I been asked to do a 3 hour restaurant gig.

Thing is I never play restaurants. This gig is all instrumentals

on midi accordion and a BK7.

I need advice on the breaks, 3 hours is a long gig.

Frank

I would do one hour than take a 15 min. break, than play two 45 min. sets with 1 min. breaks.

Believe it or not on a 3 "background music" hour gig, sometimes I don't even take a break or just one short break. Good luck.

Sometimes I play for 50 minutes, then take a 10 minute break, but like montunoman, I've seen me play most nights with only one short break (10 minutes), around the middle of the gig.

Time goes quick when you're having fun.

Ian

I try to play as much of the 3 hrs as possible to maximize your tips,....15 minute breaks during dinner is way too long IMO...
I usually play 1 1/2 hrs straight, then take a 5 min break...
and then play the rest of the gig straight thru..... I sing 99% of my songs also.
For a 3 or 4 hr Dinner & Dance that's a different story.

On my long-standing restaurant gigs, I am told to take a break whenever the floor manager wants top turn the crowd. This happens usually on week-ends. People have finished dinner and aren't drinking as much. People with later reservations arrive and their table is not ready.

I take a break until the manager says to go back.

Other than that, I do 1 hour and then take 10-15 minute breaks. Naturally, I adjust that a little. If the set has been devoid of a lot of people and a group shows up in the last 5 minutes, I play longer.

It's all about finding the pulse of the room. And it's also about playing at the correct volume and choosing songs that can be played in a manner that is not to "busy". I call this work playing 2nd fiddle to a ham sandwich (LOL)!


Russ

Thanks guys for the advice,all taken in.

I will use my G70 as well as accordion on the gig.

They dont want any vocals.

Frank

My first set is usually pretty long ... at least an hour to an hour and a half ... then a fairly short break ... I've also gone straight through if the crowd is good ... heck, I do that at home, why not when I'm getting paid?!? ... I feel I get paid for 'setting up' and 'breaking down' ... I would rather be playing than standing around ...
but I know guys who work regularly and it's like 45 min on 15 to 20 min off ... that's not for me ...

I usually can see when the peak hits and I go into my 'money set' and then I don't look at the clock. But generally, I usually plan to go for about an hour then 10 or 15 min potty break.
Ciao,
Jerry

Sure glad I no longer do the restaurant/club scene. I've done all instrumental jobs in the past and after two hours without singing I was ready for the rubber room. When I perform at a local Italian restaurant in Cockeysville, MD it's nearly all vocals, and I don't take a break. I think this varies from venue to venue, and I guess that all instrumentals would require some sort of break for both the performer and the audience.

Gary

I've actually been having a lot of fun at the restaurant gigs I've been playing lately, and looking forward to this Saturday night when I get to play one with a sax/flute/guitar/banjo/harmonica player I've worked with before ... and he plays them all WELL!!! ...and we're BOTH singing ... however, I don't know how much I would enjoy a FULL 3-4 hour instrumental only gig ...
Frank (Mockie), I don't know what your repertoire consists of, but depending on the venue, when you take a break you might want to put on a CD of music quite the opposite of what you are playing ... for example, I have this CD which I often play when (if ) I take a break
http://www.amazon.com/The-Beatles-Guitar-Jack-Jezzro/dp/B000040OUE



Have fun ...

When i was playing live 3 hours was enough time just to warm up, lol,
3 hours is nothing basically, we played up to 4-5 hours without a break
but there was money too, i am talking 2-3000$ tips in 4-5 hours.

$2000 - $3000 in TIPS?!?!? ... where the heck were you working? ... some sheik's family room ... like RUSS ???

I agree, Russell, and I must admit I tend to prefer "cocktail piano style music" rather than light classical or rock for these situations though, of course, it depends on the ambiance of the restaurant...perhaps some light rock can work in some places.

I also find Bossa Novas and Rumbas are ideal for doing something upbeat, but still remaining within reasonable laid-backness. Someone told me one time, to try and stay under 120 BPM for most pieces, as above that tempo, you are dipping into dance music territory.

But all the torch tunes and romantic jazz standards are great to just play around with and improvise a bit...it's a good time for it, as no one's really listening too closely...and that leads to the volume issue...people should be able to talk without shouting or raising their voice.

A friend of mine likes to tell the story about when he went out for a first date, semi-romantic, dinner with this nice lady, and between her false teeth, and the silverware, she made that much noise eating, that the couple at the next table got up to dance.

Ian

PS..A great book for restaurant (or nite-club dinner) music, if you are a reasonably good reader, is 150 Of The Most Beautiful Songs Ever by Hal Leonard

Ian ... I find that Latin styles such as bossa nova, rhumba, bolero, work VERY well to transform a standard ballad and even some light pop/rock tunes into something different, e.g. some Beatles tunes - Michelle, Yesterday, Something. etc; Billy Joel's Just The Way You Are; the standard I've Got You Under My Skin" etc. etc. etc. ... but even in a 'cocktail piano music' setting I will go beyond the 120 BPM for tunes like 'Four'. Rt. 66, etc.

Ian and Tony, I can tell you've "been there".

My break music is generally something like Forplay or Acoustic Alchemy. That works because I'm, generally promoted as a "lite dinner/jazz" player.

Best advice? Don't "get in the way", but rather be a provider of pleasant, entertaining supplement music to the dining/entertaining experience.


Work for me!


Russ

Ha Ha! Yes, Tony, occasionally I become a madman and do songs over the 120 BPM...it's usually with "Light Rock" tunes, that I try to stay just under 120 bpm...but, it's not set in stone.

I like to toss in a few speedier tunes, usually so I don't put too many to sleep, or to wake up the ones I have maybe caused to drift off.

I do a pretty accurate version of Classical Gas, by Mason Williams, where I feature the T4's very slick SA Concert Guitar (I even pretend to "tune" it before starting the tune) and the piece clips along real nice, and always gets a positive reaction.

Plus, like you, I do Route 66; additionally, I do Fly Me To The Moon quite uptempo, using the Tyros4's cool Jazz Guitar Club style which is at 142 and/or Cool Piano Jazz at 130...in all, of course, it depends on the nature of the crowd, and, sometimes even the time of year (Christmas, for example)

I LOVE playing Billy Joel's Just The Way You Are, and have worked up a custom style for it on my Tyros4, that is fairly accurate to the original, whereby it starts rather gently, and then goes into a Bossa like beat...I thoroughly enjoy trying to get Phil Woods's sax solo as close as possible, again making use of the Tyros4's really nice SA2 Saxophone.

Also, the chords in that tune have to be precise to really pull it off...the few, but essential, On Bass chords make all the difference.

His tune "Piano Man" is a really nice uptempo waltz that is quite lively too...and nearly everyone recognizes it.

I guess we really are what our instruments claim to be..."arrangers".

Do you do any Floyd Cramer stuff, like On the Rebound (nice and peppy) or the classic, Last Date?

Ian

The crowd that comes to see/hear me often comes to catch up on my family and personal life too, so I am expected to take breaks. I also play mostly dance situations, so the house needs the dance floor to empty every so often for people to head back and order more drinks. A typical 3 hr party for me is 1 hr straight then a 15 min break (with music playing from my system) 45 min on, 15 off, 45 minutes till the end.

If you DO take breaks (and I encourage you to do so), use the time to get to know your clients and what they want to hear - shmooze the crowd, kiss the babies, etc ... it's a sales job. Sell yourself, then play good music.

No, but I'm going to have to try "On the Rebound" thank you ...