How many songs to play...

[CraigLennon]

Good morning all!

How many songs do you guys think think is an acceptable length for a solo set list?

Thus far I have only had support slots playing before main bands. I'm looking at getting a few gigs of my own now. I have been able to do it before, but I wanted to make sure I had enough original material so I wasn't just playing a set of covers.

If I was to mix original and my own material how long do you think a set should be.

Feedback welcome.

[Hook]

In my experience it more about the length of the set than about how many songs. A standard gig here in the Tampa area is a 4 hour block & most owners want 4- 45min. sets with 15min. breaks. I always prefer 3- 1 hour sets with  2 half hour breaks, so the # of songs is sort of inconsequential. When I 1st started gigging I didn't have my loop station so I was flying through 20+ songs a set. Once I got the looper I was able to add solo sections layer out auxiliary percussion & back up vocals so I got  it down to a more reasonable 14ish. Talk with the venue & see what they expect.
Rock On!

[henwrench]

Yeah, about 40 - 45 minutes is about right.

[T.C. Elliott]

Usually we get a time slot. In other words they'll tell us 30 minutes or 45 minutes or sometimes more. So you just need enough music to fill that amount. I find that twelve songs = 45 minutes unless you do very short or very long songs. Oh, my advice is to have three extra songs. When nervous or playing on stage I tend to play a bit faster than in the recording room which means I need an extra song or two for the same time slot.

[Farrell Jackson]

Usually we get a time slot. In other words they'll tell us 30 minutes or 45 minutes or sometimes more. So you just need enough music to fill that amount. I find that twelve songs = 45 minutes unless you do very short or very long songs. Oh, my advice is to have three extra songs. When nervous or playing on stage I tend to play a bit faster than in the recording room which means I need an extra song or two for the same time slot.

I totally agree with TC Elliot. Having done this gigging stuff for 35 plus year I find TC's sage advice right on the money!

Farrell

[Blooby]

I do 15 songs (usually in 3-4 song medleys) per 1:20 set.  This usually depends how jammy I get with the looper or if I decide to tease other songs within the medleys.  Our slots are usually 3 hours with one 15 minute break.

I don't have extra songs planned for longer gigs but have an alphabetized book close at hand if we decide on a song I'm not confident in remembering. For shorter gigs or open mics (where I might be trying to get a gig), we play to out strengths have 2-3 extra songs planned just in case.

Blooby

[Flash Harry]

Two 45 minute sets seems to be what pubs expect.