Phatty's Question: Gig Stamina

[Big Poppa]

Phatty asked Ray and Jack how they could play so many sets...It was interesting and I thought rather than bury it in Ray's new baby thread that I would recreate it and let it go....
Phatty posted:

ya know.. i dont wanna get OT here but seriously... how do you guys play such long sets? or even multiple sets...

after 1 set im done with .... you cant even talk to me for 30 minutes after i get off stage cuz im so tired. 1 hour, 20 songs... bye bye.

rock on.

Then jack responded:
It's the reality of the bar band, Arin.

We played a long one Saturday night, 9 pm - 1 am, that's what the bars expect and it's generally what we do.

Our band has been spoiled lately with playing showcases and festivals and that sort of thing and we can burn it down for an hour, hour and a half, but the three or four hour bar gig is the norm.

How do we do it?

We drink

Bp said:

I usually show up in the second set and my chops leave somewhere in the third.

Arin, this is where live music has changed. You kids do "shows" us diaper wearing know it alls play "gigs".

Gettng ready for gigs used to entail a lot of practice and jamming. I grew up playing 60's stuff, beatles, stones, then came zeppelin, cream, hendrix, then drifted in allman bros, always tons of white orange country blues, shuffles, to some progessive stuff (even had a bowie cover band when Zuggy Stardust came out) Always at the same time loved western swing and outlaw country. That is the foundation of my playing the genetics so to speak.

I used to put so much into it that my fingers bled...I have pictures somewhere with Steve Morse and Big Al in Japan with the three of us playing in some Japanese club with Blood dripping off my pickguard. Over the years I figured it out a little better thanks to John Ferraro, ( who is the most underated musician I know) He taught me to control my breathing, and tension control, and to stay a little more in the present.

At the Dallas Bash watch him closely...no matter how hard driving the music is he is loose and in control. I watch a lot of punk bands and it reminds me of myself 30 years ago, Think of a carpenter and watch how he swings the hammer.....loose baby, us hobbiest carpenters swing the hammer really stiff using every muscle possible. You can play the same stuff and more if you take the tension out. My attack is still probably a little harder than most and I tend to drive the bass rather than sit in the back beat....My playing is really a reflection of my personality and experience and musical upbringing now. I haven't played a full gig in six months but can go out and play for four hours and its like riding a bike. (I just fall off more these days)

Ray sorry for the Hi jack this probably should be cut and pasted into a new thread.

By the way Aussie mark pointed out the the international standard for cover bands s three or four sets.

 

[SteveB]

When I played in cover bands, it was typically 3 sets with one decent break (maybe 30 mins) and a second, short break (15 min). You had to have about 3 hours worth of material to play.

My current band plays all original stuff, so we do a little over 2 hours with maybe a 5 or 10 minute break. It's hard to land a gig in this town playing all originals. I know the punk bands do shows where 3 to 10 bands play in one night. I've never been to one of those shows but I see their posters all the time.

We haven't done any gigs as an opening act, but I wouldn't be opposed to such a gig. We've just been lucky to find the occasional gig where we can do our thing.

Our weekly reheasals are 3 to 4 hours typically.

 

[adouglas]

Great words BP.

Back when I was a beginner I put WAY too much effort into playing and I'd get serious muscle cramps...forearm, hands...bad enough to stop me dead in my tracks. I used to think it was because I had a crappy bass with high action, but I know now that it was mostly because I was way too tense.

Now I'm loose and relaxed and can play for hours and hours.

My band also is able to play for four hours...

 

[The Cappy]

When I was in college we played twice a week at different bars. The time was from 9-1:30 the only breaks we took were for the vocalist. The band was only the guitar/singer and me so I was always ready to go. Its amazing what a buzz can make you think you can do. The next moring I could barley hold a pen to take notes but it was college and nobody really takes notes, so it was ok.

 

[Mobay45]

The band that I'm in right now usually plays gigs that are 4 - 4 1/2 hours. We will take a couple of breaks during that period. It had been a long time since I had played those kind of gigs when I got with this band last year. It was just after the SLO open house. Now I'm used to it, but I don't drink very much at all. Maybe 2 or 3 beers over the entire evening including what I drink with dinner.

 

[Bill]

I posted this in the other thread, but I deleted it & put it here instead.

My rock/variety band does the standard 4-hour gig & I love it! That 4 hours flies by in a heartbeat.

Now those 3-hour Cajun gigs when I'm playing fiddle seem to drag on forever!

 

[lenny]

Quote:
Originally Posted by phatduckk View Post
ya know.. i dont wanna get OT here but seriously... how do you guys play such long sets? or even multiple sets...

after 1 set im done with .... you cant even talk to me for 30 minutes after i get off stage cuz im so tired. 1 hour, 20 songs... bye bye.

rock on.

nice bass!!! congrats Ray




Wow things must be different in the states here in Canada there are 3 types of gigs

Bars-10pm-2am -3 -1 hour sets 2 -1/2 hour breaks=4 hours usualy $600.00
Legion/private company Dances -9pm-1am Same thing 3 sets 1 hour long plus 2 breaks =4 hours $600.00
and Caberets wich are open until 3am so we play 11-12am and then 2am-3am
so 2 -1 hour sets and usually we get $1000.00 plus a ryder which is a 24 of beer plus 2 hotel rooms and a free meal

 

[midopa]

Well keep in mind... punk rock songs really aren't that long, right? hehehe... I say that in jest.

 

[corrosiontrav]

I posted one of my bands songlists here on the forum for my other band 'A Band for the Deaf' My other 80's hard rock band is alittle harder on me and my hard/rock/metal/blues trio I do is REALLY hard to maintain for 4 hours.



I listened to way too much Geezer Butler when I was young and really afffected my attack, and I really didn't notice it until I was about 21 and got in a cover band with a bunch of 30-somethings and realized that I was playing way to hard and it was somewhat out of place now that I wasn't playing original metal, that and moving into the world of Jazz had something to do with it.

Now, I'm a very rounded player and keep my stamina up and if I have to I can adjust my attack and style without the performance suffering.

 

[AnthonyD]

I don't gig regularly, but our regular "gigs" are always in the 3-hours of music range, split by a couple of 15-30 minute breaks.

Never thought of myself being worn by the duration, though truth be known my two 50+ guitarists manage to keep our set-lists packed with softer/lighter stuff - three hoppin' tunes in a row is a lot to ask of them.

 

[Jason Hebert]

I play in church, so we usually never got more than a 45 minute practice, 15 minute break, then 30-45 minutes before service. When we have a special practice they usually go about 2 hours. I'd love to play more.

 

[Caca de Kick]

It's funny how locations treat or dictate music types. When I lived on the central coast in Cal (Santa Barbara to SLO) no one wanted to hear original bands, everyone one wanted familiar covers. But here in Seattle it's original band central, the crowds pack clubs to hear new stuff, I love it.

But with that said, also to me, affects gig stamina...
Playing in an original band, you most definitely have to put on a 'show'. Much more movement, activity, antics or whatever, and that takes more out of me. A typical 'show' is an hour, and we're exhausted.
When I played in country and cover bands, I'm way more layed back, I can play 4-5 hour nights.

 

[Morrow]

Sometimes do a Sat matinee ( 4:00 to 8 :00 ) and then zip around the corner and do 9:30 - !:30. Two different bands so I don't mind the hours.

I don't drink anything other than coke or water at the matinee and do not have a beer untill the first evening set is over . Second beer during the break before the last set.

that's it. ( my wife is my insurance agent )

 

[phatduckk]

this is facinating to me. im in a different world... i play punk. our shows usually have a 3-5 bands on the lineup. most of the time they dont even let us play over 45 minutes or so even if we could or wanted to. quite often the sound guy will say "last song guys" in our monitors... when we hear that it essentially means that my band has a 10 second powow to decide what 2 songs to run into eachother in order to get around the "1 last song" thing.

i guess playing fast is another thing. most of our songs are fast. i like what BP said about keeping loose. i think i do an ok job at that... i regularly advize my buddy Adam to "chill out" when he plays. does this mean that im always cool n loose? na... but i do try to be. its way easier at home then during a gig when there's energy flowing and you're all in to it.

its a different world. obviously neither is better ... just different. i do get jealous that "you" guys know so many songs and can get together and jam. honestly, its not even the kind of stuff i listen to.

anywho. its pretty sweet that you guys have nice, steady and fun gigs. i am honestly jealous. doing punk rock in san francisco is tough. in my experience the general outlook on punk here is "i grew out of that". so its tough, but i love it so ill keep doing it.

thanks for the stories guys. i appreciate it

 

[phatduckk]

ps: we get pretty drunk too. LoL

a lot of times we go on around 11 something but have to get to the venue pretty early (like 8, maybe before - pretty standard). so most gigs we sit there and think "hmm, we're not on for 3 hours, we have to be here, and they have a bar... what should we do?"

 

[RitchieDarling]

Here's a good one. Local unrehearsed middle-aged white man "blues" is the norm around here!

I had a friend call me and ask if I would come see his band in Prescott, Arizona.

So, I drove into town, found the bar, got a beer, and sat down.

Straight up 9:00pm. The band comes out. Bass, drums (my pal Scott), keyboards, two guitars, and a sax.

So, off they go. "Pride & Joy" by SRV. And so damned loud one of the monitors vibrated offstage! First guitar takes a solo, second guitar takes a solo, sax takes a solo, first guitar player grabs the harp and blows a solo. Mind you, this is all before the first verse. Ok, first verse. Second verse. Keyboard solo, sax solo, second guitar solo, first guitar solo. Then the break. Harpboy sings second verse over the break, omits entire third verse, adds second break using second verse lyrics again. Then............harp solo, sax solo, guitar solo, big ending.

Total time: 13½ minutes.

Then it's "Born Under A Bad Sign". This time I didn't keep track because my psyche couldn't take it. Ordered a Jameson, then a refill.

Total time: 12 minutes.
Approximate time sax player played signature phrase: 11¼ minutes

Ok, now we are on to "The Sky Is Crying". DEAD SLOW!!
Total time: 8½ minutes. I ordered another Jameson and a fork to stab myself in the eardrum with.

Then 10 minutes of "fast blues in "A" to finish out the set. Double solos all around! Tip your bartender, thank you very much, we'll be right back, blah, blah, blah.......

These guys managed to drag 3 songs and an improv out for an entire set.

Stamina? Not a problem when you aren't really doing anything. And it cuts down on practice time. I decided not to stick around for Set 2. Shook hands, drank up, and hauled ass.

Ritchie

 

[tiffles]

Ja my friends who play originals around town usually only get about 2 hours max. But if ure doing a covers pub thing its an all nighter...i also confess when i go and support i stay for 2 sets play pool and then go do other stuff.

short attention span maybe? bloody generation y. blame it on the xboxes.

 

[oddjob]

My current band is gigging quite a bit (we'll wind up with 50-60 shows this year) and most of them are 10-2. The secret is in the band itself. We have fun (there IS a ton of drinking going on). We don't get rattled by the small things and we pick each other up. BP's bit about the breathing is great - kind of applies here too, we don't get wound up -we don't get tense which means we can occassionally do a 10-3 (like we did last weekend).

 

[Musicman Nut]

Phatty asked Ray and Jack how they could play so many sets...It was interesting and I thought rather than bury it in Ray's new baby thread that I would recreate it and let it go....
Phatty posted:

ya know.. i dont wanna get OT here but seriously... how do you guys play such long sets? or even multiple sets...

after 1 set im done with .... you cant even talk to me for 30 minutes after i get off stage cuz im so tired. 1 hour, 20 songs... bye bye.

rock on.

Then jack responded:
It's the reality of the bar band, Arin.

We played a long one Saturday night, 9 pm - 1 am, that's what the bars expect and it's generally what we do.

Our band has been spoiled lately with playing showcases and festivals and that sort of thing and we can burn it down for an hour, hour and a half, but the three or four hour bar gig is the norm.

How do we do it?

We drink

Bp said:

I usually show up in the second set and my chops leave somewhere in the third.

Arin, this is where live music has changed. You kids do "shows" us diaper wearing know it alls play "gigs".

Gettng ready for gigs used to entail a lot of practice and jamming. I grew up playing 60's stuff, beatles, stones, then came zeppelin, cream, hendrix, then drifted in allman bros, always tons of white orange country blues, shuffles, to some progessive stuff (even had a bowie cover band when Zuggy Stardust came out) Always at the same time loved western swing and outlaw country. That is the foundation of my playing the genetics so to speak.

I used to put so much into it that my fingers bled...I have pictures somewhere with Steve Morse and Big Al in Japan with the three of us playing in some Japanese club with Blood dripping off my pickguard. Over the years I figured it out a little better thanks to John Ferraro, ( who is the most underated musician I know) He taught me to control my breathing, and tension control, and to stay a little more in the present.

At the Dallas Bash watch him closely...no matter how hard driving the music is he is loose and in control. I watch a lot of punk bands and it reminds me of myself 30 years ago, Think of a carpenter and watch how he swings the hammer.....loose baby, us hobbiest carpenters swing the hammer really stiff using every muscle possible. You can play the same stuff and more if you take the tension out. My attack is still probably a little harder than most and I tend to drive the bass rather than sit in the back beat....My playing is really a reflection of my personality and experience and musical upbringing now. I haven't played a full gig in six months but can go out and play for four hours and its like riding a bike. (I just fall off more these days)

Ray sorry for the Hi jack this probably should be cut and pasted into a new thread.

By the way Aussie mark pointed out the the international standard for cover bands s three or four sets.

I come from a Back ground of Jamming for hours and hours on end, The in Nashville doing 3 gigs a day most of them one 15 minute break in 4 hours that's just the was it was.
But now a days kids don't jam like we used to, its play a few tunes and lets get a record deal, so i can see after 20 songs their done.

 

[Caca de Kick]

phatduck,

It's the same thing here too. Since all I do are originals anymore, the clubs usually book 3 to 4 originals bands a night, so we either sit and drink, but usually here in downtown Seattle we club hop and check out the other bands (and drink) to pass the time.