josie Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 A friend asked this on Twitter but got only my reply, so I thought I'd ask here. I'd been working on the setlist for a 45-minute gig, so I knew our answer (as a 5-piece blues band, with lots of instrumental solos, and not much patter between songs) - 9 or 10 songs, depending on whether we include our 10-minute version of Stormy Monday. (If our excellent occasional guest guitarist is there, make that 8 or 9.) It will depend on the genre - the answer could be 15 for a punk band or 1 for a Grateful Dead tribute! - I'd be interested to hear from others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steantval Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Anywhere between 10 and 12 songs. 10 minute version of Stormy Monday personally far too long, but each to their own. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 We used to plan for 9 songs a set in our Blues/Soul/R&B band. Having 2 guitarists and good arrangements helped. Even 30 seconds of any slow blues makes me want to leave. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 Having gone from a prog rock covers band to a 80s cover band, anything between 2 and 15. Generally, 11-13. Rather fewer for the prog tribute band I'm in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 In traditional grind-core setting, exactly 45 songs. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len_derby Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 10-12 with a bit of chat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 Depends on the band. The Ramones would probably have done close to 20 songs live in 45 minutes, Led Zep at their most bloated maybe 3 or 4 (less if one of them was the interminable 20 minute + live version of 'Dazed and Confused'.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinnDave Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 7 hours ago, josie said: It will depend on the genre - the answer could be 15 for a punk band or 1 for a Grateful Dead tribute! - I'd be interested to hear from others. We (the Grateful Dudes - a Dead tribute band) usually do between 8 and 10 songs per set - for every 20 minute plus 'Dark Star' or 'Playing in the Band' there will be several 3 minute blues/country songs. Our sets are usually around an hour for the first, and about an hour and a half for the second. Usually no gaps or banter between songs unless we need to tune, we make sure we can smoothly transition from one number to another with no breaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Nada Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 My surf/instrumental band does in 14 "songs" in 45 mins. A typical gig is 28 songs, plus one or two encores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 Unless you are playing popular covers, or as an originals band have at least an album's worth of well known material, or have a wildly entertain stage show, 45 minutes is too long. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Smalls Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 We're normally asked to do a 45 minute set, or 1/2 hour if we're first on a bill of 3 or more... Which is 10 songs ranging from 2-6 minutes with only a tiny bit of chat in between. We run 2x2 of them together with just bass feedback to cover the drummer changing the bpm on his metronome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naxos10 Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 As a covers band playing 60's to 2000's music our 45 minute set list comprises of around 16 songs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barking Spiders Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 About 40 if it's Napalm Death 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikel Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 For a Yes tribute band...2. For a Ramones tribute, about 40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 10 to 12 - adrenaline has a nasty habit of making the set a lot quicker on the gig than in the rehearsal room! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoRhino Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 Eleven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 (edited) Just checked. The last cover band gig I did we had 32 songs in the list. That's 16 songs a set, with not a lot of waffle in between,. Some were extras, so we probably played about 12 of them. Edited April 18, 2019 by chris_b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteb Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 When I was in a blues band playing a bar at a festival in Dundee, as we finished our set the landlord said he would pay us an £175 on top of our fee if we could do an extra 45 minutes. We did another 3 songs and played for a hour and 15 minutes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low End Bee Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 2 hours ago, BigRedX said: Unless you are playing popular covers, or as an originals band have at least an album's worth of well known material, or have a wildly entertain stage show, 45 minutes is too long. I used to really enjoy 30 minute sets. You can go full steam ahead. Cut the chat and hopefully have left people wanting more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 The last few Terrortones sets were 10-12 songs and last somewhere between 30 and 35 minutes, depending on which songs we'd picked and how much faster we played them compared to the recorded versions. 42 minutes ago, Low End Bee said: I used to really enjoy 30 minute sets. You can go full steam ahead. Cut the chat and hopefully have left people wanting more. Exactly this. I would always want to have the audience wanting more instead of thinking we had outstayed our welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteb Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 It depends on what the gig is. If you are playing original rock music to a new audience, you may want to play a short set packed with your best material to make the maximum impact and finish before you outstay your welcome. If you are playing to a blues crowd you might want to extend the songs and play a bit longer. A typical covers pub gig to a crowd that have come to see a band is generally 2x45 plus an encore, whereas a venue with a constantly changing clientele moving from one bat to another may want three one-hour sets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 10 - 13, depending on the songs of course, seems to fill out our sets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 4 hours ago, Len_derby said: 10-12 with a bit of chat. Chat? Surely nothing more than "Hello Cleveland!" is needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Barking Spiders said: About 40 if it's Napalm Death So few? "You Suffer" is 3 seconds long, so they could probably squeeze in about 700 songs if they eke them out a bit. Edited April 18, 2019 by Crusoe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stingray5 Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 45 minute set: The Prog outfit - 5 songs (if we're careful) The Jazz outfit - 7 or 8 songs (if we don't waffle) The covers outfit - 10 to 12 songs (if we end on time! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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