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How long are your HCs?
#1
So finally we have been able to fix two dates with hosts, hooray Smile 
As luck would have it on the same weekend end of march. 


I'm putting together a setlist (and will print it for the audience like benallfree suggested) and I wonder how many songs would be best. 
When we play all our best songs we would have about 60 minutes music - banter ect. not included. I'm not sure if this is too long or alright. I'd rather have them begging for more than becoming bored. 

I would be interested to know how long your HCs are!
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#2
In my own modest experience as both a performer and an audience member, I'm going to say 60-75 minutes. And more on the shorter end if you're solo with a guitar.

While you want everyone to feel like the show was a singular experience in their lives, there will undoubtedly be varying levels of engagement and I think only the most truly dedicated or blown away don't start getting at least a little antsy in a pure "listening room" environment, over an hour.

And if you're going a little shorter than you would ideally like, the worst that can happen is you leave them wanting more!
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#3
Congrats on your house concert bookings, Katja! You know I'm a big fan of "leave them wanting more." I try to make my sets last about an hour, including talk between songs. On our tour last summer, I think my set was running about 65 minutes, and I think it might have been about 5 minutes too long. Haha! GOOD LUCK at your shows! Please come back and give us a report about how they went!
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#4
I'm moving this thread to the new "Showtime!" sub-forum that we just created to house show-specific posts like this. Thanks for the great topic!
--
jamie hill
shannon's husband & partner in crime
co-inventor of the house concert model & co-author of the book
which is why i reply so often on here
i produce, mix, & master records
you can hear my work at  deptofenergymgmt.com/work
Tacoma, WA, USA
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#5
I just finished the book (Loved it Shannon! Thanks for making that great resource!) and I'm facing the same question. Most of the club shows I've played have been a part of multiple band bills so I aim to play a 5-6 song set always. This feels a little short if I'm the only performer, but I don't really want to challenge an audience's attention span much beyond that since they won't know any of my music ahead of time. Thoughts on a 30 minute set being too short?
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#6
(01 Feb 2018, 06:40 PM)thharbin Wrote: I just finished the book (Loved it Shannon! Thanks for making that great resource!) and I'm facing the same question. Most of the club shows I've played have been a part of multiple band bills so I aim to play a 5-6 song set always. This feels a little short if I'm the only performer, but I don't really want to challenge an audience's attention span much beyond that since they won't know any of my music ahead of time. Thoughts on a 30 minute set being too short?

Hi TH! Welcome. My thought on this is that yeah, 30 minutes is too short. It's hard to take people on a journey in 30 minutes. It's not un-doable! But I question whether it would affect your income negatively. You're not giving people a substantial experience in 30 minutes; it's more like a snack. 

Most people don't know Shannon's material ahead of time either. That's not really the point. You don't know the plot of a movie before you go see it; being surprised by the journey and discovering new things is part of what makes it exciting and fun.

Interested to hear other people's thoughts on this as well.
--
jamie hill
shannon's husband & partner in crime
co-inventor of the house concert model & co-author of the book
which is why i reply so often on here
i produce, mix, & master records
you can hear my work at  deptofenergymgmt.com/work
Tacoma, WA, USA
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#7
(09 Feb 2018, 03:11 PM)jamie Wrote:
(01 Feb 2018, 06:40 PM)thharbin Wrote: I just finished the book (Loved it Shannon! Thanks for making that great resource!) and I'm facing the same question. Most of the club shows I've played have been a part of multiple band bills so I aim to play a 5-6 song set always. This feels a little short if I'm the only performer, but I don't really want to challenge an audience's attention span much beyond that since they won't know any of my music ahead of time. Thoughts on a 30 minute set being too short?

Hi TH! Welcome. My thought on this is that yeah, 30 minutes is too short. It's hard to take people on a journey in 30 minutes. It's not un-doable! But I question whether it would affect your income negatively. You're not giving people a substantial experience in 30 minutes; it's more like a snack. 

Most people don't know Shannon's material ahead of time either. That's not really the point. You don't know the plot of a movie before you go see it; being surprised by the journey and discovering new things is part of what makes it exciting and fun.

Interested to hear other people's thoughts on this as well.

The movie analogy is an interesting point!
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