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

[Rick Davis <bluesharpamps@xxxxxxxxx>]

At a regular 4-hour club date we play three 1-hour+ sets with 20-minute
breaks.

On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 8:37 AM, Michael Easton <diachrome@xxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

>
>
>> 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>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"
>>
>> 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
>
>
>
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-- 
-Rick Davis
The Blues Harp Amps Blog
http://www.bluesharpamps.blogspot.com/