How to build a setlist that keeps the room with you
A setlist is a plan for two hours of other people's attention. Most of us write it in the car, and it shows. I use this method after enough nights of watching a room drift to the bar during song four.
Which song should I pick first?
Pick the last song first. People hum it on the way home. Make it one you can play in your sleep, loud enough to finish on, and known by everyone.
If the closer is a shout along, the encore is the quiet one.
What should the first song be?
Open with a song nobody has to think about. It tells the room what kind of night this is while you find the monitor mix. Choose something mid tempo, in a comfortable key, that you have played a hundred times. Save the hard one for the third slot.
When does the room lose interest?
Around the 35 minute mark. Plan the dip: put the two slow songs there, back to back, and say a few words between them. The fast song after it lands harder.
Can two songs in the same key sit together?
Avoid it. Two in a row feel like one long song. Write the key next to each title. If two must sit together, move one with a capo. gigbrain saves the capo per song, so you set it once.
Group the retunes and the swaps
If one song needs drop D and another needs the ukulele, put them next to each other and talk through the change. Forty seconds of tuning in silence, twice a night, loses a room. Put it in the song note under the title so you see it coming: "Drop D. Retune before the count-in."
How long should the gap between songs be?
Under ten seconds, most of the time. Long gaps are where a room starts talking. Have the next song open before the last chord of this one stops ringing, and count in while people are still clapping. Plan the longer gaps instead: the retune, the talk before the slow song, the break.
What if a song falls apart?
Keep going to the end of the section, then pick it up at the next chorus. Most of the room will not notice. A long apology tells them something went wrong. Mark the song after the gig and move it to the next rehearsal, not the next setlist.
Write the talk down too
Know which songs get an introduction and which run straight in. One line in the song note is enough: "Say where you first heard this." Improvise the rest.
Keep two spares at the bottom
A wedding runs late. A quiet bar wants quieter. Two spares, one up and one down, cover almost every surprise.
How many songs fill two hours?
About 25. That is roughly 90 to 100 minutes of music. Add talk, tuning and a 15 minute break, and you are at two hours. Add up your own lengths and compare them to your slot. A set that runs 20 minutes long gets cut by the venue, usually from the end, where your closer is.
For a 45 minute support slot, use 10 or 11 songs: an easy opener, your strongest three, one slow song, and the closer.
What changes for a pub, a wedding or a festival?
- Pub. The room fills over the first hour. Start quieter than you want to and move your best stretch later, to songs 8 to 14.
- Wedding. The first dance, the cake and the speeches happen at fixed times. Ask for the running order, and put the cues in the song notes: "First dance after this one".
- Festival. A 30 to 45 minute slot has no room for a dip. People walk past, so play your strongest songs early and keep the talk short.
How do I know if the setlist worked?
After the gig, mark two things while you still remember: the songs where people got up, and the songs where they went to the bar. Swap one or two songs before the next gig, not the whole list. After a few gigs you know which songs carry the night and which only work in rehearsal.
Share it before the gig
Send the band the setlist the night before, not in the car park. A gigbrain setlist shared by link carries your song notes, so the drummer sees "Straight in, no count" on the right song.
A sample shape for 25 songs
- Songs 1 to 3: warm, known, easy. Build to the first big one at number 3.
- Songs 4 to 8: your best stretch. Vary tempo and key every song.
- Songs 9 and 10: the planned dip. Slow, with talk.
- Songs 11 to 14: back up. The sing along goes at 12 or 13.
- Break, if there is one.
- Songs 15 to 22: shorter and faster than the first set.
- Songs 23 and 24: one quieter, one building.
- Song 25: the closer you picked first.
- Spares: one up, one down.
If keys keep landing next to each other, the post on capo or transpose shows how to move a song without learning new shapes.