Maybe discussed before but I'd like your thoughts or suggestions.
In the good old days playing every weekend I never used a setlist, I had it all in my head and just almost always knew what to do. Back to a quote from the infamous Crazy Hugie of Jersey Shore fame. "Know how to read your crowd"
Now working less frequently, poorer memory and tons of material to cover any situation I find I need a list at least for a general roadmap. Sometimes that gets tossed in the heat of battle too as happened this weekend. . My problem is I obsess over what to play and spend way too much time on pre-planning a gig list. Last Sat. I did a large Charity Benefit. Perfect job for me. I.5 hours keyboard for cocktails and dinner. The Auction, then kick in the party music.
For the cocktail hour I choose a variety of tunes both popular and ones I really like to play. For the party section I had plans to DJ, and use edited Styles and SMFs.
The result, my planning went out the window. I found myself sticking to very recognizable and way overdone tunes for both sections. People were really appreciative of my playing / singing and I got numerous compliments. When the Auction was finally over they thanked everyone for their generosity and said "now lets dance !!"'
I opened with Happy and immediatly the dance floor was packed. I trasitioned into Uptown Funk and the party was on non-stop for the next 1.5 hours. I just couldn't stop the energy and flow of the DJ tunes so I never touched the keyboard again ( I do use it as my mixer for mike and IPAD ) nor could I even squeeze in a slow tune and no one cared. All that planning and time wasted. But they were very happy, booked me for next year so I went home satisfied. As I always say "KISS, don't overthink it." Thoughts ?

Sidebar: First time I used both my JBL Eon Ones with my Behringer 1200 sub. There were about 300 people there and the dance floor held about 100. The system sounded great for both of my sections. Keyboard and vocals came across nice and smooth and when the dance music started no complained about it being too loud even though I was pushing the system to the max. Clear sound and it doesn't get harsh when loud so I think that is the key. Love this system, best I ever had.

I rely on setlists too, and spend a lot of time on them, though I deviate and sometimes have to abandon them, I find it reduces downtime between songs and a necessity with the full band. The more planning offstage the less stress on stage.

Bill's programming for live and DJ is what also works best for me. The 1-hr A/L jobs are always all live using a set list as a general road map with the occasional side trip.
Eddie

No Way... no how... Set lists? What's that?
play off the cuff and use the audience as a playbook make every show different.... Mix it up and have fun.

Speaking about when I was playing in Nursing Homes only, I used them all the time. I ran backing tracks with an Ipod and had a playlist ready to go. I used a blank mp3 between songs and then all I had to do was hit "fast forward" to move quickly between songs. So, a set list was needed. When I played in bands, I preferred to go "off the cuff" and read the crowd as Donny mentioned.

Yes, I use playlists ... there are several NH/AL venues that I play almost monthly ... making a playlist helps me 'keep it fresh' as I make sure to not use the same playlist at a venue more than 2 times in a year - except for the requests I KNOW I am going to get at a particular venue ... ...
Also, many of my playlists have a 'theme' ... it could be songs by a particular artist whose birthday is that month, it could be songs by George M Cohan, country artists, the Rat Pack, etc. etc.

Add me to the set list user, it’s a road map and I too will take side trips.

And all the requests?
Playlist out the door.. Lol

I agree with Donny. I have a favorites list on my MFD, but it is more than 170 songs long. Most of the time, I just look at the audience, select a song from my favorites, hit the start button and go at it for a solid hour or more. Works great for me!

Gary

I will have about 30 songs ready in a playlist for a 1 hr NH/AL gig ... I don't get half that many requests ...

just sayin' ...