hrs/4 sets to 3 hrs/3 sets. Lately, I’ve been playing 3 hrs/2 sets more often. Haven’t been required to play until 1am for awhile now.

That’s also my experience here in New England. 8-11 at places that serve food and 9-12 for the remainder. A few of the 9-12 venues have an extra afternoon show on weekends.

The big change was during COVID when a lot of breweries and farms with outdoor seating were able to stay open and added music to draw people out. Bars followed suit once things opened up again.

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

Here in my city we've got two factors limiting the length of the gig. First is the time when patrons are gathering, for there's no sense to begin our set before that - we'll mostly entertain waiters and bartenders. The second factor is curfew which starts at midnight, so we have to pack our gear and get home before that. This means all gigs end at 10:30 PM, give or take. Start is from 7 to 8 PM. So we either play 2 45 min sets or 3 40 min sets. I'd gladly play more, but it isn't possible at the moment.

 

[superheavyfunk]

Most gig slots around here are 4 hours. 4 sets.
And actually, imo, those 1-2 hour gigs are a pain the arse.

It’s always been 4 hours where I’m from. 10pm-2am, broken into sets obviously.

Very occasionally it could go longer, until 4am, when there’s a special occasion and the venue gets an extended hours permit.

A 1-hour show is super rare… those are only ever at events like a city-run outdoor festival or a private party.

 

[SteveC]

We generally do 3 hour gigs with 2 breaks. That's at bars, private events and weddings. Sometimes they think they want a longer set for weddings but we usually talk them into reality. Sometimes we do 90 minute gigs - like a Christmas Party, but they are almost not worth the work of load in and load out, but we charge accordingly. If we're gonna do all the work of setting up lights and sound, we'd rather play.

 

[turf3]

So, OP, the conclusion is that your premise that cover band gigs were much shorter than 3 hours, back in some hypothetical Golden Age, is incorrect. Things ain't what they never was. Three to four hours is the general standard expectation for a bar, nightclub, etc. gig.

 

[Pocket Dave]

we do about a 50 / 50 mix of 3 and 4 hour gigs. the price is adjusted accordingly.

Guessing you're paid more for 4 hour gigs? Good; I find that extra hour 50% more exhausting.

OTOH, I'm not sure I'd agree with getting paid less for 3 hours; I've still blocked out the night from taking other paying gigs. Fortunately, most 3 hour gigs I do pay better than the 4 hour ones for some reason.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

So, I've been doing the church gig stuff for years, so I've been out of the loop. When did the cover band set expand to 3 hours? It used to be an hour and have two or three bands. I'm a glutton for punishment, apparently, because I've got two different bands with two different three hour sets, playing lead guitar on one and bass on the other.

The bass gig they eventually want me playing upright on a few of the songs, and thankfully the keyboardist owns one he'll let me borrow. But I've only screwed around on one that happened to be around, no real performance experience there.

I've got my work cut out for me. Oh, yeah, full time job, kids, and all the accoutrements that come along with that, too.

Back in the 60’s and 70’s it was 4 45 minute sets 90% of the time. If you think that is brutal, try playing in a circus band….

 

[StereoPlayer]

It’s always been 4 hours where I’m from. 10pm-2am, broken into sets obviously.

Very occasionally it could go longer, until 4am, when there’s a special occasion and the venue gets an extended hours permit.

A 1-hour show is super rare… those are only ever at events like a city-run outdoor festival or a private party.

 

[StereoPlayer]

We're doing a two hour show in a few days...but its a freebie...

 

[J Wilson]

Along the Gulf Coast, I always did five sets a night, 9-2, for as many nights a a week as was booked.

 

[Mike N]

And what would be the advantage of booking multiple cover bands in one night?

The chance of a larger crowd would be one advantage.

 

[Altitude]

The chance of a larger crowd would be one advantage.

I thought of that too. It would be a gamble because you’d also risk losing people in the longer than normal breaks. I suppose if the plan is to bank on each band’s warm market showing up, it would make sense. Seems a little bush league to me.