The Steel Guitar Forum

I used to play 5 hour gigs when I was young. There was even a year when I played 6 hours a night, 6 nights a week. Hard to imagine that now. But for most of my career, it was 4 50 minute sets with 15 minute breaks - a 4-hour gig. In recent years, most of my gigs were 3 hours.

What's your preference? Mine is 2 hours now. Anything more than that feels too much like work.

3 hours, 2 sets.

3 hours is common in central Florida.

My preferred is 3 hours with (1) 20 min. break. However, we sometimes do 4 hour gigs with a 15 minute break every hour.
Those are not too bad.

I did 5 hours for a lot of years when I was younger in the Dallas, Fort Worth area. Typically 45 on, 15 off. A lot of times it was three or four nights in a row in one club.

When I moved to Austin in the 90's it was four hours for most bars, and always one night.

The last few years I've been playing with a singer/songwriter who does originals only. His gigs are sometimes 3 hours with a couple of sets, but there are a lot of 90 min or 2 hour shows in listening rooms, and it's one long set. That's actually my favorite. No breaks, come in and play for a couple of hours max, then tear down and head home.

Roy +1

Although these days,I’d take anything.

One band I was in did an hour on, 20 minutes off. Ended up three one-hour sets, with a half-hour at the end.The hour set was long enough to dig into the setlist and get all warmed up, the 20 minute break was long enough to hit the head, have a smoke, and talk with the customers. 9:00 to 1:30 bar gigs just flew by!

The group I work with does County Fairs and Festivals. We play two hours with no breaks for $800.00. $125.00 each.

Even as a young buck, that 4th hour of a 9 to 1 gig was sometimes a little tough...depending on the day at the regular job of course. I’d prefer 3 hour max...BUT if it’s a good venue/crowd, keep on a’pickin’!

I prefer to play one set, as in a concert. 90 minutes is my idea of a perfect length.

From the mid '60s through the early '90s, the "standard" bar gig in my neck of the woods was five 40 minute sets with a 20 minute break, and I did thousands of those. A standard dance at the "animal clubs" was four 40 minute sets. I really prefer a 4 or 5 hour gig.

After hauling all that crap around and settin' it up, 'ya might as well sit a spell.

lately, last several years all gigs have been 2 to 3 hours max . We do not take breaks normally but if a player wanted to sit a out a tune or two and go to the rest room, no big deal. Plus as an old guy now, I sit on a stool , all gigs , if I am not on Steel. I would rather play than watch people leave ! We do not play bars anymore, they are festivals, private clubs , coffee houses etc, the audience is older.

Due to Covid, we're doing mostly three hours, three sets. During "normal" times it's four & four. Living in Florida, with the great number of seniors, the latest we play until is 11pm on a four hour gig. We had to cancel one recently because of the virus. There were 30 positive cases reported in that lodge. We're okay.

We usually do the 3 hours. It can vary by the venue. I would rather play 1.5 hours then take a break and play the final 1.5. But as Tony said, the crowd can grow restless and leave.

Usually we are supposed to fill a 4 hr time slot.
2 -1 hour and fifteen minute sets with short breaks,then a short set of sing- alongs for the die hards that stay till closing.
I complain but i miss it.

In the 80's,I played a large club gig in Chattanooga Tn for a couple years. I lived about an hour away, and did 9-3 Wednesday thru Sunday. We had practice on Tuesday. Country and dancing was big still. Now its' between 3 and 4--45 min sets.(thats when we DO get to play) Most of it is private stuff. It was rough, but I miss the old club days.

My band and a few 100 musicians played 8 hours (9pm-5am) 6-7 nites a week in Alaska during the 1970-1990 pipeline era...when our band went to Vegas and LA during those days we barely got warmed up playing 3 hours a nite alternating with DJs... I’m still Up for 4-5 hours a nite when / if the clubs Reopen..at 77 YO the playing Is OK but the set up/tear down is a PITA!! We are starting to get 3 hours a nite as the Hawaiian resorts reopen ....smaller bands to get the distancing on the bandstand legal!! Larry

At my age I’m happy to still be able to play, make $100, have fun and fellowship with my friends. Staying up late to play doesn’t bother me, I usually don’t get to bed before 2or3 am anyway. My amps and guitars are getting heavier, but I’m able to manhandle them still.

I heard in the DFW area back in the "Good Old Days'. clubs might have four bands a day. They would have morning, afternoon, night and late night bands. Darrell McCall has talked about doing three gigs a day I believe. He did it because he said he liked to eat sandwiches. Jobs didn't pay much pay then.

I’m for either a 90 minute set or 2 hours with a very brief intermission.
Pete

Back in my younger days I use to play 4 to 5 hours a night. Some times 3 and 4 nights a week. I soon learned not to take gigs like that if I wanted to keep my day job. I am retired now from my day job and have finally checked off one of my things on my Bucket List. I took the job at the Ozark Mountain Hoe Down Theater in Eureka Springs, Ark. Mike Nichols and I go back close to 30 years working with each other on the road. When he needed a steel guitar he would call me. If I wasn't busy I would go where he was. Didn't matter where. He's just that kind of guy to work with. We have a two act show lasting about an hour per set with a short intermission. I love what I do and am so blessed to be able to work with the crew that I share the stage with.

Larry Allen wrote:My band and a few 100 musicians played 8 hours (9pm-5am) 6-7 nites a week in Alaska during the 1970-1990 pipeline era...when our band went to Vegas and LA during those days we barely got warmed up playing 3 hours a nite alternating with DJs... I’m still Up for 4-5 hours a nite when / if the clubs Reopen..at 77 YO the playing Is OK but the set up/tear down is a PITA!! We are starting to get 3 hours a nite as the Hawaiian resorts reopen ....smaller bands to get the distancing on the bandstand legal!! Larry

I wonder what Larry and other people's experience was...whether played extremely long hours every day improved your playing dramatically or you just reached a plateau and the playing was just repetitive?

Aloha Darrell, we had lots of amazing players and bands then...clubs were packed..I worked at the Anchorage Gold Rush Hotel with a 7 piece for 11 years, always packed 400+. Wild times...playing was always great, trying to keep the band together and sober from 8:30pm-5:00pm was the only challenge! In Anchorage there were 120+ union clubs and 80 non-union...we also had the Air Force and Army bands to draw from..most clubs then had a B3 on stage..we copped the top 40’s and of course there were the repetitive requests..lots of $100 tips...when the pipeline was over, it was over!...the union went from 800+ to 40 in 1992.....it was great!!!

I started going to clubs around 1975, somewhere close to 1980 I remember when almost all the clubs changed from playing from Monday to Saturday night and began playing Tuesday to Saturday. I knew something had changed.

And I lived in North Texas/DFW area around 1980. I had a friend who was interested in guitars and we would just get in a car and drive until we saw a neon sign that said Country music, it was just unreal how many great steel and guitar players we saw at random. And the older the cars in the parking lot and the more pickups the better the music. If you saw trucks that had racks for pipes etc. the music was the best.