[Harp-L] Re: was setlists now set times

[Michael Easton <diachrome@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Message: 7
> Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 08:33:03 -0400
> From: Ryan Hartt <rhartt1234@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Set Lists - I'll Show You Mine if You Show Me
> 	Yours!
> To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Message-ID: <SNT109-W482DA76639429D1CE9605DC2250@xxxxxxx>
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>
> The discussion of set lengths could be a whole other thread.  I pay  
> attention to it as a listener and player.  We had local smooth jazz  
> group that would play 90 minute to 2 hour sets and then take a short  
> break between.  As long as the band was playing the audience was  
> staying.  When they broke so did some of the audience usually at the  
> peak bar hour.

The last band I was in would sometimes play 90 minute first sets.  As  
long as we didn't take too long of a break most people would stay.   
After the shorter 2nd set people would leave in droves.  It was after  
12am at that point.  Usually the 3rd set was only 20 minutes to 1/2  
hour long and depending on how many locals were there the bar would  
clear out to about 1/4 of the crowd.    I felt the excessively long  
breaks and marathon first sets were contributing to the problem.

Sit-ins are always a sure bet to have people leave unless it's in the  
first set or early in the second set.  The time it takes them to get  
ready on stage seems to be enough time for fans/friends to hit the door.

Now that I'm a co leader in an acoustic act the guitarist and I are  
aware of when the audience starts to migrate and we try to plan the  
breaks based on how long we play and how late.  We do the first break  
early enough that people still want to hang out and be entertained.   
Just 45 minutes with a 15 minute break.  The second set is our longest  
set. The bar is full and we had plenty of time to warm up and wail.   
The  2nd break is only 10 minutes long. We don't want to give people a  
reason to feel bored when the music stops so we keep the break short.   
Our last set is only 1/2 hour long  so we play more mellow and darker  
blues to wind out the evening.  The bar staff likes that we are able  
to keep what crowd there is from exiting too early in the night.

 Ryan wrote:
>     Here is a set list I wrote no too long ago. We usually do two 80  
> minute sets, but we tend to go long on the first set to prolong the  
> post-first set exodus. This is how I wrote it and probably 1/4 of it  
> was substituted or played in a different order or we just didn't get  
> to it.  I also included a very broad descrition of the feel of most  
> of the tunes.

Michael Easton
www.harmonicarepair.com